Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0: Forget the boards, it was the Swedes
NHL May 25th. 2008, 11:45amLee Diekemper recaps Game 1 of Lord Stanley’s Cup…ÂÂ
While the NHL Network talking heads were making much of the bouncy boards at Joe Louis Arena, it was one of the seven Wings’ Swedes who burned the Pens. Former Pens winger Mikael Samuelsson, playing on the Wings’ third line, had a pair of unassisted goals to put the Wings up 2-0 early in the third.
The Wings’ defense did the rest, holding Evgeni Malkin to just one shot on goal and harassing Sid the Kid all night. The Wings held the high-flying Pens offense to just 19 shots on goal and Chris Osgood did the rest.
The Pens had all sorts of chances though with plenty of power plays, including four within a 15-minute span of the opening period. Daniel Cleary’s shorthanded goal late in the game put the game out of reach.
Not a good omen for the Pens, despite being only one game down. They needed to capitalize on Johan Franzen being out. They didn’t. Also, history is not kind to teams getting shut out on the road in the opening game of a Stanley Cup finals series.
Ironically the Pens have been shut out in their two playoff losses. For teams to succeed in the playoffs they need help from the second and third lines. The Wings got that. The Pens didn’t even get production from its first line. Detroit leads finals 1-0.
8 Responses to “Detroit 4, Pittsburgh 0: Forget the boards, it was the Swedes”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
May 25th, 2008 at 11:50 AM
The kids on the Pens appeared awe struck to be in the finals. Not a good sign when your goalie trips coming onto the ice. It was downhill from there. I would expect the rest of the series to be much closer.
May 25th, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Even better than the trip was the ice attendants reaction!
May 25th, 2008 at 12:14 PM
It has to be said YET AGAIN the officials fucking suck. Reviewing on goal tender interference calls needs to be implemented ASAP. If any guy other than Holmstrom was in front of the net during that goal last night, it wouldn’t have been ruled interference.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:13 PM
It is a good thing that I wasn’t able to watch the game last night. I would not have wanted to witness that.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:37 PM
Witnessed what, Fleury falling or the BS interference call?
May 25th, 2008 at 1:47 PM
I am obligated to root for Pittsburgh. Go Pens!
May 25th, 2008 at 8:45 PM
@Sportgal: any of it… I was working last night so I missed the entire game. It wasn’t until I was closing that I had a chance to watch the highlights.
May 26th, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Watching the Pens get worked was bad. Watching this while sitting in some shitty, smoky bar in Altoona, Pa made it that much worse.
Hopefully the boys will be a little less nervous and skittish tonight, or it’s going to be a very short series.