Monday, February 1, 2010

Stanley Cup Rematch Rd. 1 Goes to Pens, 2-1 in SO


It's somethin' about playin the same team in the Finals 2 years in a row that creates a certain animosity and energy unlike any other. The Pens had a solid 60 min effort (on the most part) yesterday afternoon at the Igloo and it was a really spirited and hard-fought victory. The Wings played without 2 key components of their team: Franzen and Holmstrom.

But that didn't stop them from getting hot performances from Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi and company. Helm was flying like the little sparkplug that he is and their defense helped them tie the game at 1 on a goal by Brad Stuart. The Pens dominated this game and spent the majority of it in the off. zone. Generating 47 shots on net is evidence of that.

Howard was phenomenal for Detroit. He looked as sharp as Elliot for the Sens the other night. Great rebound control and some flashy saves as well. One on Staal and a couple on Guerin. The addition of Staal to the 2nd line really payed dividends because Letestu was flying with TK and Cooke on the 3rd line. Those three had a couple terrific scoring chances and Geno's play seemed to give Staalsy confidence.



The shootout moves by both Sid and Geno were the icing on the cake. The ultimate climax to an already thrilling playoff type game. The refs were terrible and seemed to put the whistles away on the Wings players but not the Pens. Geno got called for hooking when he was skating away from Rafalski and Cooke got called for goaltender interference when he didn't even touch Howard.

The Sabres visit town tonight and the game will be on VERSUS. Miller will start vs. Johnson for the Pens. Talbot is expected to be out again, as is Kunitz.


-IN GENO WE TRUST






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