Evgeni Malkin dropping the gloves showed just how muchphysicality dictated Pittsburgh's play in Game 1. (Getty)The first game of the Eastern Conference Finals got ugly at 1:32 of the second period. Perennial Pittsburgh goon Matt Cooke lit up Boston's Adam McQuaid from behind and was promptly assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct. The penalty might have seemed extreme, but the message of physicality was a theme for the evening.Boston's Brad Marchand dished out a similar shove from behind at 19:30 of the period against James Neal and was assessed a two-minute penalty. The discrepancy understandably drew the ire of the Pittsburgh fans and bench. Second later as the period ended, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby shoved Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask while he was skating off the ice, and Evgeni Malkin and Patrice Bergeron dropped the gloves in a rare fight for both.The Penguins knew that the Bruins play a tough brand of hockey and seemed prepared to match that physical play. It showed in the stats, as the home team finished with a 34-19 advantage in hits, but vacating its own up-tempo style backfired on the evening. Boston led on the stat sheet where it counted, outscoring Pittsburgh 3-0 for the win.The Pens stormed the Bruins early in the first period and held a 12-7 shot advantage, but it was Boston that scored first. David Krejci got open in the high slot at 8:23 and wristed a feed from Nathan Horton at Pittsburgh goaltender Tomas Vokoun. It was a stoppable shot, but it knocked off Vokoun's glove and through his pads to trickle into the net and give Boston the lead.It was the only goal that Rask would need on his way to 29 saves in his first career playoff shutout. The goaltender was truly the star of the night, making more than a handful of great stops. He also caught a big break as time expired in the first period and a Malkin shot rolled over his pad and just wide of the post."We had the lead, but we gave up a lot of chances," Horton said of the Bruins' early play. "That's not the kind of way we want to play; we don't want to play run and gun with them."
This dirty hit could lead to another Matt Cooke suspension. (Getty)Cooke sent his message early in the second and that seemed to get Boston into a better rhythm after playing on its heels much of the game. The goon dished out a headshot in 2010 the ultimately led to the downfall and end of Boston star Marc Savard's career. His roughing penalty on McQuaid might draw his fifth career suspension (and he inexplicably did not receive one for the hit on Savard). In this case, he hit the Bruins defenseman square in the back, and his reputation will likely get taken into consideration in determining supplementary discipline.The second period didn't feature any goals, thanks in large part to Rask, who made another 10 saves "He wasn't good; he was outstanding," said Head Coach Claude Julien after the game.The late period shenanigans with Marchand's rough hit on Neal and the post-period brawl between Malkin and Bergeron seemed to have sufficieintly knocked the Penguins out of their offensive attack. They were playing a poor version of Big, Bad Bruins hockey and it wasn't working. The Malkin incident resulted in a five-minute major for fighting, which meant he would be non-existent on the Penguins potent power play, which had 1:30 left to start the third period of a one-goal game.Pittsburgh's power play led the league with 13 goals in 11 games entering the series and was scoring at a 28.3 percent clip. It played well against the Bruins stingy penalty kill on Saturday, but was unable to breakthrough. The missed opportunity to start the third seemed to set the momentum, as Boston went on to outshoot Pittsburgh 13-7 in the frame.That advantage translated into goals for the visitors. Nathan Horton made a good play by forechecking the puck on the side boards and stealing it away from Mark Eaton. He fed David Krejci, whose initial shot popped straight up in the air off of Vokoun. The playoff's leading scorer found it as it landed and poked it past the sprawling goaltender for the 2-0 lead at 4:04."We're going good right now," said Horton after the game. "We seem to know where each other is on the ice, and when we get chances, we're scoring."He got a chance of his own at 7:51. Pittsburgh's Matt Niskanen turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and while the Pens shut down the initial counterattack, they became very out of position in their own end. Gregory Campbell fired a harmless shot at goal, and Vokoun did his best to turn it away with an uncorvered Milan Lucic in his face. The far side rebound went straight to Horton, who was completely forgotten about and potted the puck into the open net for the 3-0 lead.The score would end that way, thanks to a few great saves by Rask on Chris Kunitz. One stop came when the sprawled goaltender just got his glove up to shut down the potent scorer after the puck had switched to the far side of the net. The Penguins' frustration was visible in its captain, who closed out the game in the penalty box after taking an unnecessary hack at Boston's Tyler Seguin.Pittsburgh entered the series averaging 4.27 goals per game in the playoffs and could have easily matched that had Rask not metaphorically stood on his head, especially in the early going. The blanking marked the first time all season that the league's best offense has been left off the scoresheet. It also marked Boston's first shutout in Pittsburgh since November of 1998, and the B's will need more such play from their goaltender should they hope to win series.The next game will face off at 8 p.m. on Monday on NBC Sports Network. Boston had played two relatively tame series to start the playoffs, but this one appears to be shaping up as a different beast."It's not surprising," said Horton of the physical play. "It's gonna get even more physical as the series goes on."It's doubtful there will be any complaints from the Bruins about the physicality. As Saturday night proved, Boston is the superior team when the two get into a knock 'em around style of play.Source:http://jtstally.blogspot.com/2013/06/game-1-physical-play-favors-bruins.html
Game 1: Physical Play Favors Bruins Images
Crosby: Refs allowed Bruins to ‘escalate’ physical play in Game 1 ...
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Physical play and penalties continued to be major factors in the game ...
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Game 1 brings out physicality in Bruins and Penguins - Bruins Daily
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Patric Young #4 of the Florida Gators reacts against the UCLA Bruins ...
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