It is going to be a long road to hoe starting tonight as the Pittsburgh Penguins begin their defense of the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers. But after the banners are raised and the recognition ends it is back to work.

To win the Cup again will take a lot of effort. This is a Penguins team with a lot of players who have played a lot of hockey over the past two seasons. They have the experience and they have got the talent. But they also have a big bullseye on their backs as everyone will be looking to prove that they are better than the Stanley Cup Champions. Teams like the Flyers, the Capitals and the Hurricanes will all be looking to avenge play off losses each time they square off against the Penguins. I leave the Red Wings out of that category because the two will meet just once in a non-conference match up that will neither make or break either team’s season.

The names have been inscribed on the cup and what is done is done. Tonight it is back to business and that business is to dance once again with Lord Stanley.

Good luck Pens! Let’s make the last season in the old Igloo a memorable one!

Perhaps it was a fitting end to a tight series after all, a series in which each team held the lead at some point during the previous six games but a series that, let’s face it, was only headed to Game 7 because of one man. And no, that man’s name is not Alexander Ovechkin. Without Simeon Varlamov the Capitals would never have been in this situation with a chance at literally stealing a series from the Pittsburgh Penguins after being over matched night in and night out, period after period.

I joke about Alexander Ovechkin being overrated. There is no denying that Ovechkin has one of the best shots in hockey.

There have been a lot of predictions about how Game 7 would shake out. Would the lack of experience among the Penguins in such an elimination game be a factor? Would the Capitals make another comeback and win yet another deciding game like they did in Round 1? How many goals would Crosby and Ovechkin score and who would be the secondary scorer that would be the hero? Could Fleury elevate his game after a lack luster series? Could Varlamov steal yet another win? Would Gonchar be back in the lineup? All these questions started to be answered at the drop of the puck.

No. No. Two, one and Geurin. Yes. No. YES!

The first period started out back and forth. Then it happened. Ovechkin behind the Penguins defense got the outlet and bared down on Marc-Andre Fleury. Ovechkin dragged the puck across in front of the net and flipped it towards the goal. But Fleury flashed leather and every Washington fan behind the net was half way out of their seat before they realized that there was no goal on the play.

That is when the Penguins took control.

Morrison took a slashing penalty to put the Penguins on the power play. Gonchar prowled at the blue line with puck on stick. Wristing it towards the net the puck bounced out to the skate of Crosby. He kicked it to his stick and swatted it into the net.

1-0 Penguins.

Off the face off, the Penguins won control and stormed into the Capitals end again. Just eight seconds later it was Craig Adams that put the puck through the wickets of Varlamov.

2-0 Penguins.

Then came the second period. 0:28 in Crosby lead the rush and pushed the puck to the high slot and the stick of Billy Guerin.

3-0 Penguins.

About a minute and a half later Letang ripped a puck that got stuck in the net behind Varlamov.

4-0 Penguins.

That was all for Varlamov at that point as the Penguins finally got to the rookie and chased him from the net. In came Jose Theodore.

At 11:37 of the second Jordan Staal showed that it did not matter on this night who was in goal for Washington. He scrummed for a puck in front of the net in traffic and BOOM …

5-0 Penguins.

In the waining moments of the second Fleury misplayed a puck behind the net, Ovechkin picked it off the wall and wrapped it into an empty net.

Yawn … 5-1 Penguins.

Enter the third period. After a double minor for high sticking where Laich took the lumber to Crosby’s face, Crosby walked in late on the first of the two and beat Theodore for his second of the game.

6-1 Penguins.

Laich would add another goal a few minutes later to make it 6-2 but somewhere between being down 3-0 and 4-0 the Capitals just lost all will to win.

The Penguins played excellent in front of Fleury who was not test all that much. They allowed only 5 shots in the first, 7 shots in the second and 9 shots in the third. 21 shots is not enough to beat the Penguins.

I have been saying this for the last week since getting a look at Varlamov in the first two games. He’s good. But he is not good enough to steal a series against a team like the Penguins. He tried valiantly though.

Now the wait to see who wins the Boston Carolina series begins. I’ll be watching tomorrow night eagerly.

The Capitals are reeling. Although they won’t admit it, they know that they were lucky to be up 2-0 in their series with the Penguins as they headed back to Pittsburgh for game 3. And that luck came in the form of a goal tender named Varlamov. Sure, the Capitals have played hard in every game so far, but the Penguins have, by in large, been better both offensively and defensively.

Last nights victory by the Penguins without Gonchar in overtime completely changed the complexion of this second round match up. And it did so in more ways that one. First, it broke the curse of the team who scores first losing the game. Second, it put the Capitals down for the first time in the series. Third, it continued to show that there is a tried and true way to beat Varlamov – throw the rubber at him.

After a scoreless first period, the Penguins struck first in the second just over five minutes in. Jordan Staal (1) found the far post on Varlamov to break the ice. But then Ovechkin answered less than a minute later. Seemingly tired and hounded by Brooks Orpik as he entered the Penguins zone Ovechkin stopped up just inside the blue line and ripped a shot that found the only opening Fleury had allowed high to his glove side to tie the game. It was another soft goal allowed by Fleury who, after stopping twelve first period shots would go on to allow two on ten in the second to send the Penguins into the third down 2-1. The score first and lose curse seemed to be coming to fruition again.

But the Penguins answered less than a minute into the third. Malkin pushed deep into the Capital’s zone and dropped the puck to Fedotenko trailing the play. Fedotenko (4) beat Varlamov from long range to tie the game. Then at 6:27 of the third the Penguins third line struck again. Pressuring the Capitals net, the line had Varlamov scrambling when the rebound came out to his left. Both Kennedy and Cooke simultaneously jumped on the puck and it was Cooke who found it a fraction of a second before his line mate and tickled the twine for a 3-2 lead.

All the Penguins had to do was hold on from there. But they could not as late in the third the Capitals rushed the Pittsburgh Zone. Green fed Backstrom in front of the net who then fed Ovechkin (10) on Fleury’s left. Fleury was too far out of the net to seal off the post and the game was tied 3-3.

To overtime …

Both teams had golden opportunities in the opening minutes of play but both Fleury and Varlamov stood tall. That was until 3:28 of the OT frame. Killing a penalty, the Capitals pushed the puck into the Penguins zone and the Penguins gathered the puck and broke out. Capitals fans are still moaning that there should have been an interference on the play but, like the previous game when a Penguins was leveled from behind in an obvious piece of interference that led to a goal, there was no call. The Penguins stormed down the ice and Malkin carried the puck. He threw the puck to the net and it deflected off the stick of a sprawled out Capital and into the net behind Varlamov. The final score was 4-3. The series is now 3-2 Penguins.

But it is not over. The series resumes Monday at 7:00 in Pittsburgh. That is still a must win game for the Penguins because they do not want to go back to Washington for a game 7 on Wednesday. And with as good as the Capitals have played, they are bound to potentially have a better game than the Penguins. So the Penguins have to come ready to play.

Then of course, there is Varlamov. If he has a great game he could singlehandedly send the series to a seventh game.

It was bound to happen. Honestly it was. The Penguins, despite any thoughts by the Washington Capitals, their fans and the media, have consistently outplayed the Capitials in this best of seven series. Yet despite that fact, the Penguins returned to Pittsburgh down 0-2 in the series. Varlamov, Washington’s rookie net minder, was the only reason for that.

However, after another dominating effort on Wednesday the Penguins followed up with yet another last night seeming to finally have solved the riddle of Varlamov and putting five pucks behind him to win Game 4 of the best of seven series 5-3. Just like every other game so far, it could have been much, much worse. Only Varlamov stopped it from being a slaughter – again.

Marc-Andre Fleury again allowed a goal on the first shot he faced barely a minute into the game. It was a soft goal and one he should have never allowed. But with the team scoring first loosing every game of the series so far, perhaps it was all part of the plan. Sergei Gonchar (2) opened the flood gates by ripping a power play goal through Varlamov at just 3:55 of the first to tie the game up. Gonchar would later be hurt on another one of Ovechkin’s famous head hunting missions later in the game and would not return. The exact status of Gonchar’s injury is still unknown but it looks like his status for Game 5 tonight is doubtful.

Capital’s fans will never admit it but Ovechkin has a history of taking runs at players in vulnerable situations. He has done it repeatedly to Crosby, although that stopped after Crosby jumped out of the way of a couple causing Ovechkin to slam into the boards hard and he has done it repeatedly to Malkin prior to this season. But again, Malkin has toughened up and Ovechkin has learned that headhunting Geno is not a safe bet any more. Ovechkin will never get a suspension for his antics because the NHL does not want to force a marquee player out of an important game in an important series no matter how justified it would be to do so.

Bill Guerin (3) and Fedotenko (3) also added goals in the first to send the Capitals into the intermission down 3-1. Clark (1) would get the Capitals back to within one late in the second period but Crosby (9) made the lead two again early in the third.

Two minutes late the refs put their whistles away. While on the power play, the Penguins were in their own end and an obvious bit of interference on Kris Letang went uncalled. The Capitals then scored short handed to make it 5-4. However it was Talbot (2) that iced the game late in the third beating Varlamov for the Penguins fifth goal.

Fleury made 19 saves with a few goal saving stops to help anchor the victory.

The two teams turn around and head to Washington for Game 5 tonight with the series now a best of three games. The Penguins need a win on Washington’s ice and if they don’t get one tonight, Game six on Monday night in Pittsburgh will be do or die.

The Penguins ended an important road trip a perfect 5-0 by defeating the Washington Capitals in a shootout Sunday 4-3. The win keeps the Penguins in the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. The Penguins were lead Sunday by newly acquired Bill Guerin who had three points (1G, 2A) and also got tallies from Crosby (25) and Gonchar (3) during the sixty physical minutes of regulation.

The Pens dominated through the first forty minutes of play carrying a 3-1 lead into the final period but break downs early in the third lead to Washington evening the score on two goals in the first 1:18 of the frame. Both teams traded scoring chances for the rest of the game and eventually wound up in the shootout. Fleury was perfect stopping all three shots he faced including Alexander Ovechkin while Sidney Crosby beat Jose Theodore for the win.

Pittsburgh is now 35-26-6 on the season with 76 points and they needed each of the wins they earned on this road trip to climb into and cling to the final playoff spot. Pittsburgh is surging with a record of 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and are returning home to host the Florida Panthers in yet another must win game for position in the post season.