icedog97

"Penguins Hockeybuzz Blog"

Pittsburgh, PA • United States • 48 Years Old • Male

Shhh...Don't Say THAT word...

In game 4, to be played Wednesday night in Ottawa, the Penguins will have a chance to close out their first round playoff series with the Senators.

A simple look at the math involved and we see...the number of the game being played in the series and the number of games required to win the series are both 4. So the Pens are in position to do something special...something that is identified by a word I will not type in this article.

It would seem, from my above statements, that it can be concluded that I am superstitious. Otherwise, why would I shy away from using the word that starts with an 'S' and ends with a 'P' and sounds a lot like SLEEP except it needs to find one W and avoid one L?

And I guess that's EXACTLY why I don't like to say or type that word.

Because when all you need is one W, it can be very hard to find if you are thinking about that 4-0 word instead. Too often it's easier to find an L if you you lose focus of what you need to do to secure that W.

If game 4 follows the script of this series so far, we are likely to see one of two things - Either the Sens will come out determined to steal a win (like games 2 and 3)...or they will come out appearng to accept what so many believe is their fate (similar to game 1).

How the Sens approach the game will probably depend largely on whether or not Captain Daniel Alfredsson plays. If Alfie is out, I just don't see the remaining Sens having what it takes to rise to the challenge...at least not THIS team...not THIS year. So the Pens will have to be focused and finish the deal.

If Alfie plays, then the Pens will have to be ready to face the challenge and "weather the storm"...then see what happens.

For the Pens, in either case, it really is about THEM.

As their coach has stated in numerous interviews, they only worry about what THEY have to do. They are not concerned about what the other team does. And as this series has played out, it has become apparent that RIGHT NOW, against THESE Sens, that is definitely the case.

So Wednesday in Ottawa the Pens SHOULD take care of business...if they can concentrate on geting that one W and avoiding that one L so that they can get things spelled out correctly.

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