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//  Friday, September 10, 2010

Pens sweep Canes to return to Stanley Cup Finals

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Posted by Brandan Hartland

The Pittsburgh Penguins are returning to the Stanley Cup Finals after a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night that finished off a sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Penguins lost to the Detroit Red Wings in last years final series in six games.

After being awarded the Prince of Whales Trophy as top team in the Eastern Conference, Sidney Crosby ignored the hockey superstition and hoisted it along with teammates Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar.

“We didn’t touch (the trophy) last year, and things didn’t go the way we wanted,” Crosby said. “I thought we’d change it up this year.”

Max Talbot recorded a goal and two assists, Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin also scored, while Craig Adams added an empty-net goal for assurance.

Crosby collected two assists in the contest to extend his point streak to six games, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves.

Eric Staal scored the opening goal early for the Hurricanes on a wraparound, his first of the series. Carolina lost for the first time in these playoffs when Staal notched a goal.

Fedotenko scored the Penguins' first goal almost seven minutes later when he sneaked behind Ward and tipped in Phillipe Boucher's slap-pass from the point.

The Penguins took the lead on a fluky goal by Talbot with 1:29 to play in the first period. His wrist shot from the slot was deflected by defenseman Anton Babcuk's skate, and the puck fluttered over Ward's glove to make it 2-1.

Babchuk, who was a healthy scratch for the first three games of the series, turned the puck over to Crosby midway through the second frame that led to Pittsburgh's third goal. Sid the Kid stripped Babchuk of the puck at Pittsburgh's blueline and started a 2-on-1 rush that ended with Crosby feeding the puck to Guerin for an easy tap-in.

Pittsburgh outscored Carolina 20-9 in the four-game series, recorded at least three goals in each game, and trailed for a total of 20 minutes and 30 seconds to advance to the Cup Finals for the fourth time in franchise history.They are the first team since the 2000-01 New Jersey Devils to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in consecutive seasons. Carolina led only four times in the series.

Ward made 21 saves but lost a playoff series for the first time in his NHL career. He had been 5-0 in elimination games, with Carolina's last losing series back in 2002, when they lost to the Red Wings in the Cup Finals. They only appeared in the postseason once after that, winning the Stanley Cup in 2006.

“To be real honest, I don’t think it felt easy at all,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said.

The Penguins await the conclusion of the Western Conference Finals featuring the Detroit Red Wings leading the series over the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Game 5 is tonight at 7:30 in Detroit.

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