The NHL playoffs are in full swing this week and as the conference finals are going on for both the East and West, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for a win in Game 3 against the Boston Bruins after dropping the first two games at home as the teams play at TD Garden on Wednesday night.
Sidney Crosby had a disastrous Game 2, as did the entire team, as the Bruins scored four first period goals in the 6-1 rout and now the former Stanley Cup champs must rally from a 2-0 series deficit to win and get back to the finals. The last four teams left in the playoffs are the last four Stanley Cup champions and the Penguins are the first of that group from back in 2009 and they are hoping for a strong showing on Wednesday night to get back into things. Crosby and leading scorer Evgeni Malkin need to play better, as does Tomas Vokoun, who was totally manhandled while making just nine saves and allowing the four goals.
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The Bruins got goals from five different players in the game and the Penguins could only muster one first period goal from Brandon Sutter. The Penguins have been one of the highest scoring teams in the league all season and after being beaten down in the first two games they are expecting a much better result in Game 3. Crosby has been the leading goal scorer in the playoffs for the Penguins and the Captain will have to play better for the team to win.
The Bruins got another goal from star David Krejci, who has been the most consistent player in the NHL during the playoffs, while Brad Marchand added two goals after his great series against the Rangers and the team also got goals from Johnny Boychuk, Patrice Bergeron and Nathan Horton while getting good work from Tukka Rask in net. The Bruins have turned into a powerhouse in the playoffs and with Zdeno Chara on the blue line they will be a hard team to rally against, especially if they keep playing like they did in the first period of Game 2.
Malkin is leading the Penguins in scoring with 16 points, while Crosby has seven goals and Kris Letang is tops with 13 assists so far. The Bruins have gotten their most consistent scoring from Krejci, who is tops for the team in points, goals and assists. He has been a scoring machine and he now has eight goals after the Game 2 win to go along with 12 assists for 20 points. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said that there are some decent things that happened in Game 2 despite the loss and that Game 1 was also good to look back to, as the Penguins held the Bruins back until the third period.
The Penguins need to play better all around, especially on the power play and if they don't turn things around quickly, they will be left sitting 3-0 in the East finals with the Bruins firmly in control. The Bruins play well at home, but the Penguins are a tested team and they could easily come out and win on Wednesday, but the play of Crosby and the other stars will dictate if they can do that.