Malkin Sensational in Pens Game 2 Domination

Malkin is Sensational in Pens Game 2 Victory!

The Pittsburgh Penguins have the most talented forwards in the NHL. Tonight Evgeni Malkin was sensational scoring a hat trick and also had an assist in the Penguins 7-4 victory over the Hurricanes. The Pens now have a commanding 2-0 lead in the Series and if Carolina does not want this to be a short series, they must be better in their own zone. Also they must stop giving up breakaways. Malkin and Crosby were relentless in their pressure of the Canes goal. Malkin had 8 shots on net in this barrage. There is a reason why he led the NHL in scoring this year. He showed it tonight. The Pens put so much pressure on Cam Ward by unleashing 42 shots on him. It was like they had extra players on the ice at times with the pressure that they put on. This team is scary when they get going here.

Carolina got the first good chance of the night but Marc-Andre Fleury stoned Scott Walker. Pitt opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby scoring 1:51 in, assisted by Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin. The Canes though answered quickly when Chad Larose banged in a Ray Whitney rebound to tie the score at 1. Ward and Fleury both looked a little shaky in the first period. But Fleury did make a big save on Larose early in the first. Malkin scored his first goal on Tyler Kennedy rebound to make it 2-1 Pens. The Canes did respond by tying the score at 2 when Jussi Jokinen banged in a Scott Walker rebound to tie the game up. Then it seemed the Canes had some momentum when Dennis Seidenberg beat Fleury with a long shot from the point to make it 3-2 Canes. The Pens to their credit played a much better game for the rest of the game, dominating but outshooting the Canes 30-14 over the final two periods.

The Canes actually did start out the second period pretty well but Fleury did settle down and kept the game at 3-2 Canes . Then the Pens got a break when Max Talbot beat Ward with a breakaway. Ward did not have one of his better games tonight but he got very little help from his defense and forwards backchecking. This was the type of game that plays right into the hands of the Penguins. The Canes better tighten up when they go back to the RBC Center on Saturday or this will be a short series. The goal that had the most momentum with it was when Joni Pitkanen was at the end of a shift and could not get the puck out of his own end. Chris Kunitz picked it up and beat Ward high blocker side to make it 4-3 Pitt. This was a very bad goal for Carolina to give up with 7 seconds left in the second period.

The third period had Parick Eaves tie it up for the Canes at 4. He was set up nicely by Ryan Bayda and then Eaves who scored his first goal of the playoffs, beat Fleury with a nice wrist shot high to the glove side. The game then exploded when Malkin scored his 2nd goal of the night and the game winner when he beat Ward on the third rebound of a Chris Kunitz shot. This gave the Pens a 5-4 lead and then Malkin scored one of the prettiest goals you will ever see. He took the puck behind the Canes net cut out to Wards left, with Seindenberg draped all over him, beat Ward with a backhander upstairs when he as not even looking. It was pure magic really. Ward played the percentage by going down but Malkin who to me is Pitt best player came through to make it 6-4. The Canes did not give up and Eric Cole had Fleury beaten on a nice feed in front but Fleury came up with the same. A little bit later on, Whitney rang one off of the crossbar and you just knew it was not meant to be for the Canes tonight. Tyler Kennedy finished the scoring with an empty net goal to make it 7-4.

The Penguins are simply a better team. There is no hiding it. Losing Tuomo Ruutu has also hurt the Canes anemic power play which was 0 for 3 tonight. They had a key one in the second period and were afraid to shoot the puck. If I were Paul Maurice and Ronnie Francis, I would press upon them when on the power play, shoot the puck and crash Fleury. He does give up rebounds. The Pens are going to be very hard to beat in this Series but I do feel confident that the Canes will give them a very tough fight and hopefully push the Series to at least 5 games or even 6. There is a reason why the Pens were in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. I also believe that fatigue is starting to set in for the Canes, who have played back to back 7 game series. They have shown tremendous heart in this postseason and exceeded most “experts” expectations. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing this, even though my Canes let me down with the putrid effort in the third period.