play off hockey. Hopefully this goes to game 7 but I don't think so the wings usually have a pretty good killer instinct. I am impressed by Fleury since he has taken it up a notch in the play offs although he is second best to Osgood overall in this series.

Truly amazing game. The Red Wings are so relentless they seem more like a machine than a hockey team. The Pens had to scratch and claw and fight just to get the puck out of their own end for most of the night. Not taking anything away from Talbot's and Sykora's late game heroics, but the star of the game was Fleury. He made at least a half dozen hightlight reel saves.

Regardless, I take issue with your comment that the Red Wings dominated the Penguins in the 2nd and 3rd overtimes. I thought the Pens at least held their own in those periods. I thought the Red Wings started to show their age, and that the Penguins younger legs were able to get to a lot more loose pucks.

One other quibble, King:

Left wing Ryan Malone was camped in front of the Detroit net in the third period when Hal Gill's slap shot caught him flush in the face, breaking his nose.

Actually, Malone's nose was already broken from a hard Niklas Kronwall hit in game 1. When asked after the game if he'd wear a protective visor for game six, Malone said no.

This game (just like so many others) exemplifies how we need to face adversity:

- Don't give up when you are down

- It ain't over till its over

- Every second counts

- Give it your all every second of every hour of every day

And kudos to Detroit for catching up after a 2-0 defecit.

I love the sport, don't care for the cheap shots, but games like these are truly inspiring.

If ever a team deserved to play another game it's the Pittsburgh Penguins

Let me understand this: the Wings totally dominated play for the last 4 periods of the game, but Pittsburgh deserved to play another game?

Call me old fashioned, but I'm from the school that believes the team that plays better deserves to win...

Call me old-school, but I believe the team with the most points deserves to win. And Sykora called his shot. HE CALLED HIS FREAKIN' SHOT! This isn't like how some bonehead before every big game will "guarantee" a victory. Not too many players have the guts to guarantee a game-winner, much less to a side-line reporter *during the game* and then actually follow through on it. I still can't get over how unreal that is.

Also anyone care to debate the following statement:

The best chant in all of sports is the goalie's name.

To say the very least. I had all but resigned myself to the inevitable, but after the Pens tied it up I couldn't stop watching, all the way through to the crazy end (although many times I turned the TV off & on, only to let my curiosity about the outcome get the better of me despite my jangled nerves) so I kept my vigil into the wee hours. Yes, the Pens are young, scrappy & talented, & I really hope to see this Cinderella story result in a final winning outcome, fulfilling the youthful dreams of these great guys. A little doubtful, I'm remaining hopeful, but they truly deserve it. Sometimes you just never know.

Thank you, King, for finally covering some hockey (and not just pasting it to the end of a longer post). I've been reading a lot lately that Americans are more interested in everything from mudwrestling to ballet. But if nobody covers hockey, that becomes self-fulfilling.

May the march of the Penguins continue.

I caught (what I thought was) the end of the game. They played More than two full minutes of game with a stop in play! How exciting and fun was that? No whistles, no timeouts. Just playing the game.

The Wings were up, in a few seconds the game should be over. I'll stick around to see Chelios skate around with the Cup and then go to bed. Nope.

Great game all around, those Red Wings look like a machine out there - what I imagine the Red Army looked like to my dad's generation. They always seem...inevitable.

I do love me some Penguins though (my most recently adopted "2nd Favourite Team") and I can't wait to see the atmosphere in The Igloo for Game Six.

Me and a buddy were bar-stool pontificatin' and we agreed that if GM Ray Shero had titanic brass ones he'd trade Malkin to someone like Tampa Bay for the rights to Stamkos, Boyle, and another top Forward, and resign Hossa. Can you imagine trading away a finalist for the Hart Trophy?? I think it would improve the team immensely but man...only the ballsiest GM could ever pull that off, it would be nifty to see.

(not that I have anything against Malkin...he's easily my favourite young player in the NHL - above Crosby and Ovechkin actually...but there's no way they can keep all three of those guys...and I think Hossa is a bona fide superstar, but one that they could get nothing in return for as he's an UFA.)

Regardless, I take issue with your comment that the Red Wings dominated the Penguins in the 2nd and 3rd overtimes. I thought the Pens at least held their own in those periods. I thought the Red Wings started to show their age, and that the Penguins younger legs were able to get to a lot more loose pucks.

As an impartial viewer, I suspect you're a Pens fan with hope or a Detroit fan not wanting to admit that your team should have sealed the deal. For most of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods, didn't think the Pens had a chance. In the 5th and 6th periods, it seemed like the Wings came out strong, but their older legs got tired and the Pens dominated the later parts of the period.