Detroit 3 - Pittsburgh 1
The feeling in the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room after game 2 had to not be one of down and out, but rather one of optimism.
Optimism for a few reasons: 1) for the second straight game in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Penguins out shot the defending Stanley Cup champions 32-26. 2) The improved their faceoff winning percentage immensely, edging the Red Wings 27-24. 3) They hit 2 goal posts at two different, crucial times during the game. Two inches to the middle and this series would be tied at 1 heading back to Pittsbugh, instead of a two game advantage for the Wings. 4) Marc-Andre Fluery was terrific in game 2.
31 of 32 teams in the Stanley Cup Finals have won the series after going ahead 2-0. But this year doesn’t have many convinced that stat works in Detroit’s favour.
Playoff Officiating Controversy
Referee’s Mark Joannette and Bill McCreary had just as much to do with the outcome of the game as the players on the ice did. Valtteri Filppula’s second period goal should have been blown dead after Marion Hossa put an obvious hook on Pittsburgh’s Pascal Dupuis, and Henrik Zetterberg closed his hand on the punk in the crease for the second straight game just minutes before Justin Abdelkader scored his second goal in as many games early in the third period. That’s two Detroit goals that should have never been allowed to occur.
From there, the game got completely out of hand, frustration levels on both teams sored through the roof and fans we treated to a very messy end to the game which will – one way or another – have a rollover effect into game 3.
Malkin v. Zetterberg Fight
Maxime Talbot’s spear to the chest of Chris Osgood at the end of the third period was a deliberate, completely unnecessary and extremely classless use of a stick. Geno Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg’s “fight” was nothing more than Malkin being beyond frustrated with what had transpired during the game.
Under NHL rules, Malkin should be suspended for the next game for instigating a fight within the last 5 minutes of a game. Penguins’ fans can sleep easy tonight, because with the way the NHL has been classically inconsistent in how they have disciplined players this off-season, it would surprise no one should Malkin not miss game 3.
Give the Red Wings defense credit though, led by future Hall of Fame player Nicklas Lidstrom, they played shut-down hockey all night and suffocated the Penguins’ into making bad decisions and rushing plays.
The potential for the most heated Stanley Cup Final in recent memory is developing, and that has to be good news –whether its good publicity or bad- for the NHL who are desperate for the on-ice product to take the attention away from off-ice shenanigans.
2009 Stanley Cup Finals Game 2 Stats:
Goal Scorers: Pittsburgh; Geno Malkin. Detroit; Jonathan Ericsson, Valtteri Filppula, Justin Abdelkader
Shots on goal: Pittsburgh 32 – Detroit 26
Power Play: Pittsburgh 0/1 – Detroit 0/3
Faceoffs Won: Pittsburgh 27 – Detroit 24
Ice-time Leaders: Pittsburgh, Sergei Gonchar 23:14 - Detroit, Brad Stuart 24:44
Pittsburgh and Detroit will play game three on Tuesday, June 2nd at 8pm
