SO CLOSE...

RED WINGS 3
PENGUINS 2

Watching this season play out, the way the Penguins' 2007-08 campaign finally ended pretty much summed it all up: a talented team facing adversity gave an incredible, gutsy effort.

Down 3-1 while getting only one shot on goal through the first 16 minutes of the third period? No problem. Summon Sergei Gonchar and Marian Hossa for a little power-play magic and give us renewed hope with a minute-and-a-half remaining.

With the lid of Mellon Arena ready to be blown off, Marian Hossa's final effort trickled past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, just inches away from tying the score as the clock ran out on the Boys of Winter.

It was an excruciating tease of what could have been.

But hockey, like football and golf, is a game of inches. A bounce here, a bounce there, and the Penguins could have won more than two games in this series. But there is no doubt that the better team won. The Penguins were the NHL's #2 team this year, and considering the age and inexperience of many of these players, there's no shame in that. But the day after, that's a message that no one wants to hear, especially the players.

As the title implies, the Penguins were both close and far in this series. Things couldn't have started much worse than back-to-back shutouts in Detroit, coming home with a 7-0 goal defecit.

There were times when this series had the feel of the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and Pirates. Yes, it was played about 20 years before I was born, but I've heard and read about it enough to know what happened.

Going into Game Seven, the Yankees won three games over the Pirates by scores of 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0. The Pirates also won three games: 6-2, 3-2, and 5-2. And as we all know, it took every bit of the seventh game, right down to the final at-bat, for the Pirates to eek out a 10-9 victory on home turf, cementing Bill Mazeroski's legacy in this town for the rest of time.

From 1947-1959, the Yankees won eight World Series and appeared in two others. Of the three years in that span that they didn't make it, their records were 94-60 (1948), 103-51 (1954), and 79-75 (1959). Their team was stocked with names like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford...and that was just in 1960, to say nothing of the DiMaggios, Rizzutos, and Billy Martins that played in the years preceding.

To tie my comparison together, the Penguins were outshot by the following margins in this series: 36-19, 34-22, 34-24, 30-23, 58-32, and 30-22. True, shots alone don't win games, but they certainly give you an indication of who is in possession of the puck, and that was not the Penguins. They scored a grand total of 10 goals in six games, with seven of those 10 coming in just two games. They were facing a Red Wings team absolutely stocked with experienced, Stanley Cup-winning talent.

And much like the 1960 Pirates, these Penguins bridged the apparent gap between the two championship contestants with an amazing effort and a never-say-die attitude. After the series' start, few would have been surprised to see a sweep. But a funny thing happened on the way to that four-game series: the Penguins made it a series. This is not a team that packs it in.

The obstacles in the Penguins' path were many. First and foremost was the ridiculous Detroit defense, which was somehow able to totally neutralize the red-hot Pens, who had just had their way with the entire Eastern Conference. At times it was felt like trying to penetrate the Steel Curtain defense.

The Red Wings were able to hold Evgeni Malkin to a mere one goal for the entire series. The Penguins' goal scoring was very top-heavy, with three of their 10 from Hossa, two from Sidney Crosby, and two from the surprisingly efficient Adam Hall. Ryan Malone, Pascal Dupuis, and Gary Roberts were held to just one assist each. Jordan Staal failed to crack the scoring ledger.

With the lack of scoring production came the increased importance of other factors. Marc-Andre Fleury certainly silenced any remaining doubters who failed to notice his 19-10-2, 2.33 regular season or his 12-2 record coming into the Finals. Brooks Orpik and Hal Gill did their part to make the Red Wings sore on a regular basis. For inspirational purposes, you could look at a number of guys playing hurt, most notably Gonchar and Malone. There was the added lift from veterans Roberts and Daryl Sydor. And of course, no one will forget the efforts of Max Talbot or Petr Sykora in the near future.

Even on the losing end, it was as heroic an effort as anyone could have asked for. The Penguins gave, gave, and gave up until the final buzzer. Sadly, it was not to be this year. And I realize we can't take any future Finals appearances for granted, but the future is certainly bright.

So today, the offseason officially begins. GM Ray Shero is in a tough situation, as some combination of Hossa, Roberts, Dupuis, Hall, Malone, Orpik, Ty Conklin, Georges Laraque, and Jarkko Ruutu will surely sign for greater dollars elsewhere. But as he's proven time and time again, he's more than competent at his job. And while I'd love to see a guy like Hossa back in the black and gold next season, the Penguins will be a challenger for the crown regardless of who stays or goes.

To the Penguins, we thank you for an incredible, memorable season. From the October 5th opener against Carolina to the Winter Classic to the climactic finale last night, it will be regarded as a year for the ages.

The great thing for fans about playing this late into the season? Training camp's only a few short months away. I'm sure this nucleus will be more than ready to finish what they started.

GAME OVER

Well, the Detroit Red Wings put a prompt end to all of that Game Seven talk with an action-packed 3-2 win over the Penguins on Wednesday night at the Igloo. We'll have full coverage on Thursday morning, but feel free to share your early thoughts below if the mood strikes you between now and then.

THE NEWS

--Game Six is tonight and hopefully decided in 60 minutes (or less) with another memorable/important Penguins victory. Tickets are ranging from $300 to nearly $3000. The mere thought of paying so much for a ticket has Sergei Gonchar grimacing in pain for Penguin fans.

--The Steelers were practicing indoors yesterday. The question is whether they were practicing for football or an MMA fight, because several skirmishes broke out, including Willie Colon vs. Lawrence Timmons and Arnold Harrison vs. Trai Essex.

--To the legions of Mike Lange fans (including myself), here is your chance to be heard.

--The longer the Penguins season goes on means a shorter gap between hockey and football season. So for those of you who still remember that we have a Major League Baseball team, the Pirates are 27-31 and in the NL Central basement following a 2-0 loss to Houston last night.

--This just in: the Washington Wild Things will be hosting a softball game against the Pittsburgh Steelers this Saturday at 7:05 PM at CONSOL Energy Park in Washington, PA. Tickets start at $7.00 and there will be a free autograph session after the game.

Of course, I just realized that there will in all probability be a certain Game Seven starting about an hour later that night, but that will rest on some heroics tonight.

--Here's a great article from TSN entitled, "10 Things You Didn't Know About Sidney Crosby."

With all of the hype Sid's received since he was a pee-wee, I'm surprised they could come up with that many things we didn't know.

--Look, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock can question the refs too! Did he attend the recent Michel Therrien Coaching Clinic?

--Hockey fans have a new enemy: Tiger Woods.

--Former Steeler RB Noah Herron recently welcomed a group of burglars by unscrewing a bedpost and beating them with it. That wasn't very friendly.

--After his arrest for illegal possesion of oxy, Patriot Nick Kaczur went undercover and wore a wire to bust a drug dealer. And the Patriots' pristine image of a few years ago takes yet another body blow.

--Our friends at Ripe TV are proud to unveil their new game show. Enter and win!

--It's Beano Cook's turn at Deadspin's Media Approval Ratings.

--Bob Ryan takes his swings at one Bill Simmons. It's the Boston version of Smizik-Madden.

--Rabbit Hash, Kentucky Mayor Junior Cochran just passed away. It's worth noting that Cochran was 12 years old and was a dog.

--Detroit Sucks!

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

--The voices behind The Simpsons got a new four-year deal worth about $400,000 per episode. Aye carumba!

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HOW GREAT WAS IT?

PENGUINS 4

RED WINGS 3

TRIPLE OT

Now that people are starting to slowly awaken from their slumbers, it's time to try and decipher what we saw last night/morning. Everyone is going to have their unique angle today, be it depression [Albom], "last laugh" [Cook], or inspiration [Prisuta]. Of course, you could just ditch the Penguins discussion and write your umpteenth column about Mark Madden [Smizik], but instead I'm going with the question of where this game ranks in Pittsburgh sports history?

The way I see it, games are broken into two categories: most memorable games and most important games. A memorable game is a no-hitter, it's watching Mario score five goals five ways, it's a Steeler game played in a snowstorm. It can be in the regular season or the playoffs, and involve a good team or a bad team. An important game is a Stanley Cup-clincher, a Super Bowl victory, or something of great significance to your team's advancing.

Some games fall into both categories, most notably Bill Mazeroski's home run in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, and for the wrong reasons, Game Seven of the 1992 NLCS (or as you may remember it: FRANCISCO CABRERA). This is the distinction that will be bestowed upon last night's contest.

But ultimately, where will Game Five rank in the pantheon of Pittsburgh sports (and Penguin) lore? Was it the greatest and/or most memorable Penguin game ever? That's up for debate. As far as memories go, multiple-OT or unusually lenghty games tend to stick with you, which will certainly strengthen the case for Game Five. I can tell you where I was for the "Petr Nedved Game" and the "Keith Primeau Game" all these years later, and they weren't in the Finals. I even vividly remember the Steelers-Falcons game a few years ago that ended in a tie after a ferocious rally led by Ron Mexico.

And in addition to the debate of what this game meant, we can also debate the great and memorable individual performances of all time based on what went down just a few hours ago. Last night featured 55 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury, a Willis Reed-like moment from Sergei Gonchar, an unreal goal on the brink of extinction from Max Talbot and a truly inspiring effort from the banged-up Ryan Malone. And that's before I even mentioned the words "Petr Sykora" and "Called Shot".

For Sykora, that goal defines his career. It's the moment that means he never has to pay for a meal or a drink in Pittsburgh for the rest of his life. It's the kind of play that allows a player to make a living by signing photos of that specific moment as long as he can scribble his name on an 8x10 photo. He joins Bill Buckner, Mookie Wilson, Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca, Don Larsen, and most recently, David Tyree in that unique category.

Yes, any way you slice it, Game Five had it all. Most important, though, was the fact that the Penguins actually, you know...won the game, because there were ample opportunities to add another name to another list: infamous players who took down Pittsburgh teams in the postseason. So to David Volek, Francisco Cabrera, Keith Primeau, and Larry Brown, sorry, but your exclusive club will not be getting any new members anytime soon.

Game 6 will be at 8:08 p.m. tomorrow at Mellon Arena. Our mental scrapbooks have a blank page ready and waiting.

CALLED SHOT

For those of you who couldn't stay up to watch it, Petr Sykora scored the game-winner at 9:57 of the third OT on Monday night, sending the Stanley Cup Finals back to Pittsburgh with the Penguins closing the gap to three games to two. The goal was on a power play and was set up by an ailing Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin.

Sykora allegedly "called" his scoring of the game-winning goal in OT number two, as reported at the time by NBC's Pierre Mcguire. The series was actually 35 seconds away from ending when Max Talbot scored the tying goal in regulation while playing with an empty net. The Pens were outshot 58-32 on the night, so Marc-Andre Fleury was the obvious #1 star with his incredible 55 saves.

Pittsburgh, Detroit, and hockey fans everywhere will be in a collective fog on Tuesday, so we'll pick up the discussion with much more coverage of this late-nighter once the sun rises. The game ended as the fifth-longest Stanley Cup contest in NHL history at 109:57. It was tiring just to watch let alone play, so I'm sure the Pens will be catching their share of Zs between now and Game Six.

INSTANT CLASSIC

PENGUINS 3

RED WINGS 2

Penguin fans: so excited, they don't even put away their change from the vendor

Wow. I was exhausted merely watching the Penguins' epic 3-2 win last night, so I can only imagine what the players are feeling like today. In order, I would probably guess: confident, relieved, energized, enthused, and then exhausted.

For NBC, the NHL, and the hockey-watching public, this was the kind of game everyone dreamed of. It was the sport of hockey at its highest level, and it was beautiful to witness. The intensity from both teams was unparalleled in this year's playoff. The hits were thunderous. The fans started loud and never let up. As the title would suggest, it was an instant classic, the kind of game where you might say, "You know, I paid $500 each for these tickets and they were a steal."

The hero of the game was obviously Sidney Crosby, for getting the million-pound gorilla off of the team's collective back with his first-period goal and his second goal at 2:34 of period two. But who can forget that memorable third-period shift from Brooks Orpik, who blew up what seemed like half the Red Wings' roster in a matter of seconds? What about a forgotten man like Adam Hall, who banked the eventual game-winner off of Chris Osgood? How about Gary Roberts and Darryl Sydor, whose veteran presence was obvious? Or Marc-Andre Fleury, who came up with a number of big saves? It was the epitome of a team victory, from top to bottom.

Were there any negatives? Well, it was tough to see those leads look like they might evaporate, but this is Detroit; as last night would indicate, it's going to take every bit of energy to win each and every game against this team. Rob Scuderi is still looking for his jock somewhere in front of the Penguins' net, and I'm pretty sure Hal Gill is still sitting in the penalty box; but the criticisms of this team for Game Three are few and far between. This was the game they needed to play and needed to win, and they came through on the biggest stage.

The series now takes a short hiatus and returns on Saturday night, which means a dilemma for those of you who are both Penguins and Kimbo Slice fans. But the pressure has clearly shifted to Detroit, because they're one game away from watching a 2-0 lead disappear before their very eyes. And if that happens on Saturday, we might just have another game to add to that instant classic inventory.

Notes and Links:

--Here's Mark Madden, wearing red in a sea of white, apparently getting into it with some fans. Double M is not talking to the media, but I don't see any press passes around these guys' necks.

--And here's Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who our photographer noted was busy text-messaging for most of the game. Luckily, it looks like no security was needed on this evening.--Here's a few more cool first-person shots from the inbox:

--Other celebs spotted at the game: Michael Keaton, Alex Ovechkin, a nacho-eating Mark Messier, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. And probably a few Steelers, since they're at every game.

--Marian Hossa has nine playoff goals. Is it me, or does it seem like he could have about 29?

--Raise your hand if you missed Georges Laraque last night.

--It was nice to see a sign of life from Geno Malkin, who managed to get three shots on net. I was starting to think that some goons sent by Metallurg Magnitogorsk found their way to Pittsburgh.

--NBC did a pretty nice job with the telecast, although I probably could've made do with a little less from Pierre McGuire, who was forced to scream his commentary due to the volume of the arena for most of the game.

--As my brother pointed out on the Hall goal that was banked off of Osgood's backside: "He didn't go five-hole, he went a-hole."

--I'm really enjoying the custom soundbytes done for DVE by Pens PA announcer John Barbaro [profiled by FSN here], such as "One minute remaining in the show."

It was a nice, subtle way of telling the Trib's Rob Rossi he was running out of time today.

--Keeping with tradition, here's a victory Dockers commercial, featuring the official song of the 2008 Penguins Stanley Cup run, California Soul:

QUITE A HOLE WE'VE EXCAVATED

DETROIT 3

PENGUINS 0

No, not even the much-ballyhooed presence of Luke Ravenstahl could inspire the Pens in Detroit

You've overachieved by everyone's standards all year long. Your team is down two games to none, failing to muster even one goal in Detroit Rock City. What time is it? Time for everyone's favorite pastime, The Blame Game!

Michel Therrien is blaming the refs. Gene Collier is calling out Gary Roberts for a "chicken-scat cheap shot" on Johan Franzen. John Fedko was pointing the finger at Evgeni Malkin, arguably the Penguins' 2007-08 regular season MVP, who has only one shot in two games. Fedko's callers were blaming Marc-Andre Fleury for giving up a few less-than-stellar goals. ESPN's Scott Burnside was busy making note of Ryan Malone's four penalties. Ron Cook is so down on the Penguins as a whole that he wants to know if it's too early to pick the Red Wings in three.

Everyone has theories, but no one has answers for how to deal with the Detroit Red Wings. They have outplayed, outhustled, and outscored the Penguins in nearly every facet of the game.

So the Penguins return home to Pittsburgh battered and bruised, their egos undoubtedly damaged. In what's becoming a recurring theme among the scratched, Georges Laraque was the latest to voice his opinion. Therrien and his coaches will go back to the drawing board, possibly juggling lines once again. What impact these events have had and will have on the Penguins' locker room is unknown to anyone who doesn't have access inside that sacred ground.

The bottom line is that the Red Wings aren't this good and the Penguins obviously aren't this bad. The shots for the Pens on Monday night were nearly as bad as in Game One: 6, 6, and 10, outshot 34-22 by the Wings. But just getting shots doesn't guarantee anything, because flopping Detroit goalie Chris Osgood has stopped every shot he's faced thus far.

Is the series over? Absolutely not, according to Max Talbot: "Look at me. I am really positive. We are going home, and that is a great thing. It is not like we lost two games at home. We lost the two away games. I think we got some good scoring chances. It could have went one side or the other."

I can only hope Talbot believes what he's saying, and watching him over the years, I'm sure he does. Hopefully that attitude is contagious, because the 1971 Chicago Blackhawks are the only team that's failed to win the Cup after winning the first two games at home. And if Detroit joins that team in history, that will be a Blame Game I'd love to see.

The Links:

PG:

Penguins face huge odds in trying to overcome 2-0 deficit

Penguins Q&A with Dave Molinari

Reputations falling as fast as Penguins

Detroit's domination has Penguins dazed, confused

Game Two: Stanley Cup Final photos

Red Wings: Babcock promises a better performance at Mellon Arena despite two practically flawless games

Detroit's domination has Penguins dazed, confused

Laraque unhappy with not playing

Trib:

Game 2: Scoreless Pens lose again (with Photo Gallery)

Starkey: Pens, Malkin fail to respond

Detroit Free Press:

Mitch Albom: Wings just two wins away from Cup

Angry Pens take verbal shots at Osgood

Franzen's return is one more headache for Penguins

ESPN:

Machinelike Wings taking life out of Penguins, Cup finals

Cherry/Melrose

The Crosby File

Pens look to regroup

TSN:

Just Two Good

Video: Highlights: PIT 0, DET 3

Video: The Breakdown

Video: A Little Bad Blood

Video: Podium: Sidney Crosby

Video: Podium: Michel Therrien

Video: Podium: Mike Babcock

Penguins still looking for first goal of Final

SAMUELSSON 2, PENGUINS 0

RED WINGS 4

PENGUINS 0

Remember Mikael Samuelsson playing for the Penguins? Me neither. But he played 22 games in a very forgettable 2002-03 Penguins campaign, scoring as many goals (two) as he scored in Game One of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. Somehow, I think he name will not be forgotten by Penguin fans anytime in the near future.

Samuelsson was involved in two high-profile Penguins trades. He arrived on February 10, 2003, as part of the pu-pu platter from the New York Rangers in exchange for Alexei Kovalev, Janne Laukkanen, Dan LaCouture and Mike Wilson. What else was on that platter? Rico Fata, Joel Bouchard, and Richard Lintner. Needless to say, this Samuelsson trade was not as memorable for Craig Patrick as the Ulf Samuelsson deal in 1991.

After that goal-every-11-games average, Patrick sent Samuelsson, the Penguins' 2003 1st Round Choice (3rd overall, eventually Nathan Horton), and the Pens' 2003 2nd round compensatory pick (Stefan Meyer) to Florida for the Panthers' 2003 #1 overall (Marc-Andre Fleury) and their 3rd-rounder (Daniel Carcillo). A bit of redemption, to say the least.

But it would be hard to argue Samuelsson's value on Saturday night, as his two goals were all the Red Wings needed in a 4-0 shutout of the Penguins. Of course, we should've known it wasn't our night when MAF bit it coming out of the tunnel:

The Penguins had ample opportunities in the first period. And by "ample opportunities" I mean "four power plays". The announcers (who were much better than previous rounds) were marvelling at the Penguins holding a lead in shots at the end of one, even if it had shrunk to 12-11. But that lead would be short-lived.

The second period was all about killing penalties, as Sidney Crosby, Ryan Whitney, and Evgeni Malkin each got into the box score for the wrong reasons. And while they didn't surrender a power play goal, it was Samuelsson's goal at 13:01 that finally broke the ice. The second period shots? 16-4, Detroit. Yikes.

In the last 20 minutes, the Penguins started to play with a bit of desperation after Samuelsson goal #2 at 2:16. A line substitution of Petr Sykora for Pascal Dupuis failed to generate any offense. In fact, everything the Penguins tried failed to generate any offense, as is usually the case when you're shut out. But look at it this way: they can't do any worse than 0 in the next game.

Scary thoughts? Other than the Penguins being held to four shots or less for two of the three periods (12-4-3 for the game), there was the fact that they could've easily surrendered another two goals: the first-period score that was waved off for an interference call, and another shot that got past Fleury and hit both posts without finding its way into the net. And here's another bit of info worth mentioning: the Red Wings were playing without leading playoff goal-scorer Johan Franzen, who was recently concussed.

Here's hoping that the problems can get ironed out, and in a hurry. I doubt many people expected the Penguins to leave Detroit up 2-0, so lick your wounds, iron out the kinks, and come out with your hair on fire for Game Two. Just don't trip coming out of the tunnel.

Notes and links:

--Didn't like the scratch of a healthy Gary Roberts (of course, neither did he). Hope that can get corrected for Game Two.

--Play was a little chippy in Game One, including a brief Darren McCarty-Georges Laraque exchange and some pushing and shoving between Samuelsson and Crosby. These aren't the Flyers, but they're not exactly choir boys, either.

To refresh your memory, here's a vintage clip of Wings goalie Chris Osgood fighting Patrick Roy, with an announcer that sounds eerily reminiscent to a 1980s WWF Jesse "The Body" Ventura. All this clip is missing is a "You're an idiot, McMahon" comment from the future Governor.

And don't forget this little incident from the last round between Osgood and Dallas' Mike Ribeiro:

--13,500 turned out at Mellon Arena to watch the Penguins. See, that's bad luck...I'm surprised the superstitious hockey gods would approve a move from outdoors to indoors for the Pens' viewing parties. But proceeds went to the Lemieux Foundation, so shouldn't that count for something?

--Can anyone get me a picture of Luke Ravenstahl at the game? I mean, it was so important that he attend and represent Pittsburgh. I'm imagining he walked around with a sash a la another one of America's Great Mayors:

--Here's a gallery of 2002-03 Penguins wallpaper, featuring giant pictures of, among others, Guillaume Lefebvre, Richard Lintner, Brian Holzinger, Rico Fata, Dan Focht, Tomas Surovy, and Samuelsson. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Penguins have upgraded the roster just a tad since then.

--The PG's Empty Netters were on the scene and took plenty of photos.

--Trib photo gallery and recap here.

"BREAKING PENGUINS NEWS"

Big Snack, proprietor of Pittsburgh-based blog Pierogis N'at, is citing inside sources who have let him in on a little secret: the Penguins will be opening up Mellon Arena on Saturday and Monday so that fans can watch Game One and Two from the comfort of an actual arena seat and not a beach blanket. I guess this throws a little wild card into our "where to watch the Pens game" discussion from earlier this morning.

***Breaking News*** [Pierogis N'at]