Photos of games that are nearly a week old either age like fine wine or go stale like an old bag of Ruffles.  You be the judge.  Got to have some way to kill three days before the next Pens game, right?  Go beyond the jump to join Knitting Lady and me on our epic 3-game, 4-day, 4-state, 900-mile adventure.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Los Angeles Kings *** Consol Energy Center *** February 10, 2011

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Matt Cooke was serving the first game of a well deserved suspension.  We sure could have used him this weekend.

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I felt like my dad wanting to tell these guys to stop horsing around before somebody gets hurt.  And that was before I knew they would go on to be the biggest stars of the night.

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Fleury seemed to be okay.

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Staal, you could tell, had something special ready for tonight.

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Anthem pics for Leafer.

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Fleury was tested early and often.

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Pens drew first blood.

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Sterling made his presence felt, picking up his first goal as a (NHL) Penguin.

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There's a familiar face.  Rob Scuderi didn't make things easy on us in his first trip back to Pittsburgh.  He was greeted with a tribute video on the jumbotron.

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Dustin Jeffrey caught a ride on the injury train after this second period collision with LA netminder Jonathan Quick.

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Another familiar name making his first trip back to Pittsburgh.  Sadly, no tribute video for Poni.

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Never fear boys, Flower makes another save.

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Heading to overtime.

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Kings got lots of good pressure in the extra frame.

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Believe it or not, the video below was not edited.  The Kings were getting robbed by Fleury and then we got the puck and started heading the other way.  I thought it might be a good time to switch over to video mode.  Turns out, I was right.

Jordan Staal OT Game Winner - Pittsburgh Penguins vs LA Kings 2/10/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

The Pens got a much needed victory and two more points in the standings.  On a personal note, we were relieved to see it.  This game was a late addition to our itinerary, and a good addition it was.  We would see at least one win on this trip.  

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Fleury's effort was good enough for second star honors.

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First star of the game, Jordan Staal!!!

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Some fun stuff from the game.

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Just a little clip of Fleury's tv timeout routine.

Fleury Spin Move - Pittsburgh Penguins vs LA Kings 2/10/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

Elton John may be interested to know that, apparently, Thursday night is also alright for fighting.

Engelland vs Westgarth - Pittsburgh Penguins vs LA Kings 2/10/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

 

Craig vs Mitchell - Pittsburgh Penguins vs LA Kings 2/10/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

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We were up bright and early Friday and on our way from Pittsburgh to New York City.

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Lower Manhattan, here we come.

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Checked into our room and were greeted with this view. 

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Not much time to rest before making the trek out to Long Island.

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Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders *** Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum *** February 11, 2011

Remembering a better time for Islander fans.

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The boys looked fresh following their extra innings win over the Kings the night before.

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You could just tell evil lurked behind those eyes.

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The guys looked loose.  The Isles had played a long game the night before as well.  We were confident.  Never would have predicted the massacre to come.

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We definitely had some common ground with the home fans.

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The villains.  If only I had known what they had planned, I could have taken them out right here.  By that, of course, I mean Knitting Lady would have taken them out.

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Didn't take long for the funny business to start booming.

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Hey, Charlie.

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Ding Ding.  Round 1.  Adams vs Haley.  Sorry, no video.

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Somewhat overlooked amidst all the shenanigans was the Islanders doing their best impression of the 80s-era Edmonton Oilers.

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Down 3-0, Godard tries to spark the team the best way he knows how.  If only he had Brent Johnson'ed this fool, could have saved us a bit of trouble later in the game.

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Godard vs Gillies - Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders 2/11/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

Tanger went down at the end of the 1st.  Scared the crap out of us.

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it was great to see him back out there for the second period.

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Endless Goals Night on the Island continued.

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And we thought this was "all hell breaking loose".  Turned out to be just a warm-up for what was to come in the third.

Second Period Fights - Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Islanders 2/11/2011 (via PensAreYourDaddy)

 

 

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The Pens came out of the scuffle showing a little life.  That's it boys.  If they want to get dirty, then make them pay on the scoreboard.  There was a glimmer of hope as the lead was cut to 6-2.

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The list of Pens being targeted in this game was longer than anyone first thought.

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When you're on a road trip and you just saw a game the night before, and you're shooting unlimited photos and video in this game, and you forget some of your equipment back in the room, the inevitable happens.  Batteries die.  I don't know if it's good or bad that we don't have pictures to remember the third period of this game.  

Anyway, back to the room to enjoy the view.  The Empire State Building sure looked inviting.  What better way to forget a shitty game.  We grabbed a fresh battery and headed out into the frigid night air.

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From the 86th floor observation deck we spotted the venue for Sunday's game against the Rangers - Madison Square Garden.

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And we encountered some fellow Pens fans.

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Up early the next day on a hard target search of every knitting shop, knitting book store, craft store, bead store and yarn shop from SoHo to Midtown.

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Then I ate this burger from Bubby's in Tribeca.

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Pittsburgh Penguins @ New York Rangers *** Madison Square Garden *** February 13, 2011

On the way into MSG we ran into Nick and Jimmy who asked to get their picture taken with the Knitting Lady.  No, we couldn't believe it either.

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We spotted the Pens fans from the Empire State Building.

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We spotted Dan Potash interviewing players over at the Pens bench.  We waved.  He waved back.  Cool.  We went back to watching the teams warming up and a few minutes later Potash appears in front of us.  He came over to say hi.  What a freaking cool dude.  We chatted for a few minutes and he was more than happy to pose for another sock picture.

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The Pens came storming out of the gate and jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

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Torts took a well-timed TO.  Settled the troops and came up with a game plan designed to rip out our hearts.

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Practically before the timeout was even over, Brian Boyle tipped in Mark Staal's point shot to cut the lead in half.  All together now - "Uh oh".

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MSG Jumbotron fail, unless Sergei Zubov has come back to play for the Pens.

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As Gordon Gekko said: "Greed is good".  The Rangers greed was manifesting itself in five unanswered goals.

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Even Jordan Staal's hair could not save the day this time.

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Nothing good happened in the 2nd period.

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Rupp and some Ranger teamed up to topple the largest tree, er uh, linesman in the building.

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If I had to post only one pic for the game, this would have been it.  Callahan tasted blood and moved in for the kill.

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Endless pressure continued from the Rangers.

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Anisimov finished the scoring for the Rangers, giving them a 5-2 lead after two periods.

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The Battle of the Third Period was on.

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Pens showed some heart, netting one to cut the lead to 5-3.  More chances would follow, but it wasn't meant to be.

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I know what you're thinking.  We should never be allowed back in the state of New York.  With an 0-3 record going back to last season's day after Thanksgiving loss on the Island, I might have to agree with you.  Still, with a healthy line-up, I'd like to take another shot at it.

Good news is the fans at MSG were much better hosts than the fellas over at BSB.  Other than some clowns mocking Sid's concussion after the game, the folks we encountered were all very well behaved.  I wouldn't mind going back someday.

We'll be taking a little break from the action.  Back with more photos following the March 12-13 games against the Habs and Oilers.