Red Wings Dominate Penguins With Shutout Victory, Re-Take Series Lead!
Wow, what a game. Totally one sided but still a great game. Detroit, back at full strength came out of the locker room and took it to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I mean they totally dominated them. Detroit put on an exhibition as they shutout the Pens 5-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup final. Detroit’s two-game losing streak in Pittsburgh quickly became a distant memory as the Red Wings returned to the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena and blew away the supposedly fresher Penguins. Five different players scored for the Red Wings and with the return of Pavel Datsyuk the Wings seemed unstoppable. He had two assists in the game.
Chris Osgood played a great game, he stopped all 22 shots that came his way and even collected an assist on Valtteri Filppula”s goal in the 2nd period. Osgood took advantage of a sloppy Pittsburgh line change and passed the puck from his own net up the left side to a waiting Marian Hossa who then set up Filppula. It was the first time a goalie has recorded a point in a game since 2003. Osgood now has 15 career playoff shutouts, which is the second most among active goalies (Martin Brodeur has 23).
Pittsburgh’s beleaguered goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled in the 2nd period in favor of backup Mathieu Garon after the Wings broke it open with four goals ( three in a span of 6 minutes and 42 seconds). It was Garon’s first playoff action since 2004. Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were shut down tonight, Malkin showed his frustration as he picked up three of the nine Pittsburgh penalties. Game 6 is Tuesday night and those two are going to have to get back on track for Pittsburgh to have a chance at winning and forcing a game seven.
The Wings definitely flexed their muscles tonight and has outscored Pittsburgh 11-2 in their three games in Detroit in this series. History suggests the Red Wings will hoist the Cup again as 14 of the 19 previous teams to win Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 have prevailed. Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 233 NHL postseason game, tying former D Scott Stevens for fifth on the career list.
Jun 7th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Last nights game showed with the Detroit Red Wings showing their flight as the superior bird over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Everyone know that a penguin can’t fly. It sure showed last night with the passing quickness of the Wings while enjoying a man advantage over a frustrated Penguin club which earned too many penalties. The series resumes Monday night in Pittsburgh where the Penguins have shown their fans that they really belong and have to date played their best brand of hockey. Detroit on the other hand does not want to allow the series to go 7 games and will try and ice the game and the series in foreign territory. Again the battle of 2 great teams will come down to the specialty group of players who can defend on penalty killing as well as those who can put the rubber into the net with the man advantage.
Jun 7th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Just a note of correction . The 6 game of the Stanley Cup will be played on Tuesday.