With an uneasy feeling in my stomach I watched the 1st period of game 3 last night. The way things began; it looked as if the Penguins were in trouble yet again. The Wings started things off similarly to game’s 1 and 2, badly out shooting the Pens and suffocating them with defense.
Half way through the 1st period momentum started to change. It all started with coach Therrien putting out Hossa, Malkin, and Crosby all on the same line. The Pens finally were able to generate some much-needed offense.
Not long after, the Wings finally made a mistake, misplaying the puck in their own zone, which led to what all Pens fans had been waiting so patiently to happen, a goal. Sid Crosby cashed in giving the Penguins that HUGE first goal (of the Cup and the game) and the arena went ape shit.
Speaking of the arena are there any better fans in hockey? I think not. That place was jumping and I heard many people say it was the loudest they’ve ever heard the Mellon Arena. I thank not only our fans for this, but also the person in charge of the music. I heard a couple songs from Rage Against the Machine and also some Foo Fighters. (def music to get you pumped up)
The power of the white out
The best part about this win is that the Wings looked just as sharp as they had in the previous two games, but the Penguins still found a way to get the job done and get a W.
Sid added another goal in the second period on the power play, and things were finally starting to look up for our boys.
Heeeeeeeee shoots and scores!
The Wings managed to finally score as Frazen put one past a much improved Fleury in the 2nd period making the score 2-1. The Pens were 20 minutes away from their first win in the Stanley Cup Final.
In the third, our role players came up big as the Pens managed to hold off the high powered Red Wings. Gary Roberts illustrated why he earned the nickname Scary, as he was all over the ice hitting people and making his presence known. How a 42-year-old man can have the stamina to play the game the way he does is amazing. How could you not like this guy? It was partially thanks to his play that Adam Hall had the chance to bury the game winner banking it off Osgood’s big ole’ butt into the net.
Guns don't kill people, Gary Roberts kills people...
Brooks Orpik also had a great game, especially in the 3rd period when he was hitting anything in red that moved. On one shift he managed to park 3 guys on their asses in one sequence of plays. Nicely done Brooks!
For the Pens this is only step one, but seeing guys like Hall, Fleury, Roberts, Orpik, Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa step up is definitely a good sign of things to come. Also, players like Sykora, Malone, Staal and Dupuis have been playing their asses off and it should pay off for them soon, in the form of some more goals.
With that being said there is no way that the Red Wings are going to lay down, and it will take an even better effort to win again on Saturday. The Penguins will need to take less penalties and keep making adjustments if they wanna even up the series before going back to Detroit next week.
Until lata...
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