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Penguins’ Steel Curtain puts Flyers on the brink, 4-1

If hockey fans hadn’t realized how well the Pittsburgh Penguins’ defense is playing in the latter part of this NHL season, I hoped they watched the game tonight.

The Penguins’ defense absolutely put a clamp on the Philadelphia Flyers’ forwards in tonight’s Game Three, only allowing 18 shots on goal, as the Penguins defeated the Flyers 4-1 and put a 3-0 stranglehold on their best of seven series.

The Pens are now one win away from their first visit to the Stanley Cup Finals since their 2nd Cup win in 1992.  In addition, the Pens’ 11-1 record is the best playoff record since the 1983 Edmonton Oilers.

The Flyers as expected came out strong, but actually it was the officials who put stopped any momentum they might have had.  The refs were incredibly picky with their penalties for both teams in the first period.  There were four separate hooking calls in the first 12 minutes of the game, two on each team.

It turned out that it was the Penguins who first took advantage of the early hooking calls.  Evgeni Malkin brought the puck over the Flyers’ blue line, then started tic-tac-toe passing between himself, Sergei Gonchar and Sidney Crosby.  Crosby then fed the puck cross-ice to Ryan Whitney, who skated with the puck and fired a wrister that was intended for Crosby, but the puck deflected off Jason Smith’s skate and into the net to give the Pens a 1-0 lead about 5 minutes into the game.

The Penguins doubled their lead a couple of minutes later when Crosby grabbed the puck with speed in his own zone and fed it to Marian Hossa, who brought it into the Flyers’ zone past the flat-footed Jeff Carter as the Flyers’ D-men continued to back up.  Hossa then surprised Martin Biron with a lightning quick wrister that easily eluded Biron to give the Pens a 2-0 lead and stunned the orange-clad Flyers faithful.

However, the Flyers capitalized as Hossa’s hooking penalty was expiring midway through the first period.  Danny Briere brought the puck in the Pens’ zone and fed the puck to Vinny Prospal, who attempted a wraparound that was initially stopped by Marc-Andre Fleury.  However, R.J. Umberger was there to tap the rebound past Fleury to cut the Pens lead to 2-1.

There was no scoring in the second period, with only 12 shots on net combined between both teams, only 3 of those for the Flyers.  In addition, the refs put their whistles away, as there was only one penalty called in the 2nd and 3rd periods combined.  The best play of the second period came when Mike Richards got loose on another breakaway, but as he headed towards Fleury, Gonchar dove, waited until he could get his stick on the puck first, and broke up the play.

The Pens put a big nail in the Flyers’ coffin midway through the third period as the goat of Game Two, Steve Downie, repeated his performance in Game Three.  Downie actually started the play by stealing the puck from Malkin, but as he skated in the Pens’ zone he somehow decided to attempt a pass in an area that all five Penguins were near.  Malkin stole the puck, brought the puck in the Flyers’ zone and attempted to make a backhanded pass to Ryan Malone but it was broke up.  Petr Sykora was there to grab the rebound and fed the puck again to the front of the net where Malone was waiting.  Malone calmly backhanded the puck through the five-hole of Biron to make it 3-1 Pens and put a hush on the Wachovia Center.  Well after Sykora’s pass to Malone, Downie came very late and gave a thundering hit to Sykora, who was shaken up for a while.

The last tally was accomplished by Hossa in the final minute as he fired the puck from just inside the blue line for the final score of 4-1.

The Penguins will go for the sweep and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on Thursday night for Game Four.  If the Flyers win Game Four, Game Five would be back in the Igloo on Sunday afternoon.

Penguins/Flyers notes leading up to Game Three

• This is the season for the Flyers, no other way to put it.  Either they win Game Three, or start planning your golf vacations.
• Danny Briere is still missing in action.
• Conversely, gotta give props to Mike Richards.  He is by himself keeping the Flyers within shouting distance of the Penguins as they head to Philly.
• Even though Steve Downie is the goat today, outside of that one play I thought he played a good game for the Flyers yesterday.  He had several good, clean hits, which is exactly why he was put in the lineup in the first place.
• It’s going to be tough to get Braydon Coburn suited up for Game Three.  60 stitches and an eye swollen shut makes it hard with only 48 hours between games.  Having said that, it wouldn’t surprise me either if he gave it a shot.
• Joffrey Lupul is at it again with his moaning.  After yesterday’s game, he whined “We were shorthanded most of the first period, and you know that’s how it’s going to be against this team.  They’re going to get more power plays than us. That’s just the way it is. They’re the Pittsburgh Penguins, and we’re just going to have to find a way to kill these penalties and get our chances.”  Hey Joffrey, do everyone a favor a give it a rest, you’re boring everyone, again.
• Jarkko Ruutu is one of the better pests in the league, and is known for embellishing a call or two every now and then.  Unfortunately for the Penguins, his reputation has caused some legitimate penalty calls against him to get called ON him.  That diving call that he took on Biron’s two-handed cross check was terrible.
• Lastly, and it’s water under the bridge now, especially since the Pens won the game last night, but if you’d like a clear shot of Sidney Crosby’s goal that was waved off, take a look at the shot from the Beaver County Times.  Like I said, unfortunately as the rules go, the replays showed it was inconclusive, so they had to wave it off.  But that was a goal.

Game Two: Talbot lifts Penguins over Flyers again, 4-2

The Philadelphia Flyers said they’d come out harder and more physical.  They said they’d play a better defensive game than they did in Game One.

They did just that, it was a much better performance all around for the Flyers.  The problem is, it still didn’t propel them to a win.

Of the eleven games the Penguins have played so far in the NHL playoffs, this was probably their second worst performance, next to the Game Four stinker against the Rangers.

But it didn’t matter, they won anyway.  That’s what good teams do.  Even when they don’t play at their best, they’re finding ways to win the game.

Max Talbot’s one-timer from a great backhanded centering pass from Gary Roberts turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Penguins outlasted the Flyers 4-2 in Game Two of their best of seven series.  Jordan Staal added an empty netter in the last minute for the final outcome.

The Penguins are now 10-1 in the playoffs, becoming the first team to have that record at this point in the playoffs since the ‘95 Red Wings.

Hits were a dime a dozen tonight, with 78 hits awarded between the two teams.  It culminated early in the game with spirited tussel between Scottie Upshall and Tyler Kennedy that delighted the crowd at the Igloo.  It was a pretty even affair, I would have to give the decision to Kennedy, though.

As could be expected, there were many more penalties tonight as compared to Game One as well.  In the first period alone there were six minors plus the two fighting majors.  The Penguins’ powerplay midway through the first period brought the first tally of the game.  The Flyers had just finished killing the front part of a 5-on-3, but as Sidney Crosby took control of the puck he fired the puck in the direction of Ryan Malone to attempt a redirect.  However, the puck hit the skate of Lasse Kukkonen and past Marty Biron to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.

It appeared that Crosby got his second goal late in the first period, as Sergei Gonchar’s wrister deflected off Darien Hatcher and down to the goalline.  Crosby tapped the puck and raised his hand as if he scored.  However, the official ruled no goal and they went to a video review.  Nearly every replay showed that the puck probably crossed the line, but Biron’s glove blocked the views, so the officials had to rule that the replays was inconclusive.  It was a tough call, but I have to admit, it was the correct call, based on the rules.

The second period started with the Penguins taking a couple of penalties.  While the Flyers were on the second of those penalties, Jaroslav Modry barely kept the puck in the Pens’ zone and dumped it back to the end boards.  Joffrey Lupul then sent a nifty centering pass to Jeff Carter in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.  Carter’s one-timer eluded Fleury to tie the game at one.

The Pens regained the lead with about six minutes left in the second period.  After a Hatcher hooking penalty, Gonchar fired a slapper from the point that Biron stopped, but Marian Hossa was there to bang the rebound home with a backhanded poke to make it 2-1 Pens.

The Flyers got a huge momentum lift very late in the second period, ironically enough on a Penguins’ powerplay.  Evgeni Malkin brought the puck over the Flyers’ blueline and attempted to make a no-look pass cross-ice, but unfortunately it was right to Mike Richards.  Richards easily eluded Gonchar and skated in on Fleury, where he snapped a wrister to the top shelf past Fleury to tie the game at two with only 24 seconds remaining in the second period.

The third period was pretty intense with both teams not wanting to make a fatal mistake.  Well, it turned out that’s exactly what happened for the Flyers.  Attempting to make a breakout pass, Steve Downie lost control of the puck and the Flyers were unable to clear the zone as Talbot blocked the puck.  Gary Roberts then took control of the puck, kept it in the zone and fed it to George Laraque, who sent the puck back deep in the zone.  Roberts gathered the puck behind the net and immediately backhanded the puck to the slot, where Talbot was there all alone for the one-timer that got past Biron to make it 3-2 Pens with 11:09 remaining in the game.

The Penguins clamped down defensively enough to prevent the Flyers from getting the tying goal, then sealed the win with Jordan Staal’s empty netter with 29 seconds remaining in the game.

It was a hard-fought, tough game.  The Flyers was the quicker team tonight, they were the more physical team tonight.  Unfortunately for them, their offense, with the exception of Mike Richards, isn’t contributing very much.

So it’s off to the Wachovia Center in Philly for Games Three and Four.  It is sure to be a raucous crowd there, but I’m sure the Penguins are well aware of that by now.  It should be interesting to see just how physical Game Three will be, and just how many retaliatory penalties there will be.

Penguins Notes leading up to Game Two

After watching a lot of Game One again plus reading a bunch of commentary, some tidbits as we wait until Sunday night’s Game Two:

• Way, way too much overconfidence today from Pens’ fans around the ’Net.  It’s only one game, folks.  Even if the Penguins win game two, even convincingly, the Flyers could come back home and knot the series at two games apiece, then it’s anybody’s ballgame.  Now, do I think that will happen ??  Uh, no.  But I’m not shouting off of my rooftop proclaiming the series is over already, either.  Too much hockey left to be played.
• I’ve read a lot of statements from Flyers fans today mentioning the fact that the Flyers lost Game One’s in both the Washington and Montreal series.  Well, OK, that’s true, I’ll give you that much.  But I have to predict that bouncing back in this series will be much tougher than in the previous ones.  At this point of the playoffs, you’d be foolish to compare the Penguins to the Caps, and to a lesser extent, the Habs.
• As I mentioned in the Game One recap, if the Flyers’ defense doesn’t shore itself up, this could be a quick series.  With Timonen’s injury, it doesn’t appear that the Flyers have the overall defense to stop the 1-2 punch of the Malkin and Crosby lines.  Sure, things could change, but for the Flyers’ sake, they’d better do it in a hurry.
• I expect the Flyers to attempt to do even more crashing of the net on Marc-Andre Fleury in Game Two.  That was the one thing they did well last night, until the Pens shut them down in the last two periods, that is.
• Speaking of Fleury, I’m sure the coaching staff will point out to him that his attempt to catch Coburn’s slapper 10 feet in the air caused him to get out of position, and led to Mike Richards’ wraparound to tie the game at one.
• I also expect the physicality to get ramped up as well, which will of course result in more powerplays on both sides.  I was shocked that there were only four penalties in Game One before the scrum at the end of the game.  Just too much bad blood built up over the year for this series to be so tame.
• Someone needs to tell Danny Briere that the series has started.  I’m reading a lot of “cherry picker” comments in relation to Malkin’s short-handed goal to make it 4-2.  If Danny had actually shot the puck on the Flyers’ powerplay instead of whiffing on it, the Malkin goal never happens.
• I failed to mention in last night’s post the great game that Brooks Oprik played.  He had several thundering hits, and I’m including the one on Hartnell that he was called for holding on.  That was a BS call, and many others in the hockey media concurred with that.
• While we’re on the subject of the officials, I have to say, that was a wonderful swan dive that Scotty Hartnell gave on Ryan Whitney’s tripping call.  And Flyer fans say that Crosby is a diver, sheesh.  And don’t forget the high stick to the mouth of Marian Hossa that wasn’t called either.  Can’t say the officials ruled in favor of the Pens in Game One.
• A big congrats to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins on their 4-1 series victory over, you guessed it, the Philadelphia Phantoms.
• Over in the Western Conference Finals, the Red Wings look good.  Real good.  Dallas looked like they were just happy to be there.  We’ll see tonight if the Stars will put up a better fight and try to get a split in Detroit.
• Lots of discussion about the hundreds of empty seats in Detroit as well.  That is an absolute disgrace for the self-proclaimed “Hockeytown, U.S.A.”.  Hey, stop with the economy excuse, times are tough everywhere.  These are the Conference Finals, the Red Wings and their fans should be ashamed of themselves.