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Penguins Beat Detroit in Triple-Overtime Thriller!

With less than a minute to go in regulation, it looked like the Stanley Cup would be skated around the rink inside of Joe Louis Arena.  The Detroit Red Wings had posted a come from behind rally and scored 2-goals in the 3rd period to put them 1-goal ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2).  But with their goaltender pulled, the Penguins’ last gasp attempt at survival paid off as Max Talbot scored the game-tying goal with just 35-seconds left on the clock to force overtime.  Then Marc-Andre Fleury took over, stopping 24-shots through almost 50-minutes of overtime play to give his team the opportunity to win.  And win they did, after Petr Sykora clinched the game-winner, a powerplay goal at 9:57 of the third overtime!  In a game that had almost everything, including injuries to Sergei Gonchar (upper body) and Ryan Malone (slapshot to the face), the Penguins found a way to win.

Image details: Pittsburgh Penguins v Detroit Red Wings – Game Five served by picapp.com
The Penguins came out in the first period and surprised a nervous Red Wings team as they put up an early 2-goal lead.  The first goal game at 8:37 as Marian Hossa slung the puck inside of the far post and beat Chris Osgood.  Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis had the assists on Hossa’s goal, his 11th of the post-season.  Then at 14:41, Adam Hall was credited with an unassisted goal after a botched Red Wings clearing attempt by Niklas Kronwall put the puck into their own net. Since Hall was the last Penguin to touch the puck, he was given the goal.  Shots were 8-7 Detroit and the Penguins were 0-2 on the powerplay and 3-3 on the penalty kill.

In the 2nd period, the Red Wings drew within 1-goal as Darren Helm took a feed from Kirk Maltby and snapped off a shot that beat Marc-Andre Fleury.  With 2:50 left in the period, the Penguins suffered a huge blow when Sergei Gonchar went awkwardly into the end boards at high speed.  Gonchar left game for the rest of the period, but returned briefly in the 3rd before leaving again.  He ultimately returned to the ice in the 3rd OT period, and skated his first shift on the game-winning goal.  The Penguins had another setback with just 1:22 left in the period, as Ryan Malone took a puck to the face off from heavy slapshot by Hal Gill.  The shot hit Malone on his broken nose, and he immediately left the ice bleeding profusely.  He ultimately returned in the 3rd period looking fully playoff tested with a gashed and swollen face, and gauze packed in his nose.  Shots were 12-7 Detroit in the 2nd and both teams were 0-1 on the powerplay.

Onto the 3rd period where Detroit made a full court press to win the Stanley Cup, as they outshot the Penguins 14-4.  At 6:43, the Wings got the tying goal on the powerplay as Tyler Kennedy sat for hooking.  Pavel Datsyuk picked up his 10th goal on a tip-in that beat Marc-Andre Fleury five-hole.  Assists were credited to Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski.  Then at 9:23 with momentum clearly on their side, the Wings scored the go-ahead goal on a wrister by Brian Rafalski, from Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg.  From that point on, it looked as if the Red Wings would finish it off and win the Stanley Cup.  NBC had rolled video of the Cup being removed from its case and getting polished.  With just 40-seconds left, the desparate Penguins pulled Marc-Andre Fleury from the net and threw all they could at Osgood.  Just 5-seconds later while champagne bottles were being prepped in the Red Wings locker room, Max Talbot stopped the anticipated celebration by banging home a puck behind Osgood to tie it up.

During the first Overtime period, Marc-Andre Fleury put on a clinic by stopping all 13-shots by the Red Wings.  The Penguins offense was largely ineffective notching just 2-shots on goal, despite having a 2-minute powerplay on a questioned goaltender interference call on Henrik Zetterberg.  In the 2nd Overtime, the youth of the Penguins started to pay dividends as they matched the Red Wings skating game and took an 8-7 edge in shots.  Each team was assessed a minor penalty in the 2nd Overtime, but neither team could capitalize.  Then in the 3rd Overtime,  Jiri Hudler took a double-minor high sticking call after cutting the face of Rob Scuderi with the blade of his stick.  The Penguins responded by putting the injured Sergei Gonchar back on the ice, along with Malkin, Whitney, Sykora and Malone.  After being largely absent throughout the entire series, Evgeni Malkin made a beautiful pass to Petr Sykora in the high circle area and he put it in the net to end the game at 9:57.  Sergei Gonchar was also credited with an assist.

Image details: Pittsburgh Penguins v Detroit Red Wings – Game Five served by picapp.com

• VIDEO:  Game HIghlights
• VIDEO:  Coach Therrien Press Conference – 3 Jun
• VIDEO:  Post Game Press Conference
• VIDEO: Post Game Locker Room Report
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Game Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The win could prove to be a momentum swing in this series that should have ended tonight for the Red Wings.  The Penguins found a way to get the tying goal in the waning moments of the game, and then battle through the adveristy of injuries and being outplayed in the 3rd period and first overtime to eventually win it after a prolonged battle on the Red Wings’ ice.  Marc-Andre Fleury proved phenomenal in goal by stopping 55-of-58 shots for a 0.948 save percentage.  Marian Hossa had another spectacular game, picking up 2-points (1G, 1A).  Sidney Crosby padded his league leading post-season points by netting 2-more points (2A).  The Penguins take the series back to Pittsburgh trailing 3-2 with a chance to tie it up on Wednesday night.

The Penguins return home to Pittsburgh for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night, where they will look to win 1-more on home ice to send the series back to Detroit for a deciding Game 7. 

Penguins Come Alive, Beat Red Wings 3-2

At last, we witnessed the level of competition that we had originally anticipated between these two great teams!  After a 2-game slumber party, the Pittsburgh Penguins awoke at Mellon Arena and became the team that went 12-2 to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  After going scoreless in the first 2-games, the Penguins scored the first 2-goals of this game thanks to the tenacity of Captain Sidney Crosby, and ultimately went on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Wednesday night.  It wasn’t easy.  It wasn’t supposed to be easy.  But, from this fan’s perspective, the game contained all of the intensity and excitement that you would expect from a Stanley Cup game.

In the 1st period, the Penguins finally ended a lengthy scoring drought and managed to get their first goal of the series.  The goal didn’t come until 17:25, but it was just what the Penguins needed to lift a large burden and give them some confidence and momentum.  With the Red Wings trying to move the puck out of their own zone, Sidney Crosby picked off an unforced turnover and drop passed it to Marian Hossa who unloaded a quick shot on net.  Chris Osgood made the save, but gave up a juicy rebound that Crosby redirected back between the goaltender’s legs to make it 1-0.  Marian Hossa was credited with the lone assist.  The Penguins were outshot 9-6 in the first, but were prefect on the penalty kill as they killed off penalties to Jordan Staal (holding) and Sergei Gonchgar (hooking).  The Penguins had 2 powerplay opportnities, including one that carried over into the 2nd period, but failed to convert.

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In the 2nd period, the Penguins managed to pour on the pressure and take the Red Wings off their game as they outshot them 13-9.  At 2:34, just 32-seconds into the Penguins final powerplay of the night, Sidney Crosby found the back of the net again to establish a 2-goal Penguins lead.  With Crosby and Hossa posted by the net, Sergei Gonchar let a shot go from the point.  The shot never made it through, bouncing off a defender’s skate and onto the stick of Ryan Malone.  Malone then attempted a shot that bounced off some skates again and found the stick of Marian Hossa.  Hossa quickly released a shot that was stopped by Osgood, but the puck rebounded to Crosby on the side of the net who put it behind the goaltender to make it 2-0.  But the Red Wings found a way back into the game on a powerplay of their own at 14:48, as Hal Gill sat for the 2nd time in the period for clearing Tomas Holmstrom from in front of the Penguins net (via a cross-check).  The goal was scored by Johan Franzen who simply undressed the Penguins defense, walked right in on goal, and roofed the puck over Marc-Andre Fleury’s shoulder.  Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronvall picked up the assists on the goal, that sliced the lead to 1-goal.  The Penguins were 1-for-1 on the powerplay and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill in the 2nd period.

In the 3rd period, the Penguins managed to restore the 2-goal lead on an even strength goal by Adam Hall at 7:18, his 2nd of the playoffs.  After a huge hit by Kirk Maltby on Tyler Kennedy at the Penguins end of the ice, Gary Roberts responded at the other end of the ice by leveling Andreas Lilja and freeing up the puck.  Max Talbot dug the puck out of the boards and made a cross-crease pass to Adam Hall, who ultimately ended up behind the net with the puck.  Standing behind the net all alone with the puck, Adma Hall made a couple of attempts to pass the puck out, but it ultimately ended back up on his stick.  He finally found an opportunity with Osgood turning to get back into position, and shot the puck off the back of the goaltender and into the net to make it 3-1.  Gary Roberts and Max Talbot picked up the assists.  After the Hall goal, the action up and down the ice was non-stop, with play going without a whistle for over 6-minutes.  Finally, at 13:37, Mikael Samuellson let a shot go that appeared to deflect off from Brooks Orpik’s stick and into the net to cut the lead to 1-goal again.  Brad Stuart and Valtteri Filppula picked up the assists on the play.  Things got hairy at 15:42 as Evgeni Malkin took a hooking call and gave the Red Wings the opportunity to tie it up, but the excellent play of Marc-Andre Fleury and the Penguins’ penalty kill thwarted a late game comeback for the Red Wings.  The Penguins survived a 16-5 shot surge in the final frame to come away with the much needed victory.

Image details: Detroit Red Wings v Pittsburgh Penguins – Game Three served by picapp.com

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Press Conference
• VIDEO:  Post-Game Interviews
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Mike Lange Highlights
• AUDIO:  Rink Rat Report
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline Show
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Rosters
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Summary
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Boxscore
• NHL OFFICIAL:  Play-by-Play

The Penguins looked like a different team than what they brought to the first 2-games of the series.  They played the game that they needed to play by getting aggressive on the puck and putting pressure on the Red Wings defense and on Chris Osgood.  The Penguins also managed to change up the mathcups and enabling Crosby and Hossa to find more open ice.  Sidney Crosby (2G) was the game’s 1st star and Marian Hossa (2A) was the 2nd star.  Marc-Andre Fleury had a strong game in net as he stopped 32-of-34 shots, including 15 in the final period, for a 0.941 save percentage.  The series resumes on Saturday night as the Penguins host the Red Wings at Mellon Arena for Game 4, and look to tie the series up 2-2.

 

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