98 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Please post your thoughts, pictures and comments on tonight's game in this thread.

Pittsburgh at Detroit

[ladiesandgentlemen]

It would be a huge boon for the NHL if the Pens could win this one game to slip another in on Wednesday before the NBA Finals take over the sports airwaves/ratings in the US on Thursday with the Lakers vs the Celtics.

Kinda sad to look at it this way, but Pittsburgh hasn't given me anything else to hope for. They have been but a bug on the windshield in the Wings cruise to the parade in Motown.

[DropThePuck]

TSN's Ice Chips:

Jordan Staal has a bruised foot after taking a shot off on a penalty kill on Saturday. He will play in Game 5 on Monday, but was still limping badly Sunday. - TSN

[OrangeDucky]

It appears to me that Penguins have run out of energy. I don't think they have lost their will exactly, but the energy they possessed in the previous games before this series is obviously not with them now. They can make a huge turn around and win this thing, though it may seem unlikely. I think they can do it, but they really need a huge boost.

[lvsprt]

Handshake line upcoming...

[DropThePuck]

In fact, Crawford sees the penalty killing by both the Red Wings and the Penguins as underrated in this series, and gives his thoughts as to why they've each been so dominant.

"It's been very tactically and technically a very sound, sound penalty-killing series,” he said. “And you have to make great plays to score."

Saturday night, it was the Red Wings who made just one extra "great play," and they came away with a very crucial victory.

And while it seems as if Detroit is fully in the drivers' seat, with a chance to clinch Monday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Crawford believes that the longer the series goes, the more the young legs of the Penguins will begin to take control.

<NHL.com and Crawford's podcast interview>

[DropThePuck]

"I don't think there's really anything to be nervous about," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "We have to make sure we empty the tank and play desperate and see where that takes us. But I think we learned from Games 1 and 2 and realize that when we play our game we're going to create chances, and we'll give ourselves a better chance to win."
...
It would help the Penguins both on even strength and the power play if Evgeni Malkin locates his scoring touch. The Russian superstar has been held pointless in this series and is a minus-3. He has scored only one goal in the last eight games.

As a result, Malkin has been taking a lot of heat from the media these days for his lack of production at such an important time. He looked both depressed and frustrated following Game 4 when he sat at his locker stall with his head in his hands.

When asked Sunday if the criticism of Malkin is warranted, Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said, "It's not up to me to say that."

<link>

[DropThePuck]

"We're just trying to focus for the game," said Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom, who will be back in the lineup tomorrow after missing Saturday's 2-1 win at Pittsburgh due to a hamstring injury. "You can't really look much further. Friends are calling and everybody's calling. It's a freak show. You have to focus on the task at hand, and that's it. No more."

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[FredFrog]

I believe that the series is over. The Penguins, like the Senators last year, simply can not compete with the best of the West.

[DropThePuck]

"I've been in exactly this situation in the Stanley Cup Finals, won 15 (playoff) games and you think that everything's going to go your way, and last time I got to watch someone else lift the Cup."

Babcock, who was coaching Anaheim in 2003 when the Ducks lost to New Jersey in Game 7.

<link>

[ducks4adam98]

I believe that the series is over. The Penguins, like the Senators last year, simply can not compete with the best of the West.

Yep. Goodnight Penguins. Your road to the cup was too easy compared to the Wings. If the Penguins had the schedule the Wings had they wouldn't have made it. Heck, if they were any of the Western Conference teams they wouldn't have made it this far. The West dominates.

[ladiesandgentlemen]

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "We have to make sure we empty the tank and play desperate and see where that takes us."
<link>

A different perspective on "emptying the tank":

Short shifts lengthen Red Wings' Cup hopes

Four numbers stuck with me after watching the Detroit Red Wings take a 3-1 series lead on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night:
•Defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, the 38-year-old captain of the Red Wings, played more than 28 minutes, skating 37 shifts, an average ice time of 44 seconds.
•Pavel Datsyuk played 19 minutes, averaging 39 seconds.
•Henrik Zetterberg played close to 23 minutes, averaging 43 seconds.
•Johan Franzen averaged 42 seconds.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock had mentioned after the Wings' loss in Game 3 that he would like his players to take shorter shifts, and I was impressed with the way the Red Wings followed his lead.

Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, on the other hand, averaged 66 seconds a shift in Game 4. That's why you saw him running out of juice at the end of the game. You can't play that long a shift at this time of year and expect to be successful and be able to help your team. I don't care how old you are.

When I coached, I always believed in short shifts. If you stay out too long on the ice, you hurt yourself at the end of the game, especially in the Finals, when you've already played more than 100 games during the season. I believed in fresh legs and fresh bodies. Plus, your teammates won't be very happy with you because they want to go out and play.

Everyone might think that Saturday's game was won on Jiri Hudler's goal. But it was won on the 5-on-3 that the Red Wings killed off midway through the third period.

Because Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall (average 44 seconds) had taken shorter shifts earlier in the game, they were fresh when they needed to kill off that crucial two-man disadvantage. And when the Penguins called a timeout because they needed to reorganize their power play attack, those three were able to get a breather, stay on the ice and kill off the rest of the penalty. Link

Sounds like the Penguins are being out-coached...

[DropThePuck]

CHELIOS SITS OUT? It's doubtful Wings defenceman Chris Chelios, 46, will suit up tonight. He hasn't played at all in the final.

"I don't foresee it happening," he said. "We're playing great hockey. We beat Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. We smell blood again. Hopefully we'll go after it."

STAAL'S OKAY: Penguins centre Jordan Staal says his sore foot is okay. "(I) had a blocked shot on my foot and just bruised it a little," he said. "When I took off my skate it started swelling up a bit. But it feels fine today."

SWEDE TALK: In killing Pittsburgh's third-period two-man advantage in Game 4, Detroit had Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall – all Swedes – on the ice. "Once we were on the ice, we were talking Swedish to each other, for positioning and stuff like that," said Lidstrom.

<link>

[UltraDavid]

I believe that the series is over. The Penguins, like the Senators last year, simply can not compete with the best of the West.

Yep, I think this series will end tonight.

[Pavlo]

Let's Go !!!
but i think the series'll end tonight...

[Todrick]

As much as it pains me to say it...

Detroit deserves to win.

[wildcat48]

With a win tonight by the Red Wings, former Pirate Mark Hartigan will win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

[TroyLoney]

It's just my opinion but I think the Penguins win tonight.

[Dark Knight]

With a win tonight by the Red Wings, former Pirate Mark Hartigan will win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

He didn't get his name on last year's and most likely won't get it on this year's either.

[1chicducky]

I believe that the series is over. The Penguins, like the Senators last year, simply can not compete with the best of the West.

My thoughts exactly! Pittsburgh is good but the Red Wings and practically everyone else on the West Coast.. except perhaps the Queens... haha gotta get my potshot in there, is better. However, Wildwing94 and I have a bet going on and we both picked the Red Wings to win. So I played him rock, paper, scissors and lost. I will now have to root for the Penguins.

[Still MIGHTY]

Well well...
Here come the Penguins

0 - 2 End of 1st period

Marian Hossa gots the goal after a hit by Pascal Dupuis jars the puck from Brian Rafalski. The puck slides to Crosby, who slides it to Hossa, who slides it through Chris Osgood.
On the second goal, Niklas Kronwall put it in his own net. Hall got smothered, the puck is sitting in the crease, and Kronwall cleared it top shelf over a kneeling Osgood. Hall will got the goal.

Pens are playing fast and physical.
Malkin is still invisible, though.
Crosby continues to play his ass off, and he is just piling up the minutes in this game.
Pens are playing the way they need to, and its working so far

[DropThePuck]

... the infamous 2 goal lead ...

[DropThePuck]

Hope is about all Malkin seems to be clinging to these days, because his otherworldly ability to score goals is M.I.A. But his teammates not only believe in him, they trust that he will get a big one in Game 5 to help keep this series alive.

"Once one goes in, I think it heals everything," Sidney Crosby said. "We'll tell him to keep doing the same things. You don't forget (how to score). He's a great player, and all the things he's been doing, he's going to be rewarded for it. It's just a matter of time. I don't think we're too worried. He's going to find a way."
...
"I have all my energy and power," Malkin said. "No, I don't think I've hit a wall."

Then, what is it? Malkin sure would like to know.

"I don't really know why," Malkin said. "I mean, sometimes, yes I'm thinking that I'm not scoring the goals and why, what has happened? But I try not to really think about it a lot why I'm not scoring."
...
"Obviously (the media) puts a lot of pressure on him and I think he feels it, but I'm sure he's going to bounce back," Talbot said. "As a teammate you try to stay positive with him and help him out. You give him a tap on the back and say, 'OK, you're fine buddy, you're going to do it.' All these guys in the dressing room are behind him. He's going to wake up and make us win."

<link>

[Still MIGHTY]

Detroit not playing particularly well the first few minutes.

Helm throws is at the net and it deflects off a Penguin defenseman and past Fleury

1 - 2 16:32 left in 2nd Period

[Still MIGHTY]

1 - 2 End of 2nd

This is a great game right now.
Up and down, gritty hockey.