No words needed for Pens to step up

PITTSBURGH – If the Pittsburgh Penguins climb back into this series – it's going to take another win Saturday in Game 4 for that to be reality – point to the 14:25 mark of the opening period during Wednesday's 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk, playing as well without the puck as when he has it, had just blocked a shot in the netting behind the Red Wings' goal to stop the action and invite a television timeout.

That's when Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien made his best decision of this series. It was a better decision than changing lines between Games 1 and 2, and a far better one than to publicly accuse Detroit of employing obstruction as a defensive strategy.

Therrien tapped Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa, the best offensive players on a bench full of splendidly-skilled skaters and said, 'Go get 'em.' The Penguins, desperate for any offense after a frustrating start to the series, were getting outshot 9-1 in their first game at home against the Red Wings. All they had to show for a "desperate start" was Ryan Malone's shot 1:58 into Game 3.

It was time for Pittsburgh's best players to be its best players. And they were. The forward trio, working against Detroit's line of Dallas Drake-Kris Draper-Daniel Cleary engineered a sustained attack in the visitors' end. They were good on the walls, in the corners and behind the net. They kept pucks in and kept the puck away from the Wings. They put a couple shots on goal.

And they changed the momentum of the game, maybe the series.

The hard work had its desired effect as the ice tiled Pittsburgh's way for the next two shifts until Captain Crosby finally brought the house down. He slipped a puck behind Chris Osgood, the first one to beat the veteran Detroit goalie since the third period of the West finals.

It was Pittsburgh's first goal of the series, the Penguins' first marker since the third period against Philadelphia in the East finals. It was a record postseason drought of 153:22 for the hosts, but it was over.

And it all started a few minutes earlier with a monster shift.

"(We) tried to change momentum," Therrien said. "And (we) tried to bring more speed."

Nothing was said on the bench during the stoppage. It turns out nothing needed to be said.

"When we're put together we know what the message is," Crosby said. "Not much needs to be said. That's our job, that's our responsibility to our team to create something."

The shift proved not only to the Red Wings, but to the Penguins also that they could make something happen. It fed to the next line and the line after that.

"I thought they had a pretty good push after a timeout, scored a goal and I thought they controlled the next, I don't know, 20 minutes of the game," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

There were some huge moments before the big shift, too, and they all occurred in Pittsburgh's end. Recognizing that Penguins' defenseman Hal Gill had broken his stick, Datsyuk quarterbacked a long cycle that had the Pens running around. Finally, he fed Brad Stuart as the defenseman activated from the blue line to suddenly find the puck on his stick 15 feet from the net. Marc-Andre Fleury was quick as a cat, denying Stuart what could have been an early back-breaker.

Not long after Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar was called for a questionable hook and Pittsburgh was called upon to kill a second Detroit power play in the opening 14 minutes.

"You know what, for a lot of those players, this is their first win at the Stanley Cup finals, and it's huge for them," Therrien said. "And it's huge for the confidence, especially the way that we play at home, the way that the crowd supports our team."

The late first-period goal served as momentum for Crosby to strike again with his sixth of the postseason 2:34 in to the middle period, a goal that came on the power play. Another gorilla had been lifted off Pittsburgh's shoulders.

"It wasn't any different than Game 5 we played at home against the Rangers and Game 5 we played at home against the Flyers," Therrien said. "We approach it like a challenge. And there's no doubt that we're looking for our best players to bring their 'A' game."

The Penguins weren't home free until Fleury withstood a frantic Detroit rally in the final period. Adam Hall's bank shot off Osgood's backside 7:18 into the third period looked like insurance at the time for a 3-1 lead, but was everything Pittsburgh needed after Mikael Samuelsson cut the deficit back to a goal at 13:37.

It was the only one of 16 shots to slip past the 23-year-old Penguins goalie in the final 20 minutes.

"Marc-Andre, he's one of the reasons why we're here," Therrien said. "And he's one of the reasons why we won tonight. He made some key saves. I like his composure."

Fleury's composure and a big-time shift from Pittsburgh's best forwards. It was the combination Wednesday. Let's see if it's the key making it a compelling Stanley Cup finals classic.