Pens beat Flyers 4-2; Lead Series 1-0

Jonathan Farzalo | Pittsburgh Penguins

May 9, 09:35 PM | Hype this story!
1 2 3 Tot.
2 0 0 2
 
Tot. 1 2 3
4 3 1 0
 
Series: Penguins (1) – Flyers (0)
 
Summary

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers opened their Conference Finals series with a wild first period. Both teams seemed tense, sluggish, yet willing to hop all over turnovers and mistakes.  The Penguins struck first when Petr Sykora beat Marty Biron with a nifty backhand deke after taking a nice cross ice feed from Ryan Malone and Evgeni Malkin.  The celebration didn’t last long however, as Mike Richards scored a typical Flyer goal, by taking a wraparound and throwing it on goal.  The other Flyers crashed the net and the puck slipped by Marc-Andre Fleury.  Later in the period Mike Richards scored his second goal, again a dirty crashing the net type, to make it 2-1 Philly.  

After a misplay behind the net by Biron, Sidney Crosby took a feed from Marian Hossa and put a nice redirect to the back of the net to tie it all up at 2.  With time winding down Whitney fed Malkin, who screamed up the boards and fired a shot that beat Biron with only 7 seconds remaining, to give the Penguins the lead heading to the locker room.

In the second, with the Penguins on the penalty kill, Malkin was hit hard behind the Flyer net, took a while to get to his feet and never got back into the play.  This however was instrumental in the next event, in which Sergei Gonchar gave a lead pass while Malkin waited at the opposing blue line, he then walked in on Biron and took a 15 foot slap shot, scoring a shorthanded goal to make it 4-2.  That was all the Penguins would need and would cap off the night in scoring.

The third period was brutal and the Flyers tried to outmuscle the Pens, however they would have none of it.  Pittsburgh shut the door and played outstanding defensive hockey for the final 20 minutes and aside from a breakaway chance that never came to fruition, Philadelphia never got much going.

 
Three Stars
# Player Team Pos. Stats
1 Evgeni Malkin PIT C 2 Goals, 1 Assist
2 Mike Richards PHI C 2 Goals
3 Sidney Crosby PIT C 1 Goal
 
Stat Line
  Shots Faceoffs Power Plays
  1 2 3 OT Total Won Lost Converted Total
Pittsburgh 11 6 4 - 21 27 27 0 3
Philadelphia 12 7 9 - 28 27 27 0 3
 
Scoring Summary
Per. Time Team Goal Assist Assist
1 06:19
08:30
12:50
14:11
19:53		 PIT
PHI
PHI
PIT
PIT		 Petr Sykora
Mike Richards
Mike Richards
Sidney Crosby
Evgeni Malkin		 Malone
Umberger
Lupul
Hossa
Whitney 		Malkin
Coburn
Umberger
2 04:50 PIT Evgeni Malkin Gonchar
3 - - -
 
Penalty Summary
Per.
Team Penalty Time Player
1
Pittsburgh delay of game – 2 min 1:22, R. Whitney
2
 Pittsburgh holding – 2 min 3:35, B. Orpik
 Philadelphia hooking – 2 min 5:04, J. Carter
3
 Pittsburgh tripping – 2 min 11:32, R. Whitney
 Philadelphia cross check – 2 min 18:32, S. Upshall
 Philadelphia misconduct – 10 min 18:32, S. Upshall
 Philadelphia roughing – 2 min 18:32, D. Hatcher
 Pittsburgh roughing – 2 min 18:32, E. Malkin
 Philadelphia hooking – 2 min 19:55, B. Coburn

Comments

  1. Eric

    May 9, 10:15 PM

    After coming out fairly flat and MAF giving up two iffy goals that shouldn’t have been able to be scored. This team showed the character that they have done recently. Given that MAF gave up those two goals, but shutdown every other attempt – you have to like it.

    I think that the Penguins can be satisfied with this win, as long as they don’t attempt to make these wins a form of habit.

    Also, was there a more satisfying goal than Malkin’s 2nd? Getting hit into the boards, then slamming home a 15 footer. Kudos to Prospal on the whiff and Hossa and Gonchar working to get the puck back to Geno.

  2. TIM

    May 9, 11:55 PM

    That second Malkin goal made me laugh out loud. It was almost like he had a flash back of his penalty shot and decided he was just going to destroy the puck. Biron had no chance.

    Let’s Go Pens!

  3. john

    May 10, 02:12 AM

    That second Malkin goal was a big “**** you” to the Flyers. I guess he should have done that on the penalty shot against Lundquist…

    *Editor's Note: Please refrain from profane language. This is a forum for all ages.*

  4. DaBich

    May 10, 07:59 AM

    I’m with you guys on the penalty shot comments. I LOVED TAHT GOAL!

  5. jon s

    May 10, 01:44 PM

    The second malkin goal, the way it went down was just crazy. Also I need to give more props to this site. The coverage here is really the best pens place out there. I read everyday and I will do the same even when the saeson is over.

  6. Tom

    May 11, 04:20 PM

    Jonathan, Well, the Pens seemed to dominate the Fleas in a rather defensive game. Since Mike Adams seems to be still indisposed, I shall take another stab at grading the game. So, here goes:

    Offense A: The Pens’ top two lines made it look easy. Four goals through the vaunted Flea team and little great play from Biron. If this continues, Ron Cook may be right. The offensive play resulted from fine superstar play and slow aimless Fleas’ defense. The Pens would have scored far more had they not chosen to play the neutral zone trap after the fourth goal, which emphasizes defense and takes few chances to score.

    Defense B: The defense was outstanding for most of the game. The first goal against resulted from failing to clear the crease (Gill), a failure to block the cross crease pass (Scuderi) and slow defense play (Gill and Scuderi) as well as a poorly played puck by Flower. The second goal was again a case of failure to clear the crease and surrounding area due to poor recovery speed and no backcheck. It turned out to be a jumble in front of the goal where Richards was allowed to stand and shoot. These two goals highlight the importance of speed and quickness on defense. Gill and Scuderi are both relatively slow. It works for the PP where two forwards lay back as well, cutting down their coverage space. It also works well in the neutral zone trap where there is limited coverage space. At any rate, after the fourth goal, the Pens dropped into the neutral zone trap, at which they are becoming very adept, a la Ducks and Devils (the ruiners of hockey). They stifled the Fleas from then on. Perhaps we ought to consider the trap as a third special team.

    PP I: Since there was only one real PP opportunity, and nothing exciting happened, an “I” for incomplete.

    PK A+: The Fleas didn’t score on three PP chances. Malkin got a shorty. Can’t do much better.

    Goaltending B: Two stoppable goals, particularly the first one prevents an “A” even though Flower was a wall the rest of the game. Of course, he had the advantage of the trap for half the game.

    Overall A: A good game against an inept opponent who are ready to unravel (e.g. Upshall’s reaction to Letang’s hip and shoulder check depriving him of the puck and a shot on goal. Nothing dirty or vicious, yet Upshall took a fit and crosschecked Letang in the back, fomenting a brawl. This is a typical Flea reaction. It will get worse – great restrain by Letang (Upshall may rue the day as I don’t think Letang forgets).

    Individuals:

    Malkin A+: Two goals, a helper and dynamite backchecking. Malkin is surely the most dynamic player in the NHL at this time. A great solution for his penalty shot woes, slap shot from close range.

    Crosby A: Good redirection goal on Hossa pass. Active the entire game.

    Sykora A: Great goal off Malone pass. Two more good shots but they were blocked. He is our best sniper.

    Whitney A: From a former Whitney basher, this may seem strange, but Whitney has really improved his game since being paired with Letang. Great feed to Malkin for a helper.

    The Genius A: Although he may have gone to the trap a bit early (after the fourth Pens goal), his pairings and game plan worked to perfection. You can’t argue with success.

    Striped Buffoons F: This was a poorly called game. High sticking was permitted without any calls. I thought they had hurt Hossa. Tripping was not called repeatedly. Yet they made a tacky call against Orpik. Again it seems all right for the Pens’ opponents to put a hand on the the back of the Pens, but not so for Pens. The same tacky call was made against Letang in the Ranger series.

    Upshall F: The proper response to having been out skated, out played and cleanly checked off the puck is to turn and attack Letang in the back where he cannot defend him self with a cross check. This jerk ought to get a suspension along with his fellow goons.

    Little Debbie F: Briere was invisible during the game, but had the gall to accuse Malkin of cheating because he waited at the blue line for a pass, after he had been knocked down by Richards.

    Outlook A+: If the Fleas continue to try to run with the Pens, they do not have the skill to mach them. If they decide to be goons, as I suspect they will, they will do even worse unless they succeed in intimidating the Pens, Which I doubt. They grew frustrated with the trap and demonstrated why their slow, old defensemen cannot compete. Ron Cook may not have been far off the mark in projecting a sweep.

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