Crosby finishes off spree in third period with winner

Sidney Crosby goes down on one knee to deflect the puck past Ottawa's Ray Emery as Sens' defenceman Anton Volchenkov slides into the crease during Eastern Conference playoff action on April 14. Crosby's goal proved to be the gamewinner.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

OTTAWA -- There are a lot of ways to lose a hockey game, and the Penguins experimented with most of them during the second period yesterday.

They took terrible penalties, watched -- and that's the perfect word for it -- Ottawa run up a 19-5 advantage in shots and let goalie Marc-Andre Fleury be subjected to the kind of abuse that usually results in criminal charges.

It was the kind of self-destructive behavior more often associated with a cameo on the "Dr. Phil Show" than a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Coach Michel Therrien called it "a recipe for losing games," and the Penguins had the formula nailed.

At least until they rewrote it completely for the third period, when they ran off three goals to defeat Ottawa, 4-3, and tie their first-round playoff series, 1-1, heading into Game 3 at Mellon Arena today at 6:08 p.m.

Afterward, Senators coach Bryan Murray said that the Penguins "didn't touch the puck for two periods," and while that wasn't quite a literal truth, perhaps Ottawa should be a bit concerned that the Penguins earned a split on the road without playing anything that should be mistaken for their finest game.

"They haven't seen our best effort," Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "We have to bring it [today] because, after two games, the excuses are over about being nervous in the playoffs."

The Penguins would be a lot more angst-ridden today if not for Fleury, who single-handedly kept his teammates in the game until they decided that attempting to win it might not be a bad idea after all.

"Marc-Andre was the difference," Therrien said.

Fleury finished with 34 saves, none bigger than one on Senators center Mike Fisher from directly in front of the net with about 14 seconds left in regulation.

"I just tried to get up there, and the puck just hit me," Fleury said.

That happened a lot during Game 2. No matter where the Senators shot, the puck almost always hit Fleury. What a coincidence. That was particularly true during the second period, when the Senators treated the Penguins the way a stick treats a pinata. The Senators got the only two goals during that period and likely could have scored about a dozen more.

"We did everything wrong," Penguins defenseman Mark Eaton said. "We were undisciplined, we weren't doing the things we need to do to be successful.

"We were trying to make cute plays, and that's not us. We're a forechecking team, a speed team, and we got away from that in the second."

They rediscovered their identity during the second intermission, though.

"We started to play the right way, do the right things," right winger Mark Recchi said. "We started skating, started forechecking better, started doing a lot of things better. And it obviously made for better results."

The turnaround began when Gary Roberts converted a Sergei Gonchar rebound during a power play at 2:04 to tie the game, 2-2. Chris Kelly put Ottawa back in front when he beat Fleury through a screen at 6:18, but the Penguins did not wilt.



Penguins Gary Roberts and Jordan Staal celebrate after Staal ties the score at 3-3 in the third period against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place. Roberts had scored earlier in the period.


Jordan Staal, playing with the composure of a guy who has been in the league longer than Staal has been alive, buried a feed from Michel Ouellet to pull the Penguins even again at 9:34.

Precisely two minutes and 10 seconds later, Crosby -- hounded by the Senators and jeered mercilessly by the Scotiabank Place crowd for two games -- got the first playoff winner of his career after Therrien put him between Evgeni Malkin and Recchi.

Malkin fed the puck from the right point to Recchi, who was near the left dot. Recchi, in turn, threw a pass to Crosby, who was at the right side of the crease and deflected the puck past Senators goalie Ray Emery with the shaft of his stick.

"When I first passed it, I thought it was going to go too high for Sid," Recchi said. "I had to get it over their [defenseman's] stick. But great players make bad passes look good."

And good teams find a way to win, even when they play badly. The Penguins did that, although, with Game 3 set for this evening, there's no time to savor it.

"You have to forget this game right away," Crosby said. "And focus on the next one."


(Dave Molinari can be reached at DWMolinari@Yahoo.com.)