Posted by Scott Burnside
DETROIT -- Wow, they must have heard you carping about the first-period level of play, Pierre, as that second sure was dynamite with big hits and lots of chances at both ends of the ice.
Marc-Andre Fleury, criticized for being out of position in Game 1, has turned in a solid performance in this one. His stop in the final minute on Henrik Zetterberg -- that ended with Fleury's stick flying into the air -- was a keeper. It was the second big stop on Zetterberg, who was also in the clear and thwarted by a Fleury arm save. He has also been extremely solid on the multiple wraparounds the Wings have been attempting tonight.
Once again, the Penguins have had their chances, but are not capitalizing. Malkin had a glorious chance off a Maxime Talbot feed from behind the net, but the shot appeared to hit the post. Bill Guerin was set up beautifully by Sidney Crosby late in the second period, but his effort hit the inside of the post and bounced clear. It was shortly after that the Wings had their first real sustained pressure of the game and capitalized (do you sense a trend here?) with Darren Helm winning a draw (no surprise there) and then screening Fleury to allow Jonathan "Appendix Man" Ericsson's shot to elude Fleury to tie the score at 1.
You know, I hate to carp about the officials, because they have the toughest job in sports, but there were a couple of brutal calls in that frame. The interference call against Malkin after a battle along the boards with Ericsson was nonsense.
Your thoughts my friend?
Pierre LeBrun: First off, what a period of hockey. That blew me away. That's the hockey I've been waiting for.
The Ericsson goal won't be on Pens coach Dan Bylsma's NHL résumé anytime soon. His line had stayed out for 1:43 and iced the puck. But instead of calling a timeout to give his players a breather, they dropped the puck in their zone moments later and the Wings tied it.
He called the timeout in a similar situation last night, why not again tonight?
As for the Malkin penalty, I agree with you, my friend. Not a strong call. But I'm not big on harping on the officials. The game is 100 miles an hour.
We're going to find out a lot about the Penguins in this third period. Their season, in many ways, is on the line. Like any team's chances of beating these Red Wings in four out of five games, especially as they get more days off as the series wears on to heal their wounds?
Our colleague E.J. Hradek mentioned earlier tonight that the Pens should load up Crosby's line with Jordan Staal. Bylsma did it for one shift in the second period. Let's see if he does it again in the third.
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