Despite Brandon’s suggestions, it’s clear that the Pittsburgh Penguins carried their frustrations over from Game 6. The Canadiens go into the second period with a 2-0 lead mostly because of the Penguins’ own mistakes. Sidney Crosby took a bad boarding penalty about 10 seconds into the game and Matt Cooke followed him shortly. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed yet another soft, early goal 32 seconds in thanks to Crosby’s penalty. Within a minute, the Penguins already shot themselves in the foot and then dug that hole deeper later in the second by allowing a Dominic Moore goal because of a bad turnover. The Pens almost seem like they inherited the stupor of last night’s Canucks team, looking as flat in the first as Vancouver did in their putrid second period.
My guess is that the Penguins will come out angry in the second period, but they should know by now that the Montreal Canadiens are used to withstanding angry offensive barrages. A 2-0 lead seems like a 25-0 lead when you consider the fact that Jaroslav Halak has been a machine in elimination games.
It’s not over yet for Pittsburgh, but it sure isn’t looking good. Stay tuned for more updates and feel free to drop by for our live chat.