Your “Let The Music Have Its Way” Saturday Evening Open Thread

Because I’m away next week – the doctors are going tumor hunting in a delicate area Monday morning – I’m going to impart my Stanley Cup preview now:

The Penguins barely survived a hot goalie in Craig Anderson, and now they’re running into a Finnish buzzsaw in Pekka Rinne. Plus, Rinne’s got a pretty strong defence in front of him. I think every Subban shift in the playoffs causes the floodwaters in Montreal to increase slightly. It is going to be hard to get pucks through to the net.

And yet…

The Penguins have most of their firepower working at high efficiency. Crosby is his usual whiny, proficient self. Evgeni Malkin is playing as big as he is. Phil Kessel is skating like there’s a doughnut on a stick in front of him, but try as he might he juuuuuuust can’t catch it. The last three games of the semi showed Pittsburgh has no trouble getting pucks on net; it’s the follow-up they have to work on. It they can beat Nashville’s clearing attempts, I can’t see Rinne keeping everything out of the net.

Nashville doesn’t have anywhere near the same firepower as Pittsburgh. With Fisher & Johansen out with injury, it’s going to fall on their core of young’uns to put pucks in the net. A much harder job that has become, now that Matt Murray’s back to…85%? That’s still better than a 100% yipped Marc-Andre Fleury, who will be good in a pinch, but got the Pens as far as his self-confidence could take them. (I still don’t know how he beat the Caps.)

The home crowd will get Nashville one win. That is a fun arena; it’s got the cheap beers & cramped feel of a Swift Current community centre, but the 21st Century construction that makes you feel safe sitting up in the rafters. Plus, you can literally

go honky tonkin’ right outside the arena after the game.

But, at the end of the day, experience usually triumphs over enthusiasm. Just ask any of your first girlfriends.

Prediction: Penguins in 6.

Tonight’s sports:

• MLB:
  • Cubs at Dodgers – 7:00PM | Sportsnet / FOX (?)
•  Fútbol:
  • International:
    • Friendly: Mexico vs. Croatia – 5:00PM | FS1 / Univision
    • U-20: Honduras vs. Vietnam – 1:50AM | TSN
  • MLS:
    • San Jose vs. Los Angeles – 7:00PM | Univision
    • Whitecaps FC vs. DC United – 7:00PM | TSN
• AFL:
  • West Coast Eagles vs. GWS Giants – 2:30AM | TSN2

I won’t be posting a Sunday thread, as the all-day motorsports aficionados have you covered.

I thank you in advance for your good wishes & bad jokes. I’ll hopefully see you in a week. RECTUM? I HARDLY KNEW ‘IM!