auntiemeesh | Oh so sweet!

Back in February, the Penguins were struggling. They were in tenth place and any chance of a playoff berth was getting more and more unlikely. Two months later, a new coach on board and a new attitude in the players, they were in fourth place. Tonight, they are the Eastern Conference Champions. They beat Caroline 4-1 tonight to sweep the series. It was definitely not their best game ever. Their offense was sporadic and far too much of the game took place in the Penguins defensive zone. But Fleury was outstanding, making save after save. One puck got past him a minute and a half into the game. And then he closed the door and said 'nope, not gonna happen.'

There were a pair of really interesting parallel moments in the game. Max Talbot made a shot that just went in over Cam Ward's glove. The camera caught Ward looking up at the ceiling in amazed disgust that he missed the puck. A little while later, the 'Canes were on an impressive offensive crush, buzzing around the net like a hive of angry wasps, and Fleury withstood every shot fired his way. When it was over, it was his turn to get caught on camera in stunned disbelief. He just looked amazed that he and the team had made it through that onslot.

Carolina fought hard tonight, got on the scoreboard first and never stopped playing. It was a much better game for them than the one last Saturday. Not enough to win the game, but hopefully at least enough to keep them from looking liked the kicked puppies they were over the weekend.

Did I mention, the Penguins are going to the Stanley Cup!!!! Woohoo!!!! *does a little happy dance of joy*