Pens deserve a Game 7...

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The best two-way player in hockey may play for Detroit, but it was the Penguins who put on a clinic on two-way hockey tonight.

Facing elimination, Pittsburgh did the one thing it failed to do in the 5-0 flogging they took in Game 5. They got back, played defense and limited opportunities for the defending champs.

Sid the Kid and Evgeni Malkin led the forwards by example, but everyone got involved in a spectacular defensive effort. Detroit was held to a mere nine shots on net in the first two periods, unheard of for the team that dominated the league in shots on goal during the regular season.

Detroit got things together in the third, but that's when the Penguins clamped down the most. Two penalties in the last 11 minutes of play against players on Pittsburgh's top two lines (Malkin and Guerrin) could have been devastating, but the Penguins remained steadfast and turned the Red Wings away.

But the biggest effort defensively of the night goes to Rob Scuderi, who twice in the third period made heads up plays with the puck in the crease to protect the fragile one-goal advantage. First, after the puck slipped behind Marc-Andre Fleury, who thought he had it covered up, Scuderi came in and poked the loose puck out of the blue paint. The late in third with Fleury out of position, he became the goalkeeper and with a phenomenal effort, including a leg save, kept the puck out until Fleury could gather himself and cover it up, thus preserving the win.

The series now shifts back to the Joe Louis Arena with each team having won all three of their home games. Does this give the Red Wings the edge? Perhaps. But maybe more telling than that little tidbit is the fact that Fleury has never played well at the Joe. In eight appearances (two regular-season, six playoff), he's given up 30 goals - almost four per game, including 11 in three games in this series alone. He's going to need help from his friends like he got tonight if Pittsburgh wants to hoist the cup.