AP Photo Credit/ Gene J. Puskar
A good friend of mine and Justin's and longtime follower of Stars and Slights told me, during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, that the Red Wings would win that game 4-1 and the Wings would sweep the series. He even offered that the cup would probably start being engraved later that night after the victory.
He was almost entirely right... but completely wrong at the same time. The Red Wings won Game 2 3-1 and looked to be in commanding lead of the series. They lucked out by scoring two cheap goals in Game 1 off of dumps into the Pittsburgh zone - not real shots on goal!
Pittsburgh rebounded in Game 3, though, as Pens won 4-2 off of a strong performance from it's supporting cast and, of course, Evgeni "Geno" Malkin who had 3 assists.
Tonight's Game 4 was no different than the prior game, as the Penguins eclipsed the Red Wings 4-2.
This game was much more exciting than the prior, though. Malkin put the Penguins ahead 1-0 after he drew a penalty early in the 1st period and then capitalized on a rebound to score the game's first goal.
From there, Detroit actually claimed a 2-1 lead. But the Penguins were not discouraged - scoring 3 goals in less than 6 minutes during the 2nd period.
Jordan Staal, in fact, scored a short-handed goal during a 4-minute span where the Red Wings were unable to score on the man-advantage.
Aside from Malkin's 2 point performance, Captain Sidney Crosby finally ended his Stanley Cup frustration by scoring on a fantastic feed from Malkin at 10:34 into the 2nd period.
Needless to say, this series is far from over as the two teams head back to Detroit for Game 5 tied at 2-2.
Take a look at the highlights from Game 4 and enjoy. So much for a 4-game sweep. Let's Go Pens!!!
3 comments:
Yeah I agreed with Andy's initial assessment for the most part, though I thought the Pens might win a game at some point. I'm pretty surprised that they've managed to even the series.
I take issue with your point about how the garbage goals in game 1 weren't "real goals" because that's how hockey works. By that logic the Pens didn't even score in that game because their only goal was knocked in by a panicked defensemen.
Those are the breaks...whichever team gets them will win.
I didn't say the garbage goals weren't real goals. My point is that the final score was not a true indicator of the proclaimed disparity between the two teams. Obviously the goals were surrendered and count, but was it because the Penguins were over-matched or because Fleury lost his focus?
Needless to say games 3 and 4 indicate that this series is far from over and the teams are not as unevenly matched as assumed after games 1 and 2.
Prediction: the first team to win one on the road wins the series...
go Pittsburgh Pens
I know you can do it
A forever Pittsburgh Fan
Post a Comment