Game 1: Penguins 3, Canes 2

Staff photo by Chris Seward

PITTSBURGH — The Carolina Hurricanes have lost the opener of a playoff series.

Then again, they've done that before — twice.

The question now: can the Hurricanes win Game 2, which they have twice before in these Stanley Cup playoffs?

The Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Hurricanes 3-2 Monday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final at Mellon Arena, bolting to a 2-0 first-period lead and getting a strong game in goal from Marc-Andre Fleury.

Philippe Boucher's power-play goal at 11:33 of the third period was the winner for the Penguins. Joe Corvo's goal for the Hurricanes with 1:29 left made it 3-2 and Fleury had to make a huge save on a scoring try by Eric Staal with 25.7 seconds left.

After a two-day break, Game 2 is set Thursday night at Mellon Arena. The Hurricanes, in advancing past the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, dropped the opener in each series but then bounced back to win Game 2 and then the series in seven games.

The Penguins, who blitzed the Washington Capitals 6-2 in Game 7 of their fierce conference semifinal series, came out with plenty of jump for the opener of the conference final.

Miroslav Satan and Evgeni Malkin scored goals in the first 10:41 for a 2-0 lead — Satan on a breakaway and Malkin with a wicked backhander from the slot that Canes goalie Cam Ward couldn't stop.

But after the Pens' big early push, the Hurricanes kept their composure, settled into their game and made a game of it. Chad LaRose made it 2-1 with 6:56 left in the second on a well-executed rush that had Matt Cullen pass to Erik Cole, who dropped off a pass to LaRose coming down the right wing for the score.

Cole suffered a leg injury in the third period after a collision with the Pens' Matt Cooke and left the game. The Canes also lost forward Tuomo Ruutu to a lower-body injury in the second.

Much of the pregame focus was on the brother vs brother duel — the Canes' Staal and Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal. The two centers often were on the ice together and Eric Staal's influence on the game negligible against the Pens' checking line until the closing minutes.

Staal, who has nine playoff goals, managed three shots for the game. But the Canes, in turn, limited the offensive chances of the Pens' Sidney Crosby, the leading scorer in the playoffs with 12 goals.

The Canes could have had the early lead had it not been for Fleury's solid work in goal.

The Penguins had two power plays in the first five minutes of the game, but the Hurricanes killed off both while generating the best scoring chance — Cullen and LaRose teaming up on a shorthand rush, only to have Fleury snuff out LaRose's shot.

The Canes then had a power play after a holding penalty on Satan, organized it well and got good shots from Ruutu, Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen. But Fleury again made the stops and the Pens quickly struck after the Carolina kill.

Satan jumped out of the penalty box and was off on a breakaway. He faked a forehand, then went backhand on Ward at 9:17 for his first goal of the playoffs.

Eighty-four seconds later, it was 2-0, Pens.

Keeping the puck in the Carolina zone, the Penguins' Philippe Boucher got the puck to Malkin in the slot and he backhanded a shot that fluttered through the air and over Ward's left shoulder.

It was the kind of stop Ward has routinely made during the playoffs, but he couldn't stop Malkin's shot and Mellon Arena was rumbling.

With Ruutu out, Canes coach Paul Maurice moved up Rod Brind'Amour to center the line, with Jussi Jokinen moving from center to the wing opposite Sergei Samsonov.

Ward made some sparkling stops in the second to keep it a 2-0 game before LaRose's goal. Ward gloved a bullet from the slot by Bill Guerin, then denied Tyler Kennedy on a breakaway, much to the dismay of Penguins fans.

A little more than two minutes after LaRose's goal, his third of the playoffs, the Canes had a goal disallowed and Cole called for interference when he bumped defenseman Hall Gill into Fleury.

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who injured a knee in the conference semifinal series against Washington, was in the lineup for the opener. Gonchar played Game 7 against the Caps, but his availability for Game 1 against the Canes was uncertain until just before game time.

Maurice again made defenseman Anton Babchuk a healthy scratch and went with veteran Frantisek Kaberle. Babchuk had the overtime winner when Carolina topped the Penguins 3-2 on April 4 to clinch a playoff spot.

####

A Joe Corvo one-timer on the power play cut the Penguins lead to 3-2 with 86 seconds left in the game.

The Hurricanes had a couple of chances to tie the game, but Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Eric Staal’s back-door attempt and the Penguins hung on to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Mellon Arena Monday. …

Pittsburgh's Philippe Boucher has given the Penguins a 3-1 lead past the mid-way mark of the third period.

His shot trickled past Carolina goalie Cam Ward, giving the Pengions their first power play goal of the game. ...

Hurricanes forward Erik Cole has left the game after a knee-to-knee collision in the third period. ...

At 13:04 in the second period, Hurricanes forward Chad LaRose slices Pittsburgh’s lead in half.

LaRose received a pass from Erik Cole and then went to the net and held off before wristing the puck behind Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Just a little more than a minute later and LaRose got the puck past Fleury again, but the goal was called off as Cole was penalized for interfering with Fleury.

Canes forward Tuomo Ruutu left the game with a lower body injury. His return to the game is uncertain. ...

After killing a pair of interference penalties and then having several chances on a power play of their own, the Hurricanes gave up a pair of goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who now lead 2-0 at Mellon Arena.

First, the Penguins cleared the puck out of their zone at the end Miroslav Satan’s holding penalty. He got a jump on the Canes blue line and out a backhander past Carolina goalie Cam Ward at 9:17.

Then at 10:41, Evgeni Malkin scored less than a minute and a half later. The two moved down the right side, with Malkin shooting off the pass back from Philippe Boucher.

The Hurricanes had a tough first period. The first couple of minutes, they out-skated the Penguins, but then took their offense out of the game with a pair of penalties, which they killed off impressively. They did a lot right in their first power play of the game, but didn't score and then gave up the breakaway to Malkin. ...

The Canes have taken the ice for Game 1 against the Penguins. Defenseman Anton Babchuk did not come out for the warmup but Frantisek Kaberle did, so that answers the question about whether Babchuk would continue to be a scratch.

While Canes coach Paul Maurice has been known to disguise his lines in pregame (ask the Bruins), here's what they look like:

Whitney-Staal-Walker

LaRose-Cullen-Cole

Samsonov-Jokinen-Ruutu

Bayda-Brind'Amour-Eaves

The starting lineup has been announced and Walker is staying on Staal's line. ...