Red Wings at Penguins - Final - 01-31-10
PREGAME
-Greetings from cold but sunny Pittsburgh. It's in the high teens but there's not a cloud in the sky. It's one of those days where standing in the shade brings a significant drop in temperature. Let us illustrate:
-See!
-PPG Place:
-The Art Institute of Pittsburgh:
-Looking west on the Boulevard of the Allies:
-The Grant Building:
-One Oxford Centre:
-At the City-County Building, they have this little, modest historical marker:
-And it's placed behind a trash can:
-We never new the Gettysburg Address was posted on the inside of the awning of the City-County Building:
-If you didn't know all this stuff... you do now:
-Looking up (east) on Fifth Avenue:
-Welcome to Hockey"tahn:"
-More real estate on along Fifth Avenue along with newspaper articles reminding that Consol Energy Center is on the way:
-Speaking of the devil:
-Mellon Arena:
-The ice:
-A Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Marc-Andre Fleury jersey:
-Toronto's making some big-time moves today. We'll have more after the game.
-Pearl Jam's "The Fixer" greets fans walking in from the sun:
-There are more than a few Red Wings fans here. A Henrik Zetterberg jersey:
-Again, we love the Sidney Crosby Team Canada jerseys, but be selective when you wear them. When a "red" rival is in town, plan accordingly:
-Nicklas Lidstrom Winter Classic:
-Did Jean Pronovost ever wear this style of jersey?
-All in all, it was a pretty disappointing day of jersey hunting. This Neil Wilkinson fan saved the day however:
-This Rob Brown fan is committing a complete jersey foul with the hood. The name plate is totally obstructed:
-Paul Coffey, who was a star with Detroit as well:
-Dan Cleary:
-That might not be the best jersey to wear in this building:
-A few Sidney Crosby "fans" from Detroit are here:
-This jacket is the stuff of Gary Bettman's expansion dreams:
-Warm ups:
-Tyler Kennedy and Alex Goligoski will be in the lineup. No Maxime Talbot however. He is scratched along with Eric Godard and the great Martin Skoula.
-Detroit's scratches are Derek Meech and Ville Leino.
-Marc-Andre Fleury and Jimmy Howard are you starting goaltenders.
-Who else but Jeff Jimerson would be on hand for such a hyped-up re-match:
FIRST PERIOD
20:00: The game is delayed so Pierre McGuire can delays things with his lame interview with Sidney Crosby. The interview is actually shown on the video board, without sound, and you can hear some booing. Awesome. The Penguins will start with a line of Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Pascal Dupuis.
19:59: Jordan Staal loses the opening faceoff to Henrik Zetterberg. Imagine that, the Penguins losing a faceoff to the Red Wings.
18:55: The Penguins have a line of Crosby, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko on the ice.
18:46: Bill Guerin picks up a puck in the neutral zone, coasts up the left wing, pulls up, gains a little space on Todd Bertuzzi and whips a wrister wide on the near side.
18:42: The third line is comprised of Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke and Mark Letestu.
18:08: Tyler Kennedy takes a pass on the right point from Cooke. Kennedy then centers it to Letestu who enters the offensive zone, cuts inside a defender and whips a wrister that appears to get deflected out of play. The fourthline of Nick Johnson, Craig Adams and Mike Rupp takes the ice.
17:56: Rupp chips a puck on net from the left wing. Howard fights it off into the corner.
16:59: Pavel Datsyuk dishes a pass to Niklas Kronwall at the the left point. Kronwall tees up and blasts a slapper wide of the cage.
16:29: On a delayed pnealty, Kris Letang enters the zone with speed, cuts towards the slot, falls to his knees and whips wrister on net. Howard boots it out with his left foot. Play is halted. Datsyuk is nabbed for high sticking Malkin. Crosby, Malkin, Guerin, Sergei Gonchar and Alex Goligoski take the ice.
15:49: Malkin and Guerin collide in the offensive zone. That allows the Red Wings to clear.
14:59: Staal moves up the right wing and forces a centering pass. It gets broken up and Kronwall sanaps it down ice.
14:27: Just as the Datsyuk penalty is killed, Mark Eaton picks up a loose puck at the left point. He snaps it on net. Howard is able to punchi it away with his glove. The Penguins' power play looked awfully unorganized there.
14:03: Zetterberg races up the right wing against Orpik, and flicks a backhande ron net. Gleruy fights it off.
13:40: Brett Lebda backhands a shot on net from the left wing. Fleury boots it out.
12:40: If you can't watch the game where you are click here.
12:28: Crosby steals a puck in the offensive zone and cranks a slapper on net from the left circle. Howard fights it off with a "thud."
12:20: Datsyuk works the puck up the left wing against Goligoski, tees up and blasts a slapper on net which Fleury boots out.
10:51: From the right wing, Kennedy flicks a pass to Letestu in the slot. Letestu enters the zone with speed, gets a step on a defender and snaps off a wrister which Howard appears to get a piece of.
10:44: Goligoski appears to attempt a pass from the left point. It gets deflected on net and is booted out by Howard who is scrambling outside his crease.
10:09: Off a faceoff win, Crosby whips a wrister on net. Howards boots it out.
9:55: Guerin pushes a pass to Fedotenko in the neutral zone. Fedotenko enters the offensive zone along the right wing and lifts a wrister on net. Howard eats it up.
8:08: Guerin coasts into the offesnive zone and from above the right circle, he flicks a wrster on net. Howard deflects it out foly.
8:00: Off a faceoff win, Eaton tosses a wrister on net from the corner. Howard knocks it down and hugs the puck to prevent a rebound. Fedotenko and Guerin are digging for a rebound but Howard's not giving it up.
7:45: Valtteri Filppula is nabbed for hooking Eaton. Guerin, Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar and Goligoski take the ice.
7:29: From the right halfwall, Goligoski snaps off a wrister. Howard lunges out a bit to glove it despite traffic.
7:13: Goligoski snaps off a wrster from the left point. Guerin is moving through the slot on a screen and re-directs the puck. It hops up in the air. Crosby gloves it, puts it on the ice and swats it wide.
6:27: Malkin has a shot deflected and clears down ice by Drew Miller. Miller and Malkin both go the bench and exchange some shoves. Kirk Maltby gets in on the action. Nothing comes of it.
6:05: Eaton snaps off a wrister from the left point. It gets deflected wide on it's way to the net.
5:45: Filppula's penalty is killed. The Penguins looked a lot better that power play but couldn't beat Howard.
5:35: Letang tees off and blasts a slapper from the left half wall. Howard fights it off despite traffic.
5:03: Dupuis chases down a loosep uck in the corner on the left wing. He turns and whips it on net. Howard boots it out.
4:13: The Red Wings move the puck to Jonathan Ericsson at the right point. He uncorks a slapper. Fleury eats it up despite a screen in front.
4:01: Gonchar is nabbed for tripping Datsyuk. Legit call. He had his stick between Datsyuk's legs. Staal,Cooke, Eaton and Jay McKee take the ice.
3:51: Staal intercepts a pass and whips it down ice.
3:23: Off a give and go with Datsyuk, Zetterberg lifts a backhander on net from the right circle. Fleury fights it off. There's a scramble for the rebound which is covered up by one of the 2,932 people in front of the net.
2:53: Letang picks up aloosepuck in the corner, turns and whips it down ice.
2:37: Kronwall pounds a slapper on net from the right point. Fleury eats it up.
2:13: Staal steals another puck, pushes it up the righ twing against Lidstrom and kills time.
2:01: Gonchar's penalty is killed. The Red Wings created a few nice chances there but couldn't solve Fleury.
1:12: What in the world was that?!? The Red WIngs come in off sides. The puck is sliding back towards the Penguins' net. Gonchar and Darren Helm just kind of stare at it like dopes. If Gonchar touches it, Helm can attack him. If Helm touches it, play is halted. Gonchar finally loses the "staring" contest, plays the puck and rushes himself into whipping it off the side of the cage. Fleury and just about everyone else in the building has their hearts skip a beat.
0:29: Kennedy spins in the right circle and whips a soft wrister on net. Howard boots it out with ease.
0:19: Kennedy come from behind the net, emerges to the left of it, turns and whips a wrister into a few bodies in front. It deflects into the crease and nearly comes to a rest before Brett Lebda clears it into the corner. Good job by Lebda cleaning that up.
0:02: Letestu grabs a loose puck in the right circle, spins and whips it on net. Jason Williams blocks it into the corner.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 0, Red Wings 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-Remember how this was hyped as the re-match to end all re-matches. And how this repeat of Stanely Cup finalists would determine the fate of the free world!!!!!
-Hmmm... not quite:
(An EN reader asked us to use their bundle of joy as the "official" EN yawn baby.)
-It wasn't an absolutely dreadful period by any means, it just wasn't what we're used to between these two teams.
-Jimmy Howard was the star of that period. If not for him, the Penguins have a lead.
-To review, these are the new line combinations:
Fedotenko-Crosby-Guerin
Dupuis-Malkin-Staal
Cooke-Letestu-Kennedy
Rupp-Adams-Johnson
-The funny thing was, the third line, even without Staal, was still the best line for the Penguins.
-Fleury was hardly tested.
-It's pretty obvious this isn't the same Red Wings team we're used to.
-The Penguins have a 16-6 lead in shots.
-Letang leads the game with four.
-Zetterberg leads the Red Wings with two.
-Gonchar leads the game with 8:48 of ice time.
-Rafalski leads the Red Wings with 8:22.
-The Red Wings have a 12-8 lead in faceoffs (60 percent).
-Crosby is 6 for 8 (75 percent).
-Helm is 4 for 6 (67 percent).
-Malkin leads the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
19:45: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
19:24: Staal picks up a loose puck in the neutral zone, gains the blue line on the left wing, fights off his personal road cone Brian Rafalski, swoops behind the net and whips a wraparound attempt through the crease. What an effort by Staal. Brian Rafalski might want to avoid matchups with Staal.
17:44: Here's all-time race for you. Bill Guerin, 39, beats Nicklas Lidstrom, 39, for a potential icing call.
17:13: Crosby digs out a loose puck behind the cage and dishes it to
16:58: Kennedy dishes a pass to Letang at the top of the slot. Letang hammers a slapper wide to the right of Howard.
17:07: Eaton's really getting involved on offense today. This time he snaps off a wrister from the left half wall. Howard eats it up.
16:24: Brad May is in front of the cage and dishes a backhanded feed to Miller in the slot. Miller snaps off a one-timer that clears the net.
14:46: Dupuis gets a backhander on net. There's a scramble for the rebound but Howard is able to cover.
14:03: Staal has a collison down low. He gets up slowly and lumbers to the bench. Staal appears to have a cut on his face. No call.
13:32: Malkin is nabbed for tripping Rafalski. Staal, Cooke, Eaton and McKee take the ice.
13:16: Rafalski blasts a slapper from the left half wall. CLear is in front on a nice screen but Fleury is able to fight it off.
12:22: Bertuzzi snaps off a wrster fomr hteright circle that appears to get deflected juuuust wide.
12:08: Kronwall moves a pass to Williams at theleft half wall. Williams blasts a one-timer that's off the mark.
11:32: Malkin's penalty is killed. Solid effort by the Penguins' penalty killers. Detroit really didn't generate much.
11:22: Malkin comes out of the box that creats a two-on-one with Crosby against Lidstrom. Lidstrom plays it perfectly and forces Malkin to take a low percentage wrister which Howard fights off. That's why Lidstrom is the best at his position and that's why he wins the Norris Trophy. Good luck seeing Mike Green ever doing that.
10:52: Crosby sneaks in from the left wing and flicks a backhander on net. Howard knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.
9:30: Cooke steps up and cranks a lose puck above the left circle on net. Howard fights it off.
8:48: Cooke snaps off a wrster from left circle. It deflects behind the net. Crosby is on the left of the cage and quickly backhands it towards teh cage. Howard is able to scramble to his left and keep it out.
7:09: Crosby fights off Filppula to the right of the cage and pushes a backhander at the net. Fedotneko is in front and grabs the loose puck putting a little wrister on net while fighting off a check. Howard is able to cover the puck as Guerin crashes in.
5:38: Off a delay penalty, Patrick Eaves whips a wrister on net from the right side of the cage. Fleury fights it off. Play is halted. Eaton is called for holding Helm behind the cage. Orpik, GOnchar, Adams and Staal take the ice.
4:44: Listrom tees up from the top of the slot and blasts a slapper wide to the right of the cage.
4:14: Rafalski cranks a one-timer from the right point that Dupuis gets with the shaft of his stick and deflects into the corner.
3:34: Just as the Eaton penalty is killed, Orpik snaps off a wrster from the left point that Howard deflects out of play. Heck of an effort by the Penguins there to kill that penalty.
3:14: And that brought som much needed life to this game. From the left wing, Goligoski snaps a centering pass through traffic to Crosby cutting throug the crease. Crosby takes the pass on his forehand, makes a dazzling cut just in frontof Howard who is way out of his crease, moves to his backhand and plunks the puck into the wide open cage. What a move by Crosby.He totally jammed up Howard there. And what a pass by Goligoski. He had to get that through a few sticks in order to hook up with Crosby. Goligoski and Malkin get assists. The "Hey Song" is played. NBC takes about 21 minutes to show a replay. We're sure Detroit fans start calling Crosby a crybaby. Penguins 1-0.
1:59: Attendance is announed as 17,105. It is the 145th consecutive sell out.
1:25: Cleary snaps off a wrister from above the left circle. Fleury makes the save but has a little trouble with it.
0:00: End of period. As play ends, Orpik and Eave mix it up. Orpik seemed to be the aggressor in that battle as he popped Eaves in the face with a punch. No call. Penguins 1, Red Wings 0.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-Things were looking a lot like the first period there until Crosby's goal. There was plenty of skating and more than a few scoring chances but it was still kind of bland.
-Howard continues to be the best player of this game. If not for him, the Penguins have a few more goals here.
-The penalty killers continue to dominate special teams here. There's very little of note on the power play for either team.
-We're not really seeing much chemistry with the new line combinations.
-The Red Wings have very little going on offensively. They're gonna have to keep the Penguins at one goal if they hope to win this.
-This has been the easiest two perios Fleury has had in a while.
-The Penguins are dominating shots, 29-11.
-The Red Wings only had five shots in the second.
-Crosby and Letang lead the game with five each.
-Kronwall and Zetterberg each lead Detroit with five.
-Rafalski leads the game with 18:14 of ice time.
-Gonchar leads the Penguins with 16:24.
-The Red Wings are dominating faceoffs, 21-13 (62 percent).
-Zetterberg is 7 for 8 (88 percent).
-Crosby is 8 for 13 (62 percent).
-Letang and Brad Stuart each lead the game with two blocked shots.
-In case you were wondering, Brent Johnson and his drivers license photo are on the cover of IceTime:
-In retrospect, we should've used this as our best Red WIngs related YouTube video in the pregame post:
THIRD PERIOD
19:32: Dan Clear whips a wrister from the left wing wide and far of the cage.
19:10: Datsyuk hops a backhanded pass to Zetterberg in the left circle. Zetterberg hammers a slapper which Fleury fights off with a "thud." Big save.
18:48: Off a turnover in the neutral zone, Dupuis steals the puck, gains the blue line and dishes to Malkin coming in off the righ twing. Malkin one-touches it to Staal coming in off the left wing. Staal hurries and pushes a low shot right into Howard's legs. Howard covers to freeze play.
17:55: Crosby moaves up the left wing and zips a wrister under Howard's glove and juuuust wide of the far post.
17:20: Cooke skates into the net, stops then bumps into the back of Howard. Officials calls him for goaltender interference. It's the right call. He ran right into the back of Howard. He protests and the fans boo but it's the right call. Staal, Adams, McKee and Eaton take the ice.
17:09: Williams hammers a slapper from the right point that appears to get deflected wide
16:32: Williams has the puck at the right point, moves up the wing a zips a cross ice pass to Filppula on the back door. Filppula has a wide open net to shoot at but whips it through the crease behind Fleury and totally misses the net. McKee might have gotten his stick on that to deflect it. Either way, the Red Wings missed a big chance there.
16:11: Kronwall gets a pass at the left point. He tees up and blasts a high slapper. Fleury hops up and traps it against his chest. Miller is called for high sticking Eaton. Four-on-four for 51 seconds.
15:20: Cooke's penalty is killed. The Penguins will have 1:09 of power-play time.
14:47: Cleary backhands the puck down ice to kill time.
14:28: Eaves whips the puck down ice from the corner on the left wing to the opposite corner. Malkin lumbers back for the puck. Just as he picks it up, he shakes off Helm and sends him crashing into the boards. Helm is fine.
14:11: Miller's penalty is killed. Not a lot of tone there of note for the Penguins.
13:54: Fedotenko chases down a puck in the corner on the left wing and backhands a centering pass. Johnson is there and deflects it out of play.
13:21: Datsyuk moves the puck up the left wing against Orpik and backhands a centerting attempt into the slot. Gonchar's left skate deflects it juuuust wide. Yeesh.
12:09: Letestu saucers a centering pass from the left wing to Kennedy in the slot. It's half a second ahead of Kennedy who is able to lunge and re-direct it on net. Howard boots it out with his left foot. Nice effort by Kennedy. Nice save by Howard.
10:04: Lidstrom chops a half slapper from the left point. It gets deflected once or twice on its way to the net before Fleury fights it off.
9:55: Rafalski pounds a slapper from the left point wide of hte cage on the near side.
8:50: That was only a matte of time. The Red Wings had controlled play for nearly two minutes. Brad Stuart and his wonkly left shoulder tie this game up. Cleary moves a puck from behind the goal line to Stuart at the left point. Stuart winds up and blasts a slapper. Cleary apparently redirected it by Fleury on the glove side. Cleary gets the goal. Stuart and Zetterberg get the assists. Penguins 1, Red Wings 1.
8:23: Helm smacks a slapper from the slot. Fleury makes the save despite a redirection attempt from in front.
7:59: Johnson fights off a few checks and tries to jam on in from the lfet of the cage. Howard holds it out.
7:16: Gonchar snaps off a wrister from the top of the slot. Howard makes the save despite a screen
6:42: Guerin moves the puck up the ice, gains the blue line and dishes a pass to Crosby on the left wing. Crosby lifts a wrister which Howard fights off up high. The rebound bounces around a bit before Howard covers
6:15: Fedotenko chips a puck by Williams on the left wing in the neutral zone, chases it down, makes a nice move by Rafalski and rips a wrister right into Howard. who eats it up. Nice effort by Fedotenko there.
5:50: Cooke gets denied in tight on awrap around attempt by Howard.
5:45: Kennedy whips a wrister on net from the righ thalf wall. Howard boots it out.
5:38: Cooke get stripped up behind the Detroit net. no call.
5:03: Datsyuk cranks a one-timer from the slot which Fleury fights off.
4:43: Orpik hammers a slapper from the left point that clears the net.
4:38: Gonchar gets a pass at the left point and swats a one-timer. Howard is able to eat it up with "thud."
3:20: Malkin dishes a pss to Dupuis in the right circle. With a defender hanging all over him, Dupuis snaps a backhander towards the crease. Staal is there and re-directs it juuuust wide.
2:41: Datsyuk gains the zone with speed and whips a wrister which Fleury gets a piece of with his stick and deflects out of play. That was a little scary. That had "game-winner" written all over it.
2:21: Guerin hammers a slapper from the right point on net. Howard makes the easy save.
1:51: Eaton races back to touchup an iced puck by Detroit. Faceoff in the Detroit zone.
1:39: Off a Detroit turnover, Malkin lifts a wrister from the left circle. Howard fights it off with his blocker.
1:27: Helm pumps a wrister on net from the left wing. Fleury deflects it out of play.
1:09: Kennedy moves up the righ wing and snaps off a sneaky wrister. Howard has to trap it between his left elbow and left knee. That was a tough save.
0:39: The "old" third line is re-united for a shift. Kennedy snaps off a wrister to Staal on the left wing. Staal moves up ice and rips a wrister to the far side with Howard gloves. The Penguins lineup for the faceoff with Guerin, Malkin and Staal.
0:15: Guerin coasts up the right wing and rips a wrister off the side of the cage.
0:01: Guerin battls efor a puck and dishes ot Staal in the left circle. Staal moves it back to Orpik who hurries a slapper into a cluster of bodies in front. It gets blocked and cleared down ice by Detroit.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 1, Red WIngs 1.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-The Penguins have a 45-21 lead in shots.
OVERTIME
3:59: Staal enters the offensvie zone. Kronwall steps up to make a hit leading with his knee. His right knee hits the side of Staal's right knee. Both players go down. Staal gets right up and chases the puck. Kronwall staggers to his feet.
3:54: Malkin whips a wrister on net from the slot. Howard makes the huge save. Kronwall limps to the bench. Hard to feel sorry for him considering he led with the knee and his history of questionable hit. You'd think he'd know better after he was injured on a bad knee-on-knee hit by Canadiens forward Georges Laraque earlier this season.
3:18: Letang snaps off a wrister from the top of the slot. Howard eats it up. Staal digs for a rebound. The offcials wait about 12 minutes to blow a whistle.
2:50: Kennedy races up the right wing and rips a wrister high to the far side.
1:38: Crosby moves the puck up from hs own zone against Stuart. Crosby gains the blue line, moves it by Stuart who looks like he's trying to wrestle a deer to the ice. Crosby bets by Stuartbut cant get a shot off. Howard covers the puck. What an effort by Jimmy Howard.
1:21: Filppula moves the puck up ice, undresses GOnchar and attacks the net with a backhander. Filppula goes to shoot but Gonchar hooks his right hand. Officials sent Gonchar to the box. The Penguins have a big penalty kill. Saal, Cooke and Eaton take the ice. The Penguins will play for the shootout here.
0:41: Lidstrom has a one-timer from tth top of the slot deflected wide.
0:31: Helm cranks aone-timer from the right half wall booted out by Fleury.
0:09: Datsyuk blasts a one-timer from the left point that gets deflected juuuust wide.
0:05: The Penguins chip the puck down ice and kill the resto of the clock. Whew.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 1, Red Wings 1.
FOURTH INTERMISSION
"FLERR-EEE! FLERRR-EEE!"
SHOOTOUT
-Letang is first. He weaves his way toward the net down the slot, attempts a backhander but pretty much runs out of room. Howard make the save.
-Datsyuk who is so dangerous at the shootout is up for Detriot. He moves in, tries to go with a backahnder and punches it wide.
-Crosby races in, cuts across the slot, waits, waits, waits and gets Howard to commit low. He lifts the backhander over Howard's glove and gets the goal. What patience. Penguins 1-0.
-Williams gets the call for Detroit. He flies in, goes right at Fleury and shoots low. Fleury makes the save with his glove hand.
-Malkin can end it. Interesting choice considering his spotty history with the shootout. He goes wide to the right wing, moves in on net with a delayed approach, springs to his backhand tucking the puck juuuust behind Howard's left leg and into the cage. That was soooo smooth. End of shootout. Penguins 2, Red Wings 0. End of game. The "Woo-Hoo!" song is played Penguins 2, Red Wings 1.
POSTGAME
-It wasn't quite Game 7, but it was pretty dang good. It was kind of slow early on and even got stagnant at points, but it ended up a pretty good game.
-That said, we did't come out of this game thinking there was the same emotion after a game with the Flyers or Capitals. This seemed like it was a late January game against a non-conference opponent. They just happened to play a decent close came.
-Jimmy Howard's teammates all owe him a beer. He gave them a chance to get overtime and put them in a position to win this game. He should not be ashamed of his effort today.
-We're not all that crazy about the Penguins' new line combinations. They just seemed kind of unorganized. Things got a little bit more cohesive as the game wore on, but for the most part, the Penguins seemed a little out of synch.
-That said, Detroit is still a pretty dang good defensive team. The Penguins weren't going to cut them up like the Maple Leafs.
-Amazing how the "new" third line seemed to be the best one without Staal. Clearly it's time to trade Staal.
-Kennedy played his best game in at least a month in our opinion. He just seemed really active, especially on offense and created a few scoring chances.
-Defensively, we thought the Penguins were pretty sharp. It was one of their best games in that respect in quite a while. We know Detroit's not the offensive dynamo it used to be and a few players like Johan Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom where playing today, but we really thought the Penguins limited them offensively.
-The Penguins continue to be the NHL's best shootout team. They now are the league's only undefeated team in that regard at 7-0.
-Only the Kings at 8-3 have more wins.
-Crosby and Datsyuk lead the NHL in shootout goals at six.
-Fleury was okay. It's a stretch to say he was tested. The lone Detroit goal was a nifty re-direction which is tough to hang on him.
-We're not sure if it's fair to slam the Penguins' power play or not. It only had three chances, one of which was only slightly more than a minute due to a overlapping penalty. Detroit's a good defensive team that shuts down a lot of other power plays. Either way, a power play goal helps the Penguins win that in regulation.
-The Penguins' penalty kill sure was awesome, especially late in overtime. That was a huge effort.
-The Penguins dominated shots, 47-24.
-Detroit had a pretty big advantage in that area after the second period. In the third and overtime periods combined, they led 18-13.
-Lidstrom's still amazing at 39. In the second period after the Penguins killed off a penalty, Malkin came out of the box. That created a two-on-one with Crosby. Lidstrom, facing two MVP caliber players, positions himself perfectly and forces Malkin to take a low percentage shot. When folks in Washington wonder why Mike Green doesn't get more consideration for the Norris Trophy, it's plays like that he doesn't make that cost him credibility as a two-way player.
-Crosby and Letang each led the game with six.
-Adams and McKee were the only Pittsburgh skaters who failed to record a shot. Bums.
-Zetterberg led the Red Wings with four.
-Rafalski led the game with 30:03 of ice time.
-Gonchar led the Penguins with 26:02.
-The Red Wings still are awesome in faceoffs. They led 41-20 (67 percent).
-Zetterberg was 13 for 16 (81 percent).
-Mark Letestu was 4 for 6 (60 percent).
-Letang led the game with three blocked shots.
-Stuart and Rafalski each each led the Red Wings with two blocked shots.
-Jordan Staal tied Nick Harbaruk for the second-longest consecutive games streak in team history at 276 games. Ron Schock holds the franchise record with 313 games
-Gonchar appeared in his 300th career game with the Penguins.
-Guerin was spotted in the locker room sans moustache and was quite proud of that accomplishment. He was showing it off to just about everyone.
-EN reader Kelli Zappas spotted a Jay Caufield jersey:
-EN reader Justin McElhattan sent in this bit of resourcefulness. A fan with a standing-room only ticket swiped a bunch of cup holders to improve their line of site at the game:
-NBC is still horrible.