This Day in Hockey History – April 25, 2008 and 2009 – Penguins Come Alive to Five

In 2008 and 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins had eerily similar back-to-back postseasons. At the end of each regular season, they finished first (with 102 points) and then second (with 99 points), respectively, in the Atlantic Division. During their April 25th game each year, the Penguins rallied from a three-goal deficit to steal the win with five goals. With that, they took the first game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2008 and the last game of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals in 2009.

Having swept the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals (4-0), Pittsburgh took on the New York Rangers in the semi-finals. Game 1, held April 25, 2008, took place at Mellon Arena before a white-out crowd of 17,132. The Rangers potted three goals before the Penguins even got on the board. In their 48 playoff games, the only time they had been able to make up for a three-goal gap like that had been during Game 1 of the 1992 Stanley Cup finals. Meanwhile, the Rangers had won 93 of 94 times that they had led by three or more goals.

Still, the Penguins did not let those odds stop them. During the second period, Jarkko Ruutu scored at 8:13 as did Pascal Dupuis 14 seconds later. “The crowd got into it, and we got back into the game,” Dupuis noted. “It was something new for us, coming back from a three-goal deficit in the playoffs.” Pittsburgh’s Marian Hossa tied the score at 3-3 at the beginning of the third period. He explained, “We knew it was the first game and we knew that we were a little rusty, and maybe things didn’t go our way early. We knew if we scored the first one, we’d start rolling. And that’s what happened; we battled our way back.” Although Petr Sykora gave the Penguins their first lead of the night 20 seconds later, at 5:00, the Rangers tied up the game again about five minutes later. Overtime seemed inevitable, but with 101 seconds remaining in regulation, Sidney Crosby sent a slap shot toward the net that bounced off teammate Evgeni Malkin’s skate before passing goalie Henrik Lundqvist. According to Malkin, “I was just standing there with no energy at all. [Crosby] shot that puck, and it bounced off my skate. He just put everything – all the emotion, all the power – to shoot the puck that hard.” Crosby shrugged off earning an assist instead of a goal, “It figures that would happen, but it doesn’t matter how it went in, as long as we got it.”

With the 5-4 win in Game 1, the Penguins went on to eliminate the Rangers in five games. Their next victims, for the Eastern Conference finals, were the Philadelphia Flyers. Again, it took the Penguins only five games to advance.

Those same Flyers had to face the Penguins in a Pennsylvania battle for the Eastern Conference quarter-finals the following year. The team from the western part of the state took the first two games at home, and then the teams alternated for the next three games leaving Pittsburgh leading the series 3-2. They played Game 6 on April 25, 2009 at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, attended by 20,072 fans. The Penguins had been shutout 3-0 in Game 5 and started Game 6 the same way. Crosby said of the Flyers, “They were everything we expected. And maybe more.”

About four minutes into the second period, the Flyers scored their third unanswered goal after stealing the puck from Pittsburgh center Max Talbot. To make up for it, Talbot proceeded to lose a fight to Daniel Carcillo. His teammates applauded his efforts. Tyler Kennedy praised, “Max really stepped up. He showed a ton of guts.” Their captain, Crosby, agreed, “When you see what he tried to do, to lift our spirits, it’s good when you can follow that up.” Exactly 14 seconds after the fighters received their major penalties, the Penguins began their scoring spree. The first three all made good on rebounds. Ruslan Fedotenko scored on Malkin’s rebound, then Mark Eaton on Kennedy’s rebound, and then Crosby on Bill Guerin’s rebound. At the beginning of the third period, Sergei Gonchar netted the game-winner on a slap shot. Finally, with little more than 27 seconds remaining, Crosby put the nail in the coffin on the empty net. Afterwards, he commented, “To get that last one and hear a little bit of silence was definitely gratifying.”

Upon defeating the Flyers in the 2009 quarter-finals, the Penguins made their way through the Washington Capitals (4-3) in the semi-finals and the Carolina Hurricanes (4-0) in the conference finals. After winning the April 25th game in both seasons, the Penguins ascended to the Stanley Cup finals. Both times, they played the Detroit Red Wings. That was where the story differed. In 2008, Pittsburgh lost the series (4-2), despite winning Game 5 after three overtime sessions. A year later, the Penguins again came from behind and this time took home the Stanley Cup.

Additional Sources:

• “Star Burst,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 26 April 2008, pp. E-1 and E-6.
• “NHL Playoffs/Penguins vs. Rangers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 26 April 2008, pp. E-6 and E-7.
• “NHL Playoffs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 26 April 2009, pp. C-1, C-6, C-7.