The Fifth Liners

The Pittsburgh Penguin s won a closely won 4-3 contest over the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Consol Energy Center which was only decided by a shootout! Vancouver got a somewhat fortunate start as Alex Edler's spectacular centre ice slap shot on 13.49 minutes bounced off the mask of Marc-Andre Fleury and crept into the goal but Pittsburgh didnt waste time and captain Sidney Crosby made things a tie game after 15.44 played. On the powerplay, Chris Kunitz pushed the Penguins in front after 7.56 of the second period following good work behind net by Malkin. But Vancouver weren't going down without a fight and Brad Richardson levelled things at 2-2 following some good drop passes. Into the third and Zach Kassian deflected Kevin Bieksa's shot past Fleury to put the Canucks ahead 3-2 after 12.50 played! But cruely only 22 seconds later Olli Maata scored a rebound off Luongo to claim his first ever NHL goal and tie the game at 3-3. But there was to be late drama as Bra...

It took a double overtime goal from Patrice Bergeron to secure the Boston Bruins a 2-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden to put them firmly in the driving seat in the Eastern Conference Final! Although this saw less goals than the one sided second game, it proved just as entertaining affair. David Krecji 's impressive streak continued with an impressive opening goal, with assistant from Milan Lucic , Krecji calmly waiting behind the goal and then with great skill was able to skate round and have his shot deflect off Niskanen to score his ninth playoff goal for the Bruins this year! Tomas Vokoun held his place in net and made several more vital stops to prevent Boston from extending their advantage. But Pittsburgh battled hard and were deservedly level 12 minutes into the second period , Paul Martin set up Chris Kunitz who buried past Rask to give the fans a tie game! However although the brighter team, the Penguins were unable to find a way past the brilliant Tuukk...

The Boston Bruins doubled their advantage in the Eastern Conference with a dominant 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Center! So far their sharp offensive play is proving the difference in this series and at the moment! In the first period- the Bruins ran riot with Brad Marchand' s break away goal after only 28 seconds putting them on their way and  after 14 minutes the lead was doubled by Nathan Horton before the in form David Krecji pushed the Penguins deeper under water to make the score 3-0! Coach Dan Byisma then proceeded to pull Tomas Vokoun from net and returned Marc-Andre Fleury to active duty! Despite Brandon Sutter 's snap shot pulling one back for Pittsburgh with 34 second left in the period, Fleury was to have an equally hard time, this was confirmed when Marchand bagged his second with only 9 seconds remaining! Scoring took a break in the second period but 27 second in the third period, Patrice Bergeron scored to put the game ...

The New York Islanders haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1983 and when they finished 8th in the conference, I doubt any Isles fan was happy about being drawn against the Pittsburgh Penguins . Expecting a quick end to their playoff campaign. I know I did. But those plucky Islanders are determined to cost me money (I bet on the Pens winning the series) and staged a mighty comeback to draw the series again. The Islanders netted 6 times with Brian Strait , Mark Streit , Kyle Okposo , John Tavares and Casey Cizikas all lighting the lamp. 3 of the goals came in the last 16 minutes of the game. James Neal , Evgeni Malkin , Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis all scored for the Penguins. Playmaker Sidney Crosby managed a single assist for his team. Is this a resurgence from the 4 time cup winning Islanders? Can the Pens' new high profile trades make the difference and fight back? Watch this space.