PITTSBURGH, Pa – Immediately after the schedule was released for these Stanley Cup Finals it showed the two clubs would play three games in four nights. Many pundits figured the younger legs of the Penguins would have an advantage as the stretch of games deepened. In this case the wags were correct as Pittsburgh dominated the third period in Game 3 and outshot the Red Wings by a 10-3 margin. Pittsburgh responded after falling behind 2-1 late in the first period and scored the game’s last three goals to win going away by a 4-2 count.
However, many of the same experts had written off the Penguins after they lost the first two games in Detroit. In that case they were wrong. As a matter of fact the series is true to the form of last year’s series when the Penguins split the last four games of the year but were unable to overcome losses in the first two games, eventually losing in six games.
For the first time in the series the entire Pittsburgh team played well from the goaltender on out. Still the game was in doubt until a penalty by Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson opened the door for Pittsburgh’s power play which scored twice in three tries. With Ericsson in the box for a textbook interference call when he slowed down an attacking skater, Sergei Gonchar ripped home a slap shot past Detroit’s Chris Osgood for the eventual game-winning goal.
Maxime Talbot followed minutes later with his second goal of the game into an empty-net to clinch the victory. Talbot had opened the game’s scoring with a searing shot from the slot off a back-hand feed from Evgeni Malkin. Talbot, who was named the game’s number one star could have been even more productive, but he was stoned by Osgood twice and he rang the post to the left of the Detroit netminder on another occasion.
It appeared the clubs might deviate from script when Detroit registered a pair of first period goals to take an early lead. Henrik Zetterberg went first after he patiently picked a corner against Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury before firing the puck in. The second goal came after Zetterberg fed Johan Franzen while Detroit was on a power play. Franzen accepted Zetterberg’s setup and quickly roofed the puck into the Penguins goal. Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang kept his club in the game when he notched a power play goal late in the second period with Daniel Cleary in the box for Detroit.
Detroit threatened to break the game open in the second period when they outshot the Penguins by a 14-4 margin, but Fleury kept his team alive. The Red Wings also had a bit of hard luck when Mikael Samuelsson rang the post to the right of Fleury early in the frame. But Pittsburgh would rally and climbed back into the series with a strong final period.
“We talked after the second. We didn’t have a very good second period. They were very good in the second. We needed to calm down and get back to our game,” said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. “We’ve played it for 40 plus games here (at Mellon Arena). We need to make sure we get back to it, and go out there and play the third that way. We did a good job of starting. And build momentum with that, the building was going, and we had some chances and got the power play.”
The game had a touch of controversy. Malkin, who had a suspension rescinded by the league after picking up a game misconduct in Game 2, led all scorers with three points. There was more controversy with the score in favor of Detroit 2-1 when the entire officiating crew missed Pittsburgh skating with six skaters on the ice for perhaps an unofficial NHL record of over 20 seconds.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock wondered out loud about why Ericsson was the only one called for interference and did not have much to say about the too many men on the ice gaffe by the officiating crew.
“They (referees) told us that they were going to clamp down on it (interference),” said Babcock. “But I’d seen four from one particular guy on their team prior in the game that never got called. So that’s, you know, in a series they call what they think’s a penalty, and they’re trying to do the best they can just like the teams.”
As for the too many men non-call?
“I mean, what do you want me to say?” said Babcock with a laugh before breaking off his press conference.
With Game 3 in the books the two clubs need to get ready to play their respective best in Game 4. Last season the Red Wings were able to secure a third period goal to eke out a 2-1 victory and assumed a 3-1 series lead. If the Wings were to win this next game it would be put them once again on Stanley’s doorstep. On the other hand a Pittsburgh win would make it a best-of-three series with all the momentum on their side.
Notes
Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood entered Game 3 with a 10-2 record, 1.47 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in 13 Stanley Cup Final games. Osgood’s winning percentage of .833 was the best in Stanley Cup Final history among goaltenders with at least 10 decisions, ahead of former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden who has a .750 winning percentage… Home clubs have won the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth consecutive season. Facing a ‘must-win’ in Game 3 after dropping the first two games on the road, the 2006 Edmonton Oilers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, the 2007 Ottawa Senators topped the Anaheim Ducks and the 2008 and 2009 Penguins have beaten the Red Wings.
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