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PITTSBURGH — There were two modifications to the lineups of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers for the second game of the NHL Eastern Conference final at Mellon Arena Sunday night.
The Flyers opted for more grit with rugged forward Steve Downie and Pittsburgh saw the return of sparkplug Maxime Talbot after a three-game absence because of a foot injury. Both played roles in the deciding goal of the Penguins' 4-2 victory, which increased their series lead to 2-0.
Downie failed to chip the puck out of the Flyers' zone midway through the third period, while it was Talbot who not only helped keep the play alive at the Philadelphia blueline, but also went to the net to convert Gary Roberts's backhand pass for the game-winning goal with 11 minutes 9 seconds remaining.
It was Talbot's first Stanley Cup playoff-winning goal in his 13th career postseason game.
Philadelphia Flyers goalie Martin Biron stands over Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jarkko Ruutu during the second period in Game 2 in Pittsburgh on Sunday. (Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press)
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- Philadelphia Flyers
- Martin Biron
- Jeff Carter
- Braydon Coburn
- Sidney Crosby
- Pascal Dupuis
- Marc-Andre Fleury
- Hal Gill
- Derian Hatcher
- Marian Hossa
- Tyler Kennedy
- Lasse Kukkonen
- Joffrey Lupul
- Evgeni Malkin
- Ryan Malone
- Mike Richards
- Gary Roberts
- Jordan Staal
- Maxime Talbot
- Kimmo Timonen
- Scottie Upshall
"That's why I came back, I knew I was going to score the game-winner," Talbot said with a chuckle. "I was in bed this afternoon thinking, 'it would be nice to score a goal and make a big comeback.' You think about stuff like that and sometimes it happens. It's a great feeling.
"It wasn't easy when I was hurt, I was down and frustrated."
As Roberts held the puck behind the goal line, Talbot, the fourth-line energy player from Lemoyne, Que., yelled for the pass in front.
"I called for it," Talbot said. "I saw the hole in front of the net. They went to Gary and I knew I was by myself and Gary made a great pass right on my stick.
"When I was in junior I was pretty good, I used to score some pretty big goals. We won two championships when I was in junior. But at the NHL level it's definitely my biggest goal. I'll remember it for a long time."
Flyers coach John Stevens remembered Downie's miscue.
"Turnovers can't happen," said Stevens, who watched four giveaways result in four goals in the series opener last Friday. "Move your feet. I'd like to see them roll into that puck, instead of putting his butt on the ledge, now we got to reach across and get that puck.
"But it is a costly turnover there. He's a good kid. He will rebound from it."
To make matters worse for Philadelphia, which already lost its top defenceman, Kimmo Timonen, because of a blood clot in his ankle before the series, the Flyers watched in horror when 1:51 into the game defenceman Braydon Coburn was hit the face with a deflected puck after a shot from Pittsburgh's Hal Gill.
After a couple of minutes on the ice, Coburn skated off to the dressing room on his own with a towel pressed against his face. But he did not return as he required more than 50 stitches to close the gash on the bridge of his nose and left-eye area.
"My left eye is swollen shut right now," said Coburn, who added there is a possibility he'll play in the third game in Philadelphia Tuesday. "I will keep the ice on it and get the swelling down."
The Flyers, who out-hit their opponents 45-33, also weren't happy with the hooking penalty called on veteran defenceman Derian Hatcher while he was marking one-on-one Pittsburgh's first-game hero, Evgeni Malkin. Not many in the building thought the call was warranted from referee Dan O'Halloran. Marian Hossa scored on the ensuing power play for a 2-1 lead in the second period.
"I'd just like to see some consistency," Stevens said. "We got a couple of stars on our team, too. Danny [Brière] is a pretty good player. Derian Hatcher been around the league a long time, he knows how to defend."
The Penguins were up 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes on a power-play goal from Sidney Crosby, but the Flyers went to the dressing room for the second intermission tied 2-2 after a power-play goal from Jeff Carter and a short-handed breakaway by Mike Richards after he picked off a pass from Malkin.
Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
