Sykora’s called shot extends series

June 3, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

How many times have you heard or seen a player call their shot and deliver? Yeah. Not too often. Well, if you go by what NBC’s Pierre McGuire reported down between the glass during the second overtime, Petr Sykora called his own shot and came through to save the Pens from certain defeat.

The former Devil who’s won a Cup apparently pointed to his chest and indicated that he would score the winner. As fate had it, that prediction came true when Jiri Hudler was whistled off for a double minor guilty of an undisciplined high stick. Brilliant all night, the Red Wing penalty kill couldn’t deny Sykora. Taking a perfect pass from Evgeni Malkin, who actually showed a pulse, No.17 walked in and beat Chris Osgood with a perfect whistler high glove top shelf to send the series back to Mellon Arena for Game Six Wednesday night.

Kudos to Pitt defender Sergei Gonchar for showing guts coming back from an injury when he crashed into the boards hard back in the second. He was out there and made a difference on that final power play registering a secondary helper on the winner.

Perfect timing for the Pens, who can really thank Marc-Andre Fleury for bailing them out. He was brilliant making 55 saves including all 24 in the three overtimes. Detroit held a 24-14 SOG edge in sudden death but couldn’t find a way to beat the Pitt netminder who easily turned in his best performance.

The Red Wings have to be shaking their heads as they outshot the Penguins by 26 (58-32) and still didn’t win the Cup. Instead, they’ll be forced to do it the hard way by traveling back to Pittsburgh for Game Six. The last thing they want is a winner take all Game Seven even if it’s in their own building.

It’s worth noting that only once in Stanley Cup history has a team comeback to rally from a 3-1 deficit. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs turned the trick against the Red Wings. There have been instances in recent memory where a team rallied to tie the series from that margin but lost in the seventh game. Such was the case in 1994 when the Canucks lost to the Rangers by a goal after extending the series to the max. It also occurred a couple of years ago when the Oilers got a sudden death shorthanded breakaway tally from Fernando Pisani before blowing out the Hurricanes in Game Six to force Game Seven. But home ice proved too much as the Canes wrapped up the series hanging on for a two-goal win.

Obviously, the Pens have the momentum and should come out flying back on home ice Wednesday. However, the Red Wings are an experienced bunch who shouldn’t hang their heads too much. They’ll be ready to play.

Final thought. I really could’ve done without the cheesy NBC replays showing the reaction of Mario Lemieux’s wife. Geez. Could they make it anymore obvious who they want to win this series?

Still, that the series shall continue is good for the network as it should draw more viewers in. The one thing this postseason has really lacked is drama. If the Pens can rise up and win one more time on home ice, then the league would get the desired seventh game with all the pressure squarely on the veteran Wings. Will it happen? I don’t know. If any team can comeback from such a disheartening defeat, it’s Detroit. They should’ve wrapped it up tonight. The Pens are playing with house money and won’t want to disappoint their home supporters.

It should be fun to see what transpires.