The Confluence
Two shortys lift Penguins over Habs 3-1: Face Flyers in 1st round, home-ice TBD Sunday
by Tony on 04/11/09 at 10:19 PM ET
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Tonight’s 3-1 Penguins victory over the Canadiens in Montreal was certainly nothing like last year’s snoozefest finale in Philadelphia, where the Pens pretty much mailed it in.
Max Talbot and Kris Letang both scored short-handed goals on the same penalty kill midway through the third period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the win.
Tonight’s win sealed a first-round playoff matchup with their busom buddies from Philadelphia. The Penguins will now become Rangers fans, for just one day. If the Rangers defeat the Flyers tomorrow in Philly in regulation, the Penguins will clinch 4th place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the Flyers series.
Evgeni Malkin scored the first goal of the night for the Pens and won the Art Ross Trophy as well.
The Penguins pretty much dominated most of the action tonight. They were first to the puck, more aggressive, and played in the Habs’ zone most of the night.
Malkin’s backhanded rebound goal after a Sergei Gonchar slapper from the center point gave the Pens a 1-0 lead only 1:02 into the game.
The lead probably should have been greater, but Habs’ goalie Carey Price made some incredible saves in the second period on odd-man rushes to keep the score tied entering the third period.
That all changed when Brooks Orpik was called by the Montreal crowd for cross checking at 8:42 of the third. However, an errant pass sent the Penguins on a 2-on-1 break short-handed. Pascal Dupuis skated in on Price and made a backhanded pass to Talbot, who finally beat Price to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.
As the Orpik penalty was winding down, Kris Letang brought the puck into the Habs’ zone, and simply fired a hard slapper from the left boards that Price couldn’t handle for another short-handed goal to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead.
Other notes;
- Carey Price was the #1 star of the game.
- Another great game for the Penguins’ penalty kill, going 3 for 3.
- The Penguins powerplay went 0-for-5, but at least their passing was sharp.
- Philippe Boucher led the Pens with 5 hits and 5 blocked shots.
So it’s Flyers and Pens, we’ll find out who’ll get home ice, as well as the schedule, by this time tomorrow.
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Tags: Montreal+Canadiens, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
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