Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings
Game 5
Saturday, June 6th, 8:00 PM ET
by Hockey GuruHow quickly we forget. It's amazing how the last impression we get sticks with us.
Going into the playoffs, Chris Osgood looked like an obvious flaw in Detroit's Perfect Machine. It was like the hot chick at the bar, who turns around to reveal a nose like Gonzo the Muppet - so close to perfection, but just not going to work out. Osgood was a glaring problem to experts like me, in Detroit's attempted Cup run this year. And not subtly, like Seinfeld's issue with "Man Hands".
But as the Wings rolled into the Cup Finals, and through Games 1 & 2, we changed our collective tune to:
"Osgood is the most underappreciated goalie ... Ozzie is the greatest clutch goalie ... "
Going back a few days, however, to immediately after Games 1 & 2 (which could have clearly gone either way ... a couple posts, a covered puck in the crease called for a penalty shot, a different bounce off the end boards, and this series could've been a Pittsburgh sweep), all of the experts,
the Guru included (note the capital G - someone's a little full of themselves) were saying:
"Detroit is simply awesome ... this is over ... there's no way Pittsburgh or anyone could win 4 of 5 from Detroit ... too bad for hockey ... this had the makings of a great series ... imagine that Detroit is doing this without Datsyuk ... "
It was OVER.
Then, a tremendous second period effort by Fleury and Pittsburgh found themselves tied up midway through the third period in game 3. Capitalizing on their powerplay, Pittsburgh pulls out Game 3 and maybe, just MAYBE the experts again felt that this could become a series.
After a second consecutive 4-2 victory on Thursday night, Pittsburgh squares the series. Now all the experts jump from one bandwagon to the other:
"Detroit is just getting old ... Pittsburgh has all the momentum now ... Osgood is vulnerable ... "
Well, let the Guru now also re-align his own thoughts.
Pittsburgh was down 2-0 to Washington and roared back to a 3-2 lead and eventually blew Washington out in Game 7.
Pittsburgh seems healthy, particularly up front. I LOVE what Dan Bylsma is doing, playing Crosby and Malkin a ton (something that the Bruins failed to do, as their goal was to simply roll 4 lines, no matter what, in case the series contained 17 overtime periods, I guess). Now is the opportunity for star players to seize the moment. With Malkin and/or Crosby on the ice for two-thirds of the game, there is constant pressure applied to the opponent.
Detroit has focused so much on the matchups and awareness of those two, that they've lost a bit of focus on their own game. They've become
reactive while Pittsburgh is being
proactive. That's the difference in the series, right now.
Going into this Best-of-Three for the hardest trophy to win in all of sports, here's my current breakdown:
- Crosby and Malkin are close and they want it WAY more than anyone on Detroit.
- Detroit has drank from the Cup a lot and can't match the drive the leaders of Pittsburgh have right now.
- Fleury is more able to steal a game than Osgood, at this point. Although, we've learned never to write Ozzie off, this seems like a pretty clear advantage for Fleury.
- The Guru is leaning toward Pittsburgh (of course, his rooting interest in this series has been there all along and he may be getting carried away with the short memory syndrome).
- Pavel Datsyuk is a wild card - what kind of impact will he bring tonight?
- Will the home ice and line-matching ability make it easier for Detroit to get the matchups they want and focus on their own game more?
- Which way will the puck bounce tonight?
- Aren't we due for an overtime in this series soon?
- The schedule from here on out may favor Detroit a bit with the multiple days off between games the rest of the way
Peace to all those who read this post. Your comments, reactions and criticisms are wanted!
