Morning Skate (Playoff Edition (5/27)
The Morning After:
My 3 stars from last night:
1. Max Talbot (1 goal, 2 assists)
Talbot scored one of the most zany goals you will ever see but it did go in and it turned out to be the game winner and series clincher. He was the best player for the Pens last night.
2. Marc-Andre Fleury (1 GA, 30 saves)
Fleury came to play and had to big last night as Eric Staal was everywhere...Fleury's best effort of the series and maybe playoffs.
3. Sidney Crosby (2 assists)
Solid effort and assisted on big insurance goal then the empty netter to erase any shred of doubt.
Unsung hero of the night:
Bill Guerin… The old man still has it and he slammed in the insurance goal that pretty much put the game out of reach at 3-1. He has had a very nice playoffs so far for Pittsburgh.
‘RLD Game-Changing Performance’ of the night:
Max Talbot… The goal that will be forever remembered in Pittsburgh circles that looked eerily like a goal Sergei Brylin scored in 1995 against the Washington Capitals where the puck kind of popped in the air and Cam Ward could not find the puck. Before he could snatch it, he whiffed and it was in the net. It turned out to be the game winner and series clincher like said before. But that goal was out of the twilight zone.
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Game of the Night:
2) Detroit Red Wings @ 4) Chicago Blackhawks
Game 5, 7:30pm ET… TV: VERSUS, CBC, Local Networks
Red Wings lead series, 3-0
Players to watch:
DET- Johan Franzen
This is a Franzen kind of game!!!!!
CHI- Patrick Kane
Will he ever be able to put it together for one game in this series?
Starting Goaltenders:
DET- Chris Osgood (Playoff stats: 11-4, 2.14 GAA)
CHI- Cristobal Huet (Playoff stats: 1-1, 4.55 GAA)
GTD: Nikolai Khabibulin (Playoff stats: 8-6, 2.93 GAA)
Injury Report:
DET- Pavel Datsyuk (foot, GTD), Nick Lidstrom (GTD)
CHI- Brent Sopel (elbow, out), Nikolai Khabibulin (leg, GTD), Martin Havlat (head, GTD)
Game Thoughts:
The Doors may have said this best. This is the end...my only friend...the end! Even if Datsyuk and Lidstrom do not play....the Red Wings are too much for the Blackhawks. It will be a sad ending for Chicago but there is hope for the future and plenty of it. This is like the old days where you had to get humbled by the top dogs before you eventually dethroned them. The Hawks will come out with a ton of pride and play a better game but in the end...Detroit has too much depth and that makes a a difference in the third period.
Prediction: Red Wings 4 Blackhawks 2
