Penguins Move on to Second Straight Stanley Cup Finals

The Pittsburgh Penguins completed their 4-0 series sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes last night to advance to their second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Eric Staal got his his first goal in seven games, two minutes into the game last night at RBC Center. Eric played a brilliant game in a losing battle, but it was just not enough.

Ruslan Fedetenko scored into an empty net at the 9 minute mark of the first period to even the score, and the Pens never looked back. The play was mostly all in the Hurricanes’ end for the last five minutes of the opening period.

When Carolina finally got the puck out, it was only to have it intercepted by Maxime Talbot who, on a break-away, put the Penguins up one with only one minute left in the first period.

The Hurricanes became a little more aggressive in the second – looking more like a team that had to win — to stay in the series. However, Bill Guerin scored at the seven minute mark from a fantastic pass from Sidney Crosby and the Pens were up by two.

Carolina gave a valiant performance in the third, with a few good chances, but the stalwart Marc-Andre Fleury readily managed to thwart them off. The last three minutes of the game was only a matter of passing the puck around, until Craig Adams, on a pass from Crosby, put the puck in the empty net to finish the scoring at 4-1.

The Penguins were dominant in this series, and if Detroit can finish the Blackhawks off tomorrow night, it will be another exciting final. There is no question Pittsburgh looks more mature than last year, and the dynamic duo of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are at the top of their game, although Malkin was held pointless tonight.

I was wrong with my prediction, but I at least had the right team.

I am really looking forward to a repeat from last year but with another result, Momma Gouche.