If Pittsburgh should happen to beat Detroit tomorrow night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, whether the Penguins win or lose the Cup, Marc Andre Fleury is going to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. That kid played absolutely out of his mind last night for the entire (three overtime) game, but especially so after the pressure had really been ratcheted up. When the Penguins tied the score and sent the game into extra time, any missed shot would have spelled the end of the Pens’ season.
This save looked like it was staged specifically for the purpose of appearing on next year’s Hockey Night in Canada opening montage. Wow. In spite of my genetic pre-disposition to despise all things Wing-ed, I kind of found myself feeling a little sorry for Chris Osgood; Ozzy was certainly fighting the puck a little bit down at the other end of the ice. It wasn’t that he let in a bunch of bad goals – the Penguins’ first would have been a tough stop for any goaltender, and the second resulted from naught but bad, bad luck – but he wasn’t exactly instilling the kind of confidence in his impermeability as his counterpart in the black and gold.
As part of my questionable superstition I’m refraining from watching the game tonight, but my prediction is that if the Wings don’t wrap it up in Pittsburgh, the monkey’s on their back at the Joe, and all bets are off in a Game 7.
I try not to think about it. And by that I mean that every five seconds or so, I try to fit a non-hockey thought into my head.