Faceoff Factor

A View From the Other Side - 06.02.09

Michael Sepulveda | National Hockey League

Jun 2, 06:58 PM | Hype this story!

2008-2009 Stanley Cup Final

#4 East – Pittsburgh Penguins

#2 West – Detroit Red Wings

GAME 1: DET 3, PIT 1

GAME 2: DET 3, PIT 1

GAME 3: June 2 @ PIT, 8pm, VS,CBC,RDS

GAME 4: June 4 @ PIT, 8pm, VS,CBC,RDS

*GAME 5: June 6 @ DET, 8pm, NBC,CBC,RDS

*GAME 6: June 9 @ PIT, 8pm, NBC,CBC,RDS

*GAME 7: June 12 @ DET, 8pm, NBC,CBC,RDS

* If necessary; All times Eastern

When you see familiar faces
But you don’t remember where they’re from
Could you be wrong?

When you’ve been particular places
That you know you’ve never been before
Can you be sure?

‘Cause you know this has happened before
And you know that this moment in time is for real
And you know when you feel déjà-vu

Feel like I’ve been here before
Feel like I’ve been here before
Feel like I’ve been here before
Feel like I’ve been here before

Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time- ”Déjà vu”
Dave Murray, Steve Harris, 4:55

Game 2
May 31, 2009

Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Detroit Red Wings 3
Final

Much like the above snippet of a classic song by New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers Iron Maiden, it sure feels like we’ve been here before. It is the Stanley Cup Final. The Detroit Red Wings are facing the Pittsburgh Penguins. Detroit has won two games at home. The Penguins have not been able to muster much offense.

It feels like we have been here before.

The defending champion Red Wings “held serve” at home, taking both games at the Joe Louis Arena 3-1 and have jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. What is slightly disheartening for Pittsburgh Penguins fans is the fact that the Red Wings, a veteran team with aged legs and banged up bodies, are showing no real sign of slowing down.

Both Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Detroit’s Chris Osgood stood tall in net early on in the first period. The Penguins were the first to draw blood. Late in the first period, Detroit blueliner Niklas Kronwall received a 2-minute cross checking penalty. On the ensuing power play, on a mad scramble in front of Osgood, the puck found its way off of Penguins center Evgeni Malkin’s stick, off of Red Wing defenseman Brad Stewart’s leg, and into the net at 16:50. More on Malkin’s evening later in this article.

“Geno” would be the lone scorer for the Penguins on the evening, though it is not as though there were not scoring chances for them. Bill Guerin rang the post 4 times, and captain Sidney Crosby heard the sound of rubber on iron as well.

Jonathan Ericsson, who missed two games due to having an emergency appendectomy, scored at 4:21 of the second period. Valtteri Filppula made the game 2-1 with his goal at 10:29 of the second period. The final goal, a goal that Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury would definitely like to have back, was scored by Justin Abdelkader 2:47 of the 3rd period.

Abdelkader, who played 42 games for the Michigan State Spartans in 2007-2008, 2 games for the Red Wings that same year, and 2 regular season games this season, had never scored a point in the NHL until Game 1, when he beat Marc-Andre Fleury for his first National Hockey League goal and point, in the playoffs on the biggest stage – the Stanley Cup Final.

Rather than dumping the puck in during a line change, Abdelkader skated the puck into the Penguins defensive zone on his own, facing defensemen Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi. Abdelkader was forced to pull up and skate towards the circle to the right of Fleury. From the top of the circle, Abdelkader threw the puck towards the glove hand side of Fleury. Fleury missed, and the puck ended up where momma kept the cookie jar, making the score 3-1.

The one spot on the box score where the Penguins were ahead was the penalty box. Leading the way was the NHL regular season scoring champion, Evgeni Malkin. Malkin had a 2-minute interference infraction midway in the second period. But at the end of the game, his frustrations exploded and turned into 17 PIM.

With time winding down and the game in hand for Detroit, the Penguins showed they still had some fight in them by not laying down. They continued to play hard. With just under 20 seconds left, Chris Osgood ended up holding onto a puck, forcing the referees to blow the whistle and set up a faceoff situation. As Osgood was still holding the puck, Penguins sometimes center, sometimes winger, fulltime superstar Maxime Talbot speared Osgood in the center of the winged wheel. During the melee that ensued two players not known for pugilistic prowess were engaged.

Those players were Malkin and Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg.

Malkin dropped his gloves; Zetterberg kept his on. Lacking a tie down strap, both Malkin and Zetterberg went at each other until both had their jerseys and chest protectors missing. The fight, at 19:41 of the third period, was Zetterberg’s first in his career.

Malkin received a plethora of penalties: 2-minutes for instigating a fight, 5-minutes for fighting, and a 10-minute game misconduct. The instigator penalty comes with a 1-game suspension.

That suspension has been waived.

The Detroit Red Wings, knowing they are in control, are still very, very aware that the Penguins will not be going down without a fight. Game 3 is Tuesday, June 2, at 8:00 PM ET at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.

Three Stars of the Night

1. Chris Osgood, DET, 0.969 sv. %
2. Valtteri Filppula, DET, 1 g, +1
3. Justin Abdelkader, DET, 1 g, +1

Detroit Red Wings – Quotables

“I think we were exhausted. It’s amazing what a win will do for you. We should be a better team going into Pittsburgh. We need to freshen up.”

- Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock

“We made it through the back-to-back games and now we can take advantage of the day off.”

- Detroit D Brian Rafalski

“Guys are determined. We showed a lot of determination tonight. Our young players are playing great for us.”

- Detroit RW Dan Cleary

‘Clears’ was given opportunities and made the most of it. He has just turned himself into a very reliable, solid, two-way hockey player. And, now, he has a knack for scoring big goals for our team. You do that at playoff time; it’s good.”

- Detroit C Kris Draper

“Darren Helm had a chance to play in last year’s playoffs, and Johnny came in in the month of March and had a chance to play some regular seasons and he’s been with us ever since. So I think they’re very excited about being in the finals, getting a chance to see what it’s all about. You could throw ‘Abs’ in there, the way Abdelkader has played and scoring goals in the final.

They bring a hunger that I think a team needs, especially with some of the older guys we have. You bring some youth and bring some hunger, and I think that sparks the whole team.”

- Detroit D Nicklas Lidstrom