PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, May 12, 2008
Penguins Kris Letang and Georges Laraque celebrate Maxime Talbot's game-winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Mellon Arena, May 11, 2008.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
Each coach made a change to his fourth line for Game 2 of this Eastern Conference final Sunday night.
One of those changes worked out great.
The other, not so much.
An intense battle neared the midway point of the third period -- tied 2-2 -- when the two lineup additions crossed paths on what became the game's pivotal play.
Flyers coach John Stevens thought his new guy, Steve Downie, would be a difference-maker, as he had been in Game 7 of a first-round series against Washington.
He was, but not in the way Stevens had hoped.
Not noted for his soft hands, Downie failed to control the puck along the boards in the Flyers' zone. That allowed Maxime Talbot, the Penguins' lineup addition, to block Derian Hatcher's awkward, one-handed clearing attempt.
The puck wound up with Gary Roberts, then big Georges Laraque, who fought off Sami Kapanen inside the blue line and fired it behind the goal line.
That is where the Penguins' fourth line -- however it is composed -- does its best work.
Roberts retrieved the biscuit and whipped a quick backhanded pass to Talbot, who fired a perfect shot over Martin Biron's glove to send a pensive Mellon Arena crowd into a tizzy.
It proved to be the game-winner in a 4-2 victory.
"We have a lot of chemistry," Laraque said. "That's our secret -- play down low, and we know chances are going to come."
Penguins coach Michel Therrien has a magical touch right now, doesn't he?
So do the Penguins, who haven't lost a home game since Feb. 24 and are two wins away from their first Stanley Cup final appearance since 1992.
Not that it's going to be easy. The Flyers showed some serious mettle last night.
Already missing their top defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, they lost their second best, Braydon Coburn, two minutes into the game after a deflected shot smacked him in the face. For the rest of the night, the Flyers played with five D-men -- not exactly a recipe for success against the high-powered Penguins -- and battled gamely.
The atmosphere for Game 3 in Philly should be highly charged, to say the least.
As for Therrien, he didn't have to play Talbot, who had been out since the middle of the New York Rangers series with a broken foot. Most coaches are reluctant to change a winning lineup, but Therrien wanted to add Talbot's speed and tenacity.
Upon deciding to play Talbot, Therrien's next decision was who to sit -- Roberts, Adam Hall or Laraque. Earlier in the playoffs, when the Penguins were winning and Roberts was ready to return from an injury, Therrien stayed with Hall.
This time, Hall sat.
Again, the right move.
Laraque, meanwhile, continues to play a solid role for the Penguins.
Some fans and media folk seem to have a problem with him, which makes no sense. They seem to want him to go out there and beat people senseless.
There's really no place for that at the moment. This is the playoffs. Laraque is here to play hockey, which he has done quite well.
He has now been part of three big goals. He assisted on Roberts' tally early in Game 1 against Ottawa, setting the tone for the series, and scored in Game 3 against the Rangers when he found himself on the ice with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora.
You also had to like the group Therrien deployed in the Penguins' zone after a Philadelphia timeout with 44.6 seconds left -- Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa, Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik.
The Penguins were protecting a one-goal lead. Gonchar fought a hard battle for a loose puck behind the net. Crosby dug it out and made a high, backhanded flip out of the zone -- a classic case of a skilled player using that skill to play great defense -- and Staal muscled his way toward the goal for an empty-netter.
Crosby and Gonchar got the assists.
Therrien deserved one, too.
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com.
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