Round 3 Game 2 Results

Penguins Lead Series 2-0

This was a high tempo first period.  It was sloppy play in the defensive end and it made for one heck of a shootout.  When the smoke had cleared it was the Canes with a 3-2 lead.  Then comes the second and a complete change of pace, well at least as far as goals go.  For Carolina the shots and hits slowed as Pittsburgh controlled the game a little more.  It was also when a few penalties were called.  Two penalties in the first and 7 in the second a difference of 4 to 14 minutes but that seemed to have no effect on the score.  Neither team was able to capitalize while up a man, but Pittsburgh struck twice to pull ahead 4-3.  Pittsburgh continued their dominant play in the third as they erupted with a 3-1 goal advantage and a final score of 7-4.  Now the stats…

This game got rather rough.  It all starts and ends with the officials and looking back at the game, the league has no place to suspend any players.  The message sending, occurred all game not once the game was out of hand.    If they don’t want the games to have these type of physical endings then they need to instructed officials to call the game consistently.  Although the end result was even as far as calls go, Carolina should be happy as the Pens seem to have the edge in special teams.

Carolina is now in a big hole but they are far from out of this series.  They need to go back to NC and buckle down on defense.  They need to find a way to shut down the Pittsburgh offense and they could get some life.  However, if they play run and gun, Pittsburgh will when this game and the series as they have too much offense to handle.

Pittsburgh needs to figure out what is wrong in the defensive zone, because if their offense drops they will be in for a very long game and exit from the playoffs.  The good news for the Pens is they are in the driver’s seat and just need to keep the peddle to the metal.

Next Game Saturday May 23 @ 7:30 on Versus