Penguins try to force Game 7
Never-say-die NHL club looks to stave off elimination against Red Wings
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | 12:59 PM ET
CBC Sports
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is a big reason the Penguins still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup. He made 55 saves on Monday. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)Take a stroll down East Carson street in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday and you'll be met by the "Beware the Penguins" sign in the window of a tanning salon.
Nearby, a Burger King restaurant has a giant Penguins logo in its window, while an electronic sign adorns a Pittsburgh Port Authority bus with the message: "Let's Go Pens."
And if your eyes can take it, you might run into Josh Wyland walking to and from work at a downtown hotel, decked out in a neon yellow Penguins jersey.
"We're Hockeytown!" Wyland belted out at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, taking a shot at Detroit, which for years has been referred to as Hockeytown USA. "The Penguins are unbelievable. They're the real deal."
A week ago, millions of hockey fans across North America, along with the so-called experts, were calling for a Red Wings sweep after they took Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup final by a combined score of 7-0.
Now, after Petr Sykora capped a 4-3 win Monday night with his first goal of the series in triple overtime, talk on television, sports radio and at water coolers of Pittsburgh businesses centres around the best-of-seven series going the distance.
Detroit takes a three games to two lead into Wednesday's Game 6 at Pittsburgh (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET).
There is such a buzz in Pittsburgh that callers to local sports radio shows on Tuesday were comparing Sykora's called-shot winning goal to former Pirates slugger Bill Mazeroski's decisive home run in the 1960 World Series.
A sold-out crowd of 17,132 is expected at Mellon Arena, where excited fans gathered in the wee-hours Tuesday morning looking for Game 6 ducats that weren't available.
Tickets for $9,000
Tickets, though, are available online at StubHub.com, eBay and RazorGator for those wishing to shell out nearly $9,000 for Igloo club seats, as reported in Wednesday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Or you could simply stay home and be part of the ever-growing TV audience. Game 1 drew 1.11 million viewers on Hockey Night in Canada while Game 3 in Pittsburgh attracted 2.042 million. The number grew to 2.7 million for Monday's thriller.
There is even a growing sense of excitement in the United States, where bowling and poker have consistently destroyed the NHL in the ratings game.
On a national level, NBC reported a 4.3 overnight rating for Game 5, which constitutes an 87 per cent increase over Saturday's Game 4 and a 79 per cent rise over last year's Game 5 between Anaheim and Ottawa.
It also marked the highest Game 5 rating for the network since Carolina-Detroit (4.5) in 2002.
"I think [Mellon Arena] is going to be rocking," said Sykora, who scored from the right dot midway through Monday's third OT period to end the fifth-longest game in Cup final history. "And I think we are all excited and hopefully we can get it done [Wednesday] night."
A repeat performance by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 55 saves in Game 5, certainly would enhance Pittsburgh's chances.
Fleury's 'greatest game'
"I've known Marc very well and that's the greatest game he has ever played," Fleury's teammate Maxime Talbot told reporters. Fleury's biggest stop came in the first extra period when he denied Mikael Samuelsson with a toe-save on an odd-man rush.
"We know the situation, that we can't lose a game," Penguins winger Jarkko Ruutu said. "It's as simple as that."
The Red Wings, on the other hand, could stand to drop Game 6, setting up a dramatic seventh and deciding contest on Saturday at Detroit.
But don't expect the Wings to be pushovers. They have closed out their last six playoff series wins on the road and have more than 20 Stanley Cup rings spread throughout the lineup.
"We're a confident team. We're a confident group," said Detroit centre Kris Draper, one of five players to win the Cup with the Red Wings in 1997, 1998 and 2002. "We feel that we can come into another team's building and be successful. So here we go again."
Detroit is seeking its 11th Stanley Cup title and fourth in 11 seasons.
