The Penguins and Thrashers battled this afternoon at Mellon Arena, but for many fans, the hockey day started much earlier with a trip to the Heinz History Center.  Thanks to the Pens, the NHL, and the Hockey Hall of Fame, folks who were in Pittsburgh this weekend had the chance to see Hockey's Holy Grail, as well as all of the other major trophies.

Be very quiet, we're hunting Thrashers.

For maximum effect, we used the positive mojo of the Pensburgh signs behind both benches today.  The Penguins improved to 3-0-0 when playing with the power of Pensburgh!

And of course our other good luck charm was in attendance and watching over the home team's bench.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

There was some pregame business.  Below are the co-winners of the "Good Guy" award.

Bill Guerin walked away with the "Comback Player" Award, as in no matter how old he gets, he keeps coming back.

Jordan Staal was honored as the "Player's Player".

I would not have wanted to be the guy to tell Brooks that he didn't win anything....

Fortunately, no one had to break that news to Brooks as he was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, edging out GoGo and an orange traffic cone.

Then Sid won all of the other awards, but refused to come out from behing the camerman to give me a good picture.  Can you find Sid in this picture?

Fan dress code infractions:  No shirts, no shoes....NO SHIRTS!  It's the first one on the list.  Come on, guys.

Somebody tell Tanger he's got a little schmutz on the back of his jersey.

As the late, great Marvin Gaye once said, "Let's Get it On!"

The Rough Stuff

Bill Guerin intimidates the world.

The Funny Stuff

To honor the final season of the Johnstown Chiefs, Evgeni Malkin performs his own rendition of Michael Ontkean's classic on-ice striptease from the movie Slapshot, which was filmed in Johnstown.

Sid, Geno, tongues and Iceburgh

The Game

Fleury got turned around on this play.

What a collection of talent...

Trailing 3-2 late in the game, the Pens pulled Fleury to get the extra attacker.

Paging Mr Gonchar.

It worked!  Gonchar tied the game to force overtime.

"Let's get it on", overtime edition.

Leopold put one past an unexpecting Hedberg, scoring his first goal as a Penguin.

First star of the game, thank God he is back, Sergei Gonchar!

Thanks to PensFan8725 and Shayborg for getting these shots of the Pensburgh signs.