Despite missing a month and a half due to a broken hand, Paul Martin played like he never left. Martin scored the game-winning goal mid way through the third period to help the Penguins win the first Metropolitan Division title.
Sidney Crosby setup Beau Bennett for his third goal of the season to get Pittsburgh out to a 1-0 lead. Crosby gathered a pass from Jussi Jokinen, found a passing lane and fed the puck to Bennett who blasted it into the wide open cage to the right of goaltender Ondrej Pavelec.
Winnipeg stormed back in the second period to tie the game then take the lead.
Olli Jokinen banged a loose puck past a sprawled out Marc-Andre Fleury to cap off a great individual effort by Blake Wheeler.
The Jets came back and scored seven minutes later to take the lead. Fleury denied a few chances to the right of the net, but was caught out of position as the puck came back out to Zach Redmond. The defenseman had a wide open net and blasted the puck into the cage to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
It looked like the Jets would carry the lead into the second intermission, but Craig Adams deposited his fifth goal of the season with just 1:13 left in the second period. Lee Stempniak was able to work the puck loose out of the corner and found Adams whose slapshot beat a bewildered -and screened- Pavelec.
The Penguins took the lead when Paul Martin scored 7:42 into the third period. Playing for the first time since the Winter Olympics, Martin blasted a slapshot past Pavelec from between the face off circles. The play was setup by James Neal who took a loose puck along the half-boards and skated into the corner before finding Martin.
After the Jets failed to capitalize on a power play opportunity, Brian Gibbons scored to extend the lead to 4-2 and put the game out of reach. Gibbons took the puck at center ice and beat Pavelec with a short-side wrist shot for his fifth goal of the season.
Three Stars
- Sidney Crosby
- James Neal
- Adam Pardy
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
