Wow, what an adrenaline rush. The Penguins dominated the first 40 minutes of the game, then held off a furious Detroit surge in the final minutes to force a decisive Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Buckle up. If you have a history of diabetes or heart issues, I would strongly suggest walking away from your television set on Friday night and saving yourself the blood pressure rise.
The Pens' third liners and bottom pairing defensive defensemen coupled with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to stave off elimination for at least three more days.
Tyler Kennedy's goal insurance goal five and a half minutes into the final frame proved to be the winner, coming after Jordan Staal tallied in the second period on a two on one break with Matt Cooke, beating Chris Osgood.
Kris Draper, however, would turn the momentum drastically with twelve minutes left. He picked up a long rebound off a Johnny Ericsson slap shot and wristed it into an empty net. Fleury had no chance.
Things would get worse.
Evgeni Malkin took a mindless cross-checking penalty at 9:18, and the Wings damn near scored on the powerplay. Rob Scuderi, who starred in the Pens' show in this game, swept the puck away from a looming Nick Lidstrom as a yawning cage sat behind him, saving a sure goal.
Once that was killed, Bill Guerin went off for high sticking. The Pens came up big on the kill.
Dan Cleary was allowed a breakaway when Pavel Datsyuk saucered the puck behind the Penguins' blueliners. Fleury stayed with Cleary all the way for the biggest stop of his life.
With 18 seconds left, a mad scramble broke out around Fleury. As Johan Franzen was whacking at the puck at the top of the crease, Scuderi whipped out his left leg and kicksaved the puck away.
The Pens narrowly escaped, but a win is a win.
Notes-
-Free agent Scuderi is playing himself out of the Pens' price range.
-Any more questions about Fleury's mental toughness?
-Osgood kept the Wings in the game and gave them a shot.
-The third line was money.
-Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals! One win away!
Go Penguins.
2 comments:
One win...that's all I ask Pens...ONE MORE
I will tell you what. the score does not reflect the kind of game the Penguins played last night. The team played their best game by far, in my opinion. I am getting tired of all the doubters. I am getting tired of hearing how impossible it is for us to win this. I am tired of hearing of all the depth of the Detroit Redwings. I am tired of hearing that we can't win without Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby scoring. I will tell you what, it is game seven and anything can happen.
Look out Loretta!
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