After last night’s resounding victory, Detroit now leads Pittsburgh 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals, with mainstream media stories beginning to take a different approach to this series overall …
Like the ’83 Oilers, must these Pens lose before they can win?
in comparison to the advance billing for Game 1 …
Pens-Wings matchup something grand for NHL.
Unless Pittsburgh’s coaching staff can unearth a rapid remedy to Detroit’s deadly combination of:
1) Top notch NHL goaltending (Chris Osgood)
2) The three-headed monster of Henrik Zetterberg (C), Pavel Datsyuk (C) & Nicklas Lidstrom (D)
3) Skilled talent up throughout its line-up
3) Vastly superior Stanley Cup experience,
the 2008 version of the Playoffs will culminate in the exact same way as the 1983 edition did, with a dominant 4-game sweep by the favoured team.
Game 3, tomorrow night, is the most important of the Penguins’ season.
If they’ve learned their lessons quickly and can (i) stay out of the Penalty Box, (ii) exert a consistent fore-check against the Red Wings … specifically when Lidstrom is off the ice … (iii) score a Power Play goal, and (iv) get a stand-on-his-head performance from Marc-Andre Fleury (G), the Penguins can win a tight defensive game, on their home ice.
If not, cue the parade in Hockeytown, USA … as the Red Wings organization, from top-to-bottom, remains the best operation in the game today.
