They entered enemy territory.

They suffered over 40 hits.

They saw over a five minute stretch of penalties, including nearly a minute of two five-on-threes.

They saw Jagr in prime early-90s form.

And yet…they scored 5 goals. Went 2-3 on the power play. Faced 39 shots, including a furious shot-clogged second period. Nine Penguins had at least a point tallied in the game. Malkin netted two power play goals; fitting in many ways, since news came earlier yesterday that he was one of the three finalists for the Hart trophy.

Once again, the Penguins come out on top.

If you saw the game last night, you know the feeling all of us are having today. If you didn’t, watch the highlights, because honestly, words can’t do it justice.

I’ll admit, Jagr looked great – it was like watching him back in ’92, tearing up opponents and being a menace to the opposing netminder. But the Penguins defense held up; Jagr only netted one goal on the evening despite putting out nearly 25% of the Ranger’s shots on goal. (And I’ll give him credit, his wraparound was a beautiful goal. Almost brought a tear to my eye…) But in the end, Fleury was a wall when needed, and that made the difference.

Game Four on Thursday, 7 p.m. Let’s finish this, Penguins!

080228 Marc-Andre Fleury, courtesy of Dan4th