Pittsburgh Penguins play host to Tampa Bay Lightning – NHL playoffs, game 5 preview
The fifth game of the Eastern Conference quarter-final will be played at the Consol Energy Centre on Saturday as Pittsburgh Penguins host Tampa Bay Lightning.
The series has lived up to the expectations but it is the Penguins who lead it by 3-1.
The last game between the two teams was pretty much even as they managed to put up an impressive show. There were shots on goal and there were some goal saving tackles. The game was so close that it had to be decided in double overtime where James Neal scored
to win the game 3-2 for the Penguins. This would give him a lot of confidence as it was his first goal for the Penguins in 23 games he played after he moved over from the Dallas Stars in February 2011.
“As long as you keep shooting, one is going to find its way into the back of the net,” Neal said. “I got a shot off the draw and just wanted to shoot. I didn't have the angle, but it managed to find its way in. I was lucky to get one, but the guys battled
all night.”
Both teams will be getting better as they welcome their suspended players back. The Penguins Chris Kunitz and the Lightning’s Steve Downie will certainly strengthen the sides after they were suspended for a game after illegal hits in game three.
The Penguins saw plenty of work done by their goalkeeper in guarding the goal. Marc-Andre Fleury was absolutely brilliant in the goal as he denied the Lightning from scoring on four power-plays. It was an amazing comeback by the goalie after the Lightning
had scored in four early power plays in the first two games of the series.
Centre of the Penguins Jordan Staal was another player who bagged an outstanding performance during the game as he blocked shots and played a pivotal role in the Penguins transition from defence to offence and vice versa. The coach of the Penguins Dan Bylsma
described his performance as “spectacular.”
Although the Predators lost the last game but two players gave all they had in trying to win the game. Martin St. Louis’ and Sean Bergenheim’s performance was also appreciated by coach Guy Boucher. Bergenheim scored his first playoff career goal while Martin
desperately tried to carry the team.
The Lighting were trailing the Penguins 2-0 but they came back to level the scores with the first goal scored by Martin deservingly. Both players did a commendable job in the game with Martin ending with four takeaways and blocking two shots while Bergenheim
had three steals to his name.
If the Lightning are looking to win then they need all of their players to perform well. Nevertheless, game five of the series is surely going to be exciting as the Penguins can move into the semi-finals with a win. However, the Lightning will give all they
have which is surely going to make the game very interesting and entertaining.
Tags: