Nev

Dunno about that, but he's certainly been our most noticable defenseman these playoffs. And, outstanding as he has been, don't forget he's out there against the oppositions 2nd line most of the time. Nick still draws the top line.

Jarko Ruutu forgot to read that memo

A thirded for that combo. Huds has proved he can be effective, even with 4th line minutes. And hopefully Cleary can get something going on the 2nd line with that goal giving him confidence and the face-shield gone.

Well, that game was just what the wings fans here have been trying to tell Pens fans for the last week - we play a suffocating, smothering, all-5-skaters defence. Despite the best efforts of the Refs in the 1st, Pittsburgh had a rude awakening. Now, of course the Pens can come out big in Game 2, but I've said it before - this Wings team is as machine-like and efficient as the 02 team.

I was not aware of that. Right now Z & Ozzie are pulling ahead of my early favourite Datsyuk. If Ozzie keeps making these big saves he has to win it - the wings don't give up many chances, but the ones they do are normally big ones. Ozzie is stopping them all right now

Haha, my thoughts exactly when that 2nd one went in As for Sammy, kudos to him, he had a good game. Now, can he play well in Game 2? And Game 3? And Game 4? Would we accept 1 good game per series out of Datsyuk, or anyone for that matter?

I knew it was a really high percentage, but not that high!

That one of the crease is absolutely classic! We can laugh about it now I guess....

To be fair to Alblom, his best articles are the ones where he interviews an athlete 1on1. I think they know he's not gunna shaft them by misquoting them, taking stuff out of context and generally creating a controversy where there isn't one. As such, they tend to open up a lot more, knowing they're going to get a nice article about themselves - cf his old articles on Probert, or Feds when he moved to Anaheim.

I know some here hate Alblom, but pretty good article IMO, so great quotes http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...FSwd1SxA+Rx4%3D

Yeah Baby! Saturday at last! Anyway, game starts 0100 local, I'll get home from work just after midnight. I *should* record it and watch it when I get up Sunday morning, but can I resist staying up "just to watch the 1st period"? Bear in mind I have 2 young children, so staying in bed past 0700 doesn't exist in my world.....

Just an addendum to the "Greedy Russians" debate, don't forget during the 90s a lot of Russian sports stars where being extorted/blackmailed by the Russian Mafia. I remember a court case involving Alexander Mogilny and a couple of other Russian players. When Andrei Kanchelskis left Manchester United for Everton, Alex Ferguson described meeting his agent as "like something out of the Godfather" But yeah, can't deny that Yashin was a greedy SOB.

Hey, if George wants 2 minutes for instigation, be my guest. We'll happily take the PP - as we have done ever since Bowman taught us the mantra of "retaliate on the scoreboard"

Listening to one of the games on the radio should make it crystal clear - "Samuelsson shoots!....just wide!" "Samuelsson shoots!....deflected into the corner!" "Samuelsson shoots!....Blocked the [opposition] clear" Watching him play the game is worse. He looks totally lost out there at times.

Yay! A Hasek/Osgood fight in a "how can the Pens beat the Wings?" thread! Only on LGW......

Our secondary scoring is actually OK - we were 2nd in goals scored during the regular season after all. The problem is that our 2nd line players (Filpulla, Cleary, Franzen) are streaky rather than consistent, regular scorers. Add to that that Franzen is still out, Cleary hasn't recovered from the 15lbs of muscle he lost after his broken jaw and Filpulla is playing on a bad leg. That 2nd line matchup is far and away the Pens biggest advantage, which they must capitalise on. Other weaknesses - Samuelsson sucks. McCarty has taken too many penalties. Samuelsson sucks. Another thing, the Wings don't give up many scoring chances, but when they do they tend to be gilt-edged ones. Dallas missed too many of those opportunities - I expect Pittsburgh won't. They mustn't if they are to stand a chance.

-3 according to ESPN, in 16 games. So that's -1 per round. If he matches up against the Malkin line and goes -1 through the series, I like our chances a lot

Are you for real? Lets face it, we're not going to see the real Dan Cleary again until next October. The fearless, Phaneuf destroying, Pronger fighting Dan Cleary is gone for this year.

Welcome one, welcome all. I was certainly glad to see the Pens stay put - no team that has won 2 Championships and has #66 in the rafters should be forced to move. As for the series, what an incredible matchup! Clearly the best team in either conference, lets be honest - without Crosby's injury, the Pens are the #1 seed in the East. For both teams this is going to be far and away their toughest matchup of the playoff, both offensively and defensively they are going to be tested like they have not been so far. Certainly they're not going to bully the opposition from the outset like they have every series this year, and here I feel Detroit have an advantage - Pittsburgh are not going to take early control of the series with a 2-0 lead. Lets be honest Pens fans, if you go back to the Igloo 1-1 you'll be stoked. Here goes for an epic, strain-inducing, see-saw series with the Wings capturing the cup in game 7 at the Joe

Impossible to split Ozzie/Hank/Dats right now, but I get the feeling if we are to win the cup, then Ozzie is gunna have to steal a game or 2 for us from Crosby/Malkin/Hossa, which would put him over the top.

Great post. You forgot to mention face-offs - Detroit are dominant, Pens and especially Malkin, are brutal. That 1B line terrifies me, but every time they are on the ice for a face-off I want Draper out there against him, lets see how much of the puck he gets then!

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!! Best one so far

Far and away my biggest concern is the 2nd line matchup. I totally expect our top5 to outplay the Crosby line, but even with Franzenstein back, their 2nd line of Malkin-Sykora-Malone is far better than anything we can put together.

And thanks for beating the Ducks and the Sharks! Modano, and Zubov are still classy players, and I wish Morrow was on our team. Shame you have Ott, Ribeiro and Turco really

No, if anything he's under-rated. His biggest problem is that he doesn't shoot enough.