One of the lone Blues highlights from Monday’s 5-2 loss to Los Angeles was the hit TJ Oshie put on Dustin Penner:
Amazingly, the hit didn’t seem to affect Penner, who was no worse for wear.
More amazingly, Penner liked being hit.
Liked it...a lot.
“It was a great hit. I haven’t been hit that hard in a while,” Penner told Helene Elliott of the L.A. Times. “It actually almost felt good, it was so pure.”
This admission is the latest in Penner’s series of playoff surprises. On the ice he’s scored two goals, notched four assists and posted a plus-five rating (fourth best on the team). He’s also throwing his weight around, playing with a passion that went missing for long stretches of the regular season.
“It’s good to see that emotional investment from Dustin, right?” said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter. “Good to see and good for him. I said it before the series, we need him to have a good series.”
Off the ice, things have been equally good. Penner recently joined Twitter, listed IHOP.com as his home page, got some love from ESPN’s Bill Simmons and met Bob Uecker.
Let the good times roll!