It would seem that out shooting your opponent in this Stanley Cup Final, isn't a good thing. So far, after 4 games, the team with the most shots has lost every game. I'm thinking Hossa must be injured as he's doesn't seem to have the jump he usually has, and you'd think playing against his former club would give him an extra boost above and beyond his normal level. This guy isn't 100%. You can't really blame Ozzie for the 4 goals that beat him tonight. He played well, but faced too many odd man rushes as a result of too many bad turnovers. Evgeni Malkin has clearly been watching some game tapes as he picked off at least 3 Red Wing passes back to the point and created break away chances. It's starting to look like Evil Gary's schedule is paying off for the younger Pens as Detroit played their 5th game in 8 days.
I can throw out any number of cliche's and say that "It's not over 'till a home team loses" or any of that garbage, but the fact remains this is a best of 3 series now and we're heading back to Joe Louis arena all tied up at 2 games a piece. One thing that amazes me, is that this Red Wing team still hasn't played the way they normally do, and are still tied heading home with home ice advantage intact. This win should give Pittsburgh a huge lift, but we'll see how they handle heading back to Detroit to face a healthy Pavel Datsyuk and company.
Game 5 on Sat.
Hate to rain on your pity parade, but the Wings haven't played 5 games in 8 nights. Game # 5 against Chi was on Wed, May 27, and last night's was on Thu, Jun 4, which covers a span of 9 days (Wed to Tue is 7 days, plus Wed, plus Thu). In other words, the Wings have "only" played 5 games in 9 nights (4 nights off). Still a tough schedule for a bunch of geezers, but 12.5% better than you characterized... ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh, and while I can certainly understand if a Detroit fan didn't enjoy it, that 2nd period last night was amazing!! I rarely have to put my laptop aside while watching TV, but that's exactly what happened for most of that period.
ReplyDeleteFor a fan of the game, the second period was great to watch. Just as Detroit looked poised to go up 3-1 in the game (and maybe the series) Staal scored that shorty and started the Pens momentum shift. All in all, it'll make for a great return to Detroit. This series is shaping up to be a classic.
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