Penguins 4, Red Wings 1 - Final
Where to start! The Pens are back and they are raring to go! Three wins in as many games and all without our glorious captain, Sid the Kid. The face of the NHL, who is out with a mild concussion, has missed the last six games, the first three going 0-1-2, and is rumored to be missing the All-Star game in Raleigh on January 30th.
But if Crosby is anything like Jordan Staal, he will be fine when he gets back. Staal, who missed the first thirty-nine games of the season due to injury, looks like he has never been away. He opened the scoring just 3.02 into the game, shooting the puck into an open net, after receiving a pass from Tyler Kennedy who was situated behind the goal... with Joey MacDonald, the Wings' goaltender! MacDonald, suiting up instead of Jimmy Howard (who is also out due to injury), made the mistake of going behind the net to collect the puck, but had his pocket picked by Kennedy, who achieved both his fourteenth and fifteenth assists of the season, all in one night - he also managed to pick up the third star of the match.
If you're a Pens fan and you were watching the game, you got to witness a real treat! Eight minutes after Staal opened the scoring, Chris Conner was held on the breakaway, by Kris Draper; Conner was given a penalty shot. I know what y'all are thinking; penalty shots and Penguins don't go together... and that would be a justified statement. We haven't scored a penalty shot since 2007, when Ruutu played in Black and Gold. But that's the past, and this is now. Skating down the right side, Conner successfully tricked MacDonald into thinking he was going to us the forehand, before expertly switching to the backhand and slotting the puck between the pads, earning him the second star of the night. 2-0 Penguins!
To the second period now, and the Wings are rallying to stay in the game. At 17.28, Johan Franzen, scoring his twentieth goal of the season for Detroit, managed to slip one past Fleury, although not affecting his overall performance - which landed him the first star of the night! Let's go Flower!
Although not stealing it completely, Chris Kunitz managed to take some of Marc-Andre's spotlight, by restoring the Pens two-goal lead - just thirty seconds after Franzen had shortened it! Evgeni Malkin and Pascal Dupuis got a share in the awesomeness that was Chris Kunitz' goal, both getting assists. But the Pens weren't done; an empty-netter from Matt Cooke, who was assisted by Tyler Kennedy and Brooks Orpik, finished off the scoring for the night.
It had been clear at the begging that the Pens were in this to win, and weren't going to show the injury-ridden Wings' team any compassion... I'd bet good money that the Pens are glad that they are back to winning ways, even with Crosby and Ben Lovejoy out for the moment.
Let's just hope they carry on winning against the Devils on Thursday! Let's go Pens!
No comments:
Post a Comment