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The queues
Center Evgeni Malkin, the center of the Penguins, and defenseman Kris Letang are coming back from injuries to prepare for the playoffs and, more importantly, to help the team earn a spot.
First period
The Pens start with three solid early shifts (two with the immediate impact of Malkin and Letang felt) and in the third quarter, the Red Wings take a penalty and send Pittsburgh to a quick power play to 2 : 11 for a reduction.
The pens do little with that and then Jake Guentzel takes a penalty shortly after. The Pittsburgh PK looks very strong at first but then collapses in the end. Matt Puempel deflects a point in front of the goal and it's 1-0 in Detroit.
Hard to do anything about it, just a nice piece of Puempel there.
Matt Murray saves the Pens bacon when Martin Frk comes off after Justin Schultz breaks his wand to try to throw himself straight.
Big stop at one end, but at another shortly after – a story as old as time. The top line of the pens plays well and Olli Maatta stays at the bottom under the goal line. Maatta finds Guentzel back in the game (almost like Chris Kunitz ECF 2017 G7 OT) and is able to quickly take the puck past Jimmy Howard to make it 1-1.
This is a big difference from the third line, but Howard is playing a big win, depriving Nick Bjugstad of a goal.
Detroit returns to the penalty box for Jared McCann, who wins strongly, then the struggling power play of the Pens finally unveils! Patric Hornqvist continues to play and Sidney Crosby shoots Howard. Howard can not control the rebound, but Phil Kessel is sitting on the doorstep to hit the puck at home and that is 2-1 in Pittsburgh.
To make things better, this power play goal triggered a promotion to win a free hamburger for all participants. The crowd responded with a song of "Thank you Phil," to the great amusement of Kessel and Guentzel.
How can anyone have fun at a hockey game!
Shots 18-7 Pens, very good point apart from the blip with this deviation.
Second period
Few things happen, the Pens get caught in the area for 2 minutes and get stuck in the area for a while, but the group is able to hold on after Murray makes some nice stops.
Malkin blinks a bit with the puck in the o zone, which is always fun to watch.
Jack Johnson sticks strongly to Tyler Bertuzzi and as Bertuzzi falls on the ice, he loses control of his stick and it sticks strong Johnson. They both get 4 minutes of penalties, which seems like a chance for the Pens to not be outnumbered and to stay 5 to 5, even. Considering that Bertuzzi has 13 points in his last 5 games, exchanging Johnson's position against the ice is an exchange you take each time from the point of view of the Pens.
Shortly after these penalties, Phil hits again! Malkin Kessel's game wisely mixes a step to get out of blocking lanes and takes a quick shot to make it 3-1.
The shots in the second are 18-13 pens.
Third period
Detroit scored 5 shots on goal in the first 2 minutes of the period, attempting to launch this wave.
But Dylan Larkin drops McCann in the middle of the ice and the Pens are back on the power play. They do not score but almost the entire top group remains away for 2 minutes, almost entirely with ball possession and zone time, zipping past passes and some shots as well. It's fun to watch even if no goal has been scored.
Andreas Anthanasiou then has anti-sporting behavior, I guess for tweeting the referee (he called it maybe a "JT" as in the movie Semi Pro) and that the big boys had one this time . Patric Hornqvist feeds Kessel who kicks and hits the post and goes to bed behind Howard. Sidney Crosby is here to take him home to do it 4-1.
Bryan Rust catches his stick and hooks a player for the Red Wings to play on the power play. The most memorable moment is that McCann unleashes a terrible shot that completely freezes Howard as the puck gets closer to the bar, but not in the net.
Murray is still doing some nice backups and that will do it. A 13th place consecutive to the series is assured.
Some ideas
- Phil is warming up! Two goals in this one and now a series of two-game goals too. Kessel has scored 8 points in the last 6 games and has moved quite quickly from "being in a rut" to "being in a groove". For Pittsburgh, it would be a feat to let Kessel wake up and score goals.
- Attending the first two goals of the Pens and scoring a goal itself means that Crosby is at 98 points for the season. Given how Sid usually storms the Rangers (and the fact that the New York area has nothing left to play), reaching 100 may not be quite out of reach.
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Crosby's goal was also his first in 10 games, so he's very happy he has a goal now.
- A total of 62 clashes in this game, Crosby took 34 (54%). Won 68% of his draws, mostly feasting on Larkin. This is a fun statistic to follow since the Pens rely heavily on the captain at this time of year for many small details of this kind.
- Good start for Pittsburgh, but the game really seemed to turn in the second period. The game was much more balanced, the Wings had good chances but Murray was good and then Kessel hit to increase the lead.
- Another great game in a long list of them for Murray. Beginning his 10th consecutive career, Murray stops 33/34 with the only one that escapes a significant deviation to the chest for about 20 feet, namely impossible. Murray was huge. Depending on the progress of the seeding battle, you may have a chance to rest it on Saturday, but it is possible that the Pens have something to play – for example, try to get a result to make sure they do not end up at the rank of Wild Carton and draw either Tampa (less likely) or Washington (achievable) as the opponent of the first tower. If that means the game makes sense, Murray will surely make 11 starts in a straight line.
Super match to see familiar faces coming back and ask W to ask all his questions about the playoffs. Now let's see how the mixing of the possibilities of the first round takes place.
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