Stanley Cup Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins' Hole Deeper After Another Shutout Loss

Gary Roberts was solid in his return to the Penguins' lineup, the officiating was poor, and the Penguins were robbed of two power-play opportunities.

But when you can't put the puck in the net, any excuse you can possibly think of has no bearing whatsoever.

Recap

The Penguins opened the game looking like they might actually score a goal sometime in this series. 60 minutes later, they would prove their hopeful fans wrong yet again.

Gary Roberts made his presence felt early in the game by setting a physical tone against the Red Wings' top line. The Penguins' third line of Kennedy-Staal-Roberts was the best line on the ice for the black and gold throughout the course of the game, but even they couldn't crack the Wings' impenetrable defense.

Brad Stuart made it 1-0 after he showed a Penguins' defenseman how to effectively join the rush and get a shot on goal. Stuart's shot hit Rob Scuderi on its way to the net, changing direction just enough to get past Fleury.

The Wings' got all the bounces, as they did in Game One. Tomas Holmstrom was the beneficiary of one such bounce, which provided a loose puck behind Fleury that Holmstrom was able to tap into the net to make it 2-0.

With just over eight minutes remaining in the period, the Penguins recorded their first shot on goal.

On the same power play, Staal and Roberts each had a scoring chance around the front of the net, but Osgood was there to make the routine saves.

It seemed as though the Penguins' sticks were allergic to frozen rubber, as every loose puck either bounced into the corner or found the stick of a Red Wing.

The first period ended 2-0, but the Penguins' play in the latter half of the period left fans with an optimistic feeling heading into the first intermission.

That optimism would quickly turn into "someone please stab me in the eye with a rusty fork" in the second period.

The Penguins' best chance came late in the period, when Detroit defenseman Andreas Lilja tripped over his own feet and coughed the puck up to the advancing Tyler Kennedy.

Kennedy got the puck to Staal, whose initial shot was turned away by Osgood. Staal's rebound attempt was reminiscent of the ugly fat chick you made out with after breaking up with your high school girlfriend.

With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Sidney Crosby setup Hossa with a sick pass, but Hossa fanned on the shot, and the scoreless streak continued heading into the final frame.

If the Penguins were to stand a chance at a comeback, they would have to get on the board early in the third period. They did not, however, and Filppula gave the Wings a 3-0 lead at 8:48 of the third.

Filppula took advantage of an out-of-position Kris Letang, and was able to beat Fleury on the backhand to seal the deal for the Wings.

The Penguins were playing for pride for the final 11 minutes of the game.

Gary Roberts threw a left hand into the face of Franzen. Franzen acted like he had been hit by a freight train and dropped to the ice clutching his face, forcing a stoppage of play. "Concussion-like symptoms" or not, that was Hollywood.

Chris Osgood also auditioned for the role of cover-boy on Dio's album entitled "Holy Diver" when he went down like a ton of bricks after Petr Sykora made contact with his left arm. We know that you are a midget goaltender, but it was Petr Sykora, not Georges Laraque, that bumped into you.

A brawl ensued behind the net which led to a total of six penalties, four on the Pens, two on the Wings.

The Wings rode the power play out until the end of the game, and secured their second consecutive shutout victory. Detroit will take a 2-0 series lead into the Mellon Arena for Game Three on Wednesday night.

Notes

- Will the Penguins ever score a goal again?

- Crosby, once again, set up some grand scoring chances for his linemates. Somebody has to finish.

- Brad Watson is the worst official in the NHL.

- I made one appearance as a goaltender, when I was 15, in a roller hockey league. I allowed nine goals on 19 shots. Even I could play goalie for the Wings in this series and put up Osgood-like numbers. The Pens need to make him earn those "Ozzie" chants that rain down from the rafters at the Joe.

- Brooks Orpik to Holmstrom in the second period: "You're a f**king poser. F**king try me, c**ksucker." Holmstrom isn't going to drop the gloves if someone paid him an extra $1 mil to do so, but at least Brooks is showing some fire. Hopefully some of that rubs off on his teammates.

- The Pens were penalized 15 times for a total of 46 minutes. The Wings were penalized eight times for a total of 16 minutes. So much for that Penguins-NHL officials conspiracy theory.

- Game Three is Wednesday, 8:00 PM on NBC. The Pens haven't lost a game at Mellon Arena since mid-February, which is the lone consoling factor that Penguins' fans are riding on.