All Photos Copyright Getty Images

The Red Wings are Stanley Cup champions once again. Six was the magic number. Six years after winning a third Cup in a decade over the Hurricanes in five games, the Original Six franchise defeated the Penguins in six games taking Game Six 3-2 at Mellon Arena last night in Pittsburgh to capture a fourth championship in the last 11 years.

Their superior display of skating, puck possession and team defense won out against the younger skilled Pens who truthfully were dominated despite winning twice and making for an entertaining and frantic conclusion before legions of supporters. Pittsburgh’s determination to make it a series benefited the NHL as a whole garnering their best ratings on network TV since the Wings’ last Cup triumph in 2002. Max Talbot’s tying goal with 34 ticks left in Game Five allowed Petr Sykora’s triple overtime winner to extend the series bringing it back to Pittsburgh where anything was possible.

However, the Pens couldn’t duplicate that miraculous victory despite a late Marian Hossa power play goal which put them within one with 87 seconds left Wednesday night. Even though the Wings outplayed them by a ton getting a fluky Henrik Zetterberg goal to go up a pair earlier in the stanza, Pittsburgh still had a last second chance to stun Detroit with another wild comeback. But following Hossa’s PPG with Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for an extra attacker, the Pens fell just short of that miracle when Chris Osgood denied Sidney Crosby’s last second backhander and then sticked the rebound aside before Hossa could put it home. By the time his backhand steered across the crease, the buzzer had sounded making the Wings victorious.

It was about as riveting a finish as ever seen in Cup history. How often does a runner-up come that close to forcing sudden death in the waning seconds? I can’t remember ever seeing that before. It made for a cool ending to what turned out to be a very good Final which did wonders for the NHL and for NBC. Does anyone else find it ironic that the first two games stunk on Versus before reaching network TV where every remaining game was competitive despite Detroit’s superiority?

With their fourth Cup in 11 years, the Red Wings are the closest thing to a dynasty in this modern salary cap era. Sure. They hadn’t won in six years and could’ve beaten the Ducks a year ago. Still, to win that many championships in essentially a decade is a pretty great accomplishment. What makes it more special is that year after year, the experts write them off only to be proven wrong.

An integral part of that winning tradition still is now the first ever European born player to captain a Cup winning team in Mr. Norris Nick Lidstrom. The ageless Swede who should once again win the honor for the league’s top defenseman has now been around for all four championships. He truly is something to behold in how he plays his position on a nightly basis. Whether it’s flawless D or jumping into a rush, Lidstrom has been one of the staples on that Detroit blueline dominating the game like few others who have played. It’s only right that he became the first ever European captain to lead a team to Lord Stanley.

What keeps the Wings competitive is their penchant for drafting great players. The Conn Smythe winner for playoff MVP Zetterberg is ample proof of that discovered by the organization in the seventh round nearly a decade prior. With the fortuitous Cup clinching goal and a helper, the Swede finished with 27 points (13-14-27) this postseason and was very deserving of the hardware. He dominated shift after shift with his remarkable skating and stickhandling skills along with the uncanny ability to create offense even out of nearly zilch as he did a few times during Detroit’s run. He and Pavel Datsyuk dominated out there almost having the puck glued to their magical sticks.

This was an awesome display by a couple of great players. But they were far from alone as Lidstrom and former Devil blueline anchor Brian Rafalski teamed extremely well to form a dominant top pair which the other 29 teams could only dream of. Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart crunched every opposing player in sight. Young role players such as Jiri Hudler and Darren Helm skated extremely well and were involved offensively proving again how bright the Red Wings’ future is.

The best aspect was the comeback story of Chris Osgood going from vet backup to legit MVP candidate even though Zetterberg won the Smythe. After Mike Babcock replaced Dominik Hasek during the first round against Nashville, Ozzie was brilliant winning 14 of 18 starts posting a 1.55 GAA, .930 save percentage and three shutouts. He was razor sharp all postseason in backstopping his original club to a second Cup a decade later. Pretty awesome stuff which proves you can go back home again.

In the end, the Pens had nothing to be ashamed of. Their future remains extremely bright with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and possibly Hossa still around if the club re-signs the gifted Slovak. On the greatest stage, Marc-Andre Fleury came of age performing like a former No.1 pick who now looks like a franchise goalie. His 55 stops in Game Five was heroic and gave his team an opportunity to force another game and maybe comeback. It’s unfortunate that the last image we’ll see is the 23 year-old French Canadian accidentally sitting on the puck and watching it helplessly go in for Zetterberg’s winner. It was a tough break but he and the Pens will be back.

Congrats to both participants on an outstanding series. Now it’s onto the offseason.

It’s been a while since I talked puck on this blog. That’s mostly cause I do most of my hockey stuff over at Battle of NY. It’s run by yours truly along with the help of some outstanding bloggers including Hasan who covers the Devils, Lenny who takes the Rangers and occasionally Steve Lepore who chips in with media insights.

Honestly, I hadn’t been too into this Stanley Cup Final mostly cause of the media’s fascination with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Granted. Sid the Kid’s a great player but the coverage can be a little much. Especially for a diehard pucker like myself. Maybe if he wasn’t such a whiny bitch always working the refs, I’d have more respect for him. Instead, No.87 can be seen doing whatever it takes to get calls. Even if that means flopping to the ice like a fish or picking his chin up like a boxer being punched.

So naturally, you can understand my exasperation at what lengths Crosby will sometimes go to help his team win. As Jaromir Jagr put it just from reading lips during the second round series between the Rangers and Pens, ‘Stay on your feet.’

If this league wasn’t so catered to the superstar, I might not have as much disdain. How come guys like Jagr can take more punishment without suddenly falling to the ice but never get the calls? Precisely what’s wrong with our sport.

In any event, I have caught the majority of the last couple of games. The Red Wings earned a 2-1 road win in Game Four thanks to a great third which saw Jiri Hudler notch the winner to pull within one win of their fourth Stanley Cup in 11 years. Pretty amazing stuff. Sure. They haven’t won in six years but if they pull this off, it’s about as great a run as a team could have in hockey these days.

Last night, they went for the Cup and made a solid comeback from two down scoring three straight goals but the Pens who were severely outplayed managed to tie it with Marc-Andre Fleury on the bench for an extra attacker. Max Talbot’s goal with 34 and change left kept their Cup dreams alive.

Despite being outshot by a wide margin (58-32) and outplayed most of the sudden death, the Pens prevailed when Hudler of all people got caught for a high stick earning a double minor. Petr Sykora made the young Detroit pivot pay burying a shot past Chris Osgood to force Game Six at 9:57 of the third OT.

Without the goaltending of Fleury (55 saves including 24 in OT), the Pens never see Game Six which is back at Mellon Arena tomorrow night. Instead, the young Pitt netminder came up large making several highlight reel glove stops with the Cup in the balance to keep his team alive.

Quite frankly, his performance was heroic and arguably the best he’s ever played. Especially when one considers the circumstances. Allow one and your team’s season is done and the opponent lifts the Cup and celebrates. Fleury was magnificent and wouldn’t allow it. Kudos to him on getting the job done.

Now it sets up Game Six back in the Steel City. I still feel the Red Wings can rebound and win there and wrap this up. The last thing they want is for this to go the distance in a winner take all Game Seven cause even if it’s in their barn, anything can happen. They’re an experienced group who’s been there before. So, I fully expect them to come out ready to play tomorrow night. And you know the Pens will be flying.

It should make for an enticing sixth game.

Catch it if you can!

There was nothing to complain about this time. The Rangers were outworked, outhustled and outmuscled by a hungrier Pens team which did what they had to do in a 2-0 shutout at Mellon Arena Sunday, taking a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Beaten to most loose pucks, the Rangers were far from better than when they blew a three-goal lead to lose Game One 5-4 on a disputed call. Even in a tighter checking game more to their preference, they didn’t perform good enough to get the split instead falling into an unenviable 0-2 hole with the series hanging in the balance when it returns to New York Tuesday.

That Jordan Staal’s power play tally was enough to break a scoreless tie with 6:05 left in the second and the Rangers doesn’t bode well. With Chris Drury off for hooking Petr Sykora, the Pens stayed with it after missing two close chances. This time, Game One hero Evgeni Malkin drew a couple of Rangers before finding just enough of a hole to get the puck to an open Staal in front, who beat Henrik Lundqvist.

While it was difficult for Lundqvist who still was splendid keeping his team in it with 30 saves, the same couldn’t be said for Pittsburgh counterpart Marc-Andre Fleury.

“We need a little more traffic (in front against Fleury),” coach Tom Renney philosophized to the Associated Press of the Pittsburgh netminder who had a walk in the park stopping all 26 Ranger shots for his second playoff shutout. “I’m not going to suggest it was really easy for him, but it certainly could have been tougher. The big thing for us is to create some momentum of our own at MSG and really take this series back.” 

When the Rangers did attack which wasn’t nearly enough against a diligent checking Pens club which trapped to perfection clogging up the neutral zone, they couldn’t get shots through and didn’t get enough traffic on Fleury despite six power plays. They had their chances but weren’t willing to pay the price.

Sure. An unfortunate break went against them when Martin Straka’s apparent tying power play goal with over four minutes left was wiped out due to a quick whistle by referee Dan O’Halloran, who thought Fleury had covered the puck. NBC replays seemed to indicate otherwise.

“I thought it was an accurate call,” Renney said. “I don’t know if it was a quick whistle or not.”

No matter. Renney’s club got a do over when Jaromir Jagr nemesis Hal Gill was sent to the box with 2:22 remaining. The Blueshirts never threatened again as a stellar Pittsburgh PK easily killed it off finishing six-for-six on the day.

Not even pulling Lundqvist for an extra attacker with less than a minute left on the man-advantage for a brief 6-on-4 manufactured anything.

Instead, Broadway failure Adam Hall banked a clear from inside his end into a vacated net from 70 feet out. Funny. He didn’t score much last year but did something his former team couldn’t. Find the back of the net.

Now the Rangers will have to do it the hard way if they want to get back in this series. They’ll have something to draw on losing the first two in Buffalo before sweeping two at MSG to square last year’s Conference Semifinal series.

There’s also this. All season, they didn’t lose to Pittsburgh on home ice.

“We just have to go back home and still feel confident, we know we can beat this team,” Lundqvist pointed out. “We have to go back home and get two wins there and come back here, and it’s going to be pressure on them.”

Win Tuesday and they’re back in it. Lose and there’s almost no realistic chance. The pressure’s on.

Notes: The Pens are now a perfect 6-0 in the playoffs having registered at least one PPG in each. … In a switch, Renney dressed forward Petr Prucha in place of Colton Orr on the fourth line. He played only 5:50 and saw just a couple of shifts with Scott Gomez and Sean Avery despite Brendan Shanahan’s continued ineffectiveness. … In series history, Pittsburgh is now 8-2 on home ice against the Rangers. … They might not have come out with a win but the Blueshirts dominated the faceoff circle winning 37 of 57. Rookie Brandon Dubinsky won 12 of 19 while Drury was 10 and four. … Game Three is Tuesday and can be seen on Versus at 7 ET.

Here were the Rangers with the first three against division rival Pittsburgh playing the kind of road game which certainly seemed headed their way nearly halfway through. Such a win would’ve made them four-for-four on the road to start the postseason. Something they hadn’t done in over three decades. That’s why they play 60 minutes.

Up against an explosive opponent, the Blueshirts took their foot off the gas pedal allowing the talented Penguins to score the next four and pull out a 5-4 victory in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal at Mellon Arena Friday night. No truth to the rumor they’ll be renaming it NHL Arena. What. With a very debatable interference call going against Ranger forward Martin Straka which led to Evgeni Malkin’s power play decider with 1:41 left.

Having survived two awful sequences where they let the Pens score on consecutive shifts, a shaken Ranger club showed some mettle when favorite booing target Jaromir Jagr found an open Scott Gomez during a line change for the former Devil’s fourth of the playoffs tying the seesaw contest back up 4-4 with 9:56 remaining.

As Tom Renney had warned prior to the series’ first drop of the puck, facing the NHL’s darling Sidney Crosby was no easy task. Make no mistake. The 20 year-old 2006-07 league MVP didn’t need any help setting up one-time Ranger Pascal Dupuis 14 seconds after team antagonist Jarkko Ruutu banked one in off Michal Rozsival to change the game’s perplexion.

Sid The Kid also didn’t need either vet referee Don Koharski or Kelly Sutherland handing his team a power play with 3:20 left on what appeared to be little from Straka. Funny how the former Pen got nabbed when previously during the same shift, there were a couple of instances where Rangers were pulled down while cycling the puck in the Pittsburgh zone. Never mind.

Having successfully killed off the first four Pittsburgh power plays, the Rangers came close but couldn’t get the job done allowing such a bogus call to do them in when a Crosby one-timer from the top of the right circle deflected off Malkin’s left leg past Henrik Lundqvist. A nonsensical video review confirmed the obvious. That Malkin had no intent to kick it in. Wonder how league brass could’ve figured out that one?

What the Rangers need to figure out is how a three-goal lead slipped away. Unable to put the Pens away, they allowed the second seed to hang around down a goal entering the third. Maybe now they got the memo that this isn’t their first opponent.

Marian Hossa tied it at 4:40 when his sharp angle shot went through a maze of players eluding Lundqvist, who never was set. Twenty seconds later, he was busy scooping out former Ranger Petr Sykora’s tap-in off a gorgeous Malkin feed taking advantage of dreadful coverage. Dan Girardi overcommitted and third goalscorer Sean Avery watched instead of taking Sykora in front.

That kind of lax approach in team defense was the antithesis of the Ranger philosophy. They weren’t very detail oriented.

“Pittsburgh isn’t where they’re at because they’re a poor team and they don’t know how to bounce back,” an analytical Renney noted to the Associated Press afterwards. “We were certainly aware of that—almost to a fault.”

The evening didn’t start out great as they were outshot 8-0 and took two minors. However, some superb PK work and an early Straka power play goal got them on the board first. Taking a pass from Jagr, Straka’s centering feed for rookie Brandon Dubinsky went off a Pen for the period’s only goal. By its conclusion, shots were 9-7 Pens with the Blueshirts starting to take control.

Looking like the more poised team, the Rangers struck twice 1:45 apart early in the second. First, Chris Drury redirected home a Marc Staal point shot to make it 2-0 at 1:52. Video replays showed that Drury’s stick wasn’t above the crossbar allowing it to stand up. Avery would make it 3-0 when he converted off a three-on-two, wristing one through Fleury for his first of the series.

But a harmless Ruutu centering pass off Rozsival less than five minutes later changed the outcome entirely.

“(Ahead) 3-0 in the playoffs, you’d like to think it’s over, but what are you going to do?” Gomez said after scoring for a third straight game. “We can’t get in a track meet with those guys. It’s over, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“That one hurts. I thought we had it,” a disappointed Jagr added. “The second one is going to be even tougher, but we have to do it somehow.”

Notes: Back healthy from a broken toe, Ranger enforcer Colton Orr replaced Ryan Hollweg on the fourth line logging 5:48. … Dubinsky, Girardi and partner Fedor Tyutin had rough nights all finishing minus-two. … With two helpers, Jagr now leads the Blueshirts with 10 points (2-8-10 in 6 GP) this postseason. … New York got excellent games from tandem Marc Staal and Michal Rozsival with the top pair combining for five assists along with a plus-three rating. … Malkin notched a goal and assist while Crosby and Ryan Malone each contributed two assists. … Shots were dead even the final 40 minutes with each team getting 17 (9 and 8 respectively). Pens outshot the Rangers 26-24 overall. … Veteran Pen F Gary Roberts (groin) was a late scratch with ex-Ranger Adam Hall replacing him. … Fleury made 20 saves improving to 5-0 this postseason while Lundqvist turned aside 21 of 26 falling to 4-2. … Game Two is tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM on NBC.

Photo Copyright Getty Images 

There was no handshake between Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur. In the NHL playoffs, teams do serious battle during series but when they conclude, the hockey tradition has always been to shake the opponents’ hand.

However, the future Hall of Fame Devils’ netminder didn’t even look at his nemesis opting to ignore the Ranger agitator, who got the better of him during the Rangers’ five-game First Round series triumph in the latest Battle of the Hudson.

While I was pondering last night if every Red Wing shook Claude Lemieux’s hand back in 1996, Going Five Hole’s Sean Leahy confirmed that indeed even Kris Draper shook the pest’s hand after a nasty series in which eventual Stanley Cup champ Colorado prevailed.

So, was it right for Brodeur to diss Avery? If you followed this series, the Ranger’s unusual screening tactics in Game Three which included waving his stick at Brodeur during a five-on-three definitely crossed the line. Even following his team’s only win, the Devil goalie was at a loss for words over such antics from the NHL’s most despised player. Avery makes Darcy Tucker look like Luke Skywalker.

My guess is Screen Gate was the ultimate factor in Brodeur giving Avery the shaft. But I still have doubts as to whether he would’ve obliged if the well documented episode didn’t take place.

Brodeur didn’t have to shake Avery’s hand but it showed poor sportsmanship and little class from a goalie who’s always been universally respected around the league. Unlike many curious observers, it didn’t offend me much considering the history. Since Avery was acquired by New York from Los Angeles last year, he’s driven the three-time Stanley Cup champion nuts.

I was more interested to see what Brodeur had to say afterwards which wasn’t much. Just the way he handled questions showed that Avery had gotten to him. The normally loquacious Devil used few words and barely looked into the camera showing plenty of frustration. It was as if he couldn’t be bothered. I thought maybe he’d be a little more composed. Disappointing to say the least.

As for Avery, who helped finish off the Devils taking plenty of hits to setup a Scott Gomez goal during last night’s first period, he finally broke his silence after the series was over:

“Everyone talks about how much class I don’t have, well it’s the end of the series and men go to war against each other. I guess he forgot to shake my hand. … Of course I was going to shake his hand.”

The recently turned 28 year-old from Ontario had a very effective series scoring in each of the first three games and adding a couple of helpers while just picking up three minors. Clearly, he kept his cool against an opponent which tried to get underneath his skin.

As for Brodeur, it wasn’t a good five games as he allowed a few questionable goals posting a 3.19 GAA (Goals Against Average) and .891 save percentage while getting outplayed by Ranger counterpart Henrik Lundqvist.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the prideful 35 year-old Montreal native who might go down as the greatest player to occupy his position. The Devils beat their bitter rival only twice all season including a home shootout win to end the regular season. Never before had they lost all three home games in a playoff series. When the question was posed to Brodeur, he was speechless.

While the three-time Vezina winner will have the rest of the Spring and Summer to contemplate what went wrong, Avery is moving on to Round Two waiting to find out who the Rangers’ next opponent will be.

After referring to Brodeur as “Fatso” during a postgame interview seen on MSG Network, he made a valid observation on the recent series which Avery and teammates flourished in:

“I knew there was going to be a lot of attention on me. “I don’t know the extent of it because I don’t read sports. I read Vogue. I just try to stay focused.

“I tried to do what was best for the team, and I just wanted to play hard and win games.”

Photo Copyright Getty Images

Scott Gomez had plenty to smile about last night. In Game One of the latest installment of the Battle of Hudson, the 28 year-old from Anchorage got the better of his former teammates, sparking the Rangers past the Devils 4-1 at The Prudential Center.

Given the business by former supporters, all Gomez did was setup three Ranger goals much the way he had when he wore Devil colors. By utilizing his superior speed and playmaking skills to impact the game. It started early in the second when the first-year Blueshirt created his team’s first goal by dishing off to Brendan Shanahan and then screening Marty Brodeur which allowed Shanny to net his 59th career postseason tally.

The Devils would comeback to tie on defenseman Paul Martin’s first career playoff goal with Gomez in the box for a soft hook. But when his team needed it most, the affable pivot more than made up for the penalty by putting his finger prints all over the final period.

With the Rangers struggling due to a strong Devil attack which had the hosts leading 9-0 in shots, Gomez and penalty killer Ryan Callahan created a shorthanded opportunity which changed the game. The rookie right wing’s shot rebounded back out. With a couple of Devils there, Gomez drove hard to the net and got a piece of the puck pushing it to a vacant spot. For whatever reason, Brodeur waited. The aggressive stickhandling netminder later admitted he didn’t know Callahan was sneaking around the net.

If he wanted to keep play moving, it benefited the Rangers as a hustling Callahan got to the loose puck and buried it past a stunned Brodeur for a huge shorthanded tally with under 12:37 left. It was a great play by the Rochester native but one made possible by Gomez, who kept the puck alive to setup the go-ahead score.

Lifted by the momentum swinging goal, the Rangers played much better down the stretch outshooting the Devils 7-3 the rest of the way.

Gomez’ big night wasn’t over. With his former club desperate to tie it, he took advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone teaming with Sean Avery for a key insurance marker with 2:53 left. Avery started the play by intercepting the puck and then fed a streaking Gomez, who went around three Devils drawing Brodeur before slipping the biscuit into a vacated crease area where Sergei Brylin couldn’t handle it allowing Avery to stuff one home for his first of the series crushing Devil hopes.

It was Gomez’ third assist of the night burning the team he helped win a couple of Stanley Cups with. At that point, the Ranger fans who made the trip across the Path started chanting, “Scott–ie Gomez, Scott–ie Gomez, Scott–ie Gomez” in support of the player who once tormented their club. Funny how this heated rivalry works when a player crosses over to the other side.

Thanks to some generosity from vet Shanahan, Devil killer Nigel Dawes sank his first career playoff tally into an open net in the closing seconds to put the stamp on a Ranger Game One triumph allowing them to gain home ice with the second game tomorrow in Newark.

So, was the big game extra special against the centerman’s former team?

“It’s the playoffs. It doesn’t matter who you play,” he later told the AP deflecting attention. “It could have been any team. As you get older, the years go by faster.

“I’ve got a lot of friends over there, but the way you’re raised over there, it doesn’t matter who’s in the way. There were no extra emotions.”

Well stated. Besides, it was only the first game of what promises to be a hard fought series.

It’s night one of the NHL playoffs! The most fun filled time of year for puck fans out there. Over at the Battle Site, we’ve had plenty of coverage of what to expect this Spring.

With fellow bloggers Hasan, Steve Lepore, Brian Sanborn and Lenny all chipping in with cool analysis and predictions, we’re all amped up for tonight’s action including the much anticipated Battle of Hudson between the Rangers and Devils.

For myself, it’s always tough to face the Devs because I know quite a few New Jersey fans and it kind of becomes personal. Two years ago sucked but that was then and this is now with the Ranger roster changing quite a bit. How will Scott Gomez fare against his ex-team when it matters most? Can Chris Drury continue his clutch penchant for big goals? What about rookies Nigel Dawes, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan?

All that and more on the Devils’ side in my Picking the Playoffs preview.

Figure it to be pretty exciting as the playoffs always are. Also on tap tonight are the Sens-Pens, Avs-Wild and Flames visiting the Shark tank.

I’ll try to check back in with more on these games at some point.