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		<description>RUWT? News for Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes 5/26/2009</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
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		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:27:07 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:27:07 GMT</pubDate>
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			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Penguins sweep Canes, return to Stanley Cup finals]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C.(AP) -- Sidney Crosby saved his most daring move for
after the game: He spurned hockey superstition and hoisted the
Prince of Wales Trophy.

If he keeps playing like this, it might not be the only prize
the Pittsburgh Penguins' young captain raises.

The Penguins are headed back to the Stanley Cup finals,
clinching a return trip with a 4-1 rout of the Carolina
Hurricanes on Tuesday night that finished off a sweep in the
Eastern Conference finals. Pittsburgh lost to Detroit last year
in a six-game final series.

"We didn't touch (the trophy) last year, and things didn't go
the way we wanted," Crosby said. "I thought we'd change it up
this year."

Max Talbot had a goal and an assist, Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill
Guerin also scored, and Craig Adams added an empty-netter.

Crosby had two assists to extend his point streak to six games,
and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped the final 30 shots he faced in
shutting down Carolina during the last 58 minutes.

The Penguins outscored the Hurricanes 20-9 in the series, netted
at least three goals in each game, and trailed for a total of 20
minutes, 30 seconds, in advancing to the Cup finals for the
fourth time.

"To be real honest, I don't think it felt easy at all,"
Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.

If the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings beat Chicago in the West
finals, it will set up the first title rematch since the
Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders met in 1983 and 1984.

Pittsburgh - the first runner-up to return to the finals since
Edmonton in 1984 - is the first team since the 2000-01 New
Jersey Devils to get to the finals in consecutive years. The Red
Wings, who lead Chicago 3-1 in the West finals, could join them
as soon as Wednesday night.

"For you (media) guys, there's a lot more story lines" with a
Detroit rematch, Crosby said. "To go through last year was
tough, but we've got a chance here and we want to make the most
of it."

Eric Staal scored for the first time in the series for the
Hurricanes, who lost for the first time in these playoffs when
their franchise player notched a goal.

"It just doesn't feel very nice knowing that tomorrow we're all
done," Staal said.

Cam Ward made 21 saves but lost a playoff series for the first
time in his NHL career. He had been 5-0 in elimination games for
the Hurricanes, who were on the losing end of the handshake line
for the first time since 2002, when they lost to the Red Wings
in the Cup finals. In their only other playoff appearance in
that span, they won the Cup in 2006.

In this series, Carolina led only three times and entered Game 4
with no players scoring more than two points - Pittsburgh
entered with five. The Hurricanes were swept for the first time
since 1989, when the franchise was still the Hartford Whalers
and was beaten by the Montreal Canadiens.

"We just talked about staying in (the game) as long as we
possibly could," coach Paul Maurice said. "You're down one,
you're down two. We didn't want to get it to three."

Fedotenko scored the Penguins' first goal with 11 1/2 minutes
left when he sneaked behind Ward and tipped in Philippe
Boucher's blast from the point, giving him goals in two straight
games.

Pittsburgh took the lead for good on a fluky goal with 1 1/2
minutes left. Talbot's wrist shot from the slot was deflected by
Anton Babchuk, and the puck fluttered over Ward's catching glove
to make it 2-1.

"It hit (Babchuk's) skate, popped up and I lost sight of it for
a split second," Ward said. "Bad break, fluke goal."

Another miscue by Babchuk - a healthy scratch for the first
three games of the series - midway through the second led to the
Penguins' third goal. He turned the puck over near the blue line
to Guerin, and that started a 2-on-1 rush that ended with
Crosby's pretty feed that set up the 16-year veteran's tap-in.

By that point, the Hurricanes seemed spent after their
comeback-fueled run through the first two rounds, an impressive
stretch that included consecutive Game 7 road victories over New
Jersey and Boston.

In an effort to keep that run going, they pulled out all the
stops - even luring former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill
Cowher, a Raleigh resident and former N.C. State linebacker, to
sound the siren that precedes their pregame entrance to the ice.
Staal scored on a wraparound 1 1/2 minutes in on Carolina's
first shot.

Notes: Pittsburgh C Evgeni Malkin's career-best streak of six
multipoint games ended. ... Carolina RW Tuomo Ruutu, who played
fewer than 8 minutes in Game 3 because of a lower body injury,
was scratched and was replaced by RW Patrick Dwyer. ... Babchuk
replaced D Frantisek Kaberle, a healthy scratch.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/99446-Penguins-sweep-Canes-return-to-Stanley-Cup-finals</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/99446-Penguins-sweep-Canes-return-to-Stanley-Cup-finals</guid>
				<pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 03:18:33 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Penguins-Hurricanes Preview]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

Pittsburgh At Carolina, Game Four, 7:30 p.m. EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --  It's been five months since Eric Staal went
this long between goals. If the All-Star center doesn't start
producing soon, he might have to wait that long before his next
chance to score.

As Staal goes in this postseason, so go the Carolina Hurricanes.
They've have won all seven playoff games in which he has scored
a goal, and are 1-9 when he doesn't.

One reason the Hurricanes enter Tuesday night's Game 4 in danger
of being swept out of the Eastern Conference finals by the
surging Pittsburgh Penguins is the lack of production from their
franchise player.

The Penguins' young stars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, have
taken over the series, combining for 14 points and eight of
their team's 16 goals. Conversely, Staal has been held to just
one assist in the series, and has gone six games without a goal
since he had two in Game 4 of the second round against Boston.

The Hurricanes' top scorer insists his touch will return with
time, even if his team is running out of it.

"I'm counted on to score goals and counted on to produce
offensively," Staal said Monday. "I need to be a little bit
better in my end of the rink and focus on that first, and
everything else kind of takes care of itself. ... When those
opportunities come, they're going to fall - I didn't score 40
goals for no reason. I know what I can do, and that's continuing
to attack the net, and those things are going to happen."

The drought is his longest since he went seven games without a
goal in November and December, a stretch that coincided with the
firing of coach Peter Laviolette and the rehiring of Paul
Maurice. Staal rebounded from that stretch to score a team-best
40 goals, hitting that mark for the second time in his five-year
career, and finished with 75 points, two behind Ray Whitney for
the team lead.

But after a quick start to the playoffs when he had 12 points in
11 games, he's one loss away from the indignity of being
eliminated by his baby brother's team.

"He's hard on himself - probably too hard on himself sometimes,"
Pittsburgh forward Jordan Staal said. "It's a difficult
situation for him. He's been playing hard. It's just not going
in for him."

The Penguins' underrated defense has something to do with that,
too. They've kept several of Carolina's top players off the
scoresheet during the series, holding Whitney and Erik Cole to
two assists apiece.

"Those three guys ... they use each other very well," Penguins
defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "They don't rely so much on
one-on-one talent, individual skill, as they do on the whole
line. We're just trying to get on them quick, take away their
time and space, and get moving into the offensive zone, because
that's where our forwards are able to grind them down and make
them play defense."

Indeed, the Penguins are at their fast-breaking best when
they're flying down the ice, peppering goalie Cam Ward with
quick shots and following one goal with another. They're
outshooting Carolina by nearly nine shots per game. Three times
in the series the Penguins have scored multiple goals within 90
seconds.

Next up for Pittsburgh: A spot in the record book, one way or
another.

No team since the 1984 Edmonton Oilers has won the Stanley Cup
the year after losing in the finals. The Penguins - beaten by
Detroit in six games in last year's Cup finals - seemingly are
racing the Red Wings to become the first team to reach the final
round in consecutive years since New Jersey did it in 2000 and
'01. The Detroit Red Wings lead the West finals 3-1 over
Chicago.

Before the Penguins can think about a probable matchup against
former teammate Marian Hossa - who signed with the Red Wings in
the offseason for what he perceived as a better chance to win a
title - they must take care of the Hurricanes and avoid becoming
the first NHL team since the 1975 Penguins to lose a series
after leading 3-0.

"We certainly know the situation we're in," Pittsburgh coach Dan
Bylsma said. "We haven't won four games. This is a race to four,
and we still have more work to do to get there. ... I understand
they've been to the finals last year and didn't get the result
they wanted. No, we're not there yet. We still have work to do."

Carolina, meanwhile, hopes it can stage another comeback to
prolong a postseason already full of rallies. The Hurricanes
scored twice in the final 80 seconds to beat New Jersey in Game
7 of the first round, then delivered a goal in overtime to
eliminate the Bruins in another seventh game.

"We're only done if we think we're done," Ward said.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/99241-Penguins-Hurricanes-Preview</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/99241-Penguins-Hurricanes-Preview</guid>
				<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 20:35:30 GMT</pubDate>
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