And the stress just escalated to epic levels....Round 3

Remember that breather I asked for after round 1?  Well we got it after round 2.  Eight whole days without Pens Hockey!  The Horror!

The Pens were so much better in the second round.  I don't know if it was dusting the rust off of the playoffs or just getting that first round win, but the series against Ottawa was so much better than the series against the Islanders.

Picture from the Open Practice in 2010 Training Camp #LetsGoPens

I was personally superstitious during this series.  for the first 4 games, I worked on the same project, wore the same shirt and listened to Mike Lange call the game on my ipad.  The fifth game was a bit different but I will talk about that below.

The lucky shawl.

Image from Ottawa Senators Wikipedia page

Here is a series Recap:

Opponent:  Ottawa Senators
Game 1: SENS 1 - PENS 4
Game 2: SENS 3 - PENS 4
Game 3: PENS 1 - SENS 2 (OT)
Game 4: PENS 7 - SENS 3
Game 5: SENS 2 - PENS 6

As I mentioned before, this series showed the greatness and drive the Penguins have.  The goal tending was superb on both sides from games 2 and 3.  In game 3. the Pens out shot and outplayed the Senators but their goalie was a brick wall and wouldn't let anything in.  The start of game 4 continued like game three but the onslaught of shots could not be stopped by the defense and Craig Anderson was just broken down and the third period was a shooting gallery.

The winning spirit was still strong in game 5.  My Friday was a bit of a mess.  I was off for the holiday weekend and had some vacation days to use before I lose them at the end of May.  I was home and put my keys in the wrong place, effectively locking myself out of my apartment when I went to leave for the game. I tried to break in but the door is solid (yay for a safe building!) so I had to call the emergency number to get someone to open my apartment.  $50 later for 5 seconds worth of a key turn, I was able to grab my keys and lock up.

As soon as I got into my car, I pulled the lucky shawl out of it's project bag and turned the radio to 105.9 the X, which is the flagship station for the Pens radio broadcasts.  As I drove to my knit night, the Pens scored their first goal.

We usually meet at Panera but it was a birthday for Amy and she loves the Pens and wanted to watch and knit.  I suggested meeting at Primanti Bros since they would plenty of TVs to watch the game.

The lucky shawl.

Needless to say, I had my knitting and was listening to the radio broadcast in one ear to make sure all of my superstitions were still in effect.  The game was a good one but it was even better because it was shared with good friends.