EF: (1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (4) Boston Bruins. (Bruins SWEEP Pittsburgh 4-0!!).

[Erick Estrada]

Oh Sidney!

[puckluck2]

Terrible giveaway by Crosby. 1-0.

[moon]

Well that sucks.

[Free Ben Hur!]

Another nice break for the Bruins. Ffs.

[Stay Golden]

even though Marchand is a little pr### that goal right there is why he is a valuable player to the team.

[Machiavelli]

.... the hell?

[trackercowe]

Chara covering Malkin instead of Crosby tonight... interesting move. Maybe the Bruins feel Malkin is the bigger threat after the first game?

"Wait for Moon's response"

[Flash Walken]

It is just one game, and I expect the Pens (and Iginla) to come storming out and likely win this game, but even this early, there are comparables to Vancouver's series against Boston.

The Pens, of course, are this years Canucks. High flying, amazing firepower, hot goalie with a strong backup, but with questionable defensive depth and team-oriented defensive strategy. They are poised to succeed despite a couple of drawbacks because their offense is just so overwhelming. Well, it's turning out that maybe those holes are a bigger deal in the playoffs than in the regular season.

Like Vancouver, the Penguins have bulldozed through the playoffs on their near 30 percent power play. If game 1 was an indication, that's going to be much more difficult to do against the Bruins. I think it was Stay Golden above who was anticipating some ticky tack calls against the Bruins tonight, and I agree, you'll probably see that. The Penguins were working the refs hard last game, ultimately to what I think will be their disadvantage.

The Canucks had their chances against the Bruins, too. In the end though, Vancouver's best players were flustered, frustrated and eventually completely off their game as Boston continued to hound them physically, clog up the neutral zone and force turnovers along the end boards. Boston's strong and large defense nullified a lot of Vancouver's offense down low and Boston's forwards nullified much of Vancouver's finesse breakouts with board work, stick work and tenacity.

If this keeps up for Boston again tonight, I don't think it would be surprising if the Penguins were swept. The game was tight last night, but things broke along the story lines: Crosby/Malkin had trouble against Bergeron/Chara, Rask was better than Vokoun, the Bruins big wingers won the majority of their battles.

[puckluck2]

With that turnover, you can expect Crosby to have a big game now.

[Ashasx]

Come on Penguins

[Flash Walken]

This series is only just over a game old, and already there is a ton of high hitting and stick work. Could be ugly by the end for both teams if the series goes longer than 5.

[JohnnyB]

Boston's D ooks really good. The Pens are not getting the puck to the net effectively.

[Stay Golden]

end to end action

[moon]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Chara covering Malkin instead of Crosby tonight... interesting move. Maybe the Bruins feel Malkin is the bigger threat after the first game?

"Wait for Moon's response"

Seems like they do.

Not sure what other response there would be.

[Machiavelli]

Everything is so perimeter.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

With that turnover, you can expect Crosby to have a big game now.

I hope you're right, but he's looking pretty bad since then too. The Penguins can't win if he keeps playing like he has the first 70 minutes of this series regardless of what anyone else does.

[doctajones428]

Iggy looking better now that he's on the proper wing

[Flash Walken]

Pens are clearly off their game, trying to play out of their element. Hitting with hands high, trying to blow guys up instead of rub them out, end up out of position as a result.

Juissi Jokinen coming in trying to blow Krug up in the corner, wiping himself out in the process? Get back to your game, man. Shadow the rookie, he'll screw up.

Even the small players on the Bruins won't be intimidated, they are simply too large of a team. Too much toughness. Too much security from their teammates.

[trackercowe]

Pittsburgh playing better tonight, but you had to expect that. Boston will need to win a tight one if they want to go up 2-0.

[Acey]

Good little rush to the net by Iggy, he's looking visible tonight.