Off-Day Report; Datsyuk’s skating ability improving

Wednesday’s Practice Report Despite being down 2-1 in the series, Pittsburgh has benefited from the schedule makers when it comes to the availability of Detroit Red Wings M.V.P. candidate Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk who skated again today has a small fracture in his foot and has missed 6 straight games. Today he looked much improved and he may return to the lineup for game 4. Datsyuk has deemed himself available to play. If the NHL stuck to their guns and the Stanley Cup Finals began on June 5th, the Red Wings would have likely had Datsyuk for game 1. Pittsburgh held an optional practice today. The skaters were goaltenders Mathieau Garon, John Curry, forwards Petr Sykora, Pascal Dupuis, Dustin Jeffrey, Chris

Bylsma pushes the right buttons in game 3

Defenseman Kris Letang struggled in game 1 and during warmups of game 2, defenseman Philippe Boucher took all of the reps with Mark Eaton who is Letang’s D-Partner as it was widely believed Bylsma considered scratching Letang in place of Boucher. After a subpar performance in game 2, Bylsma used Philippe Boucher with the 1st power play unit in Tuesday’s morning skate, speculation grew this afternoon that Boucher could replace Letang in the lineup for game 3. Putting the pressure on Letang to perform better, it led to Letang playing his best game of the playoffs, Tuesday night. Early in the game Letang was aggressive, pinching in the offensive zone and made a key keep in at the blue-line, which

Gonchar nets game winner; Penguins beat Red Wings 4-2

Detroit leads series, 2-1 Sergei Gonchar (3) scored mid way through the third period to break a 2-2 tie and Max Talbot (6) added two goals including an empty net goal as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 Tuesday night at Mellon Arena to cut the Red Wings series lead in half, (2-1). In a must win situation, Pittsburgh was led by NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin Tuesday night who added three assists to record his 11th multi-point game in the playoffs and push his playoff points total to 33.

Physical play, strong performances from key role players, fuels 4-2 win

Post-Game Notebook Pittsburgh showed the hockey world Tuesday night that they will not go down lightly, winning a pivotal game 3 and cutting the Red Wings series lead in half. The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals are following the same trend of the 08 finals when Detroit won both games in Detroit, then lost game 3 in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is hopeful game 4 doesn’t follow the trend from last years finals. What the Penguins have now is confidence that they can beat the Red Wings. Even after losing both games in Detroit, the Penguins remained confident heading into game 3 but there was this vibe that it didn’t matter how well they played, Detroit would find a way to win. Pittsburgh

Game 3 Morning Skate Update: Boucher in, Letang out?; Datsyuk skates

Morning Skate The Penguins just concluded their morning skate and as we mentioned yesterday Kris Letang may be a healthy scratch tonight. My source on the scene tells me the way it looks at the morning skate, it is a possibility. Philippe Boucher worked with the first power play unit, replacing Kris Letang at the left point. All indications are the Penguins will dress 12 forwards. The Lines at the skate were Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin Fedotenko – Malkin – Talbot Cooke – Staal – Kennedy Dupuis – Adams – Satan *updated: 12:00 p.m. The Detroit Red Wings took the ice at 11:30 a.m. and there was no sign of Pavel Datsyuk. Thirty minutes later, Datsyuk has joined his teammates

Penguins remain confident and claim “series is not over”

Facing a must win situation Tuesday night, the Penguins remain confident and don’t appear frustrated as the team is in the same position that they were last year. “You know, I don’t think we should be frustrated, I don’t think we are frustrated, because the series not over,” Sergei Gonchar said. “You know, we’re playing better, having chances, series is not over. Going into this series we knew it was not going to be easy playing against great team and we knew it was going to be tough.” *Forward Sidney Crosby who has been held scoreless in the series did not speak to the media on Monday during the Penguins off-day. Despite being held pointless, Crosby is getting chances and

Inside the numbers: Staal a -7 in the playoffs

As the Penguins go into a must-win situation Tuesday night, one of the most staggering stats during the teams playoff run is that 2006 2nd overall pick Jordan Staal has a team leading plus/minus rating of -7. Staal who plays the role of shutting down the oppositions top line, has two goals in 19 playoff games and is a -4 in his last four games. Supporters of Jordan Staal often say that you can’t blame him for his lack of offensive production because he is playing with role players Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy who are not regarded as top 6 forwards. That argument has some merit but what doesn’t have any merit, is playing the role of a shutdown

Stanley Cup Finals: The New NHL? Not so fast

It was Mario Lemieux who once referred to the NHL as a garage league, but after two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, I absolutely, positively refuse to go there. Wouldn’t want to give garage leagues a bad name, you know. After three rounds of competitive, compelling, entertaining playoff hockey, The New NHL has morphed into the old one all of a sudden. All of six minor penalties have been whistled thus far. Total. At least a half-dozen infractions went overlooked both ways. Just when you thought that the league had entered the 21st Century finally, out of nowhere, the Let-‘em-play Official Rules were in effect again. Can anyone tell me why the NHL would want to turn its showcase

Pressure turns to Fleury in game 3

Game 2 Post-Game Notebook Unable to tie the series at 1-1, the series shifts back to Pittsburgh Tuesday night as the Penguins will be in a must win situation like they were last year. Despite only scoring two goals through the first two games of the series, the Penguins were upbeat following the game and believe this series is far from over. For the second straight night, the inability to capitalize on prime scoring chances haunted the Penguins. The chances are there for the Penguins, averaging 32 shots in two games Red Wings team speed causing Penguins problems Evaluating the first two games of the series, the most noticeable difference between the Red Wings and Penguins is the team speed