[Critch]

2035/36 Stanley Cup Finals - Pittsburgh Penguins
Three Stanley Cup Finals in four, the fans in Anchorage have been spoiled because they still don't sell out the arena.

Pittsburgh had a number of years rebuilding but are back now, this is the third year in a row they've made the playoffs. They got themselves the best goaltender in the league last summer, 25 year old Belarusian Anatol Lyantsevich, from San Jose in a blockbuster trade for a bundle of young players (a 4.5 center, a 3.0 defenseman, a 3.0 left wing and a 2nd round pick). He's so good he's broken through the "out of 20" rating system, he's 21 for positioning. That move turned them into a real contender. They also have LW Jett Luchanko who played for Colorado when they were good, and 4 centers rated 3.5 (Michael Jackson (not that one), Sean Doherty, Quinn Kennedy and Lee Shurgot) so they're good through the middle. They have a couple of top defensemen too, on first glance they didn't seem as good as Atlanta but when you look at the goalie too they're going to be tough. They also have ex-Husky Dylan Nolan playing left wing on their 4th line. He left Anchorage, spent a year on vacation then signed for the Penguins last summer.

We played Pittsburgh twice in the regular season, a 5-3 win in Pittsburgh and a 6-1 win in Anchorage. Their good goalie didn't play in either game, we saw their backup G Kyle Dawe both times.

Game 1 - Pittsburgh Penguins 2 Anchorage Huskies 0
Matt Leader is injury free but still struggling for fitness. I may have rushed him back too soon. He'll still be playing though. It's a defensive battle, we outshoot them 24-18 but their previously mentioned top goalie makes the difference, he saves all 24 shots. Pittsburgh top line center Lee Shurgot scores twice late in the first period (17:24 and 19:31) and that's an end to the scoring. Anchorage had a couple of power play chances in the second, but shut out. We've lost the first game of the last two series too, so hopefully that's some kind of omen.

Game 2 - Pittsburgh Penguins 5 Anchorage Huskies 2
Enzo Landrey comes back in as 4th center, it was a waste of Urho Mattila giving him limited minutes as 4th line center so Landrey is back so we can put Mattila back into a top 6 winger place. Doesn't help. Things go badly quickly, Jett Luchanko after 15 seconds and Pittsburgh in the lead. Urho Mattila back as 2nd line left wing scores at 2:27 and it's tied after one. Second period Anchorage take the lead at 3:17 with an August Pettersson goal (the returning Enzo Landrey with the assist), but the game turns at the end of the period. Pittsburgh equalize at 17:33 (Alexander Haggblom) and take the lead with a buzzerbeater right at the end of the period (Lee Shurgot at 20:00). Pittsburgh control the third period, Koehn Ziemmer makes it 4-2 at 12:21 then they add an empty net goal. We're off to Pittsburgh 2-0 down.

Game 3 - Anchorage Huskies 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 2
Lots of messing about with the lines. Desperate times require desperate measures. A slow start, but it all worked out ok in the end. Just like the last game Jett Luchanko gave Pittsburgh the lead in the first, this time Peter Hrovatin equalized for Anchorage with a power play goal after 10:32 (it was a good night for the Anchorage power play). Jean-Philippe Cloutier makes it 2-1 Pittsburgh after 15 minutes. Into the second and we're tied again, another power play goal for Anchorage. This time it's Jordan Gavin. It's all tied up into the third and just when it looks like overtime, Anchorage strikes for a winner. David Prudek makes it 3-2 at 19:57 in the third. Game over and we're not getting swept, we're back in the series. Anchorage outshot Pittsburgh 37-24, mostly due to a dominating second period. It was their goalie that kept them in it.

Game 4 - Anchorage Huskies 3 Pittsburgh Penguins 1
The first period is a mass of penalties, a few coincidental. At 6:00 Urho Mattila gets a slashing penalty, some Penguin cheat gets an embellishment too. At 10:32 Enzo Landrey and Garin Ludwig get coincidental crosschecking penalties. Garin Ludwig is out the box 8 seconds before he gets a high sticking penalty, Pittsburgh get another. It's all got a bit testy. In amongst all the 5-on-4 and 4-on-4 play, Carsen Adair puts Anchorage 1-0 up and Jordan Gavin makes it 2-0. Period two calms down, Kaden McGregor scores for Pittsburgh to make it close again. Period three Oskar Vuollet makes it 3-1, no more scoring but some more penalties late on, coincidental slashing penalties aplenty. Series tied and back to Anchorage. We've taken some injuries though.

Game 5 - Pittsburgh Penguins 4 Anchorage Huskies 1
It's time for some oh no! type injuries. Top defenseman Henry Mew has a knee injury and is out for the rest of the series, Urho Mattila has a collarbone injury and is out for the rest of the series. "It could have been worse" said Urho Mattila. No it couldnt Urho. David Prudek makes it 1-0 Anchorage in the first, Jett Luchanko ties it up in the second. It's his 15th goal of the playoffs, he'll be playoff MVP if/when the Penguins win. Second period has another round of slashing/high sticking coincidental minors, lots of 4-on-4. The teams are getting sick of each other. Third period is all Penguins, Wes Filmer puts them ahead, Jett Luchanko scores yet another goal from yet another power play, and Lee Shurgot scores an empty net goal. More injuries, the team is beaten up and off to Pittsburgh for a must-win game.

Game 6 - Anchorage Huskies 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 3
Dahlberg and Mews are still out, now Leader is injured too. He's day-to-day, less than 100% but can play with a sore ankle. Three of the top four defensemen are out or playing through injury. Getting my excuses in early. We're too beaten up, Pittsburgh take control. Lucas Fenrich makes it 1-0 to Pittsburgh in the first, Lee Shurgot 2-0 in the second. Vasili Podkolzin rises from the grave to get Anchorage back into it in probably his last game at 5:15 in the third, but Jett Luchanko scores his 17th of the playoffs and it's all over.

And that's it, another Stanley Cup defeat for Anchorage, and Pittsburgh get their first Stanley Cup of the post-Crosby/Malkin/Letang era. If we'd some how got to game seven we'd have been even more beaten up, August Pettersson is out with concussion.

Onto the close season, at least this year the only free agent leaving is Vasili Podkolzin and there are no big price extensions due, so that'll be 6.5 million left over to spend on defensemen. And we'll have a lottery pick in the draft too from sending Jiri Mendl to Washington, not much chance of winning in the lottery, they were 12th worst, but it's a lottery pick. Better than a poke in the eye.