Pittsburgh Forfeits Home Ice Advantage to Montreal

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By Reg Dunlop   May 2, 2010

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Looks like Halak is back to his old tricks.  The more rubber this guy faces, the better he is.  Maybe Bylsma was onto something with his shoot less gameplan. For two and half periods the Penguins dominated every aspect of play.  Every aspect except one……goals.  I will give Montreal credit.  Though they did give up a lot of shots, they were able to minimize second and third chances.  Halak was very good.

The Penguins had three golden opportunities to get back into the game via three powerplays they enjoyed during the third period.  The powerplay, however, did not produce….at all.  The PP unit generated just four shots on goal in those three powerplays.  It was far cry from the four for four performance Friday night.

How about the sequence of events that led to Cammalleri’s goal late in the third period.  What the F**k were the Pens doing.  Three bad turnovers; two in their own zone and Crosby’s turnover at the Montreal blue line, which led to the third Canadien goal.  They looked horrible.  To make matters worse, Fleury hadn’t had to do much for two periods.  When the time came to come up big…..not so much. Granted, it was a great shot, but that is the kind of save we need to keep momentum going and maybe make a comeback.

Is anybody else out there going crazy with all of the offside calls the Pens are guilty of?

Notes:

• The Pens were visibly frustrated through the course of this game, particularly Crosby.  They will need to find a way to get through this.
• Although Halak’s record seems to get better as his shots against go up, I am OK with the Pens continuing to shoot whenever possible.  There were several times that I saw defensmen pass up shot opportunities to try and get deflections.  Rebounds are good too.
• A tip of the hat to the third and fourth lines.  I thought all those guys played really well tonight.
• I have to say, I don’t think that Gonchar is playing his best hockey in these playoffs.  I am not sure what it is, but he is not playing like himself.  He is not necessarily playing horribly, but he is turning the puck over, passing up good shooting opportunities and not winning battles.

Maybe the Pens are trying to stick to their winning formula.  Here is to bringing home two victories from Montreal.