Playoff Hockey at its Finest

 

Wow. All I can say is wow. For those hockey fans that stayed up last night to watch Game 3 in Boston, what else can you say? Wow. Pittsburgh came at us hard, and we knew they would. They are simply too talented of a team to not have strong scoring chances when their offense is clicking. But the Bruins stuck to their game, and despite some questionable calls and a few unlucky bounces, the Black and Gold find themselves up three games to none against the mighty Penguins.


The Garden was electric last night with the fervor of playoff hockey. When Krejci opened the scoring a minute and a half into the game, the crowed smelled blood and didn't relent all night. However, this was a different Pittsburgh team from the team we saw in games 1 and 2. They were passing, they were physical, they didn't shy away from any "extracurricular activities" and Jack Edwards likes to call it, and Vokoun was fantastic. Bylsma clearly made the right choice over Fleury.

But despite all of this, they could not solve the Bruins' PK or pull together consistent scoring chances against Rask, who was phenomenal last night. Kunitz put one past Rask in the second for the Penguin's SECOND goal of the SERIES.

Think on that for a minute. The dynamic Penguins offense held to just 2 goals in 3 games. Who would've seen that coming?
Here's an interesting fact: the Penguins scored 48 goals in their first two series (11 games).
Here's another: They had multi-goal performances from individual players six times during that span.

So how is it the Bruins have seemed to have stymied Crosby and Co.?
Fundamentals. Winning battles, smart passing, rolling four lines, and believing in their system. Astonishing play from Rask doesn't hurt either.

Other thoughts:
-Gregory Campbell's performance in blocking that shot and staying on the ice to kill the penalty epitomizes what makes hockey players the toughest athletes in the world.
-Patrice Bergeron is a top 10 player in the league. Expect a piece on him soon.
-Rask has been unbelievable. Anyone still think he's not a big game goalie?
-Krug looked shaky for the first time last night. Wouldn't mind seeing Bartkowski in for game 3.
-With Campbell out, I would expect to see some juggling of the bottom two lines. I would dress Jordan Caron, and have the lines look like this: Paille, Kelly, Seguin/ Caron, Peverly, Thornton.
-Sydney Crosby has been a major disapointment. There have been entire periods where I haven't even noticed him. Pens need him to be stellar for them to have a chance at a comeback.