Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to go to a couple of hockey games. In early January, I was blessed with free tickets to see the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Edmonton Oilers at PPG Paints Arena. I was beyond excited when I found out because I’d never seen the Oilers play in person. I was going to get to watch perennial superstars, captain Sidney Crosby of the Penguins, and captain Connor McDavid of the Oilers, battle it out just four rows behind the benches. Later on, I was gifted the opportunity to take a road trip to Buffalo to watch the Penguins take on the Sabres at the Keybank Center. While the Sabres have struggled this season, they are still a young, fun team that can turn it on at any point.
Seats
My seats for Oilers at Penguins.
My seat for Penguins at Sabres.
The obvious answer to which seats are better in this comparison is my near front row seats in Pittsburgh, but both seats have pros and cons.
For the closer seats, while you are much closer to the action, as you get closer to the middle of the rink it gets increasingly harder to see the action in the near corners. While this is a slight issue, the jumbotron at PPG Paints Arena has smaller screens underneath the main screen that makes the players and spectators sitting near ice level able to glance up at the jumbotron easily when need be. When you’re closer to the ice, you can hear almost everything the players are saying and how they react. From expletives to asking the referee to discuss a call, you can hear all of it down near ice level. Lastly, you can understand what the players are seeing a lot better than if you sat higher.
For the higher seats, while I personally prefer to purchase these seats because they are much cheaper, there are cons that come along with them. Being farther away from action makes it less electric. It’s still an amazing experience, but there isn’t as much of a buzz as there is when you’re closer to the action. It’s also more of a hassle to get up to the seats. It doesn’t take too much longer, but it is a longer trek. On the plus side, you can see plays develop better and see breakouts better than when you sit closer to the ice.
Overall, the seats down by the ice were better.
Food
$10.75 for this nacho platter at PPG Paints Arena
$9.75 for this slice of pizza at Keybank Center
I was trying to find nachos at the Keybank Center to do a proper nacho comparison, however there were no nachos, so I had to settle for a slice of pizza instead.
First, PPG Paints Arena’s nachos. These were honestly the best stadium nachos I have ever had. This may be partially due to the fact that I was in club seating, but the chips were fresh, the cheese was hot, and there was plenty of volume. The salsa was a little runny for my liking, but something I could look past. Adding the jalapenos took it to another level. I couldn’t finish them because of the sheer number of chips that were given to me.
Next up is the KeyBank Center’s pizza from La Nova. After I took my slice back to my seat, I noticed how thin the pizza was. It wasn’t exactly hot, but it wasn’t cold or even room temperature. The pizza wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. The sauce was pretty good, but the cheese seemed to lack flavor, and it wasn’t stringy. It was more of a bland cover over top of the only good part of the pizza.
Overall, Pittsburgh’s nachos take the win over Buffalo’s pizza.
Gameplay
IceBurgh waves the victory flag at center ice after the Penguins 5-3 win.
The Penguins celebrate after a 5-2 win in Buffalo.
In Pittsburgh, the Pens jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead just ten minutes into the opening frame, taking a 4-1 lead into the first intermission. In the third period, while the Pens were up 5-2, McDavid of the Oilers took a tumble that resulted in a penalty to the Pens’ Bryan Rust for interference. The fans clearly didn’t agree and soon the officiating crew was swarmed in distasteful chants from the home supporters. To make matters worse, McDavid scored on the ensuing power play which only prompted more abuse from the crowd. The environment felt much more like a playoff game than a regular season game. The Pens were able to close out the game and snap their four-game skid.
In Buffalo, the Pens entered on a three-game losing streak, with their last win being the aforementioned game against Edmonton. The game remained scoreless until the Sabres’ Owen Power picked the top corner above the Penguins’ Alex Nedeljkovic’s glove hand. The Penguins came out of the locker room swinging to start the second period, tying the game and taking the lead within 27 seconds of each other. The Pens would add another to their total before the horn sounded to end the second period. To start the third, Rust tallied a powerplay goal to give Pittsburgh a 4-1 lead. The scoring halted for 14 minutes until Buffalo’s Zach Benson found the back of the net to make it a 4-2 game. Buffalo, desperate for a comeback, pulled their goaltender in an effort to have an additional skater on the ice. This allowed Alex Nedeljkovic, the Penguins netminder, to take a shot at the empty net. Nedeljkovic’s shot traveled almost 180 feet until it ended up in the middle of the net. This goal made history, as Nedeljkovic became the first goaltender in NHL history to score a goal and record an assist in the same game. To top it all off, Ned made 40 saves as well.
Overall, the game in Buffalo takes the cake in terms of gameplay. It’s not often you witness NHL history, but to be in an opposing team’s building makes it so much sweeter.
In the grand scheme of experience, I’d have to say Buffalo takes this one. I knew it would be extremely difficult to surpass the experience of ice level seats and a huge win in Pittsburgh, but Buffalo smashed it. I felt right at home in Keybank Center because so many Penguins fans had made the three-and-a-half-hour trip. On top of that, I witnessed NHL history with my own eyes. I’ll never forget it.
