Penguins-Red Wings: Paybacks are a Bitch, Detroit!

What a GREAT game!

It couldn't have been any better than it was—and the best part is that the Penguins finally get their revenge against the Detroit Red Wings (and put some doubt in Hossa's mind about which team is better this season) by coming back from a three-point deficit in the third period, and winning the game in sudden-death overtime!

The Penguins were sharp—aside from the second half of the first period when the Red Wings shifted the momentum after scored two goals to take the lead.

However, the game was never lacking in excitement, especially when Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal scored two goals within two minutes of each other in the third period to bring them within a solitary goal to tie the game and force it into overtime—and to top it off, Staal scored that tying goal, which allowed him to record a hat trick for the game.

With a little over a minute left in overtime, you could just feel the Pens' urgency.  Their persistence paid off when Jordan Staal made an awesome pass to Ruslan Fedotenko, who shot a bullet that found its way to the back of the net before Detroit goalie Chris Osgood ever had a real chance to locate and stop it.

Key Players

ALL of the Penguins put in a greater than usual effort—let's hope this is a turning point, and they keep it up. 

But two players come to mind when I think of keys to last night's game—Jordan Staal and Mike Zigomanis. Zigomanis, by far, was just a brilliant move on Shero's part—his skills at face-offs have allowed the Penguins to soar to new heights. And Jordan Staal just looked amazing against Detroit.

My only question is: Who thinks it's a good idea to trade Staal now? Let's see how many critics there are out there today.  I think he turned a corner with the empty-net goal he scored, and he's on his way back to the Jordan Staal we knew his rookie year!

And keep in mind, this is the end result without our top D-men—Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. What do we have to look forward to the next time these two teams meet on February 8?

WAY TO GO PENS!!!