Who’s one step closer to hoisting Lord Stanley? The Wrap-Around is your daily update for last nights’ NHL Playoff action.
The Detroit Red Wings skated off the ice with a game one 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They did an excellent job of shutting down the Penguins offense as Chris Osgood stopped all 19 shots for the shutout. Osgood recorded his second shutout of the playoffs and made spectacular after spectacular save. Whenever the Penguins found the net, they were great scoring chances, but Osgood answered every one. Mikael Samuelsson burst out for his second two-game of the playoffs as Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg added the other two goals
During the first period, it was the Penguins who came out as the stronger team. The Penguins outshot the Red Wings in the first period 12-11, but could not muster any goals. Osgood was easily Detroit’s best player in the period. Towards the end of the first, Nicklas Lidstrom scored a goal that was once again waved off due to Tomas Holmstrom “interfering” with Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Unlike the game against Dallas where Detroit allowed the Stars to take over the game after the disallowed goal, the Red Wings came out in the second on fire. All lines put constant pressure on the Penguins, outshooting them 16-4, which finally resulted in a goal. 13:01 into the period, Pittsburgh made a bad line change and Samuelsson took advantage of it, he skated right by the two men coming off the ice, into the zone, around the net and scored on the wrap around. The Red Wings took the 1-0 lead into the third period.
Just two minutes into the third period, Samuelsson once again found the back of the net as he banged home the puck 5 feet in front of Fleury. While Pittsburgh put a lot of pressure on Detroit throughout the period, they could only muster 3 shots on net. On the penalty kill with three minutes to go, Daniel Cleary was able to knock in a rebound that bounced off the back boards and out in front of the net. Cleary’s goal was Detroit’s 6th shorthanded goal of the playoffs, but the Red Wings were not done. With 13 seconds left in the game and on the power play, Zetterberg found himself all alone in between the circles. He took a quick wrist shot that flew past Fleury top right corner for a 4-0 victory.Game two stays in Detroit for Monday, May 26th, at 8:00pm. The game can be found on Versus or CBC.
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