Monday Hockey Ponderings

I turned the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh game on yesterday afternoon as I was reading, not so much because I wanted to watch it as because I wanted to see what would happen (if you see the distinction). Philadelphia winning the first two games in Pittsburgh was so unexpected; what would happen in Philly?

I must say I was rather stunned when the score was 6-4 after two periods. The final score was 8-4, or three times what the Bruins and Caps have scored in just over seven periods of play. Watching the Bruins-Caps play low-scoring, intense-goaltending games has me in a place where this profligate scoring seems almost indecent.

If my math is correct, in two games the Bruins and Caps have played 144:14, and scored a total of four goals. The first Philly-Pittsburgh game went into OT, so their 3-game total time is 182:23, and they've combined for 32 goals. Thirty-two! Whatever happens tonight in game three for the Bruins, there won't be 28 goals scored.

Yet the Bruins are capable of scoring. Some of their victories this season:

7-0
6-0
6-0
8-0
6-1
9-0
8-0

Yes, they can score. Will they? Perhaps when you read this, it will be Tuesday and you'll know. But as I write it, I don't. And though I tell myself that it's a game, and not a matter of life or death, I must admit that I want them to win. Or at the least, to acquit themselves well. There's no shame in being outplayed, if they do their best. If only they would!