Penguins tie the Series

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Stanley Cup finals won't be a duplicate of
last year's, and a momentum-swinging period by the Pittsburgh
Penguins put in doubt whether there will be a repeat champion.
Jordan Staal's short-handed goal during back-to-back Detroit
power plays started Pittsburgh's comeback, and the Penguins scored
three goals in less than 6 minutes of the second period to win 4-2
on Thursday night and tie the series at 2.
Evgeni Malkin, enjoying the best postseason since Wayne Gretzky
in 1993, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist each to help
rally the Penguins from a 2-1 deficit a year to the day Detroit
raised the Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh by winning Game 6.
Tyler Kennedy also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury, with his second
successive excellent game, made 37 saves.
Until Game 4, the finals followed the same pattern as last
year's: Detroit won the first two at home, then dropped Game 3 in
Pittsburgh. But the Red Wings couldn't follow up their 2-1 road
victory in Game 4 of last year, one decided largely when they
killed off a lengthy Pittsburgh 5-on-3 advantage, and now these
finals are the best-of-three.
Game 5 is Saturday night in Detroit, with Game 6 in Pittsburgh
on Tuesday after the series' first two-day break.
The Red Wings were done in by a bad second period and dreadful
special teams. Pittsburgh has converted on 4 of 9 power plays, and
this game swung when the Penguins got a goal - and the Red Wings
didn't - during 3:59 of continuous Detroit power-play time.
With Detroit up 2-1 following goals by Darren Helm and Brad
Stuart less than 3 minutes apart to end the first and start the
second, Staal - who had only two goals in 20 playoff games - got
loose after Max Talbot's up-ice pass.
Staal used his lengthy stride to thread two defenders and beat
Chris Osgood at 8:35 of the second. Staal had a record-tying seven
short-handed goals as an 18-year-old rookie in 2006-07, but had
only one since.
Staal's goal instantly changed a major opportunity by Detroit to
seize control not only of the game but the series, into a tie game,
and the 17,132 jammed into a suddenly rocking Mellon Arena sensed
how big the play might be. And they were right.
The Penguins finished off killing the second power play and,
less than a minute later, Crosby and Malkin - their signature stars
- worked a 2-on-1 rush for Crosby's 15th of the playoffs and 30th
point. With 35 points, Malkin has more than any player since
Gretzky had 40 in 1993.
Kennedy, a Staal linemate who had no goals in five games,
finished it off with Pittsburgh's third goal in a span of 5:37 by
scoring off two quick passes by Crosby and Chris Kunitz.
On the Detroit bench, a sour-faced Mike Babcock had the look of
a coach wondering if four games in six nights for his tiring Red
Wings might have favored the younger Penguins. All four Pittsburgh
goals came from players who are 22 or younger.
Before Pittsburgh scored eight goals in two games at home,
Osgood had allowed a goal or less in eight of 18 playoff games.
The Penguins know a 2-0 deficit doesn't mean certain defeat,
although only one of 32 teams has won the finals after losing the
first two on the road. They rallied to beat the Capitals two rounds
ago after losing the first two in Washington, and they've pointed
to that comeback as reason for hope they could pull off this
comeback.
The Red Wings had a letdown a few minutes before the start when
Hart Trophy finalist Pavel Datsyuk, out for six games with an
injured foot, skated in the pregame warmups but decided he couldn't
play. The Wings were optimistic the day before he might play, with
Datsyuk joking he had was eager to return because he was drinking
too much beer while sitting out.
Then, with only 1:12 gone, the Red Wings did what Babcock said
they couldn't do with an ailing penalty kill by taking take an
unnecessary penalty. Niklas Kronwall tripped Evgeni Malkin, and
Malkin took advantage by scoring with only 2:39 gone, with Staal
assisting.
Malkin is trying to become the first player since the Penguins'
Mario Lemieux in 1992 to lead the NHL in regular season and playoff
scoring.