DETROIT, Mich – Last season the Pittsburgh Penguins were completely outmatched in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals losing by a combined 7-0 score while being outshot by a 70-41 margin. This year they are better, but still winless.
It could be argued the Pittsburgh Penguins deserve more than a two-game hole after their performance this weekend in Detroit. Unlike last year when they were unable to score in the series’ first two games the Penguins were able to defeat Detroit’s Chris Osgood once in each outing, although it could be argued the Red Wings scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal in this game when Brad Stuart batted the puck past his own goaltender.
“I think we’ve proven that tonight (They are better this year than last),” said Penguins defender Hal Gill. “I think we outplayed them. Last year we got outplayed pretty badly and we had to go back home thinking of what are we going to do? Right now, I think we know what to do. We’ve just got to keep sticking to it, and things are going to go our way.”
Despite the Penguins improvement the results are still the same as the resilient Red Wings lead the series despite being outshot in both games. Additionally the Wings have been playing with arguably the best player in the league in Pavel Datsyuk along with two other full-time forwards (Tomas Kopecky and Kris Draper) and a top-six defender in Andreas Lilja.
After a few minutes of game time it appeared this game was going to be more like last season’s than this year’s as Detroit fired the game’s first six shots on goal. If not for the play of Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury the Red Wings would have taken an early lead. Fleury’s best saves came on a Niklas Kronwall wrist shot and a stuff attempt by Darren Helm.
J Ericsson. Photo courtesy of the NHL
Pittsburgh reversed the tide during the remainder of the period and outshot Detroit 11-1 and went ahead when Evgeni Malkin was credited with a goal. The score came on a power play after a mad scramble in which Osgood made several stops. Finally Malkin shot the puck into the fray and Stuart, who was in the crease, knocked it past Osgood.
“I actually thought in the first ten minutes of period one, it was all us. And then I thought in the second ten minutes it was all them,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “We had it going real well. We were coming out of the zone. Sailing in their zone, and suddenly we turned the puck over about four times in a row through the neutral zone. They got momentum and took over, and they were on top of our “D”.
Detroit would score the next three goals in a fashion eerily like Game 1’s goals. The first score came after Detroit pressured the Penguins in their own zone forcing a face-off. Unlike Game 1 Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma did not call a time out, but the Red Wings produced the same result. Helm won a face-off to Jiri Hudler who got the puck to Jonathan Ericsson. The Detroit defender used Helm as a screen and wired a shot past Fleury to tie the contest up.
“You know, it was obvious they (Pittsburgh) called the timeout last game, and it kind of backfired on them and they didn’t do it this time,” said Detroit winger Dan Cleary. “It was a good job taking advantage of an icing. Guys were tired. It was a good shot by “E” (Ericsson). Guys have stepped up in different situations for us, and our depth was pretty good again tonight.
The game-winner was scored a few minutes later in the second period when Valtteri Filppula squeezed a back-hander over Fleury while Detroit was on a power play. The power play was granted to Detroit when Malkin became frustrated and threw Ericsson down behind the play. Justin Abdelkader added insurance for the second time in two nights when he golfed a knuckleball past Fleury to bring the score final at 3-1.
Although Pittsburgh could never score again they did their best ringing the posts three times. Sidney Crosby also pressured Osgood testing him multiple times. Down two goals the Penguins pulled their netminder in an attempt to pull closer. They had several chances to score but were held off the board until a late penalty by Malkin ended their hopes. Malkin was penalized for instigation and fighting after Penguins winger Maxime Talbot jabbed Osgood after the whistle. Zetterberg defended Osgood and went after Talbot before Malkin intervened and started the altercation with Zetterberg. The two had a spirited fight albeit with little, if any damage, done.
“I think in the playoffs and finals like this, there are a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings,” said Zetterberg. “When you get scrums that’s the way it is. It should be a lot of feelings, and nothing more than that.”
If the pattern of 2008 is going to be continued the Penguins are going to win Game 3 at home. Pattern or no pattern the Penguins have played well enough to win, but they need better goaltending and finishing if they want to win the series.
“I think in each of the first two games we have been able to play in the offensive zone for periods of time. We’ve been able to get shots and been able to outshoot a good Detroit team,” said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. “But they’ve been able to get the timely goals. They’ve been better at getting pucks in and around the net and getting that goal. That’s what they’ve done better and as a result they’ve got two wins.”
While it is true the Penguins have been able to play with the Red Wings it is the depth scoring and goaltending which is the difference to date. In other words Detroit is doing all the “little things” which take a team from contender to champion. It was something Pittsburgh was supposed to learn after their defeat last season, but it seems they failed to grasp the lessons they should have learned and now find themselves playing catch-up hockey again.
Notes
Malkin was assessed an instigator with less than five minutes remaining in the game and faced a suspension under rule 47.22. The rules states a player is suspended for instigating an altercation with less than five minutes remaining in the game. The NHL immediately ruled to remove the suspension after the contest…Pittsburgh changed up their lineup adding Pascal Dupuis and removing Philippe Boucher…With the win Osgood is now 10-2 in the finals with a 1.47 goals against average..Detroit is 11-0 in these playoffs and have won 25 consecutive games in which they hold a lead after two periods…In the last eight games Osgood has allowed one or fewer goals…Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals have gone on to win 31 of the last 32 series. The only team to buck the trend was the 1971 Montreal Canadiens who defeated the Chicago Blackhawks after falling behind two games to none… Last season the Penguins came back to win Game 3 after dropping the first two in Detroit…After the first two games Helm holds a 22-10 record in faceoffs and has a series-high 15 hits…This is the first time since 1993 Stanley Cup Finals games have been held on back to back evenings since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings split a pair of games…Game 3 is set for Tuesday, June 2.
Contract tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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