The Carolina Hurricanes were downgraded to a tropical depression following tonight’s embarrassing loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Cam Ward, who might be replaced with the empty net in Game 4 considering that the empty net has only allowed two goals in the series, was strong at times but the relentless Penguins attack proved too much once again for him to stand up against.

Carolina drew first blood with a powerful attack early on when Cullen (3) was able to put the puck behind Marc-Andre Fleury. But after that the Penguins put the pedal down but Cam Ward could not make the saves to keep Carolina ahead. Not three minutes later Malkamania ran wild as Malkin (11) buried the tying goal on a powerplay. After back and forth play for the rest of the period, Crosby (14) and Malkin (12) each scored in the final minute of play to dart the Penguins out to a 3-1 lead.

That would be the way the game remained until the third period. Samsonov (5) scored less than two minutes in to draw the Hurricanes to within one. But the Penguins played hard and Fleury made some great saves to keep the lead. Then it turned. Fedotenko (5) scored after Malkin dropped the puck to him in the slot and the score was 4-2. Then Craig Adams (2) scored his second of the playoffs off a face off with Cam Ward pulled. Off the face off the puck raced down the ice and into the net to extend the lead to 5-2 with just under two minutes to play. But it was not over.

Forty seconds later on the power play, Bill Guerin (6) beat Ward again and when it all ended the score was 6-2 and Carolina was down in the series 3-0.

Fleury was both sharp AND lucky at times as pucks that had him beat drifted wide of the goal by inches a couple times. However he did made 32 of 34 saves. Cam Ward stopped just 34 of 39.

Game 4 is Tuesday night and the Hurricanes are far behind the eight ball now.

The schedule for the Eastern Conference finals has been set. The match up will feature none of the division champions of the conference with Boston, Washington and New Jersey all hitting the golf courses already. Instead the showdown features two teams who each needed grueling seven game series to get here; the 4th seeded Penguins and the 6th seeded Hurricanes.

Each team eliminated one of the top two seeds in the East in the last round to advance.

The schedule features, for better or worse quite a few days off compared to the more typically every other day schedule for hockey.

The match up starts Monday, April 18th. Then the teams have two days off before resuming on Thursday, April 21st. Then one day off and a game on the 23rd. Then two days off again until game 4 on the 26th. Then another two days off until, if necessary, game 5 on the 29th.

Talk about stretching things out!

Let the whining begin. Philadelphia fans (and even coaches) are upset over Crosby’s goal that broke the 0-0 tie in the second period and are just generally frustrated over how they could not have won a game that they completely dominated offensively. Replays showed that Crosby’s goal was indeed a good goal, hitting off his stick and then his body and he was being hauled downed and then crashing into the net behind Biron. The highlight real also showed exactly why the Flyers lost and his name is Marc-Andre Fleury.

Pittsburgh also got another goal from Tyler Kennedy (2) and the empty net icing goal from Max Talbot (1) en route to taking a 3-1 series lead thanks to the Flower who was in full bloom last night staying square to the shooter and making big saves when he had to. His 45 saves on 46 shots have the Flyers befuddled and wondering how on earth they are going to win three games to take the series with the matchup returning to Pittsburgh for a 7:00 PM showdown Thursday night.

The Penguins however cannot ride Fleury like they have ridden him so far. After a complete team effort in Game 1 of the series the Penguins have put forth three either average or subpar efforts since and still managed to climb to a dominating lead in the series. Too many penalties have plagued the Pens as they have tried to match the Flyers physical play which has gotten overly aggressive at times. Penalty killing has kept them in the games as well while the power play continues to struggle.

Then Penguins want to close out the series Thursday night. They don’t want to give the Flyers and hope in their minds that they could win this series which returning to Philadelphia only down 3-2 certainly would do.

With as tight as the Eastern Conference is, blowing two points and getting only one is not a good thing. While the Penguins will certainly take a point, they had the opportunity for two as they took a 3-1 lead into the third against Ottawa only to allow the Senators to not only come back but also win the game in a shoot out. Had the Penguins held on to win they would have vaulted over Montreal and into 5th place in the East. Instead, they are sitting in 6th and are not very secure in that spot heading into today’s game against the Conference leading Boston Bruins.

Perhaps it was karma. In the previous game the Penguins had to score three goals in the third against Columbus to take the game into overtime and then a shootout and salvage a point they probably should not have gotten. Then against Ottawa they lost a point they should have had and even wasted a rare goal by tough man Eric Godard.

Today, Pittsburgh must play well against Boston (5-4-1 in their last 10) to gain two points and help solidify their hold on a playoff position.

The Penguins ended an important road trip a perfect 5-0 by defeating the Washington Capitals in a shootout Sunday 4-3. The win keeps the Penguins in the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. The Penguins were lead Sunday by newly acquired Bill Guerin who had three points (1G, 2A) and also got tallies from Crosby (25) and Gonchar (3) during the sixty physical minutes of regulation.

The Pens dominated through the first forty minutes of play carrying a 3-1 lead into the final period but break downs early in the third lead to Washington evening the score on two goals in the first 1:18 of the frame. Both teams traded scoring chances for the rest of the game and eventually wound up in the shootout. Fleury was perfect stopping all three shots he faced including Alexander Ovechkin while Sidney Crosby beat Jose Theodore for the win.

Pittsburgh is now 35-26-6 on the season with 76 points and they needed each of the wins they earned on this road trip to climb into and cling to the final playoff spot. Pittsburgh is surging with a record of 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and are returning home to host the Florida Panthers in yet another must win game for position in the post season.

Kunitz had better pay dividends for the Penguins because they gave up a lot in Ryan Whitney to get him. In his first game with the Penguins, Kunitz helped power the Penguins past Chicago by providing a powerful and aggressive presence on the ice netting a goal and an assist playing along with Jordan Staal. With the way those two played together they might still be looking for someone to slap on the wing with Crosby even though Kunitz was supposed to be that man.

The Penguins jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead last night against the Blackhawks on a goal by Jordan Staal (16). A shot by Sarge was not handled well by Huet and Staal roofed the rebound with energy that he has not had since signing his contract extension. The Penguins then went up 2-0 as Kunitz (17) slipped a puck softly under Huet’s pads.

But penalties would be the Penguins nemesis. Late in the first period Tyler Kennedy (who later left the game with illness) took a hooking call and Toews (23) scored his first of three goals on the power play to make it a 2-1 game. Toews would have had four goals on the night had he not batted another power play chance down with what was, despite moans from Blackhawk fans, a clear high stick.

The Penguins regained a two goal cushion in the second after Toews (24) tied the game thanks to goals by Satan (16) and Talbot (9). But in the third, the Penguins went into a shell and let the Blackhawks beat on them with twenty shots. Two of those twenty found the net and tied the game. The Penguins had a golden opportunity to put pressure on Antti who replaced Huet in the third but simply could not.

So into overtime the contest went. The Penguins carrying over a late powerplay set up in the Chicago end 4 on 3. Gonchar came high and had only one man in sight – Evgeni Malkin. Sarge fed him the puck and Geno fired it to the back of the net behind Antti for the win.

The Blackhawks got really lucky last night as the only reason the game was not 4-0 or worse before they scored their first goal was the play of Huet who made some incredible saves on great opportunities by the Penguins who seem to be taking their playoff run seriously. Finally.

The win moved the Penguins record in February to 7-4-1 and their overall record to 31-26-6 (68pts) and still a point out of the playoff race. On Sunday the Penguins face another Western Conference foe in the Dallas Stars in Dallas.

Dallas is 5-5-0 in their last 10 games and are hanging on to eighth spot in the West and will be desperate for a win against the Penguins who are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and trying to get into the playoffs.