NHL 2009 Stanley Cup Finals Game One: Red Wings Lead Pens 1-0

Game 1: Penguins @ Red Wings 

PRELIM: There has been a lot said about Datsyuk and Draper being out of the lineup (replaced by Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader)—but little about the loss of player's through transactions for the Pens (Malone/Roberts).  

Pens go with eleven forwards and seven defensemen to double shift Malkin or Crosby. 

They show in the warm-up how weird the puck can bounce off the boards and mess up a goalie. Will the Wings take advantage of this and will the Pens be ready for it.

PERIOD 1: The Pens come out flying and do everything they can to keep up the momentum while Detroit works hard to slow the game down. While they're getting some outside shots clearly seen by Fleury—they seem a little lost without Datsyuk. Fleury helps out his teammates by playing the puck A LOT to keep the momentum up.

Detroit tries to match Zetterberg to Crosby and keeps Lidstrom off the ice when Crosby is on. As the period moves past the halfway mark, Detroit seems to alter tactics by trying to pick up their pace. As this happens, the Pens show a more physical presence by taking advantage of their slower adversaries but leaving openings here and there for the Wings to make a few futile moves.

Zetterberg tries to line up Crosby and Crosby levels him. So Zetterberg goes after Crosby to rough him up with his stick. No call.

Stuart shoots behind the net and a weird bounce off the boards somehow gets past Fleury and into the net. It looked like a fluke, but gives some life to a team close to being dominated.

Remember how the puck bounces off these boards though? Detroit takes this life and puts a lot of pressure on the Penguins for a couple minutes. Now the Penguins are slowing down.

The Pens are winning the battles along the boards during the first. The refs are letting a lot go—roughing, cross-checking, hooking, hits after the play, retaliations. None of them really affected the play of the game nor were likely to injure but things are getting more physical.

Osgood fumbles the puck half a dozen times probably giving many Wings fans heart attacks. Fedotenko finally makes him pay for it (yeah, Osgood fumbled a shot right to him). Detroit seems to respond by slashing every Penguins player they see. No calls. The Pens respond in kind. No complaints about the reffing. 

Detroit is all about slowing things down and working on defense while waiting for opportune shots - mistakes by the other team. Pittsburgh really isn't showing they're talented enough overall to make up for it. (Tied 1-1 after one) 
   
Period Stars: 
Orpick 
Ericsson 
Holmstrom 
Stuart 

Period No Stars: 
Hossa 
Zetterberg 
Maltby 
Osgood

PERIOD 2: Osgood just barely deflects a Malkin breakaway shot off the end of his glove—after fumbling a puck down where Stuart saved him shortly before.

The Wings get a couple penalties—obvious calls. Adams gets called on a hook that they weren't calling in the first. Staal and Fleury are playing amazing. Holmstrom is also working the front of the net extremely well. Things get a little rough as Detroit rushes Fleury and the Pens knock them down and away. For all this "rough" talk, they all skate away after.

Jokinen obviously dives after skating up the ice—no call. Osgood actually controls a clean shot from the point. Staal shows some more fire. The Pens call a time-out to give their defenseman a break. It seems to aid Detroit, however, as they immediately put on the pressure following the timeout and hard work gives them a goal - even if it was a behind the net bounce off the goalie. (2-1 Red Wings after two periods) 

Period Stars: 
Staal 
Stuart 
Holmstrom 

Period No-Stars: 
Samuelsson

PERIOD 3: Helm came out firing this period (almost invisible the first two periods). Abdelkader gets his first Stanley Cup playoff goal. A crazy bounce sent the puck over Staal right into Abdelkader's hand who tossed it in front of the net and whacked the bouncing puck (on it's side) over Fleury's surprised shoulder.

The Pens come back strong but are not able to put one in. The puck lands on the back of a sprawled Osgood within the blue paint and Zetterberg put his hand on the puck to cover it—but the referee didn't notice (Crosby did). The Wings now fold back into the trap. The Penguins continue to dominate the play, but can't get any decent scoring chances. The Pens try for the funny board bounce into the goalie but fail to capitalize.

Fleury comes out and makes an incredible (and incredibly dangerous) play. Malkin and Crosby start pouring it on with less than four minutes left. Maltby shows his intelligence coming onto the ice from the bench with no lid. It stopped the play—no penalty.

Kennedy is blatantly cross-checked by Stuart with time winding down—no call. Hossa misses the empty net twice! Franzen misses as well.

Zetterberg can't get his shot to the net. Less than a minute left and the Wings get an icing call. Both teams are tired. Lidstrom iced the puck again. Lidstrom was a huge factor in the last few minutes (not so much earlier in the game). (Wings win 3-1) 

Period Stars: 
Helm 
Lidstrom 
Fedotenko 
Eaton 

Period No-Stars: 
Satan 
Staal 
Gonchar 
Osgood 
Maltby

Afterword: While Crosby didn't make any of my "period star lists" he did play a solid game throughout. He was a physical presence, intimidating, controlling the puck, and making skillful moves. The Penguins played well, but the bounces went Detroit's way. Detroit was able to recover from a start that made them look lost and then slow much of the game down to a very boring pace—which allowed them to shut down the Penguins skill.

Game Stars: 
Tomas Holmstrom 
Sidney Crosby 

Game No-Stars: 
Chris Osgood 
Kirk Maltby 
Miroslav Satan