Sykora The Prophet!
3. June 2008 by critter.
The Penguins earned themselves a “get out of jail, free” card last night with their TRIPLE Overtime win over the Red Wings last night. This was one of the best games I’ve seen all season. Sidney Crosby stepped up again adding 2 assists to his playoff leading points and assists totals in the first period. Surprisingly, Detroit controlled maybe 98% of the action through regulation, holding the Pens shotless half way through both the 1st and 3rd periods. In the 3rd, Detroit turned on the jets and left the Pens seeing red (literally); it was like a feeding frenzy of sharks. The Wings scored twice in a matter of minutes halfway throught he 3rd but luckily Marc Andre Fleury stepped up in goal with some really amazing saves, otherwise who knows how much they would’ve been down by.
With a minute left in the game, Pittsburgh pulled Fleury from goal and held a small game of rapid-fire on Osgood. With 30 seconds left, Max Talbot banged in a loose puck and sent the game to overtime. In the 1st overtime period, Detroit continued their massive attack as the Pens were clearly exhausted, but Fleury singlehandedly kept the playoffs alive. The 2nd OT showed the Pens start to fight back as they kept short shifts and fresh legs rotating on the ice. With just a couple minutes left in the 2nd OT, Petr Sykora skated by a rink-side announcer and stated that he would get the game winning goal. About a minute later, Sykora’s name rang through the stadium as a cheap call of hooking landed him in the penalty box.
Between OT periods the Pens had ordered pizza and nutrition bars to keep the energy up and both teams changed into freshly dried jerseys throughout the battle. Finally half-way through the 3rd OT the Penguins found themselves on a powerplay with all-star Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who took a nasty hit earlier in the game and sat out half of the 3rd period and all of OT, FINALLY back on the ice as more of a sign of encouragement and strength than it was a sign of him actually able to contribute. But contribute he did as the Pens attacked Detroit and he let a one-timer fly towards net. The rebound came out to Petr Sykora who wristed a shot that was blocked in front and came right back to him. A second later Petr Sykora became every Pittsburgh fan’s favorite player as he snapped another shot that beat Osgood above his glove hand and streaked to the upper corner of the net.
It’s one thing to guarantee a victory…it’s a complete other to guarantee the game winning goal in such a heated game. Sykora would either wind up looking like a genius or an idiot. Genius he is!!! It’s actually not the first time Sykora has had such a huge Stanley Cup Finals goal. In 2003 when he was on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks facing the New Jersey Devils, Sykora beat Martin Brodeur with a shot in, I believe, the 3rd OT of that game as well.
Game 6 is on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh……I sure hope someone else here is keeping an eye on the games. This really has been some of the best hockey all year long.
OLIVER PEREZ!
3. June 2008 by gchacko.
Is really really really really BAD!!
