There could be no conspiracy allegations directed at the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL after their 4-2 ousting of the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Despite being shorthanded for eight minutes to only four for the Wings (until the end of the game when things got messy), the Pens' best players dug down deep and came up big. The Stanley Cup Finals are now tied, 2-2, and the Pens have all of the momentum heading into a separating Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday.
Sidney Crosby broke out of a series-long goal scoring drought when he scored the winner at 10:34 of the second period. Evgeni Malkin, who was an animal all game long, hit Crosby with a cross-crease pass on a two on one break that Crosby redirected past Chris Osgood from across his body.
The Red Wings had taken a 2-1 lead shortly after the puck dropped on the middle frame when Brad Stuart shot through a Penguin-made screen that blinded Marc-Andre Fleury. The Red Wings had all the momentum when they got a powerplay for a Brooks Orpik trip on Valterri Filppula.
Things changed quickly, however. Jordan Staal outskated Nick Lidstrom and outmuscled Brian Rafalski on his way to beating Osgood cleanly to tie the game with the Pens' first shorthanded goal of the playoffs.
Crosby's marker would follow that, and then Tyler Kennedy converted an opportunity in front generated by the brilliant passing of Crosby and Chris Kunitz. The Pens went into the third period up, 4-2, and the final twenty minutes were delightfully boring.
Darren Helm had Detroit's other goal in the first period off a bad giveaway by Rob Scuderi
Notes-
-Lidstrom and Zetterberg look like they've hit a wall. They're dead tired.
-Fleury was outstanding.
-The Wings' powerplay almost seems to kill their own momentum.
-Who'd have thunk that the Pens powerplay would be so efficient?
-Kirk Maltby is a talentless, cheap shotting hack. It's beyond me how he has four Stanley Cups.
-It's now a best of three to decide the Cup.
-Pavel Datsyuk will probably be back for Game 5. Hopefully his impact will be minimal.
Go Penguins.
2 comments:
WHAT...A....GAME
So, for the record, we lost the first two games in Detroit 3-1. We won both the games in Pittsburgh 4-2. Looks like the title is perfect. However, that is the only thing that is similar between the four games. The series is tied at two, which makes it a best of three. Two of these games will be in Detroit, that is, if there are three more games in this series. It could all end in Pittsburgh. I have some strong opinions of the series so far, but you will have to read on to hear them.
Read more » http://www.everythingpittsburgh.net/blogs/EP.php/2009/06/05/a-pair-of-pairs#more167
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