Ann 22008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game 1 REVIEW
May 25th 2008 21:42
Red Wings steamroll Penguins 4-0.
Craaaaassh. What you just heard is the sound of the Penguins falling from their cloud.
After completely dominating their Eastern Conference opponents, the Penguins were taught a hockey lesson when the Detroit Red Wings shut them out 4-0 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Fleury falling flat on his face as he stumbled out of the gates before the opening faceoff was an appropriate image of what happened to the Penguins in this game.
Their performance in the first half of the first period seemed a bit overly enthusiastic, as if they wanted to prove something to the Wings. Maybe they were looking to make an impression - after all, the teams hadn't met during the regular season and this final had often been described as veterans vs. young talent, perhaps the Pens wanted to show that they could play too. What happened instead is that the Penguins did look like kids in the opening minutes compared to the calm, cool, and controlled Wings. As a result, the Penguins couldn't score in the first period even though they had four powerplays while the Wings spent most of the period testing the reaction of the Pens' defense in different situations. The Wings scored a goal more than halfway through the period but it was disallowed due to goaltending interference by Tomas Holmstrom (who seems to be a marked man since the semi-finals because every time he steps in front of the goalie, there's - at least - a 40% chance that he'll get called for interference). So, the first period ended 0-0 with the Wings a little more satisfied than the Pens.
The second and third period were all about puck possession for Detroit while Pittsburgh chased after them. Mikael Samuelsson scored the first goal of the game halfway through the second period after an exhausted Ruutu cleared the puck in the neutral zone instead of the Wings D-zone. Big mistake. Samuelsson intercepted the puck at the center line, entered the Pens' zone at full speed and beat both Scuderi and Fleury for a wraparound goal. Samuelsson (again) scored his second of the match in the third period after another giveaway by the Pens' defense who couldn't keep up with the Wings' speed. Dan Cleary put the game beyond reach for the Penguins by scoring a shorthanded goal, again beating the opposing defenseman with his speed. And Zetterberg completed the scoring on a powerplay after a nice tic-tac-toe between him, Holmstrom, and Lidstrom.
The Pens did have some scoring opportunities but Osgood was solid in front of his net and his defense also did a nice job by clearing every rebound. Malkin was completely absent and his linemates suffered from it. Rumor is that he might be injured. We'll see how this one unfolds.
Craaaaassh. What you just heard is the sound of the Penguins falling from their cloud.
After completely dominating their Eastern Conference opponents, the Penguins were taught a hockey lesson when the Detroit Red Wings shut them out 4-0 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Fleury falling flat on his face as he stumbled out of the gates before the opening faceoff was an appropriate image of what happened to the Penguins in this game.
Their performance in the first half of the first period seemed a bit overly enthusiastic, as if they wanted to prove something to the Wings. Maybe they were looking to make an impression - after all, the teams hadn't met during the regular season and this final had often been described as veterans vs. young talent, perhaps the Pens wanted to show that they could play too. What happened instead is that the Penguins did look like kids in the opening minutes compared to the calm, cool, and controlled Wings. As a result, the Penguins couldn't score in the first period even though they had four powerplays while the Wings spent most of the period testing the reaction of the Pens' defense in different situations. The Wings scored a goal more than halfway through the period but it was disallowed due to goaltending interference by Tomas Holmstrom (who seems to be a marked man since the semi-finals because every time he steps in front of the goalie, there's - at least - a 40% chance that he'll get called for interference). So, the first period ended 0-0 with the Wings a little more satisfied than the Pens.
The second and third period were all about puck possession for Detroit while Pittsburgh chased after them. Mikael Samuelsson scored the first goal of the game halfway through the second period after an exhausted Ruutu cleared the puck in the neutral zone instead of the Wings D-zone. Big mistake. Samuelsson intercepted the puck at the center line, entered the Pens' zone at full speed and beat both Scuderi and Fleury for a wraparound goal. Samuelsson (again) scored his second of the match in the third period after another giveaway by the Pens' defense who couldn't keep up with the Wings' speed. Dan Cleary put the game beyond reach for the Penguins by scoring a shorthanded goal, again beating the opposing defenseman with his speed. And Zetterberg completed the scoring on a powerplay after a nice tic-tac-toe between him, Holmstrom, and Lidstrom.
The Pens did have some scoring opportunities but Osgood was solid in front of his net and his defense also did a nice job by clearing every rebound. Malkin was completely absent and his linemates suffered from it. Rumor is that he might be injured. We'll see how this one unfolds.
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