Nightfall

Osgood has had to make more quality saves than Fleury so far.

No defensive help in the center on that play by Malkin. Osgood is awesome though.

Give him time. He is still young.

Both teams are really doing well defensively. Neither team has chances in the middle. Detroit just got the first couple there!

They talked a lot about Hossa's called off goal in game 3 and the ducks fans said something similar. The analysts are going to blab about that missed call until the refs miss something else.

They ran through both sides of the equation. You must be suffering from selective hearing.

QFT We did get away with one there. Covering the puck on the back of the goalie in the crease is a penalty shot. The rule states if it happens in the crease. The crease goes up to infinity. I was expecting a penalty shot there, but we did get away with it. Just further proof that you need a best of 7 game series. You may get screwed in one game like the Wings did in game 3, but there are more games to make up for it.

Sounds like our site to an extent as well.

Hull and Jackson still have jobs in the organization.

I agree. It was a tap. Not a slash or anything nasty like that.

Dats is out again tonight. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4219233

I wonder if Yzerman or Lidstrom in their youth were like Crosby at all? I don't know because I wasn't even interested in hockey until 1995. The level of media coverage we have now is so much different than it was back then. Every small thing is noticed and recorded in HD and obviously analyzed like crazy. We all know Lidstrom or Yzerman are great captains. They wouldn't pull anything like this now, but in their youth would they? Maybe. I have no idea. All I do know is that in time, Crosby won't be doing stuff like this. He will mature. Until then, he is just showing his frustration and he has a reason to show it. They had their chances and just could not convert.

I agree that the back to back games suck, but its not like it hasn't been done before. The Pens and Caps complained about the same thing when they played each other and they had to travel in their back to back games in 5 and 6 of their series. As for getting more rest, the finals have been all about starting 2-3 days AFTER the last series is complete. The fact is that Detroit finished their series last, so we should only get 2-3 days off before the next series starts. So Saturday is quite fair. Yet, some Wings fans here believe it to a "conspiracy" because they are starting so soon. Should there be a rest clause written somewhere that states if one team is injured they can opt to take a week off before the next series starts? Heck, the Pens are hurting a bit too with Gonchar's knee and they only got an extra day of rest. Some wings fans are using this schedule as a convenient excuse if their team loses. Lets be honest here.... If the Wings don't win this series, it won't be because of the refs, schedule, or a league conspiracy. It will be because the Pens outworked them for it. Detroit has home ice. They have the talent. They have the work ethic. If they play flat like they did in Anaheim in games 3 and 6, then they will lose the series. If they play hard, they will win in 6 games.

In NHL best-of-seven series, the winner of Game 1 has gone 367-164 -- winning 69.1 percent of the series. Game 2 winners have gone 381-150 -- winning 71.8 percent of the series. Teams that have won both games to go up, 2-0, have gone 254-37 -- 87.2 percent. Game 2 winners who lost Game 1 have gone 127-113 (52.9 percent). In contrast -- and fairly obviously -- teams that have won Game 1 but lost Game 2 have gone 113-127 (47.1 percent).

The easiest way to look at this is to look at the stats of the playoffs so far. The pens have played one more game than the wings so take that into consideration. G/G GA/G 5-5 F/A PP% PK% PIT 3.82 2.76 1.24 19.3 83.6 DET 3.69 2.12 1.84 25.7 73.7 PIT has just a little more goals scored per game than the Wings. DET is giving up over 1/2 goal less per game on average. DET is scoring more 5/5 than the Pens are DET has a better power play at 25.7 percent PIT obviously has a better PK than the Wings by 10% So defensively, the Pens are not pylons by any stretch of the imagination. I think the Wings do have a better defensive core. What worries me are the power play opportunities by each team. DET has 41 PP opportunities at home and 33 on the road. PIT has 43 PP opportunities at home and 40 on the road with only 1 more game played. The Pens have a few more on the road so I have to wonder what happened there. Ah well, their defense will be good thats for sure.

I do have to admit this is a very intriguing storyline. If Hossa doesn't win the cup with Detroit this year, you know the media and fans will be all over him for making "the wrong decision". Really though, he took a risk making this decision. Signing a one year deal at a reduced rate for a chance to win the cup with Detroit. If Pittsburgh won, their fans will be laughing at him for leaving. Well, if he did sign with the Pens, who says they would be in the same situation they are now? After all, the pickups of Guerin and Kunitz were huge for them as was a change in coaching. The best that Hossa can get out of this is to win the cup with Detroit and put a lot of these fans in their place. It will also hopefully bring other skilled players to Detroit willing to take that paycut in order to win a championship.

Best post in this thread.

I didn't say its justified. Just that it happens on both sides. I don't like it anymore than you do, but if we are going to cast stones are that pens website and get all pissy about a one liner joke in bad taste, then we had better clean our own house out first. I have seen plenty of bad one liner jokes that are similar in nature by wings fans on this very forum over the last few years. Personally, I think its time for the fans here to grow a thicker skin and to not make a big deal out of it. At least until we clean up our own act. In the end, we are talking about the internet anyway. They can say anything they want on their forums. I say just ignore it and move on.

I said it to another forum member and I will say it to you. As if no Wings fan here has made a one liner in poor taste. Its obvious you haven't been here that long. Either that or you have a conveniently short selective memory.

I haven't either, but when another forum pipes up and does something like this, the fans here make it sound like they are being raped. The "You stay classy Pittsburgh" comes out as if we have NEVER done anything like this before. Like when the Blue Jackets fans were littering the ice after their game 4 loss. Hell, I have been at games at the Joe where I have seen that buffoonery. True, two wrongs don't make a right, but we have been doing this kind of crap for a long time. Its apparent that the people taking exception to this need to get thicker skin.

As if no Wings fan here has made a one liner in poor taste. Its obvious you haven't been here that long. Either that or you have a conveniently short selective memory.

Yup, there we go. One liner joke in poor taste on a forum for another one. Its all even now. Time to drop the puck on Saturday.

As if we aren't over here making fun of "Cindy" "Crybaby" Crosby or any number of other Pittsburg players.

Nevermind the Red and White jerseys. Hell, those same jerseys were the ones that didn't show up for game 3 and game 6 in Anaheim and the first period of game 3 against the Hawks. The reffing will not be a factor in this series unless the Wings make it a factor with lazy uninspired play.

Sounds like any fan or player in a title game. You would want to face the team that you can beat rather than the team that could beat you. Thats not a bad thing, its just human nature. I have been on countless hockey teams and have done the same thing. In a title game, I would rather face a weaker team than a stronger one. That being said, when it comes to sports, I would rather see the two best teams duke it out in the playoffs for the championship. Adds into the excitement and it cements your team into history. As it stands, this series is going to be remembered because of the skill and hard work these two teams have. It isn't like Detroit is going up against the 8th seeded Canadians with all sorts of problems. These are truly the top teams in their respective divisions. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.