3rd Period Live-Blogging

Pierre informs his audience that Pronger and some of the other Ducks not in uniform tonight do not plan to let Daniel Alfredsson get a free pass. Good for them, but a reminder to Pronger and the Anaheim boys: The Cup matters. Win the game on the scoreboard. Keep Alfredsson from getting his hands on the prize.

(Note to self: My "good for them" reveals that my embrace of hockey culture is not as starkly different from that of Cherry or Hull as I would like to delude myself into believing. I might be an American, slightly more refined fan, but a hockey fan who doesn't believe in sticking up for your teammates? You won't find a real one.)

Brad May's "screaming louder" than Pierre has ever heard him scream has helped to result in an Anaheim goal. Pretty. Tic-tac-toe. Or just tic-tac. Selanne to Penner. Emery is mouthing and angry. Also a nice sight.

An aside: During this commercial break, I feel it should be noted that I rooted for the Senators to beat the Devils, and that while I was rooting for Daniel Briere to lift the Cup, I wasn't all that upset that the Senators beat the Sabres. I was especially happy for the 3-year-old child, the Ottawa fan, who recently passed away, who was able to see his Senators win the conference finals. Such a story was heartwarming and uplifting, honestly and truly and really.

But I can't root for the team that booted my Pens from the playoffs to win the Cup. I just can't. And besides, I've always had something of a soft spot for the Finnish Flash. I'd rather see Teemu get his name on the Cup than Daniel Alfredsson.

One-goal Game: Yes, Mike, as much as I love you, I know it's a one-goal game. That's why my heart's racing. And it's not even a deciding game. And my team isn't even playing. If and when (I hope) my Pens get to this point in a couple of/few seasons, I guess I'm going to have to do a lot of push-ups or running in place or jumping jacks so there's some logical reason for my heart to be racing the way it is. And you know what I said about overtime? I'm okay if the game ends 3-2 in regulation. Which probably means it won't. I don't think things generally happen when I say "I'm okay" if something particular happens.

Growl: Did Pierre really just have to say that Jiggy was playing well? It always seems to me these announcers "jinx" goalies. Or maybe that was just Steigy and Errey (FSN Pittsburgh TV guys) this postseason/at times during the regular season. Still, no jinxing, please.

Pierre: Pierre informs us Randy Carlyle has calmed down, a little, when it comes to his kids (I call them kids, not children. The Pens' kids are the only children, said, of course, in fun). He's showing confidence in his players, even the youth. Interesting how coaching tactics, in terms of how a coach relates to players, change from the beginning to the end of the season, and from the regular season to the postseason. Nothing earth-shattering there, just an observation.

Pierre, Take 2: Bonehead Bill McCreary (hmm, like that alliteration, too, as the only bozos can be the commentating team) tells the Anaheim bench to watch their changes. Edzo almost flips (I mean, for Edzo, it's close to flipping), protesting that Anaheim just did a great job with a change. Well, I mean, anything would have to be better than deliberately putting yourself down a man for no apparent reason (Game 3, remember that, anyone?). If Anaheim has 5 players on the ice when they should, that's a good thing. And, snark aside, Penner scoring on Selanne's pass, that was a nice change for Carlyle's Ducks.

Ottawa Time-Out: Growl, Ottawa called a time out. We're under the 2 minute mark, and my heart is racing, and again, these are so not my teams. Time to start working out (having not done that yet today) at least there's an excuse for the racing heart.

Less Than a Minute: And Emery's out of the net. Jiggy makes a save, but there is too much time left. As there always is in a one-goal game. And oh yes, the heart is still racing, and not just because I started doing lunges.

Anaheim players jump up: On their bench, with less than 2 seconds left in the game. And I start jumping with them. I can't help it. I don't like Ottawa's coach or their captain.

Signing off for the night: There will be no live-blogging of NBC's online coverage. Sorry. When it's on TV, then we'll discuss live-blogging that. Speaking of which, the network had dang well better not cut out of the Stanley Cup final presentation. (Talk about low expectations, eh.)