Adversity is the name of the Penguins season. Down 3-0 in Philly things couldn't seem worse. Until Sidney Crosby and the boys decided to buck up.
--Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul and Daniel Briere struck first to give Philly a seemingly insurmountable lead. Marc-Andre Fleury tried to do what he could even though he should have had a couple of them back. But it still counts when they get it by him. 3-0 Flyers and it very much looks like we're going to a game 7.
Against all odds the Penguins were not about to back down against their bitch boy rivals. About 25 seconds after the Flyers thought they had won it, Evgeni Malkin made a play and Ruslan Fedotenko drove to the net and pushed the puck in to give the Pens a little spirit. The Pens got a little more wind in them and two minutes later Mark Eaton batted a puck out of mid air and into the net. 3-2 Flyers and now we got a game.
Crosby sucks! Well that's what the Philly fans say, but Sidney scored a goal before the end of the second period that would pull the Pens into a tie 3-3. Who sucks now?
Sergei Gonchar would prove to get the series winner with a shot about 2 minutes into the third period. The Pens would clamp down and not give their rivals any scent of a goal....Finally when the Flyers pulled the goalie Sidney Crosby made a great individual effort to score the empty netter and bury the Flyers in their own building.
Time to shake hands, Pittsburgh beats Philadelphia. Again. Same time next year?
- As a final act of non-recognition the media chose to recognize Malkin (two assists) as the first star of the game. Can never showcase Crosby (two goals). But that's cool one team is playing hockey next week and one team is playing golf in prison looking orange shirts.
- Max Talbot turned the tide by standing up for himself against Daniel Carcillo. Even though Talbot got the worst in the fight he fired up his teammates and down 3-0, Fedotenko would score a goal 14 seconds later. Talbot put a finger to his lips to quiet the fans down. By the end of the game, the fans would be quiet.
- Marc-Andre Fleury would rebound from a bad second goal to buck up and keep the Pens in there, stopping 13 of the next 14 shots he would face.
4 wins down, 12 more to go....Now the Pens get some rest to see if they'll get Boston, Washington, New Jersey or Carolina next round. Anything is a possibility, but nothing is going to be as intense as a cross-state rival.