The End

Stanley Cup Finals – Game 6 (June 4, 2008)

Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it."

-- George Orwell

1st Period

5:14pm: The Red Wings look like they want this game WAY more than the Penguins. First minute of the game, the Pens can’t get it out of their own zone.

5:16: Maxim Talbot might be one of my favorite players of the playoffs. He was completely amped during the pre-game (chest bumping MAF), then laid the wood TWICE on his first shift. Oh, and he has a monster Playoff Beard!! At least the crowd understood that it was a big deal!

5:17: Malkin needs to get off the skids. He was just left alone in front of the net, had time and space, and shot it into the logo of Osgood’s jersey. Credit to Osgood? Or another example of Malkin not showing up this series?

--Side note: The first goal is so huge in this series. If Detroit scores first, I really get the feeling that they’ll clamp down. Not to mention, MAF has to be feeling great and might be getting into the Wings’ players head quickly.

5:21: Sydor just took a bad penalty. Reason 23487907 why I hate Kirk Maltby. He dove again, yet no one ever talks about this!

5:24: Maltby’s dive leads to Rafalski’s goal on the power play. Well, there’s the first goal. The crowd sounds to be rebounding, let’s see how the next few shifts look with momentum. (Replay: What a great pass by Zetterberg. I think both assists will go to Zetter and Datsyuk. Damn they’re good.)

5:26: Officials missed an obvious hook. The Wing player’s stick was caught in the jersey. Malkin interfered literally 2 seconds later… so maybe they’ll let the players play.

5:29: Replay shows that the Rafalski goal went off Hal gill’s leg…. Bad break!

5:33: Detroit has just taken two penalties in a row, Pens NEED to score on this 5-3. I’m shocked they actually called that Boarding call on Draper. Huge, because he’s also a penalty killer.

5:35: The Wings just killed that 2 man with no problem at all. If they can play even 2 men down, how the hell are they going to do anything at even strength? Malkin doesn’t even look dangerous. He has prime ice time, but Detroit is keeping him to the outside and he’s not even fighting to get to the scoring areas. Even on the 2 man.

5:38: Immediately after the 2 man expired, Lidstrom just caught a High-stick in the face from Adam Hall. Doesn’t it feel like this is exactly the time that the Red Wings will end this series? Big PK, then a PP goal would be devastating!

5:41: Good PK by the Pens. Really there was only one serious chance by Franzen. By the way, Brooks Orpik is going to make some coin as an UFA next year. Young, mean, and getting better every year. Also, Therrien just said that he’s ok with the Crosby/Zetterberg match-up. For an NHL coach, Therrien is a stupid man.

5:45: Datsyuk to Zetterberg. Penguins: Don’t let them shoot, ever.

5:50: Why the hell isn’t the Staal line against the Zetterberg line? Jordan Staal just blew up Datsyuk again. Therrien should be taking advantage of this matchup, and then he could get the Crosby line away from the Selke candidates.

5:52: Therrien just changed lines to matchup Staal and Zetterberg. I should be a coach. My services are available. Figures, it took him a period to figure this out—and Detroit’s playing with another freaking lead.

2nd Period

6:14: Finally! A long stretch pass, some transition game, leads to a minor penalty by the Red Wings. You almost get a feeling that this could be a chance…

6:16: Pens need to learn how to win a freakin' face-off. On the plus side, the last 3 shifts, Malkin’s had some jump.

6:18: Brooks Orpik is a Mack truck. Talbot is still playing with more energy than anyone on the ice (either team).

(Another side note: It feels like the Penguins need momentum to make anything happen, and they HAVE to make something happen during these rushes. The Red Wings are just a cold, heartless, machine…. They can strike at anytime. One fluke, one misstep, one bounce, one mistake and they’ll pounce on it. They’re dangerous 60 minutes of the game. It’s like the entire Red Wings team has taken the personality of Nicklas Lidstrom. Not a bad captain.)

6:25: Pittsburgh has lost that burst of momentum that they had, the game has settled down. This is when they need to watch out. Typically, this is when the Red Wings counterpunch and score.

6:25: Bad rebound by MAF, Filppula went to the net and scored. It’s the same script as always. I’ve seen this movie before.

Win a freakin’ face-off.

6:31: Face-offs. Back checking. Line matching. Driving the net. Detroit is DOMINATING in all of these areas.

6:36: Another mini-momentum swing going towards the Penguins. Talbot and Roberts creating chances. There’s some energy creeping back into the building, but they have to score. 6:15 left in the 2nd period, at some point moral victories don’t matter. They need to put the puck in the net, even if it’s ugly. In fact, Detroit just took a penalty in the offensive zone. Pittsburgh needs a goal. Not momentum. Not scoring chances. A goal.

6:41: Malkin scores on the Power Play! Finally they weren’t chasing. They were aggressive, Malkin was aggressive by stepping to the middle of the ice, and didn’t hesitate. The rest of this period are huge (4 and a half minutes).

6:43: Roberts took a high sticking penalty 200 feet from his own goal. Pens need a good PK. Seems like Detroit might have a problem setting this one up. Pens have jump. It just occurred to me that the Pens can’t counter-punch for shit.

6:47: Franzen just punched and elbowed Orpik in the face twice. Apparently Franzen got 2 minutes for Roughing; Orpik got his 2 minutes for Receiving.

3rd Period

7:09: The Penguins have to get some shots on goal early in the 3rd; otherwise the Wings might be able to get into their heads like Game 5.

7:13: Has Lidstrom ever been called for obstruction? Ever?

7:18: MAF isn’t having a great game. Zetterberg just got behind the Pens’ goalie. Even the goaltending is better for Detroit. They’re just better in every facet of the game.

7:19: Penguins are activating Defensemen. This could get ugly fast.

7:25: Emrick just said that the Pens just had their first shot on goal in the 3rd at about the 10 minute mark. I guess that speaks to the first comment of this period!!!

7:29: The game is slipping away. Detroit is just counter-punching. There’s a better chance Detroit scores on a rush than the Penguins scoring on a push.

7:36: Just less than 2 minutes left, Osgood finally has to make a save (and does). That’s one of the differences between the two teams tonight—timely goaltending. Pens pulled the goaltender.

7:37: With the goalie pulled, Gonchar scores! Hossa might have even tipped it. Pittsburgh should never play with a goalie, EVER. Should be an exciting last minute and a half!

45.8 seconds left. Easily the biggest face-off of the entire year. Somehow the Penguins need to figure out a way to win one of these. (Draper wins the face-off, again)

33.1 seconds left. The new “biggest face-off of the year”. Another win for Draper.

0:00.1: Oh my god….. I think the Pens just hit the post with less than a second remaining. The Pittsburgh players are still on the ice, exhausted, and almost stunned. Wow, it almost looked like it was going to be a repeat of Game 5. Unbelievable finishes.

There’s no way Osgood doesn’t win the Conn Smythe. None whatsoever. (Hank Zetterberg won it, what do I know?) Better team won—but I’d sure love to see one last game….