• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Penguins looking for offense as series moves to Pittsburgh

May 28, 2008 - 10:15 AM Detroit at Pittsburgh 8:00 pm EDT Stanley Cup Finals Red Wings lead, 2-0

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins will need more than a change of scenery to get back in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Captain Sidney Crosby, All-Star Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins will look to finally generate some offense when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Game Three on Wednesday.

Seeking his third Stanley Cup ring, Chris Osgood stopped all 22 shots he faced Monday for his second consecutive shutout as the Red Wings skated to a 3-0 triumph over the Penguins in Game Two.

Crosby and Malkin, who combined for 13 goals and 40 points through the first two rounds of the postseason, have been unable to get Pittsburgh rolling in the Finals. Crosby managed nine shots with a minus-1 rating and Malkin has been a non-factor - recording just one shot with a minus-3 rating.

Osgood, who made 19 saves in Game One on Saturday, is the first goaltender to post shutouts in the first two games of the Finals since three-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils did so in 2003 against the Anaheim Ducks.

"I try not to think about that or other things," said Osgood, who has not allowed a goal in 137 1/2 minutes. "If I do happen to pass things, I usually don't know about it. I like it that way. I need to be told after.

"I like to keep my mind on the game and what I have to do during the game and not let my mind wander into things that really matter the most when I'm done playing."

Defenseman Brad Stuart and Valtteri Filppula each had a goal and an assist and Tomas Holmstrom also tallied for Presidents' Trophy-winning Detroit in Game Two of the best-of-seven series.

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 31 saves for Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh, which is looking to become the second team in Finals history to lose the first two games on the road and win the Cup.

The 1971 Montreal Canadiens also accomplished the feat, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games.

The Penguins must be happy to be returning home. They are 8-0 at Mellon Arena this postseason and have a 16-game winning streak there dating to February 24.

Pittsburgh will need to dramatically improve its play to keep that streak alive. The Penguins have been thoroughly dominated through the first two games of the series.

The Red Wings have outshot the Penguins by a 70-41 margin while holding Pittsburgh's dynamic power play scoreless on eight opportunities.

"It's a team effort, it's not strictly defensemen," Stuart said. "It's forwards getting back, not getting caught deep, and making smart reads. When the forwards are doing that, it makes it easier."

"We have the forwards coming back real hard, the D can stand up and that's the way we've been playing pretty much the whole season," said Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom, a Norris Trophy finalist who is looking to win the award for a sixth time. "That's something we have to stick to as well."

Despite seeing his team blanked for the second straight game, Crosby said his team isn't too far removed from finding its scoring touch.

"We just have to execute," he said. "Did they really get that many scoring chances on us? I don't think they did. They got a few and put them in. We hit a post, and pucks go through us by the net that we don't put in. That's the difference."