Eastern Conference Final: (4) Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. (6) Carolina Hurricanes
The Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Carolina Hurricanes, four games to none, to advance to their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final series. Pittsburgh jumped to a 2–0 lead in the first period of game one, with goals by Miroslav Satan and Evgeni Malkin, before Philippe Boucher added a third period power play goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made a sprawling save on an Eric Staal one-timer in the closing seconds to allow the Penguins to hang on for a 3–2 victory. Game two featured offensive assaults by both teams. Patrick Eaves tied the game for Carolina early in the third period, but Malkin responded by scoring two highlight reel markers to complete a hat trick en route to a 7–4 win. In game three, Malkin had two goals and an assist in a 6–2 victory. Carolina outplayed Pittsburgh for much of game four and got off to a hot start when Staal scored on a wrap around move. However, the Penguins scored four unanswered goals, including a Max Talbot tally that ricocheted stranglely off of goaltender Cam Ward to let the Penguins take the lead late in the opening frame, as they picked up a 4–1 win.
| May 18 | Carolina Hurricanes | 2–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Mellon Arena | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:17 - Miroslav Satan (1) 10:41 - Evgeni Malkin (7) |
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| Chad LaRose (3) - 13:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Joe Corvo (2) - pp - 18:34 | Third period | 11:33 - pp - Philippe Boucher (1) | ||||||
| Cam Ward 28 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| May 21 | Carolina Hurricanes | 4–7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Mellon Arena | Recap | |||
| Chad LaRose (4) - 03:07 Jussi Jokinen (7) - 08:40 Dennis Seidenberg (1) - 12:10 |
First period | 01:51 - Sidney Crosby (13) 08:15 - Evgeni Malkin (8) |
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| No scoring | Second period | 03:11 - Maxime Talbot (3) 19:52 - Chris Kunitz (1) |
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| Patrick Eaves (1) - 02:35 | Third period | 08:50 - Evgeni Malkin (9) 12:25 - Evgeni Malkin (10) 18:11 - en - Tyler Kennedy (3) |
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| Cam Ward 35 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 28 shots | ||||||
| May 23 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 6–2 | Carolina Hurricanes | RBC Center | Recap | |||
| Evgeni Malkin (11) - pp - 06:50 Sidney Crosby (14) - 19:17 Evgeni Malkin (12) - 19:48 |
First period | 04:06 - Matt Cullen (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ruslan Fedotenko (5) - 11:29 Craig Adams (2) - en - 18:12 Bill Guerin (6) - pp - 18:52 |
Third period | 01:58 - Sergei Samsonov (5) | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 32 saves / 34 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Ward 34 saves / 39 shots | ||||||
| May 26 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4–1 | Carolina Hurricanes | RBC Center | Recap | |||
| Ruslan Fedotenko (6) - 08:21 Maxime Talbot (4) - 18:31 |
First period | 01:36 - Eric Staal (10) | ||||||
| Bill Guerin (7) - 12:10 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Craig Adams (3) - en - 18:50 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Cam Ward 21 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| Pittsburgh won series 4–0 | |
Read more about this topic: 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Conference Finals
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