Oh, what a night!!! - Part two

Once the puck was dropped the intensity level at Scotiabank Place was incredible. It didn't take long for the insane happy state of the 20,500 people in attendance to wane a bit, though. Five minutes into the game Anaheim scored. I couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be "another one of those nights".

The Senators came back with a goal late in the period to send everyone to the concession stands in the same giddy state of mind in which they entered the building only an hour or so earlier. The rollercoaster ride that I wrote about before the series started was magnified in Ottawa's first Stanley Cup Final home game - the score went back and forth with five goals in the second period!

I can remember playoff series where it took five or six games before five goals were scored! OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but it has felt that way - and having lived through game two only a couple days earlier, I couldn't be blamed for being shocked at the offensive outburst in the second frame.

Thanks to Dean McAmmond the Sens headed to the locker room once again up a goal after period number two. I remember calling my father and a friend to tell them how incredible the game was thus far and how being at a Stanley Cup final game was unlike any sporting experience I had ever lived through.

Highs and lows were to be found in the third period as well, with Dean McAmmond getting smoked by Chris Pronger. To this day I still can't believe that Pronger is a repeat offender dirty player. He has been recognized on several occasions for being the best defenceman in the NHL. I remember fighting friends over Pronger in various pools over the years. Sure, he's good, but it seems that he is also a massive liability.

With McAmmond in the locker room only minutes in the third period and the Senators holding on to a one goal lead, the crowd's anticipation only grew. When Anton Volchenkov scored and gave the Senators the insurance goal they needed, we knew that the win was within our grasp.

The last ten minutes flew by, and before we knew it, the Ottawa Senators had won their first final round game. Ottawa was back in the series. People in my section were high fiving each other... random people were high fiving each other in the stairwells... the unthinkable had happened and we'd never been there before.

The temperature and humidity had moderated outside and the twenty minute walk back to Costco was an experience in itself. People running up and down Palladium Drive, cars passing by with people hanging out the windows while drivers honked horns and passengers high fived pedestrians as they drove by... even the traffic control cops were into it!

After having watched the Sens blow game seven against the New Jersey Devils a few years ago, being there for a Stanley Cup Final playoff game win is something I'll never forget. My mother is the person who made it possible - merci!!

Now... we lost the first two games. We've taken our first and now trail 2-1 in the series. Let's hope our one "fun and unbelievably enjoyable" game day experience is repeated... if it is, man - it'll be one heck of a memorable season!

GO SENS GO!!!