Posted by Pierre LeBrun
PITTSBURGH -- What better way to get the crowd going, with the Penguins needing a boost, than having the greatest player in team history drop the puck in a ceremonial faceoff.
Mario Lemieux had people on their feet. All hands on deck. Even the part-owner is trying to do his part!
I thought the Pens fed off that crowd energy early on and pounded the Wings on the forecheck; Maxime Talbot's one-timer goal was a product of that. At that point, the shots on goal were 4-1 Pittsburgh and the Pens were up a goal.
That's when it went bad for a while.
The Red Wings would get the next 10 shots on goal, including goals by Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen that made this building as quiet as a morgue. Interesting note on Zetterberg's goal -- Ville Leino cleared the net for him to take all day and flip a shot over a sprawled Marc-Andre Fleury. Leino wasn't even supposed to be on the ice, forgetting to go to the bench and change once Sidney Crosby's line came on the ice. Sometimes good things happen, even on mistakes.
Speaking of mistakes, not sure how four on-ice officials could miss the Penguins' having six skaters on the ice for at least six or seven seconds. Mark Eaton finally went back to the bench without a call. Come on, boys, it's the Stanley Cup finals.
The Pens got energized again on Kris Letang's power-play goal, which tied the score at 2. With it came a first in this series -- a bad goal allowed by Chris Osgood.
The bad news for Pittsburgh? Evgeni Malkin went to the dressing room with 1:41 left in the period. Yikes.
Scotty?
Scott Burnside: Hello, Pierre. Yes, Malkin went off on his own steam late in the period with the Pens on another power play, so don't know whether it was an equipment issue or he's hurting. That would be crushing to the Pens if it's the latter.
We talked a lot about the Penguins' not getting the breaks in Games 1 and 2, so maybe the Osgood miscue on the Letang goal -- he had a clear view of Letang's shot and it still beat him 5-hole -- is the kind of break they didn't get.
The Wings, though, are so calm and cool; they gave up the first goal for the second straight game and stormed back to take the lead for the second straight game.
You mentioned Zetterberg and Crosby. Even though the Pens have the last change, Detroit coach Mike Babcock is doing his darnedest to keep that Zetterberg-on-Crosby matchup that was so successful in Detroit.
Let's see what transpires in the second frame!
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
