PERIOD 3
0:22 into the Third Period- Marian Hossa gets called for a minor holding penalty.
Writer’s Note: Egads!
3:10 into the Third Period- The pace of this game has slowed down considerably and is better suited for the veteran-laden Detroit Red Wings. The Pens just can’t seem to create an offensive flow in the Red Wings zone as they appear to be treating the puck like a hot potatoe.
3:42 into the Third Period- Malone and Datsyuk get coincidental minor roughing penalties after Malone hammers Zetterberg after the whistle blows.
6:00 into the Third Period- HELLO PITTSBURGH!! YOU HAVEN’T SCORED A GOAL YET IN 5+ PERIODS. IT’S TIME TO PUT THE PUCK IN THE NET.
Writer’s Note: Aside from Gary Roberts forechecking tenaciously and Tyler Kennedy sliding into the Red Wings Zone off of the bench, the Penguins look as lifeless as Norm on an episode of Cheers.
7:49 into the Third Period- Dallas Drake Tripping Penalty.
8:04 into the Third Period- Ryan Malone takes a goaltender interference penalty after he gets a little too close to Osgood, thus putting the confident Red Wings back on the power play.
8:48 of the Third Period- Valteri Filppula scores one of the nicest goals of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he takes a pass from Johan “Mule” Franzen in the neutral zone, splits the defence, blows by Pens defenseman Kris Letang, then buries a forehand shot as he is falling to the ice on a delayed penalty. Filppula scores his 4th goal of the playoffs on the power play and puts the Wings up 3-0.
11:55 into the Third Period- Maxime Talbot is called for a minor roughing penalty.
The Wing second powerplay unit (Jiri Hudler-Daniel Cleary-Valteri Filppula) skates circles around the Pens in their own zone and continues to dominate in almost every aspect of the game.
15:13 into the Third Period- Sidney Crosby gets a weak backhand shot on Osgood but he easily clears the puck into the corner.
Writer’s Note: This game is pretty much over as CBC breaks to another television timeout. The Illegal Curve team (Rich, Drew, Neil) is already thinking about highlights of Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and the French Open tennis tournament.
16:09 of the Third Period- Defenseman Ryan Whitney takes a roughing penalty as Pittsburgh continues to play the rough stuff with Franzen.
Writer’s Note: The Penguins have clearly given up tonight. The Whitney penalty is their 10th of the game. This is quite mind-boggling as Laraque and Talbot are normally your partners in crime. Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone have played on the edge the whole game.
18:52 of the Third Period- Chris Osgood is bumped behind the net by Petr Sykora which leads to a Evgeni Malkin stage dive, which then leads to a short fight between Gary Roberts and Pavel Datsyuk.
Third Period Ends.
The Red Wings win Game 2 by a score of 3-0 and take a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.
Writer’s Post-Game Analysis- Pittsburgh got really chippy in the 3rd period and are simply being outplayed by a team which boasts 11 Stanley Cup Winners. Not much can be said here that hasn’t been said already. The Wings took both games in Detroit and head to Pittsburgh with all of their poker chips in hand. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, returns home dejected and sans anything to rally around. Are we going to see a Stanley Cup Finals sweep or is Pittsburgh going to make this a series? Hopefully, and this is for everyone’s sake, it is the latter.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Ezra Ginsburg.
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