Pittsburgh Penguins: Not Done Yet, Fleury Comes Up Big

Time and time again the Red Wings fired the puck at Marc-Andre Fleury. Tomas Holmstrom had the puck on his stick and missed. Valtteri Filppula fired a shot from the slot and missed. Kirk Maltby came in with a burst of speed and Fleury stopped him.

Thanks to Fleury, the Penguins will live to see another day.

Fleury made 55 saves in a 4-3 Pens win that saw Petr Sykora blast a shot past Chris Osgood for the game-winning goal 9:57 into the third overtime.

The win sends the series back to Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh where the Pens are near perfect this postseason, losing only when the Red Wings beat them in Game Four.

The Red Wings were just 34 seconds away from hoisting the Stanley Cup, but the determined Penguins forced overtime when Maxime Talbot slammed in a puck in close quarters to tie the game at three.

With their season on the line, Pittsburgh came out strong and though they seemed fatigued as they game wore on, they got the job done.

The Penguins scored two goals in almost seven minutes on shots from Marian Hossa and Adam Hall, who was credited with a goal after a rare mistake from Nicklas Kronwall, who shot the puck past Osgood.

And what of guys like Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar? These guys sustained injuries at different points in the game, yet they came back out and were there to help their team fight. That’s what the playoffs are about—when you’re hurt, you shut out the pain and play, especially in the finals.

What can you say about Fleury’s performance? A loss would have sent the young Pens home, but Fleury was determined to keep them around by putting on a show.

Midway through the first, he stopped Filppula, and less than two minutes later he stoned Henrik Zetterberg on a 2 on 1.

Though Pittsburgh threw 32 shots at Osgood, it was Fleury standing like a stone wall in net during overtime that proved the difference for the Pens.

Given that some of Pittsburgh’s stars have been almost non-existent in this series, Fleury has played well, given the Pens a chance to win the game by keeping pucks out of the net.

And what about the Red Wings? 58 shots through five and a half periods of hockey? It’s reminiscent of their past early-round playoff exits when they threw that many shots at the goalie in regulation.

The Wings had chances to put this game away. Boy, did they have chances! Late in the first Darren Helm got a breakaway and was stopped. With less than three minutes left in the second stanza, Mikael Samuelsson had a great shot on a two-on-one, only to be stopped on a spectacular Fleury leg save.

The game was theirs but they could not put it away.

You can’t fault Osgood much either. After giving up two first period goals to Hossa and Hall, he settled down and was solid the rest of the game before Talbot’s goal.

In the first overtime, he made a great stop on Evgeni Malkin (who finally has a point in the series), stopping the shot and then standing up to catch the puck after it bounced up.

He also stopped Sidney Crosby on three chances in regulation. He made 32 saves for the game and was just as good as Fleury in overtime, but Fleury proved to be just a tick better at the end.

With Game Six in Pittsburgh it’s possible that we’re looking at a seven-game series. Both teams will be tired to be sure, but the game being played at home, the Pens might just find themselves one game away from a Stanley Cup.

Regardless of how this series goes down, the Pens will sure be remembered for their grit in this series and in this game.