Penguins at Red Wings - Game 5 - Second Period - 6-6-09
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: Matt Cooke, Scuderi, Gill and Staal will start the period on the penalty kill.
19:30: Lidstrom tosses a puck on net from the right point. It gets re-directed on net. Fleury fights it off.
19:09: Lidstrom pounds a slapper from the right point. Fleury punches it away. A teammate clears it down ice to change lines.
18:54: Hudler fires a wrister from the slot. Fleury is square to him and fights it offo
18:16: Just as Kunitz's penalty is killed, Detroit strikes. The Penguins dump the puck down ice and change lines. Osgood retrieves it behind his net and dishes it down ice to Hossa near the Penguins' blue line. Hossa moves into the zone and backhand chips a pass into the slot for FIlppula. Filppula moves to the backhand and lifts it over Fleury's glove hand. Really nice play all around. Osgood was heads up to get the puck down ice during the Penguins' line change. Hossa and Osgood get assists. Red WIngs 2-0.
17:02: "FLERRRRR..... EEEEEEEE..... FLERRRRR..... EEEEEE...."
16:12: Off a faceoff win, Letang strikes a one-timer from the top of the slot.
15:28: Those funny boards almost bite Fleury again. A puck gets played in off the corner and bounces right at him from behind the net. He lunges over and holds the puck out with his left skate.
15:23: Hossa snaps of a wrister that hits off of the near post and riccochets out from behind Fleury. Some tough luck there.
14:17: Zetterberg snaps off a wrister from the left wing that goes through the crease.
14:07: Gonchar is called for slashing as he appeared to lumberjack Cleary's stick. Big kill needed here for the Penguins. Staal, Gill, Cooke and Scuderi are on for the penalty.
13:49: Ouch. Franzen controls the puck on the left wing and dishes it down low to Krwonall. Kronwall comes out to the left faceoff circle, moves into the slot and lifts a wrister over Fleury's glove hand. That was ugly for the defense and Fleury to give up. They could not have played that any worse as a team. Franzen and Zetterberg get assists. Red Wings 3-0.
13:23: Letang smacks a wrister from the slot that gets blocked wide.
13:12: This just keeps getting worse for the Penguins. Malkin is sent off for smacking Franzen in the side of the head with an elbow. That was stupid. And it's two minutes. Gill, Scuderi, Cook and Talbot are out for the power play.
12:25: Talbot pushes the puck up ice and allows his team a line change.
11:41: Datsyuk snaps a pass into the slot from the corner. It hits off Gonchar's stick and bounces into Fleury. Fleury holds it out despite a scrum.
11:34: Uggg.... Leeeee.... Datsyuk slides a pass to Rafalski on the right point. Rafalski moves in and uncorks a sick wrister that beats Fleury to the far side. Fleury had no idea where that puck was as Scuderi and Holmstrom were battling in front and screened him. So much for Detroit's power play having issues. Datsyuk and Lidstrom get assists. Datsyuk's pass was really sharp. Red Wings 4-0.
10:57: "Flerrrrr.... Eeeeeeee..... Flerrrrrr.... Eeeeee....
9:51: Letang gets dropped in front of Detroit's bench by Helm.
9:08: Datsyuk shows his true value as he maks a nice backcheck on Guerin just inside the Detroit's blue line and denies the Penguins a scoring chance.
7:29: The Penguins get their first shot on net in seemingly forever as Fedotenko fires a soft wrister from the top of the slot. Osgood crouches down and gloves it. "Ozzzzz-EEEEE! Ozzzzz-EEEEEE!"
7:12: Letang steps up from the right point and snaps off a wrister which Osgood sweeps away.
6:16: Crosby works his way up the ice and as he's about the cross the Detroit blue line
6:10: As Fleury covers a puck that takes another funny hop off the corner boards into the crease, bodies collect in the crease and tempers eventually boil over as Kunitz and Helm tangle. It's more like Kunitz just putting Helm in a head lock and punching him. Kunitz is the only player penalized. Ummm...It might be a good idea to stop taking penaltys on this team. Gill, Scuderi, Staal and Talbot are on for the kill.
5:57: Lidstrom's stick breaks and he loses the puck. Talbot pushes it up ice and challenges him one-on-one. Lidstrom crouches down and is able to swat the puck away with his hand. What a play.
4:20: Geez. Too easy. Samuelsson controls the puck on the left wing and dishes it to Hudler at the left point. Hudler fakes a slap shot and dishes a pass to Zetterberg in the left faceoff circle. Zetterberg takes it, allows Fleury to slide over and roofs a wrister over his glove hand. Detroit had too much freedom to pass and Fleury totally played that wrong. Fleury is pulled for Mathieu Garon. Garon has not played since a 6-1 rout of the Islanders April 9. Fleury taps him on the legs as he skates to his bench. Fleury's teammates stand up to slap him five. He's had an awful game, but his teammates have left him out to dry quite a bit tonight. Hudler and Samuelsson get assists. Red Wings 5 (geez), 0.
3:15: "LET'S-GO RED-WINGS!" (clap, clap, clap) "LET'S-GO RED-WINGS" (clap, clap, clap)
2:43: A stoppage near the Detroit brings another scrum. Nothing really comes of it.
2:23: More stupidity. This time its from the captain. He gives a whack to Zetterberg on the shin near Detroit's blue line. Talbot, Gill, Scuderi and Adams are on for target practice the penalty kill.
2:03: This is just getting embarrassing. Talbot gives a hack to Datsyuk's skate deep in the Detroit zone. FIve-on-three for 1:40. Ugh. Scuderi, Staal and Adams are on for the human sacrifice penalty kill.
1:08: Hudler controls the puck down low along the goal line and zips a cross crease pass to Zetterberg who punch it wide.
0:47: A Red Wings player hacks at a puck covered by Garon. Garon gives him a whack.
0:23: Crosby's penalty is killed.
0:07: "CROS-BEEE SUCKS! CROS-BEE SUCKS!"
0:03: Talbot's penalty is killed.
0:00: End of period. Red Wings 5, Penguins 0.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-Well now. That was just brutal. The Penguins made so many stupid mistakes there it wasn't even funny. They looked like the Flyers that 20 minutes. Give a team like the Red Wings chances, and they will chew you up.
-If there's any consolation out of this from a Penguins' perspective, it's that the Penguins have inflicted these wounds tonight themselves. Detroit has just come out and run them over. The Penguins have given them chance after chance and like an elite team, Detroit has cashed most of them in.
-Blame Fleury. We are. But we're also blaming his defense. They look like the Islanders out there. The passing lanes Detroit has tonight are ridiculous. This is a total team effort for the the Penguins.
-So much for Detroit having a bad power play.
-So much for Detroit being beat up and worn out.
-We're not sure what tangible goal the Penguins can pursue here as a team. At the very least, they can play physical and extract a physical toll on the Red Wings. We're by no means suggesting they start head hunting and try to take out some Detroit players on purpose. Just play them hard and wear them down a bit. They'll have three days to rest up. Wear them out a little bit before Game 6.
-Datsyuk looked a lot better that period but keep the context in perspective. His team was running a power play practice most of that period.
-Amazingly, Detroit only has a 23-17 edge in shots.
-Zetterberg leads the game with six.
-Gonchar leads the Penguins with three.
-Another somewhat amazing stat is the fact that the Penguins have a 16-15 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).
-Adams is 5-for-7 (71 percent).
-Zetterberg is 5-for-9 (56 percent).
-Lidstrom leads the game with 18:41 of ice time.
-Gonchar leads the Penguins with 15:03.
-Scuderi leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Rafalski, Kronwall and Kirk Maltby each have one.