Pittsburgh Penguins Fall Apart in Game 4

This was their chance and they blew it… The Pittsburgh Penguins all but gave the Stanley Cup away to the Detroit Red Wings during that last game, despite being on home ice.  Pens goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury’s at-home winning streak came to an abrupt end and the numbers were downright appalling.  The NHL website did a great “by the numbers” article.  Here are the highlights:

0 – that’s how many points Evgeni Malkin has in this series so far.

1 – Games lost by Pittsburgh in the playoffs when scoring first.

1:26 – Amount of time on Pittsburgh’s two-man advantage in the third period. It was the first 5-on-3 power play in the series. The Penguins couldn’t score.

2 – Seconds after Pascal Dupuis’ penalty expired that Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom scored the Red Wings’ first goal. Officially, the Wings were 0-for-3 on the power play and are 2-for-22 in the series.

3 – Penalties drawn by Pittsburgh’s Adam Hall, who generated half of the Penguins’ six power plays despite getting only 10:28 of ice time.

More sad stats after the jump!

5 – One-goal victories for Detroit in the playoffs. The Wings are 5-3 in one-goal games; Pittsburgh lost for the first time in four games that were decided by a single goal.

6 – Goals scored in the third period by the Red Wings in the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final, compared to just one for the Penguins. Pittsburgh had outscored its opponents 20-7 in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

7 – Hits credited to Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart, the most by any player on either side and 20 percent of the Wings’ team total of 35, two more than Pittsburgh.

8 – Consecutive Game 4s lost at home by the Penguins. Pittsburgh’s last Game 4 win at Mellon Arena came when the Penguins beat Philadelphia in 1997 to stave off elimination in a first-round series.

10 – Goals by Pittsburgh’s Marian Hossa, who took the team lead when he scored a power-play goal in the first period.

11 – Power-play goals allowed by the Red Wings in this year’s playoffs, including one each in Games 3 and 4 of the Final.

12 – Number of Pittsburgh players who blocked at least one shot. In all, the Penguins blocked 21 shot attempts by the Red Wings, with Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik and Sergei Gonchar blocking three apiece.

15 – Faceoffs won by Sidney Crosby, in 24 tries. His performance in the faceoff circle was a big reason the Penguins won 32 faceoffs to just 22 for the Red Wings, the first time they’ve topped 50 percent in this series.

17 – Pittsburgh’s winning streak at Mellon Arena before Saturday’s loss to the Red Wings. The Penguins hadn’t lost at home since Feb. 24, when San Jose won 2-1 in a shootout. They hadn’t lost in regulation since Boston’s 2-1 win on Feb. 13.

18 – Times in 20 playoff games that the Red Wings have out-shot their opponents, including all four games of the Stanley Cup Final. They are 14-4 in those games.

19 – Marc-Andre Fleury’s winning streak at home, which ended with Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to Detroit. He hadn’t lost since Nov. 21, when New Jersey won 2-1.

24 – Points in the playoffs by Crosby, the most of any player in this year’s playoffs, after his assist on Marian Hossa’s first-period goal. His 18 assists are also tops among all players.

28:23 – Ice time for Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, the most of any player on either team and well above his playoff-leading average of 25:50. Sergei Gonchar led the Penguins for the fourth consecutive game with 26:16.

30 – Shots on goal by the Red Wings, the fewest they’ve had in this series. They reached the 30-shot mark for the 17th time in 20 playoff games this year.

46.2 – Faceoff winning percentage of Detroit’s Kris Draper, who was 6-for-13. He came into the game leading all players in the playoffs with a 64.3 percentage on draws.

65 – Shots at goal by the Red Wings, who had 30 on goal, 21 blocked and 14 that missed the net. Pittsburgh had 23 shots on goal, but only 42 at Chris Osgood - 10 were blocked and nine missed the target.

image provided by Newscom