JESSICA BOPP – OVATHLETICS.COM
Game 1 of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs started Friday when the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the Montreal Canadiens at Mellon Arena.
Montreal was on the board first at just 4:30 into the game when P.K. Subban shot and scored an unassisted goal from the right point.
About four minutes later, however, Sergei Gonchar tied the game at one. The power play goal from the center point was assisted by Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, but Bill Guerin also played a crucial role as he screened Canadiens goaltender, Jaroslav Halak.
During the period, Andrei Markov was injured when Penguin Matt Cooke hit into him along the boards. The injury unintentionally paved the way for the next Penguin goal. While Markov was being attended to by trainers, three roughing penalties were handed out—two to Montreal and only one to Pittsburgh. This set up a man advantage for the Penguins.
It was Jordan Staal who made the game 2-1 near the end of the second Pittsburgh power play. He made his way to the center of the ice and blasted a wrist shot into the net. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Alex Goligoski assisted.
In addition to the goal, Staal suffered an injury to his foot during the game. Until now, Staal has never missed a game due to injury in his four NHL seasons.
Then, just 2:34 into the second Sidney Crosby set up Kris Letang’s goal with a hard pass to the center point. Letang’s power play wrist shot put the Pens up 3-1.
But Mike Cammalleri put the Canadiens within one with his goal from Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta.
It was long though until the Penguins answered his goal. Craig Adams scored the only non-power play goal of the night from Pascal Dupuis and Matt Cooke.
In the third period, the Penguins extended their lead to 5-2 as defenseman Alex Goligoski scored another power play goal with help from Crosby again, who set him up with a nice pass. Guerin registered the other assist.
Montreal goaltender Halak was pulled a few minutes after Goligoski’s goal and was replaced by Carey Price.
Brian Gionta tried to give the Canadiens hope with his power play goal from Marc-Andre Bergeron and Scott Gomez, but it was enough.
And Guerin topped it off for the Penguins when he scored an empty net goal from Chris Kunitz and Brooks Orpik with 49 seconds left in the game.
The Penguins went 4 for 4 on the power play—a rarity. And despite being out shot 31 to 24, the Penguins won 6-3.
Sunday’s game wasn’t as good for the Penguins, though.
Matt Cooke started the night off with a goal at 4:38 from Maxime Talbot and Pascal Dupuis.
The goal was not answered until about 10 minutes later when Brian Gionta put the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game at one. Scott Gomez and Benoit Pouliot assisted.
Then, in the second period, Mike Cammalleri scored a power play goal from P.K. Subban and Gomez to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
The Penguins were playing hard, putting shots on net like crazy, but Jaroslav Halak was playing even harder.
When Cammalleri scored his second of the night with less than three minutes left in the game, there wasn’t much hope left for the Penguins. Cammalleri stole the puck from Crosby and entered into a breakaway, putting the puck in the net for a 3-1 Montreal win.
The Penguins outshot the Canadiens 39-21, but went 0 for 3 on the power play.
Each team played without a crucial player. Jordan Staal was out for the Penguins due to a foot injury and Andrei Markov was out for Montreal.
Game 3 will be played on Tuesday night in Montreal.
