2009 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS VS. DETROIT RED WINGS

There is a kid's book called "The Adventures of Sydney Penguin". I kid you not, here's the cover art:


There may be other illustrations to be found; they could be gold for later in the series

Edit: that link didn't embed well, here's another try.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber puts his spin on the series:

Pens' Game 4 victory adds drama to dream final full of speed, action

Michael Farber/SI.com, June 5, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- The déjà vu Stanley Cup final is now a must-see.

After the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins followed the exact script of their 2008 series -- two Detroit wins to open, a Penguins home ice win to follow -- the near summer rerun finished Thursday at Mellon Arena, replaced by a two-and-a-half-hour spectacular (with a second period for the ages) that was wildly entertaining and raucous. Playing for the fourth time in six nights, a hellish pace for midseason let alone the NHL's showcase event, the Penguins broke the old pattern and seemingly left the Red Wings' legendary poise in tatters with a 4-2 win.

There were obvious imperfections in the match that tied the series -- the Red Wings were uncharacteristically generous in turning pucks over and Sergei Gonchar and Bill Guerin (although nary a Detroit player) screened Pittsburgh goalie Marc-André Fleury on a long-range Brad Stuart goal early in the second period -- but the brilliance of these finalists burst through the restraints of nerves, checking and perhaps over-amped expectations that had marked the first three games.

This was a delightful example of the hockey the NHL dreamed about when it attempted to reinvent itself after the 2004-05 lockout. The Red Wings, who have won four Stanley Cups in the past 11 years by pushing the pace, were caught and then passed by the Penguins, who played at warp speed and wound up forcing a veteran team into mistakes. The pressure on the Red Wings defensemen was so intense that keeping pucks in their offensive zone became more of an adventure than a Las Vegas weekend.

And while Fleury (37 saves) was brilliant, the match truly belonged to The Three Centers.

• Evgeni Malkin. In the past, Malkin's performance in the playoffs has faded in and out like a bad cell phone connection. Can you hear him now? He opened the game by drawing a penalty and then scored a power play goal with one-handed poke on a rebound off the boards, similar to a goal the Red Wings scored in Game 1 at Joe Louis Arena.

But Malkin was merely revving his engine. After taking a ludicrous hooking penalty five feet from Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood in the second -- the first of successive penalties that forced the Penguins to play short-handed for the next 3:58 -- he would more than make amends. With the score tied 2-2 some five minutes after his two minutes of penalty-box shame, Malkin picked Stuart's pocket at the right point and burst out on a two-on-one with Sidney Crosby. On occasion,
Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma used Malkin and Crosby on the same line in Game 4 -- the nuclear option -- but there was no more serendipitous time than this one.

Malkin drove down the right flank and Crosby down the left, leaving elongated Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson as the monkey in the middle. Malkin's first past hit the defenseman, but he gathered the puck and this time feathered one to Crosby, who had a tap-in goal, his first of the final. Malkin now has 35 points, the most in a playoff since Wayne Gretzky's 40 in 1993.

In the final seconds of that period, Malkin grabbed a Henrik Zetterberg giveaway, skated 150 feet unmolested, and, like his Game 1 breakaway, tested Osgood high to the glove side. When Osgood made the save, the clock in Mellon Arena read "0:00." Good thing Malkin didn't score. The 17,132 in attendance would have torn down the rink; the one going up across the street isn't going to be ready in time for Game 6.

• Crosby. Although his level of competitiveness never has flagged, the Pittsburgh captain's goal breakthrough was welcome -- if for no other reason than now he won't have to answer any more questions about it. He leads the playoffs with 15 goals because he pays the price, this time from teammate Kris Letang, who jumped Crosby and drove him to the ice in celebration. ("I didn't realize he had buried Sid on his back," Bylsma said. "But Kris Letang is a physical player, and he showed it there again.") But Crosby's goal was a gimme, not a play of supreme skill like the deft touch pass he made to set up Tyler Kennedy for the Penguins' fourth goal -- their third in 5:37. Detroit coach Mike Wang didn't chase the Zetterberg vs. Crosby matchup, but it is obvious the Red Wings miss Zetterberg's running mate Pavel Datsyuk, who took the warm-up but didn't play. Two stars (Malkin and Crosby) vs. one (Zetterberg) no longer looks like a fair fight.

• Jordan Staal. The other Penguins center has played like an innocent bystander through most of the final, but a desultory series can be jump-started in an eye blink, which was roughly the time Staal needed to power past flatfooted defenseman Brian Rafalski on a Pittsburgh penalty kill with Detroit leading 2-1. Rafalski is an elite defenseman. And he had a perfect angle to cut off the center.

But Staal found an extra gear and then muscled past him, rapping a puck through Osgood's pads. The goal, Staal's first point in 10 games against Detroit in two finals, "sucked the life out of us," Wang said.

There will be an infusion of energy -- and maybe Datsyuk -- when the Red Wings return home for the Game 5, but Staal's shorthanded goal looks like it might have been the moment that turned an intriguing series into something truly memorable. Certainly, Bylsma said, "it changed the complexion of the game."

In any case, there now are two or maybe three games left in a final that now is really percolating. And from the looks of it, the Penguins currently lead this series, two games to two.

If Crosby and Staal get going in this series... it could be a big momentum shift for the Pens heading back to Detroit.

I think we'll see Datsyuk in the line-up for sure in Game 5 after these two losses.

shabbs wrote:If Crosby and Staal get going in this series... it could be a big momentum shift for the Pens heading back to Detroit.

I think we'll see Datsyuk in the line-up for sure in Game 5 after these two losses.

I bet Babcock is kicking himself in the a$$ for not putting him in when Pavel said he was ready and chomping at the bit. I hope that the extra couple of days off helped. But can you really call them days off when he's skating hard for 45 minutes in practice? I suppose, depending on which bone it is, you are not putting any stress on it by skating (it's really all the ligaments in-between that take the brunt of it). I just don't know enough and I thought he would have been better off resting that foot completely.

But has he really tested it? The video I've seen hasn't shown him doing any real hockey moves or game-type situations...

The last practice they said he went hard and was the last one to leave the ice. That was Thursday morning.

wprager wrote:The last practice they said he went hard and was the last one to leave the ice. That was Thursday morning.

Well, I'm sure he'll be back for Game 5... I'd bet on it.

shabbs wrote:

wprager wrote:The last practice they said he went hard and was the last one to leave the ice. That was Thursday morning.

Well, I'm sure he'll be back for Game 5... I'd bet on it.

The Name Dropper says he'll be back. Not sure if he went on about the Red Wings incredibly professional practice and how that would pretty much guarantee a win like it was supposed to last night though.

We shall see.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

shabbs wrote:

wprager wrote:The last practice they said he went hard and was the last one to leave the ice. That was Thursday morning.

Well, I'm sure he'll be back for Game 5... I'd bet on it.

The Name Dropper says he'll be back. Not sure if he went on about the Red Wings incredibly professional practice and how that would pretty much guarantee a win like it was supposed to last night though.

We shall see.

Well, if the name dropper says so...

ESPN's Pierre Lebrun offers this view of Game 4 and what lies ahead in the series...

PENS' ENERGY RATTLES WINGS IN GAME 4
Pierre Lebrun, ESPN.com/June 4 2009

PITTSBURGH -- For five minutes and 37 seconds, the guys in the white and red jerseys didn't look like Stanley Cup champions.

They looked absolutely frazzled as the Pittsburgh Penguins scored three majestic goals. Save the tape. You don't often rattle the Detroit Red Wings.

"They were coming after us hard, and we didn't show very much poise," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said after Thursday night's 4-2 loss to the Penguins. "We didn't respond very well."

If you had given the Red Wings the option one week ago of a best-of-three series for the NHL championship with two games at home, they surely would have taken it. But the defending champs headed back home Thursday night knowing 2008 is a distant memory. No 3-1 lead, no cushion, no inevitable ending. This baby is very much in the air, and the Wings are going to have to work extra hard for it.

"They've got a good team, so do we," said Red Wings netminder Chris Osgood, who stopped 27 of 31 shots. "That's what everyone said coming into the series. To me, that's what you've seen. …

"We've played one good game, and that was [Game] 3. So for us, 2-2, we'd like to be 3-1, but we're right where we probably should be the way the games have went. It's a best-of-three now and we have to focus on playing our best."

Playing their best doesn't include turning the puck over like no one's business. The official NHL game summary had the Wings with six turnovers. Sorry, with all due respect to whoever tracked those Thursday night, there's absolutely no way the Wings had only six giveaways. Unless they meant six per shift. Believe us, the Wings turned the puck over again and again Thursday night, and it cost them the game.

"We really did," said Red Wings coach Mike Babc0ck. "We turned the puck over a lot."

The scary part for Detroit is that the biggest culprits were the six guys playing defense, otherwise known as the deepest and most talented blue-line corps in the NHL. They were giving pucks away as if they had forgotten what color their uniforms were.

"We have to cut down on turnovers," said Lidstrom, who was hit hard in the first period by Penguins winger Matt Cooke. "When we can get the puck in their zone and work on their D, we're getting chances. We have to get a little better playing with the puck and cut down on turnovers in the neutral zone."

It's a tired subject, but are the Red Wings tired? It was the fourth game in six nights for a Wings team that was licking its wounds entering the Cup finals. Lidstrom, speaking only for himself, said he was tired after Game 2 after the back-to-back start but felt fine in the past two games.

If Lidstrom wasn't tired, Henrik Zetterberg certainly looked it. He played 24:19 in Game 3 chasing Sidney Crosby around the ice, and he didn't look like himself Thursday night.

"I didn't think Z and the Mule [Johan Franzen] had as much jump tonight," said Babc0ck, who played Zetterberg 20:58 in Game 4.

The Wings coach didn't chase the Zetterberg-Crosby matchup in this game, and it was probably because he knew Zetterberg didn't have it in the tank.

Suddenly, getting reigning Selke Trophy winner Pavel Datsyuk back never sounded so good for the Wings. There was hope in the Detroit camp that the Hart Trophy nominee might be ready to return, but after taking the warm-up, he missed his seventh game.

"I don't think we really keep our minds on it, thinking Pav's going to come back like a knight in shining armor and save us," Osgood said. "We have to do it ourselves. We got to have guys step up, everybody step up, and play like we can."

Recent history suggests the Wings will do just that. They were pushed by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round, but responded with big wins in Games 5 and 7 to close the series out. They are 10-1 at Joe Louis Arena this spring, so a pivotal Game 5 doesn't exactly faze this group.

"We've been 2-2 over the years quite a bit, whether it be with Calgary, Nashville, whether it be in the Anaheim series," Babc0ck said. "Everyone talks about momentum, but I'm a big believer that momentum is, you know, as good as the next day's start kind of thing. Just get out there and get playing again and go from there. … And obviously, just like tonight's game was huge, the next game's absolutely huge for us."

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

Detroit was so not Detroit last night. So, what I would take from that is, don't expect two games in a row like that from Detroit. Game 5 will be sizzlin' with Datsyuk back in and the Pens with the momentum.

Pittsburgh 0, Detroit 5

GAME FIVE, 2009 STANLEY CUP FINALS
RED WINGS LEAD 3-2

	1	2	3	T
PIT	0	0	0	0
DET	1	4	0	5

Final

8:00 PM ET, June 6, 2009, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Red Wings punish Fleury, Penguins to take 3-2 lead in finals

MORE FROM ESPN, INCLUDING VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
http://espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=290606005

DETROIT (AP/ESPN)-- The Detroit Red Wings got exactly what they needed: a big win and long break.

After hearing how tired and beat up they were through four games of the Stanley Cup finals, the defending champions busted out with a devastating display of offense and defense and rolled to a 5-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night that put them a win away from another championship.

The veteran- laden Red Wings lead the series 3-2 and are closing in on their 12th Stanley Cup title and fifth in 12 seasons. Detroit can wrap this one up Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

"It's a huge win," Red Wings coach Mike Babc0ck said. "The biggest part is the extra days off. That's the best thing that we've got to this point.

"We'll be a better team."

Detroit's two-game losing streak in Pittsburgh quickly became a distant memory as the Red Wings returned to the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena and blew away the supposedly fresher Penguins.

The home team is 5-0 in the rematch of last year's finals, so the Penguins still have that going for them.

"When you don't play well at all, you have nothing to do but improve, and we have to," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "The situation is pretty clear for us. We have to go home and be desperate now."

Pavel Datsyuk made his mark in his first appearance in eight games, notching two assists, drawing a key penalty, and knocking leading scorer Evgeni Malkin to the ice. The Red Wings made the Penguins pay for a lack of discipline by going 3 for 9 on the power play. Detroit was 1 for 10 on the power play coming into Game 5.

Datsyuk even shook off a slash from Maxime Talbot on his sore right foot.
"When I play more, I'm more comfortable," said Datsyuk, who logged 17 1/2 minutes of ice time. "It's a little bit hard to start with the final series when I miss a couple of games, but I'm ready to play more."

Chris Osgood, on the verge of his fourth Stanley Cup championship -- third as the Red Wings starting goalie -- made 22 saves for his 15th playoff shutout, third on the NHL career list. He earned an assist on Valtteri Filppula's goal for his fifth career playoff point, and improved to 11-4 in the finals.


Fast Facts


• The Red Wings blew out the Penguins to take a 3-2 series lead.
• Detroit shut out an opponent for the second time this postseason. The last time the Red Wings shut out an opponent in a Stanley Cup finals game was last year's Game 2 against Pittsburgh.
• The Penguins were shut out for the second time this postseason.
• Chris Osgood now has 15 career playoff shutouts, which is the second most among active goalies (Martin Brodeur has 23).
• The Red Wings scored three power-play goals in the second period, tying the Stanley Cup finals record.
• Detroit has outscored Pittsburgh 11-2 in their three games in Detroit in this series.
-- ESPN Stats & Information


Detroit held a 29-22 shots advantage, the first time the home team had the edge.

"The other game is three days away so I don't know if [the shutout] has much bearing on what's going to happen in Pittsburgh," Osgood said. "It's more important for us to get a little break so we can be at full capacity when we go to Pittsburgh."

This series looked firmly in the Red Wings' control after they opened with a pair of 3-1 victories, but the Penguins seized momentum with two 4-2 wins that made Detroit appear worn out.

"We had no jump in the last game when they scored all the goals," Babc0ck said. "It didn't look like they had much jump when we scored all the goals. It's amazing how tired you look when you're not scoring and they are."

History suggests the Red Wings will hoist the Cup again as 14 of the 19 previous teams to win Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 have prevailed.

Pittsburgh won Game 5 in the Motor City last year in triple overtime to force the series to six games, but then was eliminated at home. The Penguins are 1-5 in Detroit in the past two finals, and Crosby failed to score a goal in all six games.

"We won in Game 5 in overtime last year and we won a regular-season game here, so I think we're pretty confident we can do a job here," Crosby said.

The Red Wings broke it open with four goals in the second period -- three in a span of 6:42 -- against beleaguered goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who left after making 16 saves on 21 shots. It wasn't the bouncy end boards that did him in this time, as they tormented him in the first two games, but rather a suddenly potent power play by the Red Wings.

Filppula started the barrage 1:44 into the second period when he made it 2-0 just 5 seconds after Chris Kunitz served a penalty for interfering with Osgood. That was the only even-strength goal of the period.

Niklas Kronwall pushed the lead to three at 6:11, 18 seconds into Sergei Gonchar's slashing penalty on Datsyuk. Fellow defenseman Brian Rafalski made it 4-0 at 8:26, and Henrik Zetterberg -- last year's playoff MVP -- closed the spurt at 15:40.

That chased Fleury to the bench in favor of backup Mathieu Garon, who made his first playoff appearance since 2004.

"We lost 5-0, so we can't be happy," Fleury said.

Datsyuk was sidelined since injuring his foot in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. He knocked Malkin hard off the puck behind the net and then made the final pass to set up Daniel Cleary's goal at 13:32 of the first period.

"He did very well for being off for as long as he has been," Rafalski said. "He wasn't 100 percent Pavel Datsyuk, but I will take 85 percent of Pavel Datsyuk than 100 percent of other guys."

Cleary scored his seventh goal in 11 games, but he hadn't registered a point in the finals.

Chants of Datsyuk's name filled the arena, replaced by calls of "We Want the Cup" as the final minutes ticked down, and others saluting Osgood.

Game notes
Detroit is 11-1 at home in the playoffs. ... Malkin, who leads with 35 playoff points, took three of Pittsburgh's nine minor penalties. ... Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom played in his 233 NHL postseason game, tying former D Scott Stevens for fifth on the career list.

Stanley Cup Finals factoids:

If Detroit wins, they will be the first team to win successive Cups since 1998, that team being the Wings coached both years by Scotty Bowman.

The previous team to win back-to-back Cups was the 1992 Penguins, coached by Scotty Bowman who took over from the late Bob Johnson.

The last team to win the Cup in a rematch after losing the previous year was the 1984 Oilers against the Islanders, coached both years by Glen Sather and Al Arbour respectively.

The last team to lose an SCF rematch was the 1978 Boston Bruins coached by Don Cherry, who lost both years the Bowman-coached Canadiens.

Since 1978 inclusively, an SCF rematch has happened only three times:
Detroit-Pittsburgh 2009
Edmonton-NY Islanders 1984
Montreal-Boston 1978

Scotty Bowman also figures in Stanley Cup Finals rematches with the St Louis Blues. The Blues went to the Finals three successive years, losing each time: to the Bruins in 1970, and to the Canadiens in 1968 and 1969.

The Detroit Red Wings have also lost SCF rematches. The Wings were defeated by the Maple Leafs in 1963 and 1964; those teams being coached by Sid Abel and George 'Punch' Imlach respectively.

From Sports Illustrated this morning:

Guerin: Young Pens shouldn't look too far ahead

PITTSBURGH (SI.COM/AP) -- With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and several other players in their early 20s under contract for the next few seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins appear to be in a position to be a perennial Stanley Cup contender for a while.

Here's some advice from someone who knows: Don't count on it.

Bill Guerin, the Penguins' 38-year-old forward, is playing in his first finals since he was with New Jersey at age 24. Back then, he was certain he would reach the NHL's championship series many more times, but it never happened until now.

The Penguins, who lost the finals to Detroit in six games last year, are down 3-2 to the Red Wings again going into Game 6 on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Guerin has seen injuries, contract disputes, goaltending issues, major upsets and other assorted problems cause many a favorite to fall out of the playoffs long before the finals, so the Penguins shouldn't assume they'll automatically be there every spring.

The last two seasons, Pittsburgh has been extended to seven games only once during six conference playoff series.

"I think this team's going to be sniffing around for championships for a long time because of the way they've drafted the last some odd years," Guerin said Sunday. "But, you know, you can't take opportunities for granted. You can't think they're going to come around every year because you can ask other older guys, they just don't."

Guerin, acquired in a deal with the Islanders at the trading deadline, is unsigned past this season. The Penguins have not yet said if they will offer him a new contract.

CAPTAIN INTERN
Steve Yzerman has been in the shadows at the Stanley Cup finals, quietly working as a Detroit Red Wings vice president.

"My role is really just watching at this point," Yzerman said.

The former Red Wings captain moved to the franchise's front office after retiring three years ago.

"I participate in the daily running of the organization, but mostly I just listen and observe," Yzerman said. "To see the results of different decisions over the last three years has been educational."

Yzerman's job, in essence, is a high-level internship.

In a few months, he will be running the show, and it will be one of special importance in his native Canada.

He is charge of Team Canada's quest to win a gold medal in Vancouver after playing for his home country during the previous two Olympics. Yzerman took over as executive director in place of Wayne Gretzky, whose teams won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002 but struggled in Turin four years later.

"We've got a list of players we're looking at, and we'll shorten the list to about 40 for our camp in the last week of August in Calgary," said Yzerman, who is expected to choose Detroit's Mike Wang as his coach. "And, we'll pick the team from there."

Yzerman smiled when asked if there will be a spot available for Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, who was surprisingly left off Team Canada as an 18-year-old in 2006 because Gretzky preferred to go with veterans.

NOT A CINCH, BUT IT COULD BE A CLINCH
Until the Red Wings won Game 6 there last year, Mellon Arena -- the former Civic Arena -- had never hosted a Stanley Cup-clinching game since the Pittsburgh Penguins entered the NHL in 1967.

Now, the Stanley Cup could be won there for the second season in a row, and by the same team. And it wouldn't be the home team.

The last time a team won the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons in the same opponent's building was during the 1977 and 1978 playoffs. Montreal won Game 6 in Boston in 1978, a year after finishing off a finals sweep by winning Game 4 in
Boston.

The Penguins, who didn't win either of the franchise's two Stanley Cups at home in 1991 and 1992, want to avoid a clincher on Tuesday and get the series back to Detroit for Game 7 on Friday. The Penguins are 8-2 at home in the playoffs.

"This is an extra jump at home. ... We're going to use our crowd," coach Dan Bylsma said. "They're going to come out in full force, and they're going to spur us on and our team will be focused. Hopefully we can take advantage of the small advantages that home does bring for you."

The Red Wings might also get a lift from a revved-up crowd, Dan Cleary said, even if there are only a few scattered Red Wings fans in the arena.

"We feed off the whole atmosphere of Pittsburgh and try to ride them a little bit," the Detroit forward said. "It should be fun Tuesday."

While the usual standing-room audience of 17,132 will be inside Mellon Arena, there won't be the estimated 8,000-10,000 who watched Games 3 and 4 on a large TV screen outside the arena. NBC does not allow its telecasts to be shown in such a way, so the big screen will be turned off.

If the Penguins don't win the Stanley Cup at home next season, they never will at Mellon Arena. The team moves into a new arena for the 2010-11 season.

ZEROED IN
The Penguins' 5-0 loss in Game 5 was their worst in the postseason since New Jersey beat them by the same score during Game 5 of the 2001 Eastern Conference finals. The last previous five-goal margin of victory in a Stanley Cup finals game was in 2006, eventual champion Carolina's 5-0 decision over Edmonton in Game 2.

ONE-TIMERS: This is the first time since 2003 that the home team has won each of the first five games of the finals. That year, New Jersey beat Anaheim 4-3 as the home team won every game. Both of the current coaches were involved in that series; Mike Babc0ck was Anaheim's coach, and Bylsma was one of his players. ... Seven different players have scored Detroit's seven game-winning goals during the last two finals. ... Detroit is 11-1 at home, one off the record for playoff home victories in a season. New Jersey was 12-1 in 2003.

As much as the Penguins are saying all the right things about Fleury ("It wasn't his fault", "We believe in him", they aren't concerened about his "psyche") the reality is this:

After a so-so pair of games by Detroit and Osgood, Osgood came up with a shut out. On the other side of the ice, with momentum not only on their side but practically becoming a part-owner of the team, Fleury had a bad game. All he had to do was be good -- not excellent -- and big "Mo" would have pushed the rest of the Penguins squad over to the winning side of the ledger.

The Pens came out swinging and Osgood stopped the shots he had to stop. Then came Fleury's time to shine, and he blew it. The first two goals were weak. The last three didn't matter.

So now we come to Game Six. One more chance to redeem themselves, except I have a sneaking suspicion that Orpik, Gonchar, Letang and the rest will be a little bit leery when doing their job. Maybe Orpik will try to temper his aggressive style, in fear of drawing a penalty that would lead to the winning losing goal. Gonchar may shy away from pinching in, thinking of all the breajaways that Osgood had stopped and how Fleury might do if presented with a similar situation. Maybe Letang will hesitate to make that long pass up the middle, in favor of the safe play off the glass and out.

We've all heard Torts say that "Safe is dead", but do the Penguins believe it? Can they believe it after Saturday's performance?

It sure is a good thing I wasn't around after game 4 because I probably would have made an arse out of myself gloating .

Cap'n Clutch wrote:It sure is a good thing I wasn't around after game 4 because I probably would have made an arse out of myself gloating .

Well, if the Pens win tomorrow, you'll get another glorious opportunity :^^^^: .

Isn't it funny, though, how the questions surrounding both goal-tenders just don't go away. When Detroit lost those two games in Pittsburgh you have to admit that Osgood was not all that great. And when Fleury had the opportunity to force the Wings to an away-game elimination match, he had easily his worst game of the playoffs.

However, Osgood, while not helping his cause much in games 3 and 4, was not the reason why the Wings lost; he was, however, a huge reason they won games 1 and 2; and Saturday night he held them in the game long-enough for the team to find their footing.

Was Fleury victimized by the boards in the first two games? Perhaps. Was he done in by his team-mates' penchant for taking penalties in game five? True. Still, that stinky feeling that Fleury lets the Big Games get into his head just won't go away.

OK, now that I've said that, of curse he's going to have a huge game tomorrow night, assisting on the winning goal and scoring the insurance marker himself. On a backhand. Top-corner. That's OK, I want the Wings to win it in Game Seven and deny caissie_1 in the bracket pool.

What if the Pens win in 7? What does that do to the pool?