Hockey180!

By Matt Valentine

Being dominated is not something these Pittsburgh Penguins were familiar with until this Stanley Cup matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. And dominated is the most affable term one can use when describing the Penguins play in this series to date. Once again it looked like the domination would continue as the Wings were controlling puck possession and out shooting the hapless Penguins 9-1 in front of the home crowd at Mellon Arena for Game 3 Wednesday night.

That is until the teams captain, face of the franchise, and face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby, posted the teams first goal in the series and snapped his teams scoring drought that stood at 137 minutes and 25 seconds.

It came from a rare mistake by Detroit’s defense, when Brad Staurt sent an errant pass careening off the skate of forward Henrik Zetterberg and landing firmly on the stick of Penguins forward Marian Hossa. Hossa took a few steps ripped a shot that deflected off of Staurt’s skate and found its way to Crosby’s stick. Crosby took advantage of the fortunate breal and slipped a shot through the pads of Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood sparking life into his once dying team.

Mellon Arena and I’m guessing most everyone in the NHL’s front office erupted with joy, and a series that once looked like a foregone conclusion was finally put into doubt.

Crosby continued to announce his teams late arrival to the series, by notching a power play goal, his second of the night at 2:34 of the second period, putting his team ahead 2-0. Later in the second Johan Franzen made things interesting by scoring his 13th goal of the playoffs and closing the gap to one goal.

The third period was by far the most exciting of the series and perhaps the entire playoffs. The game was played with a flow that rendered the referees whistles useless and hard hitting which had been a rarity in this series became the norm.

During one particularly intense stretch two bone crunching checks were laid at opposite ends of the ice, but it was the Wings who ended up paying the ultimate price surrendering a third goal when Penguins winger Adam Hall banked a shot off the back of Chris Osgood’s leg and scored the game clinching third goal for the Pens.

Mikael Samuelsson would score with 5 minutes and change remaining in the third to cast a measure of doubt on the game, and fray the nerves of the already tense Pittsburgh fans. However, the Penguins played strong defense for the remainder of the game, and did not allow the Wings to pull Osgood to gain the man advantage.

The scoreboard could not have read better for Penguins fans, or for that fact the entire NHL, with the 3-2 Pittsburgh victory changing the entire dynamic of the series which comes back to the Igloo for Game 5.

The Penguins can take a number of positives from this game. The fact that they finally cracked the steel trap that has been Chris Osgood, the fact that they remain undefeated at home, and the fact that the next game will be played at home as well. But perhaps the most important fact, is that it was their young superstar captain Sid the Kid, that put them in the position to do so.

When young Sydney Crosby entered the league at the age of 18 many hailed him as the savior of the NHL, and the successor to best hockey player in the world, Wayne Gretzky. In his rookie season he demonstrated the talent, poise and playmaking ability to turn the prognosticators into prophets when he finished 6th in scoring tallying 39 goals and 63 assists. By the time his sophomore season concluded he had earned the title of “The Next One” when he captured the Triple Crown of the hockey world, winning the Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL in points (120PTS-36G-84A) The Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP  as determined by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and  The Art Ross Trophy as the MVP as determined by the National Hockey League Players Association.

Now, Crosby has accomplished something that not even “The Great One” managed so early in his career, captaining his team in just his third NHL season to a chance for hockey’s ultimate prize , The Stanley Cup.  Crosby and Company have done so in dominating fashion, sweeping the Ottawa Senators out of the first round, and outplaying a talented NY Rangers team in a 4-1 series win.

Today they continued their show of dominance as they crushed the Philadelphia Flyers in the series clinching Game Five, scoring 6 goals and holding the Flyers to a shutout.  Crosby added 2 assists in this game to bring his post-season point total to 21 with 4 goals and 17 assists. Crosby has also demonstrated that he is a true two way player, with his defensive play helping to create offensive opportunities as was the case in today’s game when Crosby’s back-check forced a turnover that lead to Pittsburgh’s third goal of the night by teammate Marion Hossa.

While Crosby is the teams unquestioned leader he has not done it alone. Players like talented young superstars Evgeni Malkin and Marion Hossa, who may be the best trade-deadline acquistion in a long time, have been key in taking the Penguins to the Cup Finals. Other players like Ryan Malone, Maxim Talbot and Petr Sykora, as well as the improved play of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have also helped the Pens on their way to the Eastern Conference Championship.

Now, all Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have to do is enjoy their victory and wait for their next opponent which will be determined in the next few days when the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars wrap up their Western Conference Finals series.

Di philadelphia flyers have had a roller coaster season thus far. after seeming ta be a dominant force in di eastern conference, I and I lick a tumultuous patch of black ice and dropped ten straight games before finally rediscovering di victory column in di standings. since that victory recession, di flyer’s have been a better team, but I and I have begun ta elevate their game in di series against di washington capitals.

di flyers had di unenviable task of shutting down di league’s dominant sniper, alexander ovechkin. I and I did that for almost di entire series, with one blip coming on di radar with about two minutes remaining in game 1, which ultimately cost them di game. since then, I and I have severely limited ovechkin’s free space, and have been rewarded with two straight victories ta claim di lead in their opening round best of seven series. ovechkin managed ta secure annada win for di capitals, forcing a game 7, which philadelphia ultimately won in overtime while blessed with a powerplay on a questionable call.

philadelphia is riding di red hot scoring touch of first year flyer daniel briere. briere, whose season was less an had been expected after signing him away from buffalo a season ago, has turned fi im game around and is currently spearheading di onslaught of offence that is going towards di capital’s net. mike richards has been up ta fi im normal hijinks, offering forth offense, defense, penalty killing, power play minutes, and an overall grit befitting fi im stature. richards has also drawn a few penalties, a task that tends ta go unnoticed in di boxscore.

philadelphia must now face di vaunted attack of di montreal canadiens, a team that I and I were swept by in di regular season, four games ta none. montreal dominated di flyers, and limited their offensive chances. montreal returned ta form in their series finale with boston, and seem poised ta pounce all over di flyers.

if philadelphia is ta win dis ya series against montreal, I and I will need ta continue ta thwart di offensive chances of montreal’s power play, and minimize fi im effect on di outcome of di game. if di flyers can eliminate montreal’s skilled players as a threat, I and I will be forcing smadi else on di habs ta step up ta di plate and contribute.

montreal should eliminate di flyers in five games, boasting a far more deeply offensive team, and riding di red hot goaltending of carey price.

di flyer’s seem ta have di number of di capitals, ovechkin in particular, and I and I need ta keep di pressure firmly on di jugular of di team. if I and I are successful and defeat di capitals ta win di series, I and I will face either di montreal canadiens or di pittsburgh penguins, depending on di montreal series. either way, round 2 bodes a fierce and daunting task.