These Penguins are just too good

BY CAULTON TUDOR, Staff Writer
Raleigh News & Observer
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/
May 24, 2009

RALEIGH - In hopes of developing an antivenom to stinging strikes from Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the Carolina Hurricanes had an ol' one-two punch plan of their own Saturday in the RBC Center.


RALEIGH, NC - MAY 23: Evgeni Malkin(notes) #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins controls the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs at RBC Center on May 23, 2009 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Part one was the building itself. The always loud, sometimes magical, combination of warm weather and warm-blooded hockey fans historically has provided a reliable rescue shelter in times of trouble for the Hurricanes.

Part two was goalie Cam Ward. The franchise's trump card. Ward was due for a heroic performance after a 7-4 Penguins win Thursday that gained them a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference championship series.

But sometimes, it's just not meant to be. That's where the Hurricanes finally have fallen in this otherwise eventful spring.

Even with the locals loud, even with Ward seemingly back on stride, and even with a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the opening period, the Hurricanes just were not good enough to escape this jam.

Instead, the Canes did exactly what Scott Walker, the hero of their series-clinching second-round win over Boston, said they could not do. They unwittingly became set-up men for the Malkin/Crosby tandem.

A 13-minute spree of loose passing, careless coverage and costly penalties allowed the Penguins to turn the RBC Center into Mellon Arena-South by the first intermission. Streaking to a suffocating 3-1 advantage on two goals by Malkin and one by Crosby, the Penguins went on to a 6-2 victory that virtually assures them a Stanley Cup showdown against either Detroit or Chicago.

The Hurricanes do get a chance to save a splash of pride Tuesday in the RBC for Game 4. But any realistic hope for another championship was swept aside by the quickness and shooting skills of Malkin and Crosby, who were exciting enough to make the misery at least memorable for disappointed Canes fans.

"They're much too good for us to make it any easier on them than it has to be," Walker said after Saturday's morning skate. "We've got to make it tougher on them to have their way."

RALEIGH, NC - MAY 23: Sergei Gonchar(notes) #55 of the Pittsburgh Penguins checks Scott Walker(notes) #24 of the Carolina Hurricanes into the boards during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs at RBC Center on May 23, 2009 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

It's for sure the performances by Malkin and Crosby put doubt in the time-honored assumption that a hot goalie is the key to postseason success. Ward certainly has not been at his career best in this series, but he held up well under a lot of undue stress Saturday.

At least two of the Pens' first-period goals were more the result of poor decisions and execution by his teammates than any glaring mistakes by Ward. Through a scoreless second, he kept his team in contention. Then, with a goal by Sergi Samsonov early in the third, the Canes actually were right there for a few minutes.

It wasn't until Pittsburgh's Ruslan Fedotenko connected to make it 4-2 with 8:31 left that the life went out of the Hurricanes in much the same manner it did in Game 2.

While there likely will be little or no quit in the Hurricanes on Tuesday, the performance against Pittsburgh is certain to leave a sour taste to what had been a sweet run. In the offseason, the Canes no doubt will think back to the 3-2 loss in the first game -- a game Carolina had a shot to win.

Had the Canes escaped Pittsburgh at 1-1 in the series, it's possible the series could have gone a different direction.

But the second and third games didn't lie. The Pens were simply too good to lose.


caulton.tudor@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8946