Its been well documented that a lot of pro athletes are big videogamers. In that vein, Game 4 reminded me of a bunch of old videogames. Most of which I dominated Anthony in....
-This game was played at an infinitely more entertaining pace than game 3. There was long stretches of continuous play without whistles ala NHL 94 on Genesis before you figured out how to score every time down the ice (Or when both people agreed to play "one-timers only" because of the ability to score by doing the same move every time). Not to mention the fact that Montreal's second goal was very similar to the wraparound that worked every time.
-I know it sounds cliche but Montreal got all the bounces while being severely outplayed most of the night. Like when you would play the computer in Madden, and they would have one or two drives a game (even in a blowout) where they were going to score a touchdown no matter what you did. Tipped balls that were interceptions earlier in the game go to the receiver, the quarterback breaks a bunch of tackles, etc.....Both scenarios are extremely frustrating.
-With the Pens domination but inability to "Finish Them," its pretty obvious none of the players were big Mortal Kombat fans growing up. Its too bad that unlike in Mortal Kombat, NHL teams don't just whither and go away whether you finish them or not.
-Halak was NBA Jam esque "on fire" all night. He made some tremendous sprawling saves and is without a doubt the reason the series is tied. All that was missing was the announcer yelling "Boom shaka laka!"
Basically, the Pens don't need to change anything they are doing on offense. Keep pushing forward and crashing the net. Goals will eventually start to go in like they did in game 1. And Montreal isn't going to get a Kris Letang "own goal" to win every night. Sure, the series is now going to go longer than most everyone predicted, but its still a best of 3 where they have two games at home.
Their motto should be "Stay the Course."
