Penguins' Greatest Games in the Last 25 Years: Installment Two

Today, the second game on my list of the Penguins' greatest in the last 25 years.

Penguins 3 OT, 4-3 Victory over Detroit in game #5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final

There's no discussion of playoff overtime games in Penguins' history -- or of the Penguins' greatest games -- without mention of the Penguins triple overtime thriller against the Red Wings in the Finals about six weeks ago.

I blogged in detail about this game in its aftermath, so I won't revisit everything again here. Suffice it to say, however, this game will go down as legendary in Penguins history, not only for what happened, but because of what was on the line. When you think about it, there just aren't many situations where there is more at stake. Triple overtime in game 6 of the Finals? Okay. Overtime of any kind in game 7 of the Finals? Certainly. But that's about it. Petr Sykora saved the Penguins season with his power play goal just a little more than half way through the 3rd overtime after telling NBC bench reporter that he was going to score the winner, and his effort culminated a night of memories for the Penguins and their fans in the game, including:

- Marc Andre Fleury's 55 saves, including his other-worldly toe save on Red Wings forward Mikael Samuelsoon, which simply is now known around town as "The Save, II"

- Ryan Malone coming back to play after his second broken nose of the finals

- Max Talbot joining the ice as 6th attacker with Fleury pulled and promptly scoring to tie the game with 30 seconds left before the Penguins were to hit the golf course

- Sergei Gonchar leaving the game in the 3rd period with back spasms after hitting the boards hard following his hustle to help break up a 2-on-1 Detroit rush, only to return for the first time about 3+ periods later in the 3rd overtime on the power play and assisting on Sykora's game winner.

The Penguins showed incredible heart and desire in a game they had to win. Even though they went on to lose the next game at home -- and therefore the chance to carry the Stanley Cup -- their game against the Red Wings in game 5 is unquestionably one of the best ever in the history of the franchise.

Any chance they can re-do that set of the Penguins' 10 greatest games?

In my next post, I'll keep the Stanley Cup Final theme going and talk about a 3rd game to be put on my list. Here's a hint: It won't be a Cup Clincher.




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