Man proposes to girlfriend during Penguins game
By: KDKA-TV Producer Ashley Funyak
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Mallory Marriage thought that her trip to her first Pittsburgh Penguins game at PPG Paints Arena was just that -- a hockey game. However, her boyfriend, Joshua Pruitt, had more going on behind the scenes.
Pruitt told KDKA-TV he wanted to surprise Marriage, a huge NHL and Penguins fan, with a surprise proposal on the new big screen.
Pruitt says he got to work on the game all the way back in October, when he began contacting individuals in the Penguins organization looking for assistance. He found it in Zack, an employee who helped Pruitt find the seats. Zack also secured a Sidney Crosby jersey to include with the proposal, but instead of Crosby's last name, it read "Marry Me?"
On Jan. 27, Pruitt and Marriage arrived at PPG Paints Arena. That's when Pruitt realized while he had the details ironed out with the team, he didn't know when the big moment would actually happen.
"I had handed the ring to this guy two rows behind me that we had just talked to in passing really," says Pruitt, "because I didn't know what to do. It wasn't until the beginning of the first period really that I knew exactly how it would play out."
Pruitt says he sat in anticipation until the second TV timeout in the first period. That's when Pruitt says he felt a hand on his back, the signal that it was time to take action.
Love is in the air at PPG Paints Arena 💛 pic.twitter.com/9uRbmkeFF4
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 28, 2024
Marriage, however, says she was none the wiser.
"When the period started, he was very anxious," says Marriage. "He was bouncing his knees, playing with his hands. He probably looked behind him a thousand times. I thought, 'man, he's really overstimulated!'"
Pruitt says he knew Marriage would say yes, as they had discussed it before.
"We first talked about getting engaged, I mentioned, you know, it doesn't need to be extravagant. It can be so simple," says Marriage. "His response was, 'I go big, or I go home, and you already know that.'"
"It's a brand new JumboTron, so she was all enthralled with the fan cam," says Pruitt. "She's not seeing me stand up with the jersey, not seeing the camera guy come in. So she turns, and it's jumpy, you can see in the video, I just got her."
Marriage says this was the perfect proposal, and it's a testament to just how much Pruitt cares for her. Pruitt says he's just happy she said yes to him, and not her favorite player Sidney Crosby.