Goals from unlikely sources put the Pittsburgh Penguins one win away from an Eastern Conference final appearance after they beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in Game Five on Saturday.
Defenseman Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar, who combined for just 14 goals in the regular season, were the Penguins scorers and they battled to keep the Canadiens at bay in the third period to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Meanwhile, in San Jose, the Sharks eliminated the two-times defending Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings after a tight 2-1 win in Game Five to take the series 4-1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Joe Thornton scored the Sharks first and assisted on Patrick Marleau’s series deciding goal with 13 minutes remaining in the third period.
In the East, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who backstopped the team to the Stanley Cup last year, stopped 32 shots in a spectacular effort but was denied a shutout when Mike Cammalleri scored a powerplay goal with 31 seconds remaining.
“It felt good to have some shots and make some saves,” Fleury said. “I felt useful tonight, you know, to do something. I was doing something, not just standing there.”
The Penguins reunited top scorers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the first line in a bid to spark an offense that had scored only five goals in the past three games, but they combined for just one assist.
Letang opened the scoring with a slapshot at 18 minutes, 18 seconds in the first before Gonchar converted a wrister at nine minutes, 50 seconds in the second.
The Canadiens outshot the Penguins 33-25, including a 15-6 edge in the final period when they attempted to overhaul the deficit.
The series will shift to Montreal for Game Six today.
In San Jose, California, both goalies put on an exhibition of shot saving in front of a full house at the Shark Tank in an exciting back-and-forth game.
Jimmy Howard made 30 saves for the Red Wings with Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who was pulled in Game Four after allowing five goals in the first period of a humbling 7-1 defeat, making 33 saves in the victory.
“It’s our job as a coaching staff to try and help them,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan told reporters about the work he and his team have done since the defeat on Thursday. “That can be two ways, technically, be in this position or that position but it also can be massaging the mind a little bit, letting them know that we believe in them or saying: ‘Hey, you’re better than what you’ve been.’”
The Russian was beaten by a slapshot by Brian Rafalski after less than three minutes but his 28 saves in the final two periods and goals by Thornton and Marleau set up a first Western Conference final series for the Sharks since 2004.
“This is a very, very big win for our organization,” McLellan said.
The Sharks will next face either the Vancouver Canucks or the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead their semi-final series 3-1.
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