Faceoff Factor

We Have Ourselves A Series

Jesse Marshall | Pittsburgh Penguins

May 29, 11:54 AM | Hype this story!

Leading By Example

Some of the fondest memories I have of my childhood stem from watching Mario Lemieux return from adversity to do the unthinkable in the playoffs.

The Penguins needed a hero of that caliber last night and they got it in the form of Sidney Crosby.

Crosby, the youngest captain in NHL history, had been denied on roughly a dozen scoring chances in Detroit, but one had to figure he was due for a goal inside the Igloo for Game 3. He delivered one of his best performances of his career, and certainly the best performance of his playoff career, as he was a factor every time he stepped on the ice.

What’s more, Evgeni Malkin looked refreshed and ready to go. Crosby has his line clicking. If Malkin can start converting on some of these scoring chances, the Red Wings could be in for an uphill battle. I think the Penguins are due for a serious break-out game.

That said, Marian Hossa missed two more golden chances in last nights game. If there’s a Penguin that needs to get off the snide and is overdue for a goal, it’s Hossa.

Igloo Explosion

Even through the medium of television, you could hear the raucous noise inside Mellon Arena. That was, by far, one of the loudest arena’s I’ve ever heard strictly from on-ice audio.

LGP poster “Bob McKenzie” had this to say about the state of the arena last night after Sidney Crosby’s goal.

“When Sid scored, the arena went into a euphoric state that I’ve never witnessed at any sporting event…EVER. I think the 17,132 plus the fans outside felt like they were on the ice and in the locker room with the Pens at that point.”

There’s a nice video of the pre-game festivities available on The Pens Blog.

Holmstrom – 10.0

Holmstrom appeared hurt in the third period after he was supposedly dumped into the net by Hal Gill. Holmstrom had burned Gill for two drawn calls earlier in the game, one on a horrendous dive, but took the cake in the third period when he jumped over Gill’s stick in order to draw a call. The attempt to get the ref’s blessing failed, and Holmstrom appeared hurt on the bench after his dive. The Red Wings refused to comment on his injury.

“The Shift Of Insanity”

Channeling the spirit of Ulf Samuelsson, Brooks Orpik went on a 4 hit in 15 second rampage that left the entire forward unit of the Detroit Red Wings on the ice.

It looked like a cyclone was running around out there.

The shift is catching a lot of heat on websites and message board and has earned the name “The Shift of Insanity”.

Kudos to Orpik for not only that shift, but a stellar overall game, as he and Gonchar seem to have really formed some solid chemistry and have been the Penguins best defensive pairing thus far.

Kudos are also in order to veteran Daryl Sydor, who had a quiet game. You didn’t notice him, and that’s a good thing. His veteran smarts paid great dividends to the Penguins.

Here’s a video of Orpiks “Shift of Insanity” in case you missed it: