The most storied trophy in North American sports is about to be awarded, after nearly 2 months of competition. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that was on the verge of moving just 3 years ago when the guy who invented Blackberries decided he wanted to throw his cash around. Note: as I am writing this, NHL commish Gary Bettman mentioned something about them staying in Pittsburgh. Way to go, Gary! Why not just let it ride? How is the Phoenix Coyotes' situation going, by the way?
I will be the first to admit I have not been able to watch much of either team so I am not too sure if tonight's game was a macrocosm of their respective seasons, or rather an aberration that just happened to coincide with the very last game of the year (and thankfully for Gary Bettman, not Game 6 of the NBA Finals...Zing!), but some things stood out to me as the game evolved.
First off, Detroit did not get any traffic in front of Fleury, even though he was giving out rebounds like candy all night. The Red Wings were more than content to drive shots on goal from the blue line without much interference. Needless to say, any NHL goaltender worth his salt can stop a 50-foot slapshot. Even though Detroit did end up scoring on a long shot late in the 3rd, there were ample opportunities, especially on the power play, where an additional body in front of the net could have scored an easy one. Watching them repeatedly rag the puck back to the point and work along the half-walls reminded me of the Philadelphia Flyers circa 2002, who were apparently under the impression that if you scored from inside the circles it didn't count. The Penguins knew this was coming, so they were able to easily set up 2 or 3 guys in front of the goal to clear any traffic or rebounds that did end up coming. Excellent work by them.
The third-period line combinations were a little odd as well. Detroit marginalized the Draper-Maltby-$OTHER_GUY line in the third period. I don't recall ever seeing them. Maybe one or two shifts against the Penguins' makeshift top line could have made the difference, if for nothing else than to throw some bodies. They also came out at the start of the third with Hossa-Datsyuk-Holmstrom, but that setup didn't come out together for the rest of the game. Holmstrom proved himself in last years playoffs as a guy who is more than capable of scoring in close to the goal, so (as a corrolary to point 1) why didn't he get a little more ice time when it mattered?
Detroit's defensemen are also kind of old, something that usually gets a plus for 'veteran experience' but doesn't really ever get a minus for 'being really slow and facing a team with really fleet forwards'. Lidstrom had 27+ minutes of ice time, including 10.5 in the second quarter, while Chris Chelios is almost 50, and Stuart and Rafalski have their best years behind them.
My discussion of Detroit's shortcomings is not to diminish what the Penguins did, namely they managed to hold onto the game with their best player on the sidelines for over half the game. They played very well below the goal line and pressured the puck in the neutral zone and in their own defensive zone. Fleury played great, his one rather soft goal (and near-miss off the crossbar at the very end) notwithstanding.
One last thing...I am writing this at 11:05 PM Eastern, about half an hour after the game ended. Crosby has a rib or spleen injury. You heard it here first (unless I am wrong, and then I will just delete the last paragraph).
