By Allan Muir, SI.com
After pulling out that thrilling victory in Game 3 -- and really, could there have been a more com
pelling contest to sell the sport on prime time TV than that 3-2 nailbiter? -- the Penguins have to be feeling pretty good about their chances heading into Game 4.
But as they step onto the ice, braced by the roars of 17,000 die-hard supporters at Mellon Arena on Saturday night, they should take a moment to soak up the adoration of the home crowd. Odds are they won't get another chance this season.
Yep. This thing ends in five. Make book on it.
Sure, on paper at least, the Penguins made this a series with Wednesday night's win. And there certainly were plenty of observers who took it as a sign that they have solved the mystery of Detroit's defense, and that after studying the epic beatings they suffered in Games 1 and 2, they've crafted a template for beating the Red Wings.
Hardly.
That win was not the result of a perfectly executed game plan as much as it was a case of a team riding a backs-to-the-wall effort and a few breaks to a win in a game they probably deserved to lose.
To be sure, there were elements of Pittsburgh's approach that gave them a better chance of success. And those elements -- getting the lead, capitalizing on the power play, more disciplined physical pressure on the boards and limiting the odd-man rushes by stepping up in the neutral zone -- all have to be in place for the Penguins to have a chance at evening the series on Saturday. But that won't be enough.
In fact, the Penguins have to improve on at least two of those areas if they hope to stay in the game. The power play, just one of 11 in the series, has spent too much time trying to gain control in the zone and, when inside, too many passes are wasted trying to set up the gimme goal. The one they did score in Game 3, Sidney Crosby's second of the game, was an old fashioned, go-to-the-net, bang-in-the-rebound type that playoff wins are built around. And considering the level of discipline the Wings have displayed through the first three games -- the Pens have been short 19 times, by comparison -- the Pens can't afford to wait for their skill to pay off. To paraphrase the great Donnie Shulzhoffer, they need to go to the net with a big heart and a big bag of knuckles when the opportunity arises.
And while the Penguins improved their physical play, the sense that they dominated was oversold by Brooks Orpik's epic four-hit shift in the third period. In truth, the majority of contact was initiated after the Detroit player had already moved the puck. Punishment has its value, but it's better to create turnovers by hitting the man when he actually has possession.
So Pens fans can gather some heart knowing their team has yet to play its best game. But here's the thing: through three contests, the Wings have yet to play their best game, too. Despite that, Detroit has still managed to be the better team in each of those three contests. There's no reason to believe that trend won't continue in Game 4.
The Red Wings aren't giving anything away. Domination on faceoffs is allowing them to comfortably control the puck. Watching them set up the transition with a series of five- to eight-foot passes instead of trying to stretch the ice is a thing of hypnotic beauty. They're not taking penalties and they're committing so few turnovers that you can count them on one hand. For a team like Pittsburgh that thrives on burying mistakes, there simply aren't enough miscues to work with.
And then there's the slumbering Red Wings offense. While Detroit has outscored Pittsburgh 9-3 in the series, the Wings have done so with little help from Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Both have found other ways to contribute -- Datsyuk's been extremely effective as a banger, of all things -- but it's only a matter of time before their chances are converted. And remember: all eight of Datsyuk's post-season goals have come on the road, including a hat trick in Game 3 against Dallas that essentially crushed any hope of a Stars comeback in the Western Conference Finals. Game 4 is practically set up for a dominant performance from the diminutive Russian.
And then there's the Mule. Johan Franzen, sidelined by concussion-like symptoms in Game 1 and struggling to rediscover his legs in Game 2, was a force in Game 3, twice beating Marc-Andre Fleury. Though only one counted -- the first was blown off as a result of the net being off its moorings -- Franzen used his size and surprising speed to get into the prime scoring area with impunity. Apparently back to full health, he's a physical presence in front of the net for which the Pens really have no legal recourse.
The Wings may be without Tomas Holmstrom, who drew a pair of penalties in Game 3 with his strong positioning out front, but his absence would likely translate to more ice time for Franzen on Saturday night.
Out of the frying pan...
Oh, and then there's the experience factor. Twice before in these playoffs, the Wings have taken their foot off the gas and allowed Nashville and Dallas back into a series they had no business being in at all. But instead of losing momentum, the Wings regrouped and finished the job. In a game that will determine the course of the Stanley Cup final, the ability of this team to draw upon the confidence that came from those wins could be the deciding factor.
Add it all up, and the Red Wings should board a plane late Saturday night with a chance to hoist the old chalice Monday on home ice.
Cintia Dicker
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Comments (72) Add A Comment
haha you're unreal. do you want to make it any more apparent that you have zero respect for the Pens?
"That win was not the result of a perfectly executed game plan as much as it was a case of a team riding a backs-to-the-wall effort and a few breaks to a win in a game they probably deserved to lose."
a few breaks? like the Wings first goal on a bogus powerplay? or their second goal that was a floater that deflected off of Orpik's stick? Sid's first two goals were well earned, and if you think Hall didn't intend to bank it off of Osgood for the game winner, you've never played a period of hockey in your life.
The Wings are a solid team no doubt, but they're far from unbeatable.
66 Buries It
Total Comments (11)
I couldn't have said that any better myself. Bravo! It's nice to see some support for the Wings for once. I don't get cable only basic TV minus CBC so I am forced to watch my Wings on NBC of all things. All their Crosby hype is making me sick. The Wings truly are the dominant team. Don't get me wrong, the Pens are good, very good. In a few years when and if Crosby gets wiser and becomes an effective TWO WAY player they will truly scare me. But until that day comes I must say this, physical play has a different meaning in the East than it does in the West and if game 3 is the best the Pens have to offer they truly are sunk
wingedwheel30
Total Comments (2)
I couldn't have said that any better myself. Bravo! It's nice to see some support for the Wings for once. I don't get cable only basic TV minus CBC so I am forced to watch my Wings on NBC of all things. All their Crosby hype is making me sick. The Wings truly are the dominant team. Don't get me wrong, the Pens are good, very good. In a few years when and if Crosby gets wiser and becomes an effective TWO WAY player they will truly scare me. But until that day comes I must say this, physical play has a different meaning in the East than it does in the West and if game 3 is the best the Pens have to offer they truly are sunk
wingedwheel30
Total Comments (2)
If experience was any factor than why don't you explain the sweep of Ottawa and the 4-1 pounding that New York took. Now how much experience did some of those players have??? Doesn't sound to me like we were watching the same game on Wednesday. Detroit obviously showed their a great team once again, but when Pittsburgh wins AGAIN tomorrow (let me remind you that NOBODY has beaten them at home in how long again?) i'll be sure to get back on this same blog to rub it in. And by the way, for you to say that neither Nashville nor Dallas had "any business at all" being in those series shows complete disrespect for both teams. I'm not reading your articles anymore.
PensFan473
Corydon , IN
Total Comments (34)
Oh and by the way, Detroit has only won 7 more faceoffs in this series than Pitt, so you obviously use the word "domination" VERY loosely.
PensFan473
Corydon , IN
Total Comments (34)
Tremendous points. I believe the New England Patriots are still a better team than the NY Giants. But who has the trophy?
PenSword
Total Comments (4)
EXACTLY!!!
PensFan473
Corydon , IN
Total Comments (34)
Detroit is 10 times better than Pittsburgh, and the Penguins would've been destroyed by the Senators from the beginning of the season, rather than the pitifully depleted mess they encountered in round one. Pittsburgh, like their young captain, is grossly overrated, and regardless of what hapens Saturday, they will still win this series, with Zetterberg likely winning the Conn Smythe.
Bruinsfan4life
Wylie , TX
Total Comments (68)
The Super Bowl is a single elimination game, where flukes can sometimes happen. Lesser teams don't usually undeservedly win 4 of 7 games in a series. The1980 Soviet national team was much better than the US national team, and probably would've won the next four games if it was a series, but it wasn't. Plus, New England was also ridiculously overhyped and overrated.
Bruinsfan4life
Wylie , TX
Total Comments (68)
Ten times better? No wonder you're a bruins fan for life!
PenSword
Total Comments (4)
i love how people still claim that crosby is overrated... overhyped, maybe... but overrated? just doesn't seem like an objective look at what is going on out there...
pbliz
Canton , NY
Total Comments (93)
Mr Muir, thanks for having sense to pull your nose out of Cindy's and Buttmans butt!! The media coverage is as corrupt as coverage of Russian elections. You wouldn't have known that other political parties existed!!! Here is to freedom of speech, and Dats soring a couple of beauties tommorow!!!
P.S. Isn't it great that unless you are a resident of PA, NY, District of Columbia, and a few other states, you can not buy a ticket for game 4 on Ticketmaster!!! It says, that unless you are a resident of these few states, your order will automatically be cancelled. "Detroit fans, we don't want you in there"
Some free country we've got here!
miketherookie
Charleston , SC
Total Comments (3)
i love how people still claim that crosby is overrated... overhyped, maybe... but overrated? just doesn't seem like an objective look at what is going on out there...
pbliz | 05/30/08, 07:30 PM
Ovechkin scored 65 goals this season (first to do so in 15 years) and tallied 112 pts, averaging more points per game than Crosby, whilst leading a mediocre team to the playoffs for the first time in years, but all any sports analyst will talk about is Crosby. He'll never be a millionth as good as Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, or Howe, yet the media seems hellbent on forcefeeding viewers nonsense about his greatness. It's sickening. Perhaps I wouldn't mind such blind and shameless praise if he really were the next "Great One," but he's not, and not by a long shot.
Bruinsfan4life
Wylie , TX
Total Comments (68)
Bruinsfan-
Ovechkin is great but the guys stats are inflated by the fact he takes more shots than anyone in hockey. I understand the backlash against american television pretending he is the only story in hockey. With that said people like you are missing out on a legend in the making and you only come off like an uninformed hater.
0000mike0000
Fairport , NY
Total Comments (3)
The Pens from the early rounds didn't show up for games 1 & 2, but they showed up for game 3. If they continue to play as they did Wed night, then this is going to be a long series. Do I thnk the Wings are a better team? Yes, I do, but that doesn't always translate into a championship.
Hall did indeed plan that shot to bank in, there's no doubt about it. Perfectly executed as well.
As for the Preds and the Stars being in series they had no business in:
1. The Preds maybe, there were a couple other teams in the west that showed me more. Then again I think Trotz should have gotten consideration for coach of the year for taking them to the playoffs after that fire sale they had in Nashville
2. The Stars were right where they belonged. You have to remember the first two series for them were tougher than the Wings had to play through. Both the Ducks and the Sharks were better teams than the Preds and Avs.
One thing I will say: If the Wings win Sat night, this series is over.
Side note: Bad penalties and missed penalties have been called both ways. Crosby hasn't shown me one dive in the entire series. and miketherookie, were you really interested in spending $1000 each for tickets?? LOL
mhwings
Total Comments (550)
000mike0000
So why is that then they say "So and so had a bad game, zero shots on goal" ???
It must take something to get ALL those shots..... and them to have 65 of them go in!!!
And don't give me that Ovie plays one sided game. His eyes always burn with fire, and he dishes them out more then Cynthia does, that's for sure!
miketherookie
Charleston , SC
Total Comments (3)
Bitter because your Stars weren't good enough, Mr Muir? Faceoffs have been 35-31, 31-29 and 28-27, which is hardly "domination" and puts the Pens well ahead of expectations. Detroit's only a +4 on giveaways in this series and unless you're a circus freak, you can't count them on one hand. The lack of production from Detroit's top players isn't a negative, it's a positive? Is this Datsyuk's mom writing?
johnc596
Carrollton, TX
Total Comments (4)
Wingedwheel, what're you talking about Crosby not being a two way player? Probably the most played highlight of the Philly series was Crosby coming back and stealing the puck to eventually set up Hossa - Crosby is very responsible on both sides of the puck.
I don't think Ovechkin does dish them more than Crosby either dude, if you're going to base what you're saying on stats, maybe take a look at their assist totals. Just sayin. These complaints are about the media hyping one person and not another, yet they were hyping Ovechkin like crazy when he was playing well - but when he pulled a bit of a disappearing act at the beginning of the playoffs and then his team lost, well...they stopped. And now, of course, they're hyping Crosby cause Ovechkin is playin golf and collecting his well deserved league hardware.
I think Muir has been pretty good about not having his nose in the Pens butt for the most part. Hes been giving a lot of respect to the Wings, and he should be. But he's not predicting the Wings are going to win because of Crosby, so I don't know why this suddenly turned into a hate-fest. Why did it?
dibbly
Pittsburgh , PA
Total Comments (94)
people that continue to diss Crosby and call him 'Cindy' are embarrassingly jealous and mindless fools, plain and simple. if you had him on your team, you would love it just like everyone in Pittsburgh does. show some respect, he's a great player and if you say he's overrated, you're just a dumbass. if you can't figure out why they hype him up in the media, you're just being ignorant. aside from his obvious skills, he's modest, humble, and is a great ambassador for the game. he is the face of the game whether you like it or not. ovechkin is a great player as well and is respected for it, but he's just not as complete as sid. i would hope that he would score around 60 on almost 450 shots! in fifteen years, we'll see who has more rings.
and as far as letting people into the games in Pittsburgh that are out of town, cry about. so sorry that we actually have fans from our own city who fill the arena and deserve to be there. i was at game 2 in detroit because they couldnt fill their arena with their own fans. some 'hockeytown,' what a joke.
66 Buries It
Total Comments (11)
i guess the media coverage i get in canada is probably different then what those of you in the states... while definatley not underhyped, i think the coverage is really balanced, ovechkin definatley gets as much tv time as he deserves and the red wings have been getting their deserved press time and have long been labeled the favorites in this series... again, i watch the game on cbc, not nbc so i don't know about everyones perspective... but crosby is definatley not overrated, not really that overhyped either
pbliz
Canton , NY
Total Comments (93)
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