Ann 22008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals: Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game 2 REVIEW
May 27th 2008 23:34
Penguins can't score as Red Wings shut them out 3-0.
It was painful to watch, really. The Penguins helplessly skating after the Wings, trying to get a puck that never seemed to stay in their possession. Therrien's lines changes did more bad than good as both Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts took one bad penalty after another. Crosby was the Penguins' best player on the ice; unfortunately, his teammates didn't follow his lead and most of them came out flat. They were evidently frustrated at the Wings' ability to effectively neutralize any form of opposition: when the Pens decided to apply an agressive forecheck, the Wings forwards came back to help their defense and often caused odd-man rushes going the other way; when the Pens clogged the neutral zone to deny space to the Wings, the players in red created spaces out of thin air, making passes which often split the Penguins' defensive coverage, almost like soccer's concept of through balls. Nothing worked for Michel Therrien defensively. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh was limited to 22 shots in the entire game – they had zero shots on net in the first 10-12 minutes of the game.
The Red Wings played excellently as usual. Their first and second goal were the results of Pittsburgh's players making mistakes (Malkin trying to go through two Detroit players instead of making a pass on the first, and lack of defensive coverage in front of Fleury's net for the second). The third goal was a soccer play as Filppula – who initially started the play – received a nice pass from Johan Franzen which took one the Pens' defensemen out of the action. Filppula beat the second defensemen and, off-balanced, put the puck behind Fleury. The Wings also made an admirable job defensively as they not only blanked the Pens' powerplay for a second consecutive game, they also limited the Penguins fearsome man-advantage to six shots (though it must be said that the powerplays for both teams were often negated by another penalty which turned it into a 4-on-4).
Other than that, it was pitiful to see the fast/skilled Penguins converting to goonery once all hope was lost. Johan Franzen who just came back from a concussion received countless punches to the head during the game. But the Pens were desperate to take something from this game, I guess that was it.
It was painful to watch, really. The Penguins helplessly skating after the Wings, trying to get a puck that never seemed to stay in their possession. Therrien's lines changes did more bad than good as both Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts took one bad penalty after another. Crosby was the Penguins' best player on the ice; unfortunately, his teammates didn't follow his lead and most of them came out flat. They were evidently frustrated at the Wings' ability to effectively neutralize any form of opposition: when the Pens decided to apply an agressive forecheck, the Wings forwards came back to help their defense and often caused odd-man rushes going the other way; when the Pens clogged the neutral zone to deny space to the Wings, the players in red created spaces out of thin air, making passes which often split the Penguins' defensive coverage, almost like soccer's concept of through balls. Nothing worked for Michel Therrien defensively. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh was limited to 22 shots in the entire game – they had zero shots on net in the first 10-12 minutes of the game.
The Red Wings played excellently as usual. Their first and second goal were the results of Pittsburgh's players making mistakes (Malkin trying to go through two Detroit players instead of making a pass on the first, and lack of defensive coverage in front of Fleury's net for the second). The third goal was a soccer play as Filppula – who initially started the play – received a nice pass from Johan Franzen which took one the Pens' defensemen out of the action. Filppula beat the second defensemen and, off-balanced, put the puck behind Fleury. The Wings also made an admirable job defensively as they not only blanked the Pens' powerplay for a second consecutive game, they also limited the Penguins fearsome man-advantage to six shots (though it must be said that the powerplays for both teams were often negated by another penalty which turned it into a 4-on-4).
Other than that, it was pitiful to see the fast/skilled Penguins converting to goonery once all hope was lost. Johan Franzen who just came back from a concussion received countless punches to the head during the game. But the Pens were desperate to take something from this game, I guess that was it.
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