PITTSBURGH, Pa – For a city known for its steel, in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, rust became more than acceptable. Bryan Rust scored two goals in a 2-1 win and skated the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Tampa Bay Lightning into the Stanley Cup finals against the San Jose Sharks starting on Monday night. This is the first time the Penguins will have reached the finals since 2009 when they won the Cup. This is the Sharks first ever trip to the finals in team history.
All of the scoring in the game came in the second period. Rust got the scoring going 1:55 into the period when he took a pass high in the slot and first a shot high glove side over Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the 1-0 lead.
“The big dream is still yet to be achieved,” Rust said. “I credit my linemates for elevating their game and helping me elevate mine. It just happens that I was the one who put the pucks in the net.”
Jonathan Drouin, who asked for a trade from the Lightning not that long ago because the team had him in the minors when he felt that he belonged up with the big club, proved during the playoffs that he might have been right all along.
Drouin skated across the middle of the ice from the right wing and fired a shot past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray and tied the game at 1-1, this 5th of the playoffs. The play of the game came 30 seconds later when a shot by Ben Lovejoy bounced off the boards that Vasilevskiy tried to cover up but the puck caromed off the side of the net and came out to Rust who slammed it past Vasilevskiy in the only hole the puck could have went in.
As they have all series long the Penguins peppered the net with shots outshooting Tampa 39-17. Both teams were a combined 0-6 on the power play with Pittsburgh getting five of those chances.
“I think we have evolved into a team in the true sense of the word,” Pens coach Mike Sullivan said, “and I think tonight, that was on display. … We wanted to play in their face and in the gaps tight … I think we took the speed away that makes Tampa Bay so dangerous.
“I know there’s a lot of stories that surround this group, but the greatest story of all is the group itself.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.