(Getty)
Jordan's face says it all. The Pens beat the Red Wings 4-2 in game 4 to tie the series up at 2-2. The Pens played a good game last night and wore the Red Wings down, coming back from another 2-1 deficit at home. The Pens saw another great game from Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin, but also from a couple recently quiet players (at least on the score sheet) in Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy.
The Pens have all the momentum going into game 5 back in Detroit and need to use that to get a win and take a 3-2 lead over the Wings before heading back home for game 6. And this team can do it.
There's a lot we liked about this game. We'll try to get it all out. Better late than never.
- Sidney Crosby really broke out in this game. He's been playing well all series, but definitely not like he has dominated the rest of the playoffs. He finally got on the scoreboard with a goal from a nice two on one with none other than the other head on the two headed monster, Geno himself. Geno did two good things on this play. One, he was playing good defense and had a takeaway. Two, what a pass. A defender sprawled out on the ice to try to stop that pass and did succeed at first, but the puck came back to Geno who was ready for it and slid that puck to Crosby to put past an out of place Osgood. Awesome.
- We don't think Crosby was expecting what happened in the above picture. Kris Letang just came over and tackled him to the ice. We've seen the replay over and over and Crosby just looks stunned. What made the whole thing priceless was Geno coming over and standing over Crosby yelling. What a sight.
- Not long after that, Crosby was involved in another goal with Chris Kunitz and Tyler Kennedy. We've been thinking all series that TK deserved to cash in because he has been working hard. He's just tons of energy, working hard along the boards and not afraid to take on anyone. Where he gets all that energy we have no idea. But in game 4, it really paid off. Kennedy got a turnover near center ice that he dished to Kunitz who then passed it to Crosby, who then passed it to Kennedy who was standing alone next to the net for a nice goal. How beautiful was that?! That was just insane. Osgood was the one stunned this time.
- Someone else on TK's line would get on the score sheet as well. Jordan Staal has played well as of late both defensively and with his line mates grinding away and keeping the puck in the offensive zone, but he hadn't scored. The Wings had two power plays back to back and Jordan Staal had a chance for a breakaway. With a smaller defender on him, he was able to keep him at bay and get a shot off and beat Osgood. What a play. That turned the entire game around. Not only was it short handed but it tied the game and set the Penguins off on a three goal scoring streak in less than six minutes. What a time for him to step up.
- Speaking of Jordan, are we the only ones who feel his confidence isn't always up there in terms of his play offensively? His defense is sound and he seems comfortable with that, as well as grinding it out along the boards, but when it comes to taking a shot it seems like he has no idea what to do with it. After his shortie it seemed like he was more confident. He took at least a couple more shots and looked like he knew what to do with the puck then. He has the talent, he just needs to use it. As well as believe in himself.
- Marc-Andre Fleury played great, rightfully earning him the number one star. He looks like he's getting into form and if he can take one in Detroit in game 5...the sky's the limit. And maybe then the media and fans will let up on him. We never thought he deserved the criticism to begin with.
- Detroit looks tired. The Pens have really taken it to them overall, especially physically. The Pens also made the Wings frustrated, something that's just not supposed to happen to the Wings. These Wings aren't the big, bad force they were last year. Don't get us wrong, they are good and this won't be easy for the Pens, but they can and have worn them down. If you look at the Wings goals, they aren't too impressive. A couple soft ones, a couple bad bounces, not much of any real quality. The Pens can take this if they don't let up.
Yinz Luv 'Da Guins Game 4:
Go Pens!
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