re: Puckheads Unite! Season Long NHL Thread

Enjoyed opening night from the AAC. A few observations on the Pens-Stars game that struck me watching the game live:

-- Malkin is huge. I'd never seen this Penguins team live before, and I was struck by how much bigger than everyone Malkin was.

-- Let's get this out of the way: the Pens were the better team, and spent almost the entire game in the Stars' defensive end. But Niemi was just awesome. We were sitting behind the goal, and he made one save where I am positive he didn't see the puck. Also, 2 assists!

-- Jesus, the Penguins defense is atrocious. On the Stars' second goal, the Stars just skated across the blueline, up the middle, and put it in the net. No one stopped him. It was some of the worst defense I've ever seen at this level. OK, it was a power play, but my God. At least make a guy turn.

-- Oduya is a near perfect defenseman. His positioning was beautiful all game. Not showy, and he's not much on offense, but in his own end, the guy just seemed to always be in the right place.

-- Hornqvist jaws way too much. He was in the middle of three scrums, and was the insitgator in all of them. No punches were thrown, because he's Patrick Hornqvist. STFU and play, dude. You're not a hard arse.

-- The Penguins love hitting guys behind the play. It's legal, but it's the cheesiest way to act tough. Blueliners would make the outlet pass and then a second later, a forward would hit him, while the play was already up ice. What is that supposed to accomplish? It's like they want to be tough and hard nosed, but don't know how.

-- I rarely noticed Sid Crosby. In fact, the only time I noticed him was when Malkin was on the wing, and I realized the Pens had Kessel-Crosby-Malkin on one line. Malkin was everywhere, but I feel like I missed my chance to heckle Crosby. He just didn't DO anything.

-- Again, Antii Niemi. Starting a Antii chant in the 3rd was my biggest contribution. He was so awesome last night.

Fun game. Support live hockey.