Carolina Hurricanes v Pittsburgh Penguins Live

Being right at the top of the Eastern Conference, Pittsburgh certainly looked like a legitimate title contender thus far and was able to outscore their opponents due to their dynamic offense on most nights. Thus, Sydney Crosby and company will host the struggling Carolina Hurricanes at Mellon Arena on Tuesday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

In contrast, the Hurricanes got off to an awful start into this year’s NHL campaign and are currently ranked last in the Eastern Conference with just 15 points. Even though the ‘Canes made it all the way to the Conference Finals in 2008-09, the team around Eric Staal has not found its rhythm yet and struggled at both ends of the ice. Being the worst defensive team in the league at 3.7 goals per contest, Carolina was not particularly good at finding the net either. More specifically, the Canes only scored 62 goals in 27 games and lacked any measurable productivity from their franchise cornerstones. In fact, Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour only combined for five goals and failed to lead their team as Carolina lost 17 out of 22 games thus far.

The Pittsburgh Penguins on the other hand are fairly content with their performance in the opening two months of play and are still in the race for the top seed of the Eastern Conference. Posting a 19-9-0 record, the team around Sydney Crosby is tied for the first place with the Washington Capitals and managed to bring the same effort to the ice night in and night out. With 92 goals in just 28 games the Penguins’ offense made up for the occasional defensive turnover and was led by All-Stars Evgeni Malkin and Sydney Crosby. Scoring 33 and 25 points respectively, Pittsburgh’s dynamic duo was nearly unstoppable and took a lot of pressure of the Penguins’ defensive lines. Taking said circumstances into consideration, there is no doubt that the Penguins will enter their matchup with the Canes as everyone’s favorites to come away with a win on Tuesday. Ultimately, Pittsburgh performs much better at both ends of the ice and can count on the individual talent of Crosby, Malkin, Guerin and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to overcome the struggling Hurricanes.

You can watch all games of the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.

Posted: 21th May 2009

Clinching a clutch 3-2 home win in the series opener on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking forward to game two of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hurricanes on the other hand are facing a tough challenge trying to prevent themselves from being down 0-2 after game two on Friday at 12:30 a.m. GMT.

Although the Penguins are the undisputed favorites of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Carolina Hurricanes showed in game one that they will fight and make life difficult for Pittsburgh. Ultimately the Penguins managed to come away with a 3-2 win, but the fact that Carolina was able to stay in the game until the end of regulation will certainly fuel their motivation.

More specifically, Pittsburgh was already up 3-1 late in the third period when Joe Corvo put a powerplay slapshot past Fleury to cut the deficit to one goal. With less than one minute remaining in the game, Hurricanes player Eric Staal missed an opportunity close to Pittsburgh’s goal to force an extra period.

Heading into game two, the Carolina Hurricanes will have to bring the same intensity and the will to fight on the ice as they did in game one. Likewise, their ability to avoid defensive breakdowns will be crucial as a 90-second span of unorganized defense was enough to cause two goals for the Penguins in their first meeting. Moreover, containing Pittsburgh’s superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will most likely be necessary to even the series on Friday. Being first and second respectively in post-season scoring, the Penguins offense has a magnificent duo that has led them throughout the playoffs so far.

You can watch this Eastern Conference finals game right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming. Having lost their first game on the road, the Carolina Hurricanes are hoping to even the Eastern Conference Finals series on Friday at 12:30 a.m. GMT