I attended game 4 and thought the called back goal was a good one, though I didn’t see it in super slow mo from seven angles after the fact. It was a very fun game to be at.
Hate to say it, but I think Detroit just let the series get away from them. Dallas has beaten them at home and they’ve beaten the Joe Louis Arena. Detroit had better bring their best game of the playoffs into Dallas if they want to move on, because Dallas just regained their giant killing swagger.
I think Chelios needs a break. He gave the puck away lots and made that stupid change that lead to the first goal.
Zubov was doing that too when he first came back. Assisting both teams on goals with his passes. But I still want him to keep skating! And this is why.
I get to go to the game tonight as soon as I get off work! 
Bringing their best game so far, 3-0 after the 1st period!
And their luckiest (sort of). Goal 1 bounces in off of Draper’s face. Do we have a gap toothed smiley.
Biggest difference I’ve seen so far is that Detroit decided to play offense in the first period rather than weathering the Stars storm. There’s still a lot of hockey yet to play, but a 3-0 lead is encouraging.
Beautiful goal by Zetterberg! Almost another shorty for Datsyuk… can’t have them all I guess. I’m loving this game!
Pittsburgh Detroit? First final I’ve been this excited by in years. Two great teams playing great hockey. I’ll be pulling for the Pens, but I cannot pick either team with any confidence. Should be a great series.
As a Detroit fan, that was a great game. It was basically a replay of games 1 and 3. Detroit came out, got the early lead, and held it. Dallas didn’t pressure nearly as well, opting to pass the entirety of their first two power plays. They also let the Detroit forwards get in front of Turco for the rebounds.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out that I called both series. Pittsburgh in five and Detroit in six. And yes, it does hurt to be this good. 
I’m looking forward to the finals. It should be a good series. I’ll post more on it later.
Amen, brother. Really should be fun & exciting to watch, for once. A display of pure hockey skills.
Pittsburgh is much younger (I think that leads to their third period dominance), also bigger and has more scoring depth. Detroit didn’t win the President’s Trophy by accident, though, and will be by far the toughest opponent the Pengiuns have faced.
I know it’s a cliche, but I think the series will turn on Fleury’s play, especially early in games. He’s always been able to make spectacular saves, but this year he’s learned to be in position so he doesn’t have to make a spectacular save. Detroit’s going to get their shots, if he can hold them off for the Pens to build a lead, they’re going to be tough to beat.
Detroit earned their win, and shutting up the AAC early was a big part. I think I’ll enjoy watching this series.
I say it goes to 7, with the youth winning it.
This is going to be an interesting series. Neither team has faced a team like the other in the playoffs. Detroit certainly hasn’t faced an offense as talented as the Penguins, with Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa. Pittsburgh hasn’t faced a defense like Detroit headed by Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, and the euro/selke twins of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. We have the number 1 and 3 scorers in the playoffs against numbers 2 and 4. Let’s look at the matchups.
Offense: Hard to ignore the big guns out there. Between Malkin, Crosby, Hossa, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen, there should be goals a plenty. The series will likely hinge on the unheralded scorers. For Detroit that’s Holmstrom, Hudler, Cleary, and Filppula. Pittsburgh will look to Talbot, Staal, and Malone. Detroit’s should have an easier time stepping up, but the question is can they. Holmstrom has been strangely less than productive, and only Hudler has had any luck getting points. Their lack of production made the Dallas series more interesting than it should’ve been.
Defense: Detroit clearly has the advantage here. There is no defenseman in the league better than Lidstrom, and he’s got some talented back up. But where do you put it? Crosby’s line or Malkin’s? Do you let the more physical pair of Kronwall and Stuart rough up Crosby and let the slick sticks of Lidstrom and Rafalski try to contain Malkin? It’ll be interesting to see what Babcock does.
Goaltending: For me, this is a wash. You have a talented young goalie who’s had some an off season leading to questions about his abilities versus an underrated goalie having a career year. Which one will silence their doubters?
Prediction: Not gonna make one. Just gonna sit back and root for my team. Go Red Wings.
And Detroit wins game 1 with a 4-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Between the solid play of Chris Osgood and the defensive dominance of the Detroit blue line, the Penguins just couldn’t get it going. On offense, it was the Detroit depth making noise with two goals for Samuelsson and one each for Cleary (shorthanded) and Zetterberg (PP wth 12 seconds left).
A very uninspiring performance by the Penguins. I hope Coach Therrien blasted the players for their awful performance last night, and that the ass whipping serves as a wake up call to the team to get it in gear before Detroit puts another skate up the Penguins’ ass Monday night. Kudos to go out to your Red Wings, Harborwolf. Hopefully the result will be different Monday. 
Ozzy looks (to me) like the favorite for the Connie.
I got a feeling on how the night was going to go right when Fleury first took the ice at Joe Louis Arena. He tripped. I’m not going to make fun of him for it, but it said a lot about his state of mind. He looked nervous and it showed in Samuelsson’s and Cleary’s goals. He froze and stumbled on the wraparound and was once again frozen by the bounce of the boards. Those nerves will likely be gone on Monday, but there are other concerns for Therrien and his players.
Detroit made Pittsburgh look like every other team they’ve met in the playoffs: average. The first two power plays for Pittsburgh were lousy, with Detroit managing to force the play back down the ice into the penguins zone. The last two periods? Dominated by Detroit. Seven Pittsburgh shots in forty minutes. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, and Rafalski kept Crosby and Malkin wrapped up so badly that by the end of the game it was Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa on the same line. The only real positive was that the defensive play of the Eurotwins kept them mostly off of the score sheet. Zetterberg had a power play goal at the end of the game, but that was it. Detroit essentially neutralized it’s own power pair to take out Pittsburgh’s.
Will Pittsburgh play better on Monday night? Probably. This was the first chance they’ve had to play against Detroit and they’ll likely have a better idea how to handle it. Babcock is likely to keep playing his top line against Therrien’s. That means Pittsburgh’s secondary scoring is going to have to step up and take the load. Pittsburgh did do a good job of clearing rebounds away from their net. Detroit didn’t get a lot of second chances.
Detroit has to improve in the first period. The Penguins will get their power play going and that means no giving up four power plays in a row. Other than that, they pretty much have to stay with what they’ve been doing. They kept rebounds away from Ozzie. They once again owned the faceoff circle.
All in all, it was a better start than I expected to the series. I don’t think things will continue this way, but it’s a good start nonetheless.
Detroit was beating the Pens to most every loose puck, and was completely denying them skating room in Detroit’s zone (which of course is what they’ve done to every opponent so far). The Pens are likely better than they were in Game 1, tho, and I expect some closer games (Det. fan here BTW).
Couple of quick notes.
Let’s go back and cover how to properly “make a statement” in the NHL. It only really works if you do it in the regular season. When you’re reduced to making a statement in the playoffs, the only statement you’re really making is “somebody set up a tee time.”
Pittsburgh, quit whining. Yeah. Ozzie dove on the Sykora hit, but let’s not pretend Sykora was a saint. He put his shoulder up in to Osgood and that’s a penalty. As for the rest, the refs are not why you’re losing the series. Saying that their failing to call all the obstruction/interference just shows why you are losing. You’re skating into the Detroit defense and expecting them to part just because you’re the second coming of Gretzky’s Oilers. Grow up. Shut up. Work harder.
Now for the game. You’ve seen it before last game. The Detroit defense shut down the Penguins. By the time they recorded their first shot of the game (on the power play), Detroit was up 2-0. Their first even strength shot didn’t come until the second period. The third period was even more embarassing. Filpulla didn’t even need his skates on the ice to put Detroit up 3-0, and by the end the Penguins were reduced to sputtering their way to the penalty box.
There’s not much to work on if you’re Detroit. The defense and goaltending has held Pittsburgh scoreless in the series. The secondary scoring is clicking. The top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom got a goal. Speaking of Datsyuk, the kid wants that cup bad. He went after Malone after he hit Zetterberg after the whistle and he won his little skirmish in the end of game brawl. He’s been leading the team all over the ice and making a good case for the Conn Smythe. And Franzen is back, even though Roberts tried to take him out with a whack to the head. Classy.
If you’re Pittsburgh, what is there not to work on? Stop playing so physical for starters. You’re taking yourselves out of position trying to play the puck, putting two men on the puck on the dump in, and generally making it easier for Detroit to get the puck out of the zone. You’re taking stupid penalties (I’m looking at you Malone) in the offensive zone. You put two guys on one side of the Detroit net and missed a ton of open net rebounds as a result when the puck went to the other side. And as fun as it is to blame Malkin, you’re scoreless in two games. There’s a lot of other players besides him who need to find the net.
Game 3 tonight! Can the Wings beat the Pens at the Mellon? I hope they leave them spitting seeds :). I’m worried about the reffs though. I believe the ones tonight are the same losers from game 1, Paul “You Can Run Over The Goalie And Score” Devorski and Dan “Phantom Penalty” O’Halloran. I’m worried that they’re actually going to listen to the BS coming from Michel Therrien. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another Homstrom no-goal and a parade of Wings going to the box.
I do believe that the Wings can over come that should it occur. Go Wings!
There’s no obstruction/interference going on, if by that you mean that little “dig your shoulder into your opponent and screen him off where the puck is going as you both sail into the corner” manuever that was very commonplace 5-10 years ago, before they cracked down on that kind of thing. The Wings are simply all in perfect position in the defensive zone when the Pens try to get in, and the result is either a puck pokechecked back out of the zone, the Pens puckcarrier being checked towards the boards with the puck skittering away to one of the other Red Wings players, or an attempted pass is intercepted by a Red Wing precisely positioned in a passing lane.