Penguins at Hurricanes - Game 3 - First Period - 5-23-09
FIRST PERIOD
19:24: Joni Pitkanen rockets a half slapper from a tough angle wide of the Penguins' cage.
18:43: Sergei Gonchar blocks a wrister by Sergei Samsonov in the slot.
17:15: Joe Beninati finally gets around to telling us Tuomo Ruutu is back in the lineup. How is it we were able to announce this from our editor's office but Versus can't be bothered to discuss it until roughly three minutes into the contest?
17:01: Ward fights off a big slapper by Evgeni Malkin from the left wing.
16:02: Patrick Eaves snaps off a wrister from the right wing that misses the mark.
15:54: Carolina gets on the board first. Eaves tosses a puck into the Fleury from the corner. Fleury makes the save. Eaves gets it back and goes behind the net before dishes a feed to Matt Cullen in the slot. Matt Cooke loses track of Cullen. Cullen is able to snap it over Fleury on the blocker side. Eaves and Scott Walker get assists. Hurricanes 1-0.
14:50: Ward stops Chris Kunitz from the slot.
14:10: Mark Eaton strikes a wild slapper from the right point that misses the mark.
13:42: The Penguins get the first power play as Eaves is nabbed for slashing.
13:33: Somehow, shorthanded, Rod Brind'Amour gets behind Sergei Gonchar and backhand shuffles a puck throught he slot.
13:10: That didn't take long. Tim Gleason has trouble getting a puck out of his zone and backhand chips it into Malkin. Malkin says thank you and goes in on the Carolina net and lifts a shot over a helpless Ward on the blocker side. Bad play by Gleason there. Crosby and Gonchar get assists. Gleason deserves one too. Hurricanes 1, Penguins 1.
11:09: Dennis Seidenberg blasts a one-timer from the right point well off the mark.
10:21: Brook Orpik cracks a slapper from the left point. Ward eats it up.
9:38: Eaton appears to block a slapper by Ruutu.
9:05: Erik Cole socks Chris Kunitz up high with a fist. That's two minutes. Not sure about that penalty. That happens a million times in just about every hockey game.
8:40: Joe Beninati refers to Sergei as exquisite. Ooookay.
8:02: Malkin sneaks towards the net and snaps off a quick wrister. Ward snags it with a solid glove save.
7:05: Cole's penalty is killed. Not a lot going on for the Penguins' there.
6:55: Cullen spin and pushes a puck wide of the net from the slot.
6:25: Philippe Boucher kneels down and blocks a slapper by Ray Whitney.
5:55: The every dangerous Rob Scuderi winds up and cranks a slapper from the right point. It hits a body in front.
5:19: Fleury stretches out and kicks out a funny wrister by Chad LaRose from the left wing.
4:53: Ward stops a wrister that gets deflected in from the left point. He then covers up the rebound before Jordan Staal can do anything with it.
4:40: Kris Letang comes in tight and backhands a shot at net. Ward eats it up.
4:20: Malkin lets loose with a four-letter French word on the bench.
3:35: Kunitz snaps off a wrister that gets blocked a bit on its way to the net. Ward makes a save.
3:04: Ruslan Fedotenko snaps off a slow-developing wrister from the slot. Ward boots it out with his left leg.
2:50: Brooks Orpik controls the puck in his own end and recieves a lot of booing.
2:06: Whitney has a prime chance to the left of the net but the puck is hopping like a rabbit and he can't get a clean handle on it.
0:42: What a goal. And the whole thing that set it up was a fine steal on a backcheck by Chris Kunitz in his own defensive zone. Kunitz steals a pass intended for Scott Walker in the slot, circles around and dishes a pass to BIll Guerin on the left wing in the neutral zone. Guerin lugs it into the offensive zone and dishes a pass into the slot. Crosby beats Pitkanen, pulls up in the crease and tips the puck up over Ward on the glove side with his backhand. What a pretty play. Guerin and Kunitz get assists. Crosby now has 14 goals. The Penguins single postseason record is 17 by Kevin Stevens in 1991. Penguins 2-1.
0:11: This is getting ugly. Craig Adams backhands a puck up the boards and it hits off an official. Malkin picks up the puck, moves towards the cage and jams it through Ward's equipment. Yeesh. Talk about a lucky bounce off the official's leg. Where was the Hurricanes' defense there? Adams and Gonchar get assists. The official should get one. Penguins 3-1.
0:00: End of period. Penguins 3, Hurricanes 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-The Hurricanes play an aggressive style of hockey but they simply don't have the horses to run with the Penguins. They need to adjust their game and play a more defensive style in order to limit the Penguins. That's easier said than done against the likes of Crosby and Malkin, but they can't go up and down the ice with the Penguins.
-Cam Ward is a clutch goaltender, but he can't do this alone. The Hurricane's defense needs to show up at some point. Ward played well that first period, but he can only do so much.
-The Penguins have a 16-8 lead in shots.
-Malkin leads the game with four.
-Eric Staal and Cole each have two.
-Carolina has a 12-9 lead in faceoffs (57 percent).
-Brind'Amour and Jokinen are each 3-for-4 (75 percent).
-Crosby is 4-for-8 (50 percent).
-Dennis Seidenberg leads the game with 8:37 of ice time.
-Crosby is right behind him with 8:28.
-No one has more than one blocked shot.
-By the reaction we can hear on television, there are more than a few Penguins fans in attendance.