Being 2-0 down in matches is a mountain to ascend if you're going to even out a best of seven series, let alone win it, but that's just what Pittsburgh Penguins has done once already this year. They were 2-0 down against second seed Washington Capitals in round two of the playoffs and looked to be on their way out when they won the next three games to gain the advantage. They eventually took the entire series with a convincing 6-2 win away to Washington. Now they can be on their way to doing it again after winning the third match in the Stanley Cup Final on home ice to Detroit. We'll see tonight if they can continue to fight back.
The first game of the series I've already written about. If you remember, Detroit had the advantage of home ice and the lively end boards. Now, I'm going to take up an occurrence that took place in both of the first two matches. In match 1, with the game all square at 1-1, Pittsburgh hit an icing puck to relieve a period of Detroit pressure on their goal. In this case Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma called a time out so the players on the ice would get a well deserved rest. However, Detroit was able to win the ensuing face-off with the game-winning goal as a result. In the second match on Sunday night, a very similar thing occurred. Pittsburgh was a goal to nothing up early in the second period when they hit an icing puck, this time without a time out. The end result though was the same though. After the draw, Detroit was able to equalise with a goal from Jonathan Ericsson.
They may have had the advantage when it comes to lively boards and icing but Detroit does have a problem that has plagued them all season. One decisive feature in Tuesday's third match was Pittsburgh's power play. Half the goals in Detroit's 4-2 loss came from two out of three Pittsburgh power plays. The situation has intensified during the playoffs with the Redwings entering the post season with the worst penalty-killing record of all 16 playoff candidates but the problem was around all of the regular season. Not that they've been in the penalty box all that often. In this year's playoffs they've allowed the opposition to have the player advantage 3.3 times a game compared to last year's playoff record of almost 4.5 per game. But when they are a player short, they're letting the goals in.
All the best.
