April 13th, Game 1 ECQF Lightning @ Pittsburgh

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)


(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

April 13th,
Game 1 ECQF Lightning @ Pittsburgh

The national anthem was so fucking epic, i sure love Jeff Jimerson but when the fans joined in and sang along with the singer this time... Damn that was some epic feeling.



(Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)



I was sitting on my sofa with a Penguins home jersey on me, a Dr.Pepper in my hand, a terrible towel beside me and watching some great hockey.

First Period:

1:25 min in, Lightning got the puck to the Penguins side of the ice, Stamkos has the puck skating around beside the boards when Brooks Orpik comes and gives him some free candy with a great hit and it made the whole arena go wild! Welcome to the Playoffs. The AGH Cam showed a slow-motion of the hit afterwards, it was a really awesome hit!.

2:30 min in, Lightning create some scoring chances after Moore gets the puck in front of Fleury's leftpad and the post, Malone and Moore start hacking and wacking at the puck trying to get it past Fleury but Fleury stops it.

5:00 min in, Lightning are dominating the Pens in shots, Lundin gets the puck at the blue line and takes a shot that was deflected by Downie but Fleury with another save!.

5:30 min in, St. Louis has the puck behind the Penguins net, skating around and passes the puck to Hedman who shots the puck but Fleury saves it with his right pad and leaves a rebound and St. Louis shoots but Fleury with a save again. Fleury is showing why he is the Penguins MVP.

9:00 min in, Neal gets two great hits on both Åhlund and St. Louis. Penguins are the more physical team at this point.

10:30 min in, 4 on 4, The Lightning have the puck coming in to the Penguins zone on a 2 on 1 chance. Clark shoots the puck but Fleury saves it, it comes back to Lecavalier but Fleury with another save again.

11:00 min in, still 4 on 4, Lightning win a faceoff in the Penguins zone, gives the puck back to Brewer who shoots the puck and it got deflected by Moore and it goes through the pads of Fleury, but Fleury mannages to turn around and save the puck from going in and shoves it aside when Malone has the puck and shoots but again a save by Fleury. Fleury is on Fire!.

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

End of the First Period

Second Period:

00:30 sec in, Lightning on the Powerplay, Lightning has the puck inside the Penguins zone, Stamkos has the puck and passes it to Brewer who shoots but Fleury with a save but he leaves a rebound to Lecavalier who takes the puck and stick between/behind his legs and goes for a trickshot on a pretty wide open net but Fleury saves it with his block and then Michalek gets the puck and clears it. Highlight Save and Highlight of the night.


(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

03:30 min in, Penguins on the Powerplay, Penguins are in the Lightning zone with the puck, Passing it around, Staal gets it, passes it to Letang who fans on the shot but Michalek's takes it instead and shoots a hard slapshot that goes behind the net and is infront of Staal who shoots and hits the post on a golden opportunity. Staal gets anothers shot but a save by Roloson.

End of Second Period

Thrid Period:
03:30 min in, Kennedy has the puck in the Lightning zone, Passes it to Kunitz who has it for a sec then Staal shoots it from Kunitz Stick but a good save by Roloson, Staal gets another shot but another good save by Roloson. Then Kennedy tries a shot but another save by rolli the goalie. Who saids that a 42 year old goalie can't make some good saves?

04:00 min in, Malone gets the puck behind the net of Fleury and gets flattened with a hit by Letang.

05:40 min in, The puck is in the Lightning zone, Neal shoots it to the goal, nothing happends, then he passes it to a free Letestu in front of the net and he shoots but a great padsave by Roloson, Neal gets the puck again, passes it to Kovalev who gets tripped really bad. It should be a penalty but nothing called, Neal gets it and passes it to a Kovalev that took some time getting up and Kovalev is alone with the goalie and SCORES!!! Alexei Kovalev scores and makes it 1-0 Penguins. It was his first goal as a Penguin in the Playoffs since May 15, 2001 when Pens won against the Devils, and his first playoff goal since April 18, 2009 when the Canadiens lost against the Bruins. Consol Energy Center Explodes!

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

06:20 min in, After pens scored they win the faceoff and get it back to their own zone, Orpik passes the puck to Letang and he passes it forward, Asham takes the puck and goes all the way into the Lightning zone, then he goes around the net and tries to do a wrap around goal but he missed the puck at first, but then he takes another shot and SCORES! Arron Asham scores for the Penguins and makes it 2-0! Goal of the night! Let's hope he does as good as he did with the Flyers. Two Goals in 18 sec.

09:30 min in, Pens have a 5 on 3, The Pens are passing the puck around, from Neal to Kovalev who goes to the net and shoots but a save by Roloson, it comes back to Kovalev who passes it to Letang who then gives the puck to Kovalev, back to Neal who passes it to Kovalev heading to the goal and passes it to an open Letestu who tries to shoot but just misses. Letang has the puck, passes it up to Letestu who then passes it up to Neal for the shot, it hits the board behind the net and Kovalev gets the puck behind the net and tries to score but a great save by Roloson helps the Lightning stay in the game.

18:45 min in, The fans are going insane and chanting "FLEURY FLEURY FLEURY!", really awesome, Tampa has taken away their goalie to have an extra skater. St. Louis with a pretty dangerous shot on Fleury but Fleury saves it. Staal takes the puck from St. Louis in the Penguins zone and passes it to Kunitz who dangels around two players and gets an open lane to shoot at the empty net. SCORES! Chris Kunitz makes it 3-0 for the Penguins. Game Over!

End of Third Period and the Match.

Fleury gets his fifth shutout ever in the playoffs!

Stats:

1st Period:
(nothing)

2nd Period:
(nothing)

3rd Period:
06:05 0-1 Alexei Kovalev (1) (James Neal (1), Paul Martin (1)
06:23 0-2 Arron Asham (1) (Kristopher Letang (1), Brooks Orpik (1)
19:18 0-3 EN- Chris Kunitz (1) (Jordan Staal (1), Brooks Orpik (2)

Final Score: Lightning 0-3 Penguins
Shots on Goal: Lightning 32-40 Penguins

Dwayne Roloson 37-39 saves
Marc-Andre Fleury 32-32 saves

Nikman's Three Stars of the Game:
3. Brooks Orpik
2. James Neal
1. Marc-Andre Fleury

+
Fleury was fucking awesome!
Fleury Shutout!
Neal was the mastermind behind the Kovalev goal and the Powerplay.
Orpik with 2 assists.
Kovalev Scores!
Asham with a really nice goal!
Anthem was awesome when the fans were singing that is.
Kunitz scores a empty netter!

-
Nothing.