Pens confident heading into Game 3

From NHL.com

Penguins: Our chances will come
Tuesday, 06.02.2009 / 12:55 PM / 2009 Stanley Cup Final: Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
By Shawn P. Roarke - NHL.com Managing Editor

PITTSBURGH -- Neither Sidney Crosby nor the rest of the Penguins are overly down about the 2-0 predicament they find themselves in on the morning of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Crosby has yet to score in this year's Final against Detroit. Before the back-to-back drought, Crosby had only been held without a point during two other games in these playoffs.

And Crosby has been close. He hit the post in Sunday's 3-1 loss and had a shot that landed on the back of Detroit goalie Chris Osgood in Saturday's Game 1. All told, he has seven shots in the series, including five in Game 2.

Pittsburgh, though, lost each game, 3-1.

"I wouldn't change anything," Crosby said Tuesday morning. "You beat the goalie a couple of times and the puck lays in the crease or lands on his back and stays there. There's not much you can do about that. You work for your chances and get them.

"Like I said, if we get the same chances we have been getting, I think we'll be pretty happy."

Pittsburgh played two very good road games, out-shooting -- and sometimes out-chancing -- Detroit in both losses. That didn't happen last spring when Detroit took a 2-0 lead against Pittsburgh in the Final. In fact, Pittsburgh did not look competitive in those back-to-back losses last season.

So the Penguins appear to be taking solace in the fact that this past weekend's games were both 2-1 after two periods; the game theirs for the taking with an offensive outburst.

"We kind of felt like we played well and couldn't finish our opportunities," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "If we had, it could have gone the other way. Guys are still pretty positive here. It's a lot different than last year."

"Coming back here we felt like last year they were a much better team than we were. This year, I think if anything, it's an even playing field. Like I said, we just didn't finish our opportunities and they did."

Most likely, Pittsburgh will stay with the Game 2 lineup, meaning it will be a traditional 12-forward, six-defenseman alignment. Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said his lineup would be a game-time decision.

"It's playoffs, we're dealing with bumps and bruises," he said.

But Pascal Dupuis, the forward returning into the lineup in Game 2, was part of the penalty-killing drills during Tuesday's morning skate, suggesting that he will once again be in the lineup Tuesday night after a three-week sabbatical.

"It was good to be back," Dupuis told NHL.com Tuesday morning. "You see these guys winning and you want to be a part of it. You can decide if I looked good enough, but I felt OK. If I do go tonight, I feel comfortable again."