Don’t shave those beards just yet, gentlemen. While you stood in front of your bathroom mirror last night, Norelco in hand, the Pittsburgh Penguins said f-ck you to Stanley Cup history as the puck hit the back of the Wings net with 34 seconds left in the third period.


O and T are the two most hated letters in the English language during a Stanley Cup deciding game. Put a number 3 in front of them and you’ve got Monday night’s game. Just as the Joe Louis Arena staff was stocking the Red Wings dressing room with champagne and Stanley Cup Champions 2008 caps, and the dude in the white gloves was lifting Stanley out of its case, the Pittsburgh Penguins decided it wasn’t it over till they say it’s over. So I figured, okay make them work for it, I like that. Either way, the Red Wings will have truly earned this victory and the Pens will have lost knowing they held the carrot in front of them as long as they could. OR the Pens would perform a miracle and force a game 6 on their home turf. I was honestly Zen about the whole thing, Switzerland, bi-cheer-ious. I could go either way.


As I watched the clock count down the final minutes, seconds, remaining in the 2007-2008 season. Again, and again, and again. A pan shot of the Penguins bench showed them looking battered like a line up of soldiers in ‘Nam. I thought ‘is this it?’


Nope.


Kelly Hrudey said before the game that in order for the Pens to bring it home during game 5, they would have to include lucky breaks as an unspoken part of their game plan. Good call Kelly, because if lucky breaks are what they wanted, lucky breaks are what they got. Starting with Mr. Kronwall scoring top cheese on his own net. You’re welcome.


I saw some footage of the Penguins being loose and having a little fun at practice and during warmies before the game. Saw a few smiles. Good for them. It was about time it hit them that this may very well be the last game of their season, so they might as well enjoy it. You never know what’s going to happen, boys. One fella who certainly wasn’t having very much fun this series was Evgeni Malkin. I watched him create two turnovers in a row at one point during the last game, and he continued to struggle throughout. On behalf of the entire Red Wings organization and Joe Louis Arena, I’d like to thank him. Malkin was like hockey-Oprah, just giveaways all over the place. “You ALL get puuuucks! YOU get a puck, and YOU get a puck! Everybody gets pucks!” Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Malkin supporter. And if it means anything, Detroit is so tops they can make just about anyone look like a pile of crap.


You say to yourself ‘a team can only get lucky so many times’. A shot hitting the post, a no-goal here, a turnover there, a perfectly timed 4 minute penalty, you get the idea. True, but what the Penguins really did that won them the game, was capitalizing on the very few mistakes the Red Wings made, and if you ask me that’s a mark of a team that knows how to play hockey. Unfortunately, Ozzie Osgood was looking a little less than fabulous last night. On opposite end, Marc-Andre Fleury was playing superhero to a crumbling defense. His performance last night almost made everyone in Joe Louie forget about him eating it during the team’s entrance in game 1. Until I brought it up just now. Sorry M.A.


By the way, I heard that the Penguins multiple-overtime secret is… get this… coconut water. Coconut water, really? So every intermission, while the old guys in the Red Wings dressing room are hooked up to oxygen tanks, the Penguins are mixing up Pina Coladas. Who would’ve thought?


I’m still sticking to my guns on the Wings in 6, and as much as I (and Joe Louis Arena) would have liked to see the Wings raise the Cup on their home ice, I was delighted to see the Penguins show some serious balls of steel during that last game. Did they play great? Not really. But when Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Malone both left the ice with injuries a matter of seconds apart, only to return to the bench for the next period, battle wounds and all, it made me think ‘hey, maybe this thing ain’t over yet’. It’s the little things like that that have the fans keeping the faith. Have no fear, persevere.


Pull on your white gloves and put Stanley back in his case for now. Kid Rock and Chad Kroeger will have to wait another day to see the Wings win their last game at home… perhaps they’ll be able to claim their seats on the glass for game 7. Good luck with that.


Like I always say, you never know what’s going to happen.


Stay tuned.