I Will Buy You a New Life - Penguins Survive

by Bob Wage on Jun 3, 2008 1:49 AM EDT

The Pittsburgh Penguins received outstanding goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury when they needed it the most, and held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings in the 3rd overtime period on Monday night by a score of 4-3. The unlikely win gave the team new life in a series in which they have been dominated more often than not.

It was a gut-wrenching performance by both teams, but the Penguins were pretty much held in control during the 3rd period and during large portions of the overtime periods. After being out-shot 14-4 in that 3rd period and allowing Detroit to score 2 goals to take a 3-2 lead, the young team was able to tie the score with just 35 seconds left in regulation to send the contest into overtime.

After 2 overtime periods in which Detroit again out-shot their opponents by wide margins in each period, both teams were noticeably tired in the 3rd overtime. Red Wings Jiri Hudler took a very foolish and careless high-sticking penalty which gave the Penguins the advantage they needed. Petr Sykora roofed the game-winner over Chris Osgood during the ensuing powerplay to send the series back to Pittsburgh.

Fleury was the number one star of the game as he made 55 saves to keep his team in the contest. The Wings out-shot the Pens by a wide margin of 58 to 32.

There were other heroes for Pittsburgh though as Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Malone both returned to the ice after leaving with injuries earlier. Their presence alone had to provide inspiration to their team-mates.

Ryan Whitney played an unbelievable 50 minutes in the game.

This might have been one game when the younger players of Pittsburgh finally had an advantage over the experience of the Wings. The older players had to be feeling it in those overtime periods.

Next up is game 6 in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. The Penguins should feel refreshed while the Wings might just be a step slower. Anything can happen now.

Everclear

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Comments

What time did this game end? By 11:30 pm I had to crawl to bed. I wish I could have stayed up.

by neaux on Jun 3, 2008 7:51 AM EDT reply actions

I think it was 1 to 1:30. It was pretty late.

by Bubba on Jun 3, 2008 10:02 AM EDT reply actions

Fell asleep watching, woke up well after midnight and remember wondering; what the hell is Milbury doing still on TV? Woke up in the morning in a haze, had to check on line to see who won.

by marc on Jun 3, 2008 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

Ryan Whitney played 50 minutes!?! Is that a record for number of minutes played in a single NHL game?

by julia on Jun 3, 2008 1:58 PM EDT reply actions

1) Marc: No worse way to wake up than to see the visage of Mike Milbury! LOL It was a great game. Kudos to Pitt, and especially Fleury for stealing that one!
2) Yes, youth definitly aided the Pens as the game went along even with the injuries. The Wings are a veteran team so we don’t see them lingering on last night too long

by fauxrumors on Jun 3, 2008 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

Looking forward to a great game 6 – I was able to stay up and watch all of game 5, well worth it! As a writer, my schedule is what you might call flexible, which comes in handy during the playoffs and when the WJC are in weird time zones, which is always.

by Benjamin repenttokyo on Jun 3, 2008 3:45 PM EDT reply actions