Thursday, May 29th, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Yay for not being swept
The Penguins were back Wednesday night, sort of. They managed to look much better and even to score several times in their 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena, but it took a superhuman effort from Sidney Crosby and the support of an arena-full of people to do it.
Crosby had seemed primed for a huge game, quite often being the only Penguin who was making plays during the first two games of the series. Tonight, his hard work finally paid off. Crosby took advantage of a couple of lucky caroms and some bad Detroit passing to make the game 1-0 at the end of the first period, showing that if the Penguins are expecting to win they are going to need to take advantage of Detroit’s not very often made mistakes.
The game became 2-0 during a skirmish around the net at the beginning of the second period. The skirmish was one of several times in which a Penguin goal seemed inevitable, but was also the only one of those times where they managed to cash in, showing just how good Chris Osgood has been this series.
The final goal came from role player Adam Hall who has been quietly very good throughout the playoffs. Hall banked a shot off of Osgood’s skate and watched it bounce into the net for the then 3-1 lead, one that would drop to 3-2 after ex-Penguin and current Penguin torment Mikael Samuelsson scored midway through the third period.
Of course, the Penguins still seem to believe that the Red Wings are playing dirty and are beginning to respond in such, as Hal Gill routinely beat up Tomas Holmstrom in front of the net and Ryan Malone managed to dictate physicality without taking stupid penalties. Both players, as well as their teammates, seemed envigorated by the sellout crowd.
The Penguins are undoubtedly a better team at Mellon Arena than they are on the road, perhaps because of the supposedly soft ice here, but more likely because of the rabid crowd. Like any Pittsburgh audience, Penguin fans love a winner and, as such, kept the arena noisy enough last night that Osgood couldn’t communicate effectively with Nicklas Lidstrom or his other defensemen, leading almost directly to a couple of scoring opportunities and a huge advantage for Pittsburgh. (Last night’s game was the first that Osgood has ever lost in the finals.)
Penguins’ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury seemed energized, not flustered, by the noise, as he finally returned to form. Fleury was near-excellent last night, stopping 32 of 34 shots and keeping the Penguins in the game. Having the lead clearly instilled some confidence in him, as he finally looked comfortable in the net.
Just as vital to the Penguins’ success as Fleury, though, was getting a flow going, something that they had struggled with during the first two games in Detroit. The Pens’ offense had been choppy and unfocused, not able to maintain any type of momentum over the course of a game. Tonight, they managed to pull that off and it was obvious as they were actually able to carry the puck into the neutral zone and the defense helped keep Detroit from just waltzing in and setting the tempo.
Perhaps the ability to have the last change helped that, as it has been suggested that Crosby’s escaping Henrik Zetterberg’s line may have had something to do with his success. That would only be admitting defeat for the Penguins, though, as Detroit coach Mike Babcock now knows precisely what line to put up against Crosby in the next game in Detroit which, fortunately, is now guaranteed.
The Penguins should probably be relatively confident heading into Saturday’s Game Four, as they do seem to have the advantage at Mellon Arena. The issue for the long-term outlook of the series, though, is that this seems like a series that will be dominated by the home team, which will inevitably be more comfortable in its own building. And Detroit has four of those, while the Penguins only have three.
Not that I’m looking ahead or anything.
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