Attachment
The Stanley Cup Finals continued last night between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. It all started when Nikilas Kromwall tripped Evgeni Malkin sending the Penguins onto a power play. Red Wings coach Babcock was concerned because of the success the Penguins power-play had on Tuesday going two for three. With only 35 seconds left on the power play, Malkin got a lucky rebound and put it past Chris Osgood. However, things seemed to switch the Red Wings way late in the first period and at the start of the first period. A bad turnover from Rob Scuderi to Darren Helm allowed Helm to beat Marc-Andre Fleury for the Redwings first goal and forty-nine seconds into the second period Brad Stuart rifled a shot from the blue line past Fleury for a second goal. The score was 2-1 and the Igloo had gone quiet. Turned upside down.
Although Fleury seemed to play so much better than Osgood in the first period, it seemed unlikely that he would permit a shot from the blue line to pass by? He had made some incredible saves in the first period and now the Pens were down 2-1? However, momentum changed late in the second period when Detroit went on the power play. Talbot had gotten the pass from the Red Wing and outlet it to Jordan Staal who came tearing down the ice like a Mustang racecar with 1:04 to go on Detroit’s power play. He glided past the defenders around him and lifted the puck placing it in the net behind Chris Osgood. Not only had he lifted the puck, but Staal lifted the Penguins fans right out of their seats. Mellon Arena was a white-out riot. Before the Pens fans had sat down from celebrating Staal’s goal, Sidney Crosby buried it behind Chris Osgood giving the Pens a 3-2 lead.
Later in the period with about five minutes left Kunitz, Crosby, and Kennedy put on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play for the rambunctious crowd. Kunitz came flying down the left circle and fed it across to Crosby who then passed it to Kennedy left alone in front of the net. Play continued in the third period where there were no goals from the Red Wings because of the immaculate goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury. Marc-Andre Fleury was like a brick wall out there not letting any pucks by him. Tne Detroit offense did all they could by firing thirty-nine shots at the netminder but he wasn’t going to let the team and the fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins down. The series is tied 2-2 and heading back to Detroit where the Red Wing fans will be loud and anxious to see their team raise yet another cup in the city of Pittsburgh. So far, home-ice has been a huge advantage. It will be interesting to see if it continues to dictate play or if one of the teams can steal a win in hostile territory.
Deborah A. Hilton
Card Swap Sports Analyst
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
