Let's Go Pens!!! 

or how could anyone not love hockey? 

Seriously. How could anyone NOT love hockey, especially this time of year. My beloved Penguins are entrenched in round two of playoff hockey against the Hurricanes, battling for a berth in the Stanley Cup--which will be held sometime in ... oh 2020. Yeah, it's a loooong season. I go through withdrawal when it's over.

Regular season hockey is the fastest, most exhilarating sport around, but playoff hockey is just MENTAL!! The first series went back and forth with several nail-biting, overtime endings, finishing off with a game seven blow out by the Burgh Boys. 

Whew! 

Playoff hockey is intense, but overtime playoff hockey is OFF. THE. FREAKING. CHARTS!! I swear it will be the death of me. Aaaah, but a happy death it will be.

Tonight was game two. Pens Captain Cutie, Sid (sporting a sad little, chin hugging beard--at least it's thicker than last year's) scored early only to have Carolina counter with a goal. We scored again, and again within minutes the Hurricanes tied it up. Back and forth it went until the third period when Geno Malkin blindly shot the puck backwards at the net to score a hat trick and put the Pens ahead by two! 

The hats were flying, my friend!! The crowd was euphoric... Malkin's parents were beaming in the stands... Mr. Malkin celebrated by molesting the sweet young thing seated in front of him... 

Wait. What?

Yes. Mr. Malkin loves dis country. Indeed. Anywho, Kennedy (Tyler, not Ted) sealed the deal with a late-game empty netter. There were even some relatively decent hockey fights towards the end. And I do loves me a good hockey fight. 

All in all it was a fabulous night for the fans inside the arena, outside the arena watching on the Jumbo Tron and for us here at home. The boys play their hearts out for every game. They get knocked down, elbowed in the face, slammed into the boards with enough force to knock a few teeth loose and yet they come back for more. Whether they're bruised, bloody or broken...they come back for more.

Now who wouldn't love that? Let's go Pens!!