Ann 22008 NHL Playoffs - Round 2: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers Game 5 REVIEW
May 5th 2008 21:54
Penguins finish off Rangers with a 3-2 OT win.
The Rangers did the best they could but they couldn't stop the offensive machine that is the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens drew first blood on the powerplay: Marian Hossa completed a beautiful play by Ryan Malone who put Lundqvist out of position. Five minutes later, Evgeni Malkin put the score at 2-0 with a beautiful backhand. Malkin was a real beast during the game, always on the verge of scoring. The Rangers had their hands full with him and Lundqvist had to make numerous miracle saves to keep the Russian from scoring more than once. At the end of the second period, the Rangers trailed 2-0. Knowing that the Pens can play low-scoring games almost as well as firewagon hockey, I was convinced that the Blueshirts were finished. Boy, was I wrong.
Throughout the whole night, the Penguins kept a tight leash around Jaromir Jagr. He couldn't penetrate in the O-zone in possession of the puck. When he did get the puck, there were always two Penguins there to take it away from him. With their star player unable to generate offense, the Rangers needed scoring from someone else. Enters Lauri Korpikoski. Now, you're probably wondering (as I did during the game), who the heck is that guy? Well, he's a rookie, fresh from the AHL. It was his first game ever in a Rangers uniform – talk about pressure. But the importance of the game didn't seem to faze him. He fired a perfect shot at Fleury, right between the defenseman's legs. Fleury didn't see a thing and the score became 2-1. One minute later, Nigel Dawes equalized the mark and we had a game.
The referees put their whistles away for the rest of the period and decided to let the boys play. Frankly, I don't understand this practice. If you call penalties during the game, the same actions can't be tolerated later in match simply because the game is tied or it's a playoff match. Yes, it keeps the flow of the game (there are less breaks in the play), but think about what it does to the players' heads. I play soccer. It's not the same sport, granted, but if a ref suddenly stopped calling the fouls, what's going to stop us from doing whatever the hell we want. In hockey, the players start grabbing at other players, the hits get stronger, sticks start to fly in all directions, and players get injured. Yesterday afternoon, Chris Drury got his cheek slashed by a stick and there wasn't a call. Two minutes later, the same thing happens to a Penguins player, this time Chris Drury was the perpetrator and guess what happened next? Four minutes in the box for high-sticking. Seriously?
Anyways, the Rangers managed to kill the penalty all the way into overtime. However, it was their sixth penalty of the night, and I guess the old legs got tired from skating after the young guns. Marian Hossa (and to think that the Habs were this close to getting him at the trade deadline 8sigh*) scored the game-winner and the Pens are going to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Philadelphia Flyers. It should be a dandy.
Out west, the game was a bit more dramatic. The Dallas Stars led the series 3-2 with the Sharks having won the last two contests. The match was a goaltender duel as the game remained tied at 1-1 all the way to a fourth overtime. Brendan Morrow (Carbonneau's son-in-law) scored the game-winner for Dallas on the powerplay. Dallas goes on to face the fiery Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.
The Rangers did the best they could but they couldn't stop the offensive machine that is the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens drew first blood on the powerplay: Marian Hossa completed a beautiful play by Ryan Malone who put Lundqvist out of position. Five minutes later, Evgeni Malkin put the score at 2-0 with a beautiful backhand. Malkin was a real beast during the game, always on the verge of scoring. The Rangers had their hands full with him and Lundqvist had to make numerous miracle saves to keep the Russian from scoring more than once. At the end of the second period, the Rangers trailed 2-0. Knowing that the Pens can play low-scoring games almost as well as firewagon hockey, I was convinced that the Blueshirts were finished. Boy, was I wrong.
Throughout the whole night, the Penguins kept a tight leash around Jaromir Jagr. He couldn't penetrate in the O-zone in possession of the puck. When he did get the puck, there were always two Penguins there to take it away from him. With their star player unable to generate offense, the Rangers needed scoring from someone else. Enters Lauri Korpikoski. Now, you're probably wondering (as I did during the game), who the heck is that guy? Well, he's a rookie, fresh from the AHL. It was his first game ever in a Rangers uniform – talk about pressure. But the importance of the game didn't seem to faze him. He fired a perfect shot at Fleury, right between the defenseman's legs. Fleury didn't see a thing and the score became 2-1. One minute later, Nigel Dawes equalized the mark and we had a game.
The referees put their whistles away for the rest of the period and decided to let the boys play. Frankly, I don't understand this practice. If you call penalties during the game, the same actions can't be tolerated later in match simply because the game is tied or it's a playoff match. Yes, it keeps the flow of the game (there are less breaks in the play), but think about what it does to the players' heads. I play soccer. It's not the same sport, granted, but if a ref suddenly stopped calling the fouls, what's going to stop us from doing whatever the hell we want. In hockey, the players start grabbing at other players, the hits get stronger, sticks start to fly in all directions, and players get injured. Yesterday afternoon, Chris Drury got his cheek slashed by a stick and there wasn't a call. Two minutes later, the same thing happens to a Penguins player, this time Chris Drury was the perpetrator and guess what happened next? Four minutes in the box for high-sticking. Seriously?
Anyways, the Rangers managed to kill the penalty all the way into overtime. However, it was their sixth penalty of the night, and I guess the old legs got tired from skating after the young guns. Marian Hossa (and to think that the Habs were this close to getting him at the trade deadline 8sigh*) scored the game-winner and the Pens are going to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Philadelphia Flyers. It should be a dandy.
Out west, the game was a bit more dramatic. The Dallas Stars led the series 3-2 with the Sharks having won the last two contests. The match was a goaltender duel as the game remained tied at 1-1 all the way to a fourth overtime. Brendan Morrow (Carbonneau's son-in-law) scored the game-winner for Dallas on the powerplay. Dallas goes on to face the fiery Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.
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