For as behind as the Penguins have seemed to be in a lot of the Stanley Cup Final so far, they had the chance in game 4 last night to, perhaps, erase all of that and move on in what would amount to a best-of-three series for the Cup.
Instead, they now face elimination.
Behind 22 saves from maybe the most unimpressive goalie to be this close to winning a championship, and a soft, third-period, game winner from Red Wing Jiri Hudler, the Red Wings defeated the Penguins last night, 2-1, to take a 3-1 stranglehold in the series.
They can wrap things up and win the Stanley Cup Monday night in Detroit.
This game was there for the Penguins.
They had more power play chances, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:27 two-thirds of the way into the final frame, trailing 2-1.
They failed to get a shot.
They took the lead again for the second time in a row 3 minutes into the game on a goal from winger Marion Hossa.
They failed to hold it.
They had won 17 straight on home ice, not losing in more than 3 months. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury hadn't lost there since November.
They failed to maintain both streaks.
Although the Red Wings continued to get zero offensive production from their supposed stars, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk -- who have combined for 1 whole goal in the series -- the Penguins are losing this series because they aren't getting scoring from anyone other than their top line, while Detroit is getting contributions from its other players.
Well, that's not the only reason they are losing, but it's a big part of it.
Again, Evegeni Malkin failed to show up on the scoresheet. He had 5 shots, but couldn't deliver when it counted most. He's got only 2 points in his last 8 games and is minus 3 in the final. He claimed going into game 4 that he had all his energy back, but I'm not seeing it. He's skating well at times, but he doesn't have that extra gear he needs, especially against a team as defensively suffocating as Detroit. Without him, it's been extremely hard to stay in this series.
Not only that, if he isn't making an impact, he essentially renders useless 2 of the Penguins' other offensive players -- his wingers, Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone. Neither have been factors in this series. Without Malkin, they just have no impact out there.
The Penguins also haven't gotten the big goal from guys like Jordan Staal (who Darren Dreger from TSN Canada reported to be seen walking around with a significant limp after the game), Max Talbot, or Pascal Dupuis. Malone sprung Dupuis behind the defense in the 2nd period last night, but he just couldn't corral the puck. Those are chances the Penguins can't miss against Detroit.
Another thing the Penguins can't do is fail to do the little things properly. Like clear the puck out of their zone. Their failure to do that led to Hudler's game winning goal in the 3rd period.
They also can't take stupid penalties, like the one Dupuis took for cross-checking in the first period. That's the penalty that allowed Lidstrom to score. Although it wasn't a power-play goal, it might as well have been, since it was scored only 2 seconds after the penalty expired. Dupuis made a selfish play on that one, plain-and-simple. He cross-checked one Red Wing in plain sight in front of everyone and got away with it, and then did it again, once more in plain sight, 5 seconds later. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He has to know not to do that, especially after obviously getting away with one.
Marc-Andre Fleury didn't have his best game, again. He can't be faulted on the Lidstrom goal, but the Hudler goal early in the 3rd period was one he had to have, and he knows it. Every little thing makes the difference. We really needed him to slam the door there, and he just didn't do it.
In reality, Fleury's having his worst series of the playoffs, at the worst possible time. I'm not happy about his performance, but it's also really hard to pin that much blame on him when it's hard to get much going offensively. That said, there are going to be close games in the playoffs. 2-1 games. You have to be able to win those. He hasn't given the Penguins the goaltending they need in this series to do that. And even though Osgood hasn't gone it either, the Penguins haven't tested him nearly enough to prove it.
Although coming back from a 3-1 deficit can be done, only one team has ever done it in the final, and that was the same Toronto Maple Leafs team that came back from 3-0 down against -- yes, the Red Wings. It's not going to be easy, especially going on the road for the next game, but the Penguins only have to win 1. They can't win 3 games at a time. If they survive, they'll come back home with a chance to push the series to an anything-can-happen game 7.
But if the Penguins are going to win, they are going to have to find ways to bury their chances. They also are going to need Fleury to just slam the door. If they can't do BOTH in the next game, the Red Wings are going to win their franchise's 11th Stanley Cup at the Penguins' expense.
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