Pittsburgh Penguins at Carolina Hurricanes, Game 4 (Pens lead 3-0)
It seems like a foregone conclusion that the Pittsburgh Penguins will finish off the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in Game 4 and return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year.
And the Pens are -130 money line road favorites on WagerWeb.com for tonight’s game.
Even Carolina goalie Cam Ward seemed to hint that his team is overmatched, and it has been outscored 16-8 in this series: “You can say all you want about how you are going to shut them down but at the end of the day they are going to get chances just because they are that good.”
Indeed, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are dominating this series for Pittsburgh. Malkin has scored eight goals in these playoffs and recorded 17 points to pass Crosby for the playoff scoring lead, 28-26.
Malkin had either scored or assisted on a tying or winning goal in the Penguins’ past five games. Two of his East-final leading six goals are winners, and his nine points are five more than any other player has totaled in the best-of-seven series.
The Penguins’ power play is at 25 percent in the series, and its rate since Malkin was moved permanently off the left point in the second round is 29.3 percent (12-for-41) over nine games, providing a goal in eight contests. He has set a franchise record by registering six consecutive multipoint games in the same postseason, breaking Mario Lemieux’s record.
Crosby and Malkin have combined for 14 points and eight of their team’s 16 goals in this series.
Conversely, Canes star Eric 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 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.
Itt’s possible that if the Penguins win tonight and the Detroit Red Wings eliminate the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, the Stanley Cup final would start this weekend. Otherwise, it would not start until June 5.
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