Lucky

I would hate to be the Penguins right now. They played some pretty good hockey over the weekend, only to find themselves down 0-2 in the Cup Finals. I have to admit that I was worried. Detroit only had two days of rest and 5 injured players. They were going to have to play back-to-back games. The Wings were without Datsyuk, Draper, & Kopetsky. At least Lidstrom and Eriksson were able to come back from injury to shore up the defense.

 

That they did. Crosby and Malkin had their chances, but they were extremely limited. Osgood was there to make the big stop on the few chances the dynamic duo did get. Malkin scored a powerplay goal, but that's it.

 

I can hear it already. The Wings got lucky. Crosby and Guerin rang several shots off the post. There was a non-call on Hossa which led to a goal. Zetterburg covered a puck in the crease, twice, without penalty. The Penguins were unlucky. Fleury got two bad bounces off the springy Joe Louis end-boards that led diredtly to Red Wing goals.

 

I agree. Totally. The same hockey karma nearly did in Detroit against the Ducks. They couldn't catch a break in that series and the officiating seemed to be against them. But they battled back and won in 7-games. But isn't that pretty much a part of sports? Shit happens. But you gotta move on. It's definitely gut-check time for Pittsburgh.

 

They say a series is not over until you lose on home ice. Well, now it's the Penguins turn to show what they've got and maybe they will get all the calls, breaks and bounces at home. The Red Wings are still going to be without Draper and Datsyuk, arguably their best scoring and checking forwards. If you look at it the other way, the Pens were able to limit Zetterburg, Holmstrom, and Franzen from doing too much damage. They outshot Detroit. This series is a lot closer than the two 3-1 scores would indicate.

 

But I have a feeling that the Pens are not up to this challenge. The Red Wings had more excuses going into the Cup Final. Yet it appeared to only deepen their resolve. Detroit got two big wins despite not playing their best or having their best players available. Time to see what Pittsburgh is really made of.