But determining the seeding might come down to the wire.

The top-two teams, Delweld and Martella’s Pharmacy, are in a heated race to be the top dog. Martella’s (29-10) is one game behind Delweld (30-9).

There also is an intriguing battle for the third and fourth seeds between Principle Development and the Berkley Hills Renegades, as both teams have been turning it on as the season is coming to a close.

Principle defeated Martella’s in back-to-back games last week to improve its record to 22-17. They are currently the third seed. Not to be outdone, the Renegades recently upset Delweld and have pulled their record to 20-19.

Principle is looking good heading into the playoffs. They are getting hot at the right time and boast the best hitter and pitcher in the league, in Matt Donaldson and Gregg Brandzuh, respectively.

For Berkley Hill’s, the name of the game is pitching. They have three pitchers who are among the league leaders in ERA.

The top-two teams, Delweld and Martella’s, are loaded with depth on the pitching mound and with the bat.

Tonight is the last day of the regular season and we will know the order of the playoff seeding.

By looking at the standings, one would the chance of a tournament birth will be between Delweld and Martella’s Pharmacy. But don’t rule out Principle or Berkley Hill’s to upset the two powerhouses. The battle is just getting started.

JNL Blogger

This summer has been an almost freakishly busy summer. The days have been going by so quickly with work and holidays, and it was not until I was reading through the past blogs that I noticed how long it has been since my last post. As I was looking through them and thinking of other things to write about I realized that there was one place that I had, surprisingly, not written about yet. This place is perfect for any person of any age to enjoy on a balmy summer  night. It is the Silver Drive In.

The Silver Drive In (located along Scalp Avenue in Richland), which was reopened in 2005, has been apart of this area for many years. It has provided such a unique form of entertainment and has preserved a piece of history from the Johnstown area. For quite a few years people have been piling into cars, trucks, and vans, bundling into blankets, and sitting on lawn chairs under starry skies to watch movies on the huge screen. I can remember times when I was a little girl of seeing movies with friends and families, and enjoying a time that was very special.

I was able to enjoy this experience again this summer as I went to view some of the summer’s biggest blockbuster movies. The first two movies that I was able to go and see was, not that surprisingly, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek. I had enjoyed watching both of these movies at the Richland Cinemas so much that I knew I had to see them again. When I saw the sign by Scalp Avenue stating that they were going to be playing at the Drive In no one had to convince me to go. And it was everything that I had remembered it to be despite the ‘lovely’ Johnstown rain.

The second, or third I suppose, movie that I was able to go and see actually provided a brand new experience for me. It seems as if every time a movie is playing there is always a double feature that usually starts at dusk. But this past Tuesday the current owners of the Silver Drive In did something that I do not remember ever happening before. They had a midnight showing of a summer blockbuster movie, and that movie happened to be Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

This was such a new and exciting thing that I knew I had to find a way to get there to experience the showing. It was so exciting to head out later in the evening to the Drive In and when I got there I realized that I was not the only one to want to enjoy this. In fact, the Drive In was so full that they had double parking in the spots, which is something that is not usually done today! The whole evening was beyond exciting and watching the movie as a midnight show was a great experience. It is something that I hope will be done much more often!

The Silver Drive In is a great way to go see a movie on a summer evening. It provides a great form of entertainment for families, teenagers, and even the older generations. And with the brilliant movies that have been coming out this summer, from fantasy, to action, to romance, there will definitely be something for every person out there.

If anyone has any great memories of going to watch a movie at the Silver Drive In I would love to hear about them!!!

JNL Blogger

Ah the movie theater! We have all probably been to one at least once in our lives. There is something really quite unique about the movie theater. The thrill of expectation from the people in line, to the warm buttery smell of the popcorn, to even the musty smell of the theater itself. Every part of it is a wonderful experience. This was an experience that I was able to enjoy, once again, this evening at the Richland Cinemas (Located in Richland near the WalMart plaza).

I and a few friends of mine decided to go to the opening night showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and the experience was everything that I remembered from past movies. There was that buzz of excitement as we waited in the lobby for the seating to begin, and there was as always that tempting smell coming from the concession across the lobby. This was definitely an exciting night for everyone present.
Once the seating began there was a slight rush, but it was altogether quite fun. The showing which my friends and I went to,  allowed us to be seated in one of the stadium seating theaters, and there was plenty of room for every viewer. It never seems to get old, that slight burst of energy as everyone present tries to find the absolute best seats in the room, and as they try to remember to get enough of them for all their friends and family!
Then, as usual, it begins with the previews and the reminder to go the concession stand for treats. Now the previews are usually interesting to watch, but it seems to me that the rather…quaint concession stand reminders always have people chuckling.
And finally after all of the anticipation and the waiting the movie begins…

The movie we chose to see, as I stated earlier, was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This nearly three hour long movie was so captivating and intense that I and everyone else didn’t even realize the time until we exited the theater and saw that it was dark already! I don’t want to give any spoilers away for anyone who has yet to see this movie, but I must say that this movie was well worth the money. In fact, it would be worth it to pay to see it multiple times! It had amazing special effects and action for the people who love action. It had some romance for those who love romance. And it even had quite a lot of comedic elements that lightened the intense mood at times.
Overall, every part of this experience was amazing! Great friends, great movie theater, and an even greater movie to top the entire night off. I encourage every one to go out and see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I also encourage people in this area to use the Richland Cinemas to go check out the rest of the movies coming out this summer. It’s a great way to get out of the hot sun or the cold rain, and it’s a good way to spend time with friends and family!

JNL Blogger

This Stanley Cup championship could not have come at a more glorious time for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s only fitting that the banner will be raised in Mellon Arena’s last season.

A banner that will read: 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.

And then, two years from now, when you are watching the Pens play in the new Consol Energy Center, you will look to the rafters. And that championship banner will still be there.

Then 15 years from now, when you take your kids to a Penguin game, that banner will still be there.

And when those kids take you to a game when you’re 80 years old, you will raise your gray-haired head to the rafters and see that banner.

And it will fill you with all kinds of emotions that you felt back on a muggy night on Friday, June 12, 2009.

You will remember watching the season-opening games in Sweden.

The Penguins toiling in mediocrity, six points out of the playoffs with 25 games left.

A mid-season coaching change that brought us some no-name coach from the AHL.

Subtle trades near the trade deadline that aided the team to a fourth place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Facing off against your two most bitter rivals in the first two rounds of the playoffs and winning in dramatic fashion.

Running into a red-hot Carolina team in the Eastern Conference Finals and sweeping them.

A rematch of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings that needed a thrilling Game Seven to decide the NHL champion.

Watching each and every Pittsburgh Penguin hoisting the silver chalice, as you celebrated with friends and family.

Marc-Andre Fleury left no doubt in the minds of people who said he “wasn’t a big-game goaltender.” Just ask a Red Wing what they think of Fleury now. Better yet, ask Marian Hossa.

Every journalist and person with a keyboard outside of Pittsburgh said the Pens could not win without Hossa. Instead, they are drinking his tears out of Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Gloating in the face of Detroit fans seems ridiculous at this point. When you win the Stanley Cup, your focus shouldn’t be on anything else. They know they were beaten by the better team.

The Red Wings didn’t lose this Cup. The Pens won it.

If you couldn’t wait for the puck to drop all day, the opening faceoff brought your level of anxiety down. It was a pretty quiet first 10 minutes of hockey. Both teams were just testing the water.

The action started to pick up and Detroit was getting to every loose puck. Every time a Red Wing touched the puck, your life was a second away from falling apart.

Kronwall had the first big hit of the game on Talbot at center ice. All it did was put him out of position, and Stuart was forced to take a penalty on Malkin, who was flying up the ice.

The Pens went on the powerplay and were all business. They dominated Detroit for two minutes but couldn’t put the puck past Osgood.

MAF made a brilliant save on Kirk Maltby in the final minutes of the opening frame.

Solid period on the road. Wings had about 70 giveaways, but were dominating the faceoff circle 11-3.

The Penguins struck first in the second period. Stuart tried to clear the puck from Detroit’s zone, but Geno cut him off. The puck landed on Talbot’s stick and buried it past Osgood. 1-0 Pens.

A couple minutes later, Derren Helm had a golden chance in the slot, but MAF denied him. The puck found its way to Cooke who had a partial breakaway. Brian Rafalski caught up to him and rammed Cooke into Osgood.

Moments later, Franzen obstructs Crosby along the boards. The play looked harmless but Sid had to drag himself to the bench and, in obvious pain, headed to the locker room.

Things seemed to be swinging in Detroit’s favor. Not only did they shorten the Pens’ bench for the rest of the game, but took out a marquee player.

Things only got worse when Detroit was awarded a powerplay a couple minutes later. The Wings somehow managed not to score. Hal Gill sprung out of the box as his penalty expired and created a 3-on-1, but it was Hal Gill.

As the play continued, the Pens got a 2-on-1 seemingly out of no where, with Max “Superstar” Talbot leading the rush. As soon as he hit the faceoff circles, you knew he was thinking “shot.” Osgood showed you why he deserves to be a backup goalie with the positioning on this shot. He left about a mile of open net for Talbot to shoot at. 2-0 Pens.

Pittsburgh weathered a storm in the final two minutes and escaped the period up two goals. What an unbelievable twist the game took in a matter of five minutes.

The next 20 minutes would prove to be the longest of your life. Only one thought was in your head, and it was of the Pens hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Eaton was called for tripping and Detroit’s powerplay hit the ice again, but Fleury was brilliant.

Later, Jonathan Ericsson’s shot from the point beat MAF and put the Wings on the board. You knew it was bound to happen. 2-1 Pens.

Zetterberg was automatic in the faceoff circle and this game was no exception. Franzen had a shot that hit the cross bar. Phew.

Time dwindled down to six seconds.

Zetterberg won another draw. The puck floated to the point and the shot got through to Fleury.

What was going through your mind when you saw that puck pop out and a Wing player bearing down?

Lidstrom had the world on his stick. But Marc-Andre Fleury made the biggest save of his life sprawling to his right.

And then…

The Pittsburgh Penguins took their place in NHL history.

Sorry, Marian

Evgeni Malkin became the first Russian player to win the Conn Smythe as MVP of the playoffs.

Words aren’t enough.

JNL Blogger

After the Penguins’ thrilling Game Six win over the Wings, I, along with many other fans, have been counting down the minutes until the puck drops tomorrow night.

The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals will come down to just one game in Detroit on Friday, and it’s the one game that every hockey player spends a lifetime dreaming about playing in.

The pundits will say the Pens are in for an uphill battle even before the puck is dropped for Game Seven.

The Penguins are 1-5 at “The Joe” over the past two postseasons. They’ve failed to score in three contests, including a 5-0 shellacking last Saturday in Game 5.

The Red Wings are 11-1 at home in the playoffs.

They are 11-2 in SCF home games since 1997, with both losses coming in overtime. Penguins handed the Red Wings one of those defeats - now-injured winger Petr Sykora’s goal in triple-overtime won Game 5 at Detroit last year.

Road teams rarely deal well with Game 7’s in the Final, going 2-12 all-time. The last road team to a Final Game 7 was the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, who won at Chicago. The Penguins are trying to match that Canadiens club as the only one in NHL history to win the Cup after losing Games 1 and 2 on the road.

To be honest, when you look at the numbers and historical evidence, those people are right.

I say, “Who gives a damn?” To state that Pittsburgh will fail just because the odds are against them is ludicrous. What happened in any of the previous games this series is irrelevant now. This is Game Seven, where all bets are off and anything can happen.

If you want to talk about facing down adversity and succeeding, this team is an outstanding example.

During the off-season, the Pens lost tons of talent due to free agency. The media jumped all over the departures of Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Ty Conklin, Gary Roberts, Adam Hall, Jarko Ruutu, and Georges Laraque, saying the turnover was simply too much. They said that there was no way Pittsburgh could succeed without those players. Then, Sergei Gonchar was injured in a pre-season game and would require surgery.

The Penguins responded by opening the season with one of the best records in franchise history.

Then in February, they faced the dreaded “runner-up jinx” and times became tough. The Pens were in tenth place in the Eastern Conference with the playoffs just around the corner. It appeared that the nay-sayers may be right. Michel Therrien was fired. Ryan Whitney was traded.

Then Dan Byslma turned the team around and the Pens finished fourth in the East.

But hockey “experts” kept doubting Pittsburgh. They said that the Pens couldn’t handle Philadelphia’s scoring depth. The Flyers boasted six 25-goal scorers, which was tops in the league. They were defeated in six games.

After dropping the first two games in the Verizon Center, critics gave the Penguins no hope against the Washington Capitals and “the best player in the NHL by far.” The Pens beat the Caps in Washington 6-2 in Game Seven.

Cam Ward was the hottest goaltender in the playoffs. His record against the Pittsburgh Penguins was stellar. The “Cardiac Canes” fell in four games.

In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Pens dropped the first two games of the series and the world was ready to start engraving the names of the Red Wings onto the Stanley Cup.

Here we are now with the series tied at three games apiece. The Stanley Cup will be won tomorrow night. Pittsburgh has one last chance to change the minds of the doubters into believers.

JNL Blogger

Many people wrote off the Pittsburgh Penguins after their embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in Game Five, after Marc-Andre Fleury was yanked in the second period and the Wings were able to contain Pittsburgh’s two-headed monster, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Hockey “experts” were already crowing the Red Wings as Stanley Cup champs. Detroit fans began relishing in the thought of seeing their team parade around the Mellon Arena after Game Six hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup, just like last season.

The last time I checked it took 16 postseason victories to win the Cup, not 15.

The Penguins knew that too, as they jumped out of the gate and displayed one of the best shutdown performances in recent memory.

17,132 strong once again filled the seats of the ageless Igloo, and they made their presence known early. They shouted chants of “Fleury! Fleury!” in hopes of boosting their netminder’s confidence.

The Pens dominated play in the first 20 minutes, out shooting the Wings 12 to 3, but came out of the opening frame with nothing to show for their effort on the scoreboard.

Pittsburgh was playing like they had nothing to lose, and really they didn’t.

The ice was still wet in the second period when Tyler Kennedy chipped a pass to Jordan Staal at the Pens’ blueline. Staal shifted gears and started a 2-on-1 with Matt Cooke. He ripped a shot off the chest of Osgood and buried the rebound past him. The roof of the Igloo exploded. 1-0 Pens.

After the goal, the Wings pushed hard to get the equalizer. Rob Scuderi and Brooks Orpik did an unreal job of blocking shots and containing Detroit’s star players.

Petr Sykora, who was dressed in place of Miro Satan, made a gutsy shot block that prevented a great scoring chance. He would have to leave the game and would not return. His return for Game Seven is doubtful.

Zetterberg had a shot ring off the post in the waning minutes of the second.

Geno feathered a pass to a streaking Ruslan Fedotenko in the slot, but was thwarted by Osgood.

Detroit had a few quality chances to start the third, but MAF stood tall to the task.

A couple minutes later, Tank kept the puck alive in the offensive zone and Max Talbot made a nifty play behind the net to reverse the puck to a wide open Kennedy. TK had a couple of whacks and chipped it over Osgood’s glove. 2-0 Pens.

Things were looking up and you started to breathe a little easier.

But just three minutes later, Fleury stopped a slapshot from Jonathan Ericsson but left Kris Draper a juicy rebound, who capitalized on the opportunity. 2-1 Pens.

Malkin took the first penalty of the game for Pittsburgh for a cross check, giving the Wings the chance to tie the game. Zetterberg let a shot go from the point that was stopped by Fleury, who unknowingly put the rebound right in the crease. As two Detroit players approached to tap it in, Scuderi came to the rescue and shot the puck into the boards.

The Pens killed the penalty and just when you thought they were in the clear, Bill Guerin was called for high sticking.

At this point, every Penguins fan was in labor.

Another successful kill.

Just under two minutes to go and Dan Cleary got sprung on a breakaway from the blue line. Shit.

You saw it happening before it even happened. Think about all the people focused on that play. Millions of people’s lives were going to be altered by a two-second play.

And there was Marc-Andre Fleury. Jobbed by fans and media after a tough Game Five. The “big game goaltender” questions lingering like a bad fart. MAF simply looked at Cleary, called his whole life a joke, and shut the door. Incredible save.

Earlier in the game, one of my friend told me that Ryan Miller is a better goalie than Fleury. Right.

But Detroit wasn’t finished. They pulled their goalie and the Pens needed to survive one last onslaught.

Who was gonna step up? It was Rob Scuderi. And he actually knelt down.

Scuderi made more saves down the stretch than Fleury did.

Then with 20 seconds to go, Fleury was peppered by a barrage of shots. Scuds stopped one shot with his stick. Then, he spread-eagled in perfect butterfly goaltending style — with MAF a little out of position — to stop a couple other attempts with his foot and hand and who knows what else until he got a stoppage in play with just 13.2 seconds left.

Rob Scuderi saved the Pens season as they held on to win, 2-1. Maybe three times in five seconds. That sequence alone may have earned him an extra $500K this summer.

Our third line was Pittsburgh’s best line for all 60 minutes. When that happens, you are going to win hockey games.

Game Seven is set for Friday night at 8:00 in Detroit. The game will most likely start at 8:20 after some idiot throws a dead octopus on the ice.

The Penguins began the 2008-09 season on October 4 in Stockholm Sweden.

105 games later, one win stands between fulfilling a dream and suffering yet another devastating defeat.

It doesn’t get any bigger than Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but you don’t need me to tell you that.

JNL Blogger

There seems to be a lot of reality TV shows out today, including quite a few about dancing. Whenever I saw the dance show I have to admit that I was quickly addicted to the fun atmosphere. I loved the glitter, the glamour, and of course the fancy footwork. I actually enjoyed watching them so much that I began to wonder where in the Johnstown area could I learn to do ballroom dancing. I started looking around and, coincidentally, found a studio through my brother and his wife who were taking dance lessons for their wedding dance.

As I started taking dance lessons at Sherry Lynn’s Ballroom Dance Center (646 Main Street in downtown Johnstown) I really began to enjoy the atmosphere of the dance studio. The instructors, Sherry Lynn and her husband Brian, were incredibly nice when I started, and the lessons were absolutely amazing! With each lesson I was learning I was able to meet more people, I was having a lot of fun, and I felt I was improving my physical health.

Then I found out about their Friday night dance parties!

These Friday night parties are set up with a dance lesson that starts at 8:15 and it is around forty-five minutes long. The lessons are a lot of fun because they are completely different every week and anyone, even if he or she have never taken lessons before, can come and participate. And for anyone who has already taken lessons before these Friday night lessons are an incredibly great way to learn a few extra dance moves!

Then, and yes it gets even better, after the lessons are over the dance party begins. There is food and drinks that are set up buffet-style and plenty of tables and chairs for the people to sit, eat, and socialize with the other dancers. The music and the dances that are played while the food is being served is so much fun that very few people stay sitting for long!

The parties usually last until about 10:45 at night, and the fee for the lesson and the food is fifteen dollars a person. Sherry Lynn’s Ballroom Dance Center provides such a great environment for people of all ages to go out meet new people and enjoy some great time dancing.

This upcoming Friday night, June 12, Sherry and Brian are going to be teaching the East Coast Swing, a really fun, upbeat dance. I hope to be at the studio this Friday learning this dance, and I hope to meet some new dancers there as well!

JNL Blogger

If we had to lose Game Five, I’ll take this one over a 3-2 triple overtime loss.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about Pittsburgh’s 5-0 loss to Detroit on Saturday. All I can say is that we looked like the Flyers out there tonight. We took undisciplined penalties, took cheap shots on players when we were behind, tried to instigate fights to no avail, and everyone in a Penguins uniform appeared out of control and off their game.

Pavel Datsyuk returned to Detroit’s lineup for the first time this series and he was, well, Pavel Datsyuk. The All-Star center recorded a couple of assists and even laid out Evgeni Malkin with a strong check early in the contest.

The Pens had a lot of jump in their step for the first 10 minutes of the game. After that, it was all down hill. Detroit had the Penguins back on their heels and kept pushing. What Pittsburgh needed to do was push back offensively. What they actually did was push back verbally and tried slashing the hideous red beards of the Wings’ players off with our sticks.

Much has been said about Detroit’s powerplay unit throughout the 2009 playoffs, most of it negative.  Whatever critics and so-called experts may have said was completely put to rest for at least one game when the Wings scored three goals with the man advantage on nine chances.

Marc-Andre Fleury had an off night. There’s no other way of putting it. Some of the goals he allowed he would have undoubtedly liked to have back. Take your pick which ones, he allowed enough of them. Mathieu Garon did well filling in as relief for MAF.

So where do the Pens go from here? They need to regroup and get back to the game they are accustomed to playing for Game Six in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.  They need to stay focused on their goal and not get distracted.

Neither team has registered a win on the road in this series.

We have the determination, the strength and the ability to take this back to Detroit.

The Penguins will have a shot at redemption in Game Seven. Yes, there will be a Game Seven.

Ah summertime! This time of year becomes such an exciting and unbelievably busy time for most people. From newly graduated high school students preparing for their college enrollment, to family vacations and trips, to the young adults searching for summer jobs everyone is busily engaged in some activity or another. But what do all of these people do during their free time? What, or where, is the best place to enjoy some stress free entertainment? Since I started blogging for Johnstown Nightlife I was wondering where I could go to find some  answers, of a sort, to these questions.

So this past week, whenever I had the opportunity between work and life in general, I asked around town where people like to hang out and spend time. There were quite a lot of varied answers. The Galleria mall was a majority answer, and the Richland Cinemas was too. But there was one place that a friend of mine suggested to me that really intrigued me…709 Railroad Street. From my friends description it seemed like a very ‘cool’ place to hang out at, especially if a person were interested in music. So I decided to check to see if they had a web page, and I found out that they were so much more then just a ‘cool’ hang out. In fact according to their web page, which I found looking through the website Facebook,  it is a gallery and performance space located at 709 Railroad Street in Johnstown.

The 709 Railroad Street, a club of sorts,  is a perfect place for anyone interested in displaying any type of artistic talent. This place not only provides space for local music talents to perform live, but also includes a gallery for anyone who wants to  display their art and a library for those who love reading as well. The more that I read about this online, the more I began to wonder why I had not heard of it more. 709 Railroad Street seems like the perfect place for young people of any age to just simply ‘hang out’ and enjoy themselves.

This is definitely a place that I will go to and check out, and the number of concerts that they are going to have this month will make it easier for me to do that. There are going to be bands performing on the 8th, the 12th, the 17th, the 22nd, and the 27th of this month, and the cover charge to see many of these bands is only around five dollars a person. I think I have found an incredibily unique and well, awesome place to spend time at, and I will definitely blog more about this place as I get the chance to go in person and see what it is like!

JNL Blogger

Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

That being said, something big needed to happen to the Pittsburgh Penguins because it felt like last years Stanley Cup Finals was happening all over again. The Detroit Red Wings were one win away from putting a lock on the series. A win in Game Four for the Wings would have given them a chance to win the Cup at home ice, where they are 10-1 in the 2009 postseason.

But the Penguins’ star players came to the rink to play and put on a show for the crowd at Mellon Arena that put them in a frenzy. Marc-Andre Fleury was brilliant for the second straight game. As the Finals move forward, MAF has looked better every game. Can’t say the same for his counterpart. Evgeni Malkin is playing in some other ethereal dimension where the rules that bind mortal hockey players do not apply. The league’s leading point scorer hasn’t missed a beat after being a dominant force in the regular season. Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal and was brilliant at both ends of the ice. Jordan Staal was excellent on the penalty kill and tallied a timely shorthanded goal that crushed the Wings’ momentum.

Kris Draper returned to the lineup for Detroit, one of the top face-off men in all of hockey, but the veteran center had just over eight minutes of ice time. He missed the last five games, three with a suspected groin injury and the last two as a healthy scratch, and took the place of Justin Abdelkader in the lineup. The Hart Trophy candidate Pavel Datsyuk was questionable to play in the game, but an injured foot kept him out the lineup for the seventh straight game. During the extended absence, Datsyuk admitted his way of combating the boredom of watching the games on TV is drinking lots of beer. Datsyuk took the pregame skate and decided he wanted nothing to do with Malkin. He opted to getting drunk in the press box instead.

The fans at Mellon Arena were into the game as soon as the puck dropped. The Pens seemed to have carried all the momentum from their Game Three victory over to Game Four.

Only a minute into the opening period and Nicklas Kronwall was whistled for tripping Geno. Since teams score powerplay goals against Detroit as often as Chris Osgood embellishes dives, you knew a 1-0 lead was just a couple of minutes away.

The Red Wings killed off most of the penalty. Staal charged the net and fired a shot at Osgood. The rebound came right to Kris Letang in the slot who missed the net with his shot, but Malkin got a favorable bounce along the boards that made you think the game was being played at the Joe Louis Arena. Geno stuffed the puck past Osgood for the opening marker. 1-0 Pens.

The Pens had the Wings running around after scoring first, but Detroit regained their composer and began lulling the Penguins to sleep with their trap defense. They began attacking at random and had a flurry of shots on MAF. Mark Eaton cross checked a Red Wing in the slot and Detroit got its first powerplay of the contest. Matt Cooke crushed Nick Lidstrom against the boards during the kill. Lidstrom cried to the ref but no call. The Pens did a great job killing the penalty.

Jonathan Ericsson was called for high sticking Chris Kunitz a few minutes later and just when you thought “here comes the 2-0 lead,” Bill Guerin got sent to the sin bin for high sticking ten seconds later. I’m not sure how you “high stick” a player who is down on one knee, but whatever.

The Pens almost made it out of the first with the lead, but Rob Scuderi tried his best Wade Redden impersonation and gave the puck away on a routine play. Scuds passed the puck right to Derren Helm who beat Fleury short side for his fourth of the playoffs. Nightmare on Helm Street. 1-1 game.

Osgood misplayed the puck at the end of the period and a lurking Malkin almost made him pay.

After the first, Detroit was outshooting Pittsburgh 19-11.

All series long the second period had been a rough patch for the Pens. It seemed as if it would be more of the same story when Henrik Zetterberg swooped around Fleury’s cage and found Brad Stuart at the point. His shot beat MAF through a bad screen. Why was Bill Guerin that low in his zone and why does Stuart only score goals against the Penguins? 2-1 Wings.

The life was sucked out of the Mellon Arena.

The Pens needed something desperately, but all we saw were two penalties called back-to-back. It was the biggest penalty kill of the year. If Detroit scored, it may have been all over. The Pens got within two seconds of killing off a Malkin penalty when Orpik was whistled.

Malkin sprung from the penalty box after his sentence expired and forced a turnover, but Johan Franzen showed some unreal speed to catch him.

With time still remaining on Orpik’s penalty, Max “Superstar” Talbot fed a pass to Staal who broke through the neutral zone. Staal flew past Lidstrom, who chased him on his Little Rascal Scooter, and Brian Rafalski, whose only hope of stopping Staal was if he was 10 years younger. His power move thwarted Os-mediocre and the game was tied at two.

The goal stunned the Wings, who never recovered.

A couple of minutes later, Malkin made another play to spring a two-on-one with Bing Crosby. This is something that gives defensemen nightmares. The entire world was on their feet. Geno tried to feed the biscuit over to Sid, but it was blocked by Ericsson. He got a second chance on the pass and found Crosby who tapped in the easy goal. 3-2 Pens.

Tyler Kennedy delivered the knockout punch when he forced another Detroit turnover. It was tic-tac-toe passing from TK to Kunitz to Bing and back to TK. Money. 4-2 Pens.

Just like that, Pittsburgh was in command. Malkin had a last-second breakaway, courtesy of a Zetterberg turnover, but was stopped by Osgood.

I’m not sure who records the “giveaways” stat, but apparently the Red Wings only turned the puck over six times in the game, instead of 400 times.  He was probably getting drunk with Datsyuk in the press box.

The Red Wings put on the pressure early in the final frame and then simply ran out of gas. Just like Game Three.

They had a chance in the winding minutes of the game, but Kronwall took a lazy penalty with 1:33 left that spoiled any chance of a comeback.

If you haven’t noticed how to beat Chris Osgood yet then you aren’t watching this series. The guy can’t move from left to right. But the Pens know how to beat him now. The last two games he has been outplayed by a younger, more athletic and versatile Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 37 saves in the Game Four win.

For all the credit Zetterberg’s gotten for shutting down Crosby in this series, do people realize that Zetterberg only has one goal in this series and it came off the lucky Gonchar poke-check that went right to him in Game Three?