Pittsburgh Penguins v Carolina Hurricanes Live

Even though the Penguins hit a slump half-way through the season, the team around Evgeni Malkin managed to pull its act together over the past month and rallied to the second place in the Eastern Conference. Thus, Sydney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will try to clinch their fifth consecutive win when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday at midnight GMT.

Unlike Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes' front-office is highly disappointed with the performance of coach Paul Maurice's squad up to this point of the season. More precisely, the franchise from Raleigh spent most of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and did not even remotely live up to the expectations of their fan base. Considering that the 'Canes made it all the way to the Conference Finals in 2008-09, their poor performance in this year's NHL campaign is certainly a surprise. That said, Carolina managed to improve a bit as of late as they managed to win 8 out of their last 10 games. Nonetheless, the 'Canes are still nine points away from the eight playoff seed in the East and will more likely than not miss the post-season this year.

The Penguins on the other hand are confidently approaching the playoffs as the franchise from Pennsylvania leads the Atlantic Division, five points ahead of the New Jersey Devils. That said, defending their title might turn out to be a difficult endeavor since the Washington Capitals definitely look like the team to beat in the East. Most importantly, the Penguins might have to find a way to improve their defensive efforts as Evgeni Malkin and company still rely to a large extent on their offense to outscore opponents and win games. Offensively, franchise cornerstone Sydney Crosby leads all scores with 44 goals and 84 points in just 65 appearances. Taking everything into consideration, it certainly looks like the Penguins might have an edge over the 'Canes on Friday night. Ultimately, Carolina does neither have the individual talent nor overall depth to compete with the defending Stanley Cup champions from Pittsburgh.

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

Posted: 14th October 2009

Even though the Carolina Hurricanes were certainly content with the outcome of last year’s NHL campaign, they still hold a grudge against the Penguins after being swept by Crosby and company in the Eastern Conference Finals. Thus, the Hurricanes will host the defending Stanley Cup champions from Pittsburgh at RBC Center on Wednesday at 11 p.m. GMT.

Without any doubts, the young Penguins’ team has shown the ability to perform under pressure in their post-season run in 2008-09. Similarly, Pittsburgh was able to close out three highly contested games in the first week of action. Even though the franchise around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin lost to a mediocre Coyotes squad afterwards, they are still one of the toughest team to face.

In contrast, the Hurricanes got off to a slow a start as they fell to the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins in their first two games. However, franchise centerpiece Eric Staal subsequently led the ‘Canes to an overtime victory versus the struggling Lightning and an impressive 7-2 blowout win versus the Florida Panthers. One bright spot thus far has been the equally distributed workload across many shoulders as Carolina proved that any offensive line is very capable of scoring.

Nonetheless, the Penguins are still everyone’s favorite to clinch a victory in North Carolina on Wednesday. Ultimately, Pittsburgh has more individual talent on their roster and two of the best forwards in the league with Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Likewise, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has demonstrated countless times that he is able to make up for turnovers of the Penguins’ defensive lines. Therefore, the Hurricanes will give their best to contain Crosby and Malkin while counting on the passionate support of their home-crowd at RBC Center.

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

Posted: 23rd May 2009

Giving away another game they could have won, the Carolina Hurricanes missed an important opportunity by losing 4-7 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in game two. On Sunday at 12:30 a.m. GMT the Hurricanes will take on the Penguins back home in North Carolina.

Leading the game 3-2 after the first period and still being tied 4-4 at the beginning of the third, the Hurricanes certainly had a chance to steal a game on the road from Pittsburgh. However, it was once again the outstanding individual skill of Evgeni Malkin that saved the Penguins. Malkin finished the game with a hat trick as well as an additional assist. Two of Malkin’s three goals came mid way through the third to give Pittsburgh a comfortable 6-4 lead before Tyler Kennedy scored the last goal of the night to decide the game.

Although the Hurricanes put up a good fight it was simply not enough to overcome the Penguins team around superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sydney Crosby. Crosby added another goal and one assist to his post-season stats, now being second in the league after Malkin with 13 goals and 11 assists in the playoffs.

Given the fact that Carolina played well but still lost, they will certainly have to hope for a lift from the support of their home crowd on Saturday. Even though it did not work out in the first two games, their high energy level and effort should provide them with the necessary means to win game three. Likewise, there is only so much one can do to contain Malkin and Crosby, but both of them combining for six points is not something to happen every game either.

You can watch game three of the Eastern Conference finals right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming. Being down 0-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Carolina Hurricanes are facing a must-win scenario at home in game three versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.