Habs - Pens

Jeez, do I love Center Ice. This is my first year being a subscriber, and I'll definitely get my money's worth.

Tonight (so far), I watched the Pens-Habs. That was good stuff.

Carey Price raised some eyebrows across the league when he made the Canadiens final roster, but after tonight, I don't think he'll have any doubters. He won his NHL debut 3-2, and played very well.

The first goal he gave up, there was nothing he could do. Golden Boy Sidney Crosby had been given a slight nudge just outside the crease area, and he bowled Price over, then stood over the fallen goaltender as Ryan Whitney tucked the puck into an empty net. The referees decided that the contact was incidental, and no goaltender interference call was made. There was karmic payback, however, late in the game. With the Pens trailing 3-2, Evgeni Malkin stode into the Habs zone on a breakaway, but he was thwarted by a desperate pokecheck by a Montréal rearguard. Although it was marginal, the referees "decided" that contact was made with the puck before Malkin was knocked down. Thus no penalty shot. No interference penalty. Nothing.

The second goal that Price gave up, there was nothing that any goaltender in the NHL could have done. Malkin made a jaw-droppingly beautiful no-look backhanded pass from behind the cage to Maxim Talbot for a really nifty goal on the doorstep.

Price was "officially" the second star, but if RBH was handing them out, he would have been the first.

In other news, I took a quick glance at the Stars and Kings. I must admit that upon seeing the sweaters in action, I don't think the Stars home sweaters are bad at all.

I'm about to watch the 'Nucks and Flyers. I don't think I'll reverse my decision on the 'Nucks home sweaters.