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NHL

Penguins Get Timely Efforts in Huge Win

Posted Jun 02, 2009 10:50PM By Bruce Ciskie (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Penguins, Red Wings, Eastern, Western

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Without actually facing elimination, the Pittsburgh Penguins couldn't have faced a bigger must-win than they did Tuesday night. While Detroit hasn't truly dominated the Penguins in the opening two games of the Stanley Cup finals, they have played well enough to win both. Since there isn't much in hockey that's more dangerous than a hot Detroit team, the Penguins had to find a way to cool them off before things got out of hand.
Penguins 4, Red Wings 2: Recap | Box Score
Red Wings lead series 2-1

Pittsburgh was able to start fast, as so many teams do when playing their first home game of a series. Thanks to a Maxime Talbot one-timer, the Penguins enjoyed an early lead. Detroit struck quickly, but their 2-1 lead was also short-lived. A goal by Kris Letang late in the first period tied the score.

The Penguins rode the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury through the second period. It may have actually been Detroit's best period of the series. They asserted their puck-control game, bottled up Pittsburgh's defensemen for numerous long shifts, and outshot the Pens 14-4 in the second.

Fleury kept the game tied. When he was beaten, a wicked wrist shot by Mikael Samuelsson found metal, not twine.

In the third, it was clear Pittsburgh wanted to take advantage of their younger legs, energetic home crowd, and superb speed and skill. A fast start yielded nothing against Chris Osgood, but the persistent Eastern Conference champions took advantage of a potentially controversial power play.

Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson was called for a rather dubious holding penalty along the right-wing boards. On the ensuing man advantage, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were all over the place, finally able to combine on the setup for a Sergei Gonchar bomb from the center blue line. It was a shot that Osgood never really got a look at, as he had Penguins veteran Bill Guerin standing in front of him.

Pittsburgh actually had the better of the chances after this goal. Crosby and Chris Kunitz got loose for a two-on-one, with Crosby's pass perhaps leading Kunitz a bit too close to the net for him to get a good shot. Talbot dinged the post with a couple minutes to go, then netted his second of the night after Osgood had gone to the bench for an extra skater.

While the Red Wings were definitely the better team in the second period, Pittsburgh looked like the better team -- at both ends of the rink -- in the third. It was a stark contrast to the first two games, where Detroit played from ahead in the final 20 minutes and simply suffocated Pittsburgh.

Fleury was outstanding in goal when he had to be, and credit must also be given to Malkin. You could easily argue he shouldn't have been eligible to play in this game, but he was, and he was a huge factor. He picked up three assists and gave great effort without the puck, picking up a huge block of a Nicklas Lidstrom shot in the closing minutes while it was still a one-goal game.

Detroit still has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

Tags: 2009stanleycupfinals, bill+guerin, chris+kunitz, chris+osgood, evgeni+malkin, jonathan+ericsson, kris+letang, marc-andre+fleury, maxime+talbot, mikael+samuelsson, nicklas+lidstrom, sergei+gonchar, sidney+crosby

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