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Crosby, Penguins aim to draw even in Game Four

May 31, 2008 - 10:14 AM Detroit at Pittsburgh 8:00 pm EDT Stanley Cup Finals Red Wings lead, 2-1

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins just might make it a series after all.

Captain Sidney Crosby will try to help the Penguins even the Stanley Cup Finals at two wins apiece Saturday when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Game Four.

Crosby scored a pair of goals and Adam Hall netted what proved to be the game-winner as the Eastern Conference champion Penguins skated to a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings in Game Three on Wednesday.

"We definitely earned (the win)," Crosby said. "But at the same time, it's one. And you don't want to take anything away from it. We realize how hard it was and how tough it's going to get. So it feels good to come out of this game on the (winning) side, for sure, but we realize it's only one."

After being thoroughly dominated in shutout losses in Games One and Two at Detroit, Pittsburgh appeared to be a different team at Mellon Arena as it improved its postseason home record to 9-0 and extended its overall home winning streak to 17 games.

"We definitely have confidence here," Hall said. "The fans have been great for us all year long. I think they just give us a big boost of adrenaline."

"They're a confident team at home," Detroit center Kris Draper said. "They came out, they did what they had to do to win a hockey game, and now it's up to us to respond in Game Four."

Marian Hossa notched two assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves Wednesday for the Penguins, who still trail in the best-of-seven series, two games to one.

"We are still down, but that's huge for us to get the first (win) and the first bunch of goals," Hossa said. "It's good for our confidence. We just have to take a nice day off and get ready for the next game."

Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson tallied for Detroit, which had its six-game road winning streak in the Finals snapped.

"(The Penguins) got to the puck a little quicker at times. They scored first, which helped them," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought Crosby and Hossa were better - more energy and controlled more plays. You have to give them credit. They found a way to win a game."

Detroit netminder Chris Osgood, who stopped all 41 shots he faced over the first two games of the series, had his playoff shutout streak halted at 154 minutes, 58 seconds when Crosby opened the scoring late in the opening session.

"Finally," Crosby said. "It wasn't that the chances weren't there. It just finally went in for us. We would hit posts and didn't have bounces that came on our stick near the net. Finally had one go in. It felt good."

The goal also ended Pittsburgh's drought at 153:22, the longest in franchise playoff history. The previous mark of 151:18 took place against New Jersey in the 2001 Eastern Conference finals.

"Whether it was me or anybody else, we just wanted to get the first one," Crosby said. "We wanted to get a goal, find a way. Didn't matter who or when. I think that was the mind set going in, and it was nice to get it, for sure. But whether it was me or anyone else, I wasn't really worried about that."

Despite the loss, the Red Wings still can take complete control of the series with a win Saturday, which would push the Penguins to the brink of elimination with the series headed back to Detroit for Game Five on Monday.