Penguins Outlast Canadiens: Only Allow One Bad Bounce Goal

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By Reg Dunlop   May 8, 2010

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It seems that if the Pens keep doing what they are doing offensively, which is doing everything thing they can to get two goals against the red hot Halak, and limit the number of bad bounces that end up in their own net, they can come out on top.

To their credit, the Canadiens played a better game today.  They actually outshot the Penguins 33-25. The Pens have won both games that they were outshot in.  Montreal had more sustained pressure at times during the course of the tonight’s game.  The Pens still controlled the play for most of the game.  Pittsburgh has definitely got the edge in puck possession.

Notes:

• The Pens picked up the level of hitting again in this game.  They seem to play better when things get scrappy.
• Fleury was very good in this game.  He has shown a tendency to bounce back from a loss with a strong performance in the playoffs.
• Seems like taking Ponikarovsky and Fedotenko out of the lineup was a good call.
• It was nice to see a couple of goals from defensemen.
• It was nice to see Guerin getting in front of Halak.
• I would still like to see the Penguins get more accurate with their shots.  They are missing the net with too much frequency.  I am sure that it is product of gripping the stick too tightly as it has been hard to get anything past Halak.
• Malkin took his game up a notch.  He looked like a man on a mission.

The Pens will have to fight through another energetic start from the Canadiens in game 6.