Pens 5 Wings 4 (SO)

I'm not sure one recap will do this game justice, as it truly was 2 different games.  Pittsburgh and Detroit played a really tight, fast paced game for the first 15 minutes.  Then, the flood gates slowly opened for the Penguins.  Pascal Dupuis opened up the scoring with 5 minutes left in the 1st period with a relatively weak wraparound backhander that slid through Jimmy Howard's 5 hole.  Chris Kunitz made it 2-0 just four minutes later, deking from his right to left and catching Howard out of position.

The second period started with another stretch of tight, playoff like hockey.  Again, the Penguins began to open the flood gates, led off by Dupuis scoring his 2nd of the night, shorthanded.  Less than 3 minutes later, Tyler Kennedy backhanded a puck from the edge of the crease over Howard's right pad to make it 4-0 Pens.  That put an end to Howard's game as the Wings put Joey MacDonald in to jolt the team.

Game #2 basically started when MacDonald entered the net.  The Penguins only registered a couple of shots the rest of the period and the Wings finally got on the board with a Henrik Zetterberg backhander late in the 2nd period.  This gave Detroit a huge boost going into the locker room, though at 4-1, I don't think any of us realized how big of a boost it was.

The third period turned into a game of survival for the Pens.  Valtteri Filppula scored 2 minutes into the 3rd period to cut the deficit down to 4-2.  The Wings were bringing the kitchen sink and then some on the Penguins.  With Kris Letang in the penalty box 8 minutes into the 3rd, Daniel Cleary tipped a Tomas Holmstrom shot past Johnson to make it 4-3 on the powerplay.  Somehow, the feeling of dominating the Red Wings turned into hoping we could escape the game with a point even though we were leading.  Of course, the Wings tied the game at 4 with another goal on the powerplay as Alex Kovalev was called for holding and Mike Modano finished the comeback.

The rest of the period was just a complete onslaught by the Red Wings, with Brent Johnson making several great saves to keep the Penguins in the game.  The Penguins had a late powerplay with 3 minutes left in the period, but as usual, they could not capitalize.  Overtime led to a few chances for each team, but no result.  James Neal finally won the game for the Penguins in a shootout, scoring the only goal on the last shot of the 3rd round.

Stars:
#3 - Filppula
#2 - Dupuis
#1 - Neal

Notes/Thoughts:
- The Penguins powerplay has been atrocious lately, going 2 for their last 48.
- The penalty kill has allowed 4 goals since Matt Cooke was thrown out.  Albeit, 2 of those were on 5 on 3's against NY, still a big difference.
- It was nice to see James Neal win the game.  He has played well and physical but hasn't gotten any breaks.  I don't believe he is one to worry about.
- Kovalev, on the other hand, looks to be more harm than help sometimes.  He took a costly penalty that allowed the Wings to tie the game.  He also seems to be hesitant to shoot, which is what the Penguins need him to do.
- Brent Johnson played much better than 4 goals allowed will ever show.