It would be easy to point at the non-call on the Ovechkin goal when Cooke was pretty clearly tripped when he tried to get over to O-Face off of the faceoff, but he may not have made it there anyway.
The turning point of the game was the completely ineffectual power play the Pens came out with in the third period. The game was 2-2 with about 9 minutes left when Jurcina took a dumb cross-checking penalty. Here's what happened next:
In case you don't see it, let me emphasize for you - with 9 minutes left in the third period of a huge playoff game, the Pens managed on 87 foot shot on net, and it wasn't even as good as that. They didn't get setup in the offensive zone. That cannot happen if they want to win a game against the Caps.
The Pens didn't score, Geno took a penalty, and the Caps took 4 seconds to score. Blech.
Now here's the hopeful part: The Pens have played pretty well, all things considered. All the Caps have done is hold serve. The Pens are coming home and have a chance to do the same. Win two games in Pittsburgh and you head back to Washington to have another go at it, this time with some momentum. Lose one of the games in Pittsburgh, however, and you're likely done.
Nice to see Sid with the hat trick. Would be nice to see Geno get a goal. I know he had 6 shots, but he needs to be a dominant force in the playoffs. He certainly has the talent.
Kunitz and Sykora have to account for more than one shot. The reference the Versus announcer made to Kunitz and Guerin providing "secondary scoring" because they assisted on a Crosby goal was completely idiotic. Secondary scoring means someone other than your big guns SCORES A GOAL, not earns an assist.
Did I mention "blech"?
Next up: Wednesday will be the biggest game of the year.
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