MVN - Most Valuable Network

Chill the champagne - Wings win game four in Pittsburgh

Chicks dig goal scorers.  The flash of Ovechkin, Kovalchuk and Crosby puts butts in NHL arena seats and makes for exciting two-minute promo videos.  Defense is not glamorous. Defense wins championships.  The Wings play the leagues’ best team defense.  You do the math.

On Saturday night Detroit took a huge step toward raising Lord Stanley’s Cup by stifling the Penguins at the Igloo en route to a hard fought 2-1 victory.  Detroit leads the series three games to one and looks to end the 2007-08 NHL season on Monday at the Joe.  The loss was the first by the Penguins in this postseason.

The Penguins came out of the gate with high energy and continued their intense play of game three.  Hossa scored the game’s first goal from close range and the white-clad Penguin fans were rocking the building.  The volume diminished as Nick Lindstrom netting a long slapper past a screened Marc-Andre Fluery.

Following a scoreless second period, Jiri Hudler flipped a quick backhander between the left post and the Pen’s Goalie and the Wings led 2-1 with 17.5 minutes to play. Plenty of time, right?

Midway through the final period, with the Pens 30 seconds into a power play, Crosby was pulled down as he skated in on a breakaway.  Pittsburgh sent Sid, Hossa, Malkin, and Gonchar to the ice for a prolonged 5-3 advantage.  This was it, the defining moment of the series and the NHL season.  Scoring on a long 5 on 3 advantage is more probable than not scoring.  Considering the cast that the Pens sent to the ice, the odds pushed farther in their favor.  Early in the two-man advantage Pittsburgh set up well and attacked.  The pass went to a seemingly open Crosby but at the last moment, Henrik Zetterberg held the kid’s stick to the ice with his own and denied the opportunity.  The Pens regrouped but again Zetterberg cleared the puck.  With 25 seconds left in the five on three, Pittsburgh called a timeout and white-boarded a play. Malone failed to get the puck deep and then Malkin turned the puck over.  The penalized Wings returned to the ice, the Pen’s body language withered and sagged and the air left the Igloo.

Space and open ice is needed in order to make passes and move the puck.  For the final minutes of game four, Detroit Defenders were on Pittsburgh Forwards like white on rice.  They checked, they bumped, they poked and harassed on every shift. With seconds remaining, Pittsburgh attempted a furious rally in front of Detroit Keeper Osgood.  The steady netminder stood strong and the final horn sounded.

Besides Hockey Town faithful and Sidney haters, most hockey fans wanted to see Pittsburgh raise the Cup.  They are more marketable and photogenic.  The truth is the Red Wings are a great team who execute the intangibles of the game far better than any NHL team in recent memory. Their strategy is simple, shut down the opposition by closing open ice and attack off turnovers.  When the Wings are executing, any small mistake by the opposition is magnified.  The Wings capitalize.  The Wings defuse energy and talent with superior technique.  The Wings win.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, besides being two of the best offensive players in the league, are also two of the best defenders on Detroit. That’s just not fair.  Couple their two-way play with the peerless Detroit D-men and a solid Goalie and what you have is a recipe for the destruction and deflation of all that stand in their path.

The disappearance of Evgeni Malkin has also been very costly to the Penguins.  The superstar has as many points as I in the Finals and has added costly mistakes to his offensive invisibility.

It has become apparent that the Penguins must play their best game in order to be at least competitive with the Wings.  Winning requires a furious, non-stop attack and great performances from the Pen’s stars. Malkin must step up and the entire Pittsburgh team must play with an unrelenting focus for 60+ minutes in order to extend the series. They may not have it in them.

Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 2:30 pm and is filed under One-Timers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.