Penguins–Redwings Game 3 Thread

Hey everybody, its the deciding Game 3….if the Pens win and can hold home ice they’ll have a chance to come back in the series. However the Wings have looked sharp all series and are getting some health back. It’ll take a great show from Marc-Andre Fleury for the Pens to come out on top tonight. Either way, the crowd should be loud and the Pens will come out looking for blood. Stay tuned for the drop of the puck and what should prove to be an exciting Game 3 in this Stanley Cup Finals!

Not that I should be sharing this—but if you dont get Versus…click this link http://www.justin.tv/rkonwo

Speaking of fighting while we wait for the game to start…for those of you who haven’t watched alot of hockey in your day, that fight at the game 2 was pretty sad on both ends. I’ll post some good fight videos later on, but I read alot about Malkin being a beast in the fight, honestly it was kinda sad. No disrespect to Malkin, but he might wanna stick to shooting..

Looks like its a Whiteout tonight, dispite my love for the Flyers, Pens fans do a good job making it a tough place to play in Pitt.

What to look for: The game plan for the Pens shouldn’t really change much, they just need better execution. More pucks in traffic, I believe both goals for the Pens have come from scrambles around the net. Osgood is a good goalie when it comes to making the first save, but if you can get him to give up rebounds the Pens will have a much better chance. Crosby doesn’t have a point yet in the series and the Pens need to change that if they want to win. As far as the Wings, if they can come out and make it through the first 5-10mins they can calm the crowd and set the tone. The first team to score a goal will have a huge lift in this huge game….almost gametime..

Puck is dropped…well…the first drop was done by Super Mario himself…no matter who you root for, you’ve got to appreciate what he’s done for the sport.

Puck is dropped for real….back and forth so far, the Pens used the 4th line to start, gotta mix things up. The crowd is into it, should be a great game.

18.40 Goal…almost…great chance by Crosby, but it was just blocked before it could make it to the open net. Nice energy from both teams

Lots of pushing and shoving in this game after the play, both teams should make sure to stay under control so there aren’t’ any stupid penalties

16.00–The Pens are already doing a better job setting up offense and screening Osgood, if they keep it up they will score at somepoint, the Wings are playing solid defense though so it won’t be easy.

15.30–GOAL Pens…a great one-timer by Talbot, just beat Osgood. The Wings are a fast responding team so the Pens shouldn’t get ahead of themselves

Note* Dan Cleary is back tonight and is a great shooter, he’s already had a great chance tonight, so he should be a factor.

13.59–GOAL Zetterberg a min and 31 secs later and a the Wings respond…1-1…a goal off a rebound by MAF, rebounds will kill you. He almost saved it, but it would have been alot of luck to save it.

The Pens need to be careful not to give up another goal, the Wings are starting to control the pace of the game. That bodes well for a team that is already up 2-0 in a series. The crowd is still in the game, but they can’t stay hyped up all night, even more so if the Pens go down a goal or two. Timeout.

10.00–Penalty on Orpik–Like I mentioned last game the Wings are ranked 3rd in the playoffs in PP and 1st in the regular season.*However they are 0-3 in this series so far…they’re doing a good job keeping the puck in the zone, but Fleury is doing a good job keeping his body between the puck and the net.

8.24–GOAL Franzen the Redwings passing proves to be a thing of beauty again, a nice cross ice pass to an almost empty net, there really wasn’t much Fleury could have done about that one.

*Last 8 shots have been by the Wings, and although the crowd is pretty silent the Pens are doing a good job not caving in.

**Shot watch** 11-Wings 4-Pens

TIMEOUT–And as I said I would its time to watch a real hockey fight. Somebody will say that I picked this fight because Im a Flyers fan, but frankly, there is no denying what you’ll see in this video..but there is a reason why the Flyers are almost always leading the league in fights.

and now…another timeout Penalty on the Wings…and if you’re not watching the whole game at 9 on  Discovery on Man vs Wild…Will Ferrell is gonna be on it…frankly it could be really really funny

Powerplay Pens–they could really use a goal here..duh

Osgood makes a nasty save on Crosby, it must be tough to be Crosby in this series with no points…but trying really hard. Osgood really is one of the best.

4.00-GOAL–Chris Letang blasts one in, Osgood just missed this one, guess I cursed him….2-2

2.30–Almost on cue the Wings get a few inches away from making it a 3-2 game, but Fleury comes up big again. And now the Pens are on the powerplay again…could be a huge lift going into the break if they’re up 3-2

1.00–The wings are doing a good job killing the PP..there is only 2 second difference between the game clock and the PP so it’ll be over pretty much when the period ends…*offically 1 second into the 2nd period

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD

What is G?…http://hypebeast.com/2009/01/gatorade-tastemaker-what-is-g-program-fitted-caps/ tell me you dont want that hat..

**quick edit…Man verses Wild is on at 10..not 9

Almost time for the start of the second period…I would expect the second period to be a lower scoring than the first…Im sure you’re glad to read the blog to read insights like that.

START OF THE SECOND PERIOD–I just realized I’ve touched the Stanley Cup, so I will never win it..

Puck is dropped…lets do this

And in NFL fashion…timeout…am I the only one who is annoyed to have a kickoff and then ads again?

18.39–Pens dodge a bullet on a missed shot that would have gone in if hit…

17.30–And dodge another bullet, a rocket off the post, and the Fleury ended up out of the net and Wings player was in the crease…it was an odd thing to witness..no penalty though.

15.30–The Wings are controlling the pace, but the Pens are hanging tough, Fleury is playing well, the Pens are gonna give up a goal if they dont push back though

12.59–The Pens are doing a good job of slowing down the Wings, there have been a few good chances on both sides. I’ll predict either 1 goal by both sides, or just a goal by the Wings before the end of the period.

10.00–Everybody is getting hit, people in the stands, dogs, cats, refs…basically if you’re nearby…you’re gonna get hit…its fun to watch the physical nature of playoff hockey

**Shot watch** Wings–21 Pens–10

8.45–The Pens are doing a good job of turning the tide in the game..they’re setting up in the zone well…but they aren’t getting lots of shots off…kinda need to do that if you want to score.

7.09–Wings nail it off the post for the 40th time tonight…MAF should take the iron out on a date if the Pens win tonight

*Hits* Wings-10 Pens-22….thats kinda ironic

4.00–Redwings on the PP…a big momment in the game

guess what? the puck hit the post…again!

2.00–Powerplay killed, a great chance by the Wings at the end of the PP but they couldn’t convert. Fleury is playing more like he did the first 2 rounds

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD–Gonna be an epic end to this game

the Wings outshot the Pens 14-4 in the 2nd period and the **shot watch** is now 26 for the Wings and 11 for the Pens

START OF THE THIRD PERIOD–Time to see which way the hockey gods are leaning tonight—I’ve got to say however…the CBC has the worst intermission stuff I’ve seen in a long time.

17.50–Both teams are feeling eachother out a little bit, nobody has really set the tone yet. Osgood has made some really nice saves though…Pens have 4 straight shots

13.43–Wings are taking control a little bit but the Pens aren’t letting them set it up in the zone for very long

**watching Man V Wild too…I think Will Ferrell is legitly scared

**Shot watch** Wings 26 Pens 18…Pens lead 3rd period shooting 7-0

10.50–Pens PP…a pretty lame call by the refs, but its all good..this could be a big momment in the game.

9.31–GOAL–Gonchar on rocket, but Osgood just barely missed it…can the Wings respond?

8.08–Wings are already bringing the pressure, its gonna be a stressful 8mins for those Pens fans out there..I picked the Wings to win 4-3 in OT…so we’ll see

5.00–Wings have been trying hard, but there  may not be enough time to get the goal

2.02–Timeout…time for the Wings to think about all the posts they hit tonight..Osgood has made some great saves in the last 3mins..if I was a Pens fan, I wouldn’t get excited til the game clock said 0.00 its a great team they’re playing right now…

1.00–Goal Malkin with the empty net

Pens get the win, and its 2-1 in the series…the Wings will come out strong in the next game so it won’t be easy to even the series even if its at home..thanks for reading! NBA Finals thursday!