The feeling the Penguins have heading back to Detroit is entirely different than what they had at the same point last year.
PITTSBURGH -– The Pittsburgh Penguins have, through this spring and last, seen plenty of the Detroit Red Wings.
They have seen them throw the puck around like hockey’s Harlem Globetrotters, they have seen them have an answer to pretty much anything they throws at them, and they have even seen the most insulting, sour sight of all: the Red Wings, taking a victory lap with the Stanley Cup around Mellon Arena.
But suddenly they, we, everyone is seeing a side of the Red Wings that we have not seen before.
The Red Wings look old.
“They looked a little fatigued to us, especially in the third period (of Game 3),” said defenceman Brooks Orpik. “We knew this game was just as important to them as us. If anything, maybe we swung the momentum to our side. If it was up to us, we would like to get back at it (on Friday).”
And isn’t that a different tune than the one the Penguins were playing last year at this juncture in the Stanley Cup final?
This time they won Game 4, a convincing 4-2 victory. And they won it on their own terms, blitzing the Red Wings for three goals in a 5:27 span of the second period.
The goal that might just serve as a metaphor for where this series is heading was scored short-handed by 20-year-old Jordan Staal, strong as a bull and grabbing a piece of this series right before our eyes, shrugging off the 35-year-old Brian Rafalski, whose wealth of experience was no match for the power of Staal.
“You fight and fight, try to get back into your system, get some momentum,” said Pittsburgh’s Bill Guerin. “Then you get a big goal like that, against that power play, and it’s a big boost.”
The building had barely quieted down 1:59 later when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin blew in over the blue-line on a two-on-one. Crosby scored -— his first of the series —- and at that very moment, this Stanley Cup final may have turned a page.
“When we made it 3-2,” Orpik said, “it was (Mark) Eaton on the bench I was sitting next to. He just told me to look over at their bench. It seemed like all of their guys were really slumped over tired. They looked frustrated, looked like they had no energy really. When you see that, you feed off it.
“You look at (Henrik) Zetterberg the last couple of games. He looks so tired out there. He’s playing 25 minutes a game, chasing Sid around the whole game.”
And those calm, collected Red Wings began chirping in Game 4. Not just at the Penguins either.
At each other.
“We could see them kind of getting on each other there, which you never see out of those guys,” Orpik said. “Some of the verbal jabbing going back and forth with us. Something you don't expect from them or see too often. I guess, a good sign for us.”
We guess too.
Crosby barged into this series Thursday -— or at least, on to the score sheet -— with a goal and an assist. Malkin continues to be an absolute force, with another two points and six shots. Malkin has 16 points in the past two series -— exactly the point where he disappeared last season -— and will win the Conn Smythe if the Penguins can win the race to two wins this week.
Staal finally scored, his first goal in eight games, his first since the second round. Marc-Andre Fleury has turned the tables on his opposite number, winning the goaltending battles in Games 3 and 4 that he had so badly lost in the opening two games at Joe Louis Arena.
Chris Osgood has allowed four goals in back-to-back games, the first time he’s been beaten for three goals or more in consecutive playoff games this spring or last.
The winds of change have blown through this series, and it is the Penguins’ sails that are positively bulging as we shift back into Detroit.
Remember a year ago, when the Penguins lost this Game 4? Looking back, that series had already been lost. Detroit had claimed the Penguins spirit long before Game 4.
“We went down 2-0 last year, and we were kind of shell shocked. We kind of knew we weren’t the better team here. We knew they were a lot better than us,” Orpik said. “We came back here (this year). We were still a real confident group coming back down 2-0. It feels a lot different from last year.”
Oh boy, does it ever.
