Game 3: Pittsburgh Penguins rebound with 3-2 win

Game 3: Pens rebound with 3-2 win

By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 29, 2008

As he roamed his home dressing room Wednesday morning, the famously superstitious Sidney Crosby wore the same sweat-stained cap, gray T-shirt, black mesh shorts and rubberized shower shoes he had throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs, including the one-sided opening games of this final series.
Only the alienated smirk on his face was different.

"We'll be better," he said.

The Penguins are better, thanks to an inspired performance last night from their 20-year-old captain.

Crosby scored twice - his fifth and sixth goals of the playoffs - and the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, at Mellon Arena in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. Forward Adam Hall added his second playoff goal in the third period, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 32 shots.
"Great players play their best in the big games," defenseman Ryan Whitney said, referring to Crosby. "He led the way for us."

He also gave the Red Wings - for whom a victory parade has been planned in Detroit - three days to think about something: What if this Cup final becomes "The Crosby Show" after all?

Detroit still leads the best-of-seven Cup final, 2-1.

But Game 4 is Saturday at Mellon Arena, where the Penguins have won 17 in a row and nine consecutive in the playoffs.

Forward Max Talbot's tone last night suggested the Penguins have found their swagger.

Following Game 2 Monday at Joe Louis Arena, the Penguins' second consecutive shutout loss, Talbot said he was "110 percent confident" his team was not marching toward a swift execution.

"Have you ever known me to lie?" Talbot said last night, after he and left wing Gary Roberts assisted on Hall's winning goal at 7:18 of the third period.

"I've been battling for three years with this core group of guys. We know what we can do. We're not going to give up on that. It's the Stanley Cup. (Detroit) is between us and the Stanley Cup. We've got players in this dressing room that will do everything it takes to win."

They go beyond doing everything at home, where the Penguins have not lost since Feb. 24.

Crosby insists Pittsburgh's boisterous fans - clad completely in white last night - give the Penguins a boost.

Last night, it was vice-versa.

A franchise-record 65th consecutive sellout crowd was nervously subdued until Crosby ended a franchise-worst playoff goal drought of 153 minutes, 22 seconds by stuffing a rebound behind Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood at 17:25 of the opening period.

That goal came on the Penguins' fifth shot, as the Red Wings opened the game with their trademark suffocating defense.

Putting the Red Wings at any disadvantage hardly seemed possible after the Penguins registered only 41 shots in Games 1 and 2.

A Penguins power-play goal seemed equally unlikely. They were 0 for 8 in the series and had scored only twice in their previous 17 opportunities before Crosby bested Osgood again at 2:34 of the second period to put the Penguins ahead, 2-0.

That tally halted a stretch of power-play futility that spanned 172:02.

So, after going over seven periods without a goal, the Penguins scored twice in 5:09.

They needed it to best the Red Wings, who were 14-1 in Cup final games since 1997 - including an undefeated mark in six road contests.

But Detroit's previous final foes - Philadelphia, Washington and Carolina - did not benefit from a captain determined to show the world he remains its best hockey player.

Crosby, who moved into a tie with Detroit center Henrik Zetterberg atop the playoff scoring list at 23 points, remains that player.

He'll never admit it publicly, though.

But by reclaiming his position, Crosby put the Penguins in place to change the course of a series in which they were written off.

"I wanted to make sure personally I had a good game," Crosby said. "This is when you're playing for keeps, and this is when it means the most.

"So this one ... was a big one."

Game 3: Pens rebound with 3-2 win - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Yay! Pittsburgh has a shot! I was terrified that we would loose, giving the Red Wings a 3-0 stat.

I live right near Pittsburgh and all day the channel 11 news was talking about the game in one way or another. From everything to the white out (Mellon Arena gave everyone white shirts and towels) to the history lessons on the Stanley Cup.

Good stuff!

MMMMMM Mr.Fleury and Mr.Roberts.