Capitals at Penguins (alumni version) - 12-31-10

PREGAME
(We'll bust out the CBC playoff opening for today.)

Greetings from:

"Hockeytahn:"

-Heinz Field:

-A pair of lost souls:

-Old gate D from Three Rivers Stadium:

-Speaking of which:

-Fans walking up the North Shore Riverwalk:

-Mario Lemieux has fans both young and old:

-This will be a really dijointed attempt at a live blog. Our apologies beforehand. The aren't roster or even steady replays of the action on the ice. And we're like 50,000,000 feet away from the field.

-Jimerson handles the national anthem:

-The Penguins' starters are Gilles Meloch, Paul Coffey, Bill Guerin, Larry Murphy, Mario  Lemieux and Kevin Stevens.

-The Penguins are wearing their 2008 Winter Classic jerseys. So that baby blue Lemieux jersey you bought after the 2008 Winter Classic? No long a jacket foul.

-The Capitals are wearing their current jerseys.

FIRST PERIOD

16:10: Meloche makes a save... from above the top of both faceoff circles. It takes roughtly 40 minutes for him to get back in net.

15:38: And that old Brown to Lemieux connection strikes. The old pair of all-star linemates hook up on a goal against Washington goaltender Don Beaupre. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Penguins 1-0.

-We assure you it wasn't as pretty as this goal:

13:04: Tie game. Alan May beats Meloche from the slot. Capitals 1, Penguins 1.

12:05: Uh oh. The Capitals take a lead. Paul Mulvey beats Meloche. Put in Gilles Meloche! Capitals 2-1.

10:23: Tie game again. Rod Buskas cashes in. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played. Capitals 2, Penguins 2.

-It wasn't as pretty as this goal:

8:10: The Penguins take a lead as Craig Simpson beats Beaupre on the near side from the right circle. The Woo-Hoo!" song is played Penguins 3-2.

-It wasn't as pretty as this goal:

8:00: You can only contain Mark Lofthouse for so long. He beats Pietrangelo to tie the game. Capitals 3, Penguins 3.

6:30: There was pretty awful traffic getting here today. Fans were a little late filing in. But late in the first period, the stands begin to fill out a bit:

4:05: A lukewarm "Let's Go Pens!" chant breaks out.

0:19: Coffey makes a pretty nice dash up the right wing by the Capitals defense.

0:00: End of period. Capitals 3, Penguins 3.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-As someone said to us yesterday, the highlight of a game like this is the introductions. That person wasn't kidding. It's basically a bunch of old guys playing pick up.

-During the intermission, Robbie Brown offers "The Windmill:"

SECOND PERIOD

20:00: Frank Pietrangelo replaces Gilles Meloche.

19:41: Lemieux cuts in off the left wing and feed Brown who appears to whiff a bit on a one-timer from the slot.

17:45: Peter Taglianetti has a one-timer from the top of the slot denied.

15:30: Cotton candy is indeed, here:

14:38: The Capitals take back the lead after Paul Mulvey re-directs a puck by Pietrangelo on the stick side. Dean Evason gets the lone assist. Capitals 4-3.

14:03: We actually get a penalty called. Gary Rissling, seventh all-time on the Penguins with 832 penalty minutes, is sent off for a minor.

10:50: Gary Roberts is robbed in tight on a backhander by Beaupre. BIGGGGGG save.

9:11: Jay Caufield!?!? THe former Penguins bruiser steps up and hammers a lose puck on net with a one-timer which squeaks through Beaupre. Beaupre should have to forfeit his NHLPA pension for allowing a goal to Caufield. Bryan Trottier and Troy Loney get assists. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played.

-Sadly, a search for evidence of Jay Caufield's scoring ability turns up little:

6:55: Brown gets hauled down in the left circle on a rush to the net. An animated Gary Rissling campaigns for a penalty shot. No dice. The Penguins send out a power play unit of Lemieux, Simpson, Coffey, Murphy and Errey.

6:32: During a stoppage, Kevin Stevens is interviewed by Dan Potash. A translator was not on hand to translate however.

5:43: And the Penguins take a lead. Murphy controsl the puck at the top of the slot and feathers a pass down low to the side of the cage for Ronnie Franchise. Ron Francis puts the Penguins in the lead. Murphy and Lemieux get assists.

-It was almost as big as this goal:

3:16: Caufield isn't messing around. He flops down to block a shot from the left point. Yeesh.

2:00: Controversey! Murphy rips a wrister from the right circle and scores but the goal is waved off. Kevin Stevens fell on and crushed tripped Beaupre. No goal.

1:00: Beaupre is pulled for an extra attacker.

0:44: And they tie it late! Petr Bondra blasts a one-timer from the slot. Ken Sabourin gets the only assist. Capitals 5, Penguins 5.

0:00: End of game. Capitals 5, Penguins 5.

POSTGAME

-Fans boo with the game being announced as a tie. A "LET-THEM-PLAY!" chant rains down.

-Hey, it's a throwback game. Let's go back to ties right?

-The team's have a hand shake line:

We'll have more later today from practices. Please stay tuned.