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Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury shine in 2-0 Pens win

Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin, of Russia, celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, April 11, 2009 in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Paul Chiasson)

AP

The Montreal Canadiens are living and dying by Jaroslav Halak’s game netminding and timely counter-punching goals. Tonight, they died.

Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury made the Habs pay for their trapping ways tonight, grinding out a 2-0 victory to take Game 3 in Montreal. Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Montreal Canadiens 0

Penguins lead series 2-1

While I found it a bit silly that people were throwing Malkin under the bus when he had 9 points in 8 playoff games, there’s no doubt that the Penguins needed more from their “other” superstar center. Perhaps most important is that the skilled Russian made contributions beyond scoring that emphatic, game-winning powerplay goal early in the third period. He put seven shots on goal and even blocked six shots. From the second period on, he was the best player on the ice.

Sidney Crosby had a mostly frustrating night with only one shot on goal, but still made his presence felt. His hard work in the second period forced Hal Gill to take a holding penalty late in the second period. That ended up giving his team the very man advantage that won Pittsburgh the game.

Still, the Canadiens did a great job of putting a lid on Crosby and the Penguins for much of the game. Halak provided elite goaltending once again, especially in a second period where Pittsburgh out-shot the Habs 13-3 yet couldn’t find the net. Considering the fact that the Pens’ second goal was an empty-netter by Pascal Dupuis, it would be quite hasty to say that the team “solved” the Slovakian goalie in this one.

While much of the game left Fleury with little to do, the French-Canadian goalie made big save after big save once Montreal finally opened things up. “MAF” made a few highlight reel-worthy stops late in the game, going side-to-side and showing the swagger needed to be a big game goalie.

This was a big win for the Penguins, but if the Canadiens-Capitals series taught us anything, this series is far from over.