Red Wings-Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury Saves the Day in Game Five

Thank God for Marc-Andre Fleury.

Without his stellar play, the Pens would be dead on the ice—much like the octopi thrown by Detroit fans.

With ten minutes left in the game, Detroit fans were chanting "We want the Cup," and I was getting ready to chose a headline for my article. I was sure it'd be something like: "Inexperience proves costly for young Pens".

Oops. Lesson learned: Wait till the game is over—even if it takes four hours.

But, don't blame me. Detroit's dominance in the third period was ridiculous. Really ridiculous, there is no other adjective to describe it. Detroit outshot Pittsburgh 14-3 until the last minute—when Pittsburgh's reckless style of offence paid off.

In a scramble in front of Chris Osgood, the puck rolled right to Maxim Talbot's stick, and with a couple of whacks, he tied the game. Joe Louis Arena fell into an eerie silence. While just a few minutes ago, the crowd was so loud that the announcers were barely audible, now you could hear the puck glide down the ice as the seconds ticked away from the clock.

During all overtime periods, Detroit's dominance was obvious—and still, they couldn't score. Shot after shot came towards Fleury (24 in OT) and he kept turning them away, one after another.

His poise was impressive, he looked like a seasoned veteran—and he was the opposite of every other young Penguins player. Crosby, Malkin, and Staal, Pittsburgh's three young phenoms, played nervously and committed mistake after mistake.

Not Fleury. He kept Pittsburgh in the game by making one impressive save after another.

What we saw in Game Five was the coming of age of a young goalie. No matter the result of the series, win or lose, Fleury will have this game attached to him for the rest of his career.

And it is safe to say that as of right now, we can move Fleury into the 'elite' group of goaltenders in the NHL. Few goalies could "survive" such a game and look so good.

Don Cherry said after the game that he could not remember a performance as good as Fleury's in the playoffs. I have to agree.

What we have seen this playoffs in Fleury is a young, promising player, who tons of hype and pressure is turning into a bona-fide superstar.

Last night was just the exclamation point.