-- What a game by Jiri Hudler. Even without the winning goal, he had a fantastic goal. With 4:28 left in the second period, Darren Helm missed the Pittsburgh net wide with a shot on the rush. Missing short-side is ok, but missing wide ... the puck shot down the ice towards Detroit's end. Trouble was, the Wings' defensemen were changing. Hudler raced back and saved Helm with a perfect backcheck, stripping the Penguin of the puck and heading back the other way. Beautiful heady play.
-- The defense pairing of Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart have been phenomenal during this series. Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are playing like a shut-down pairing. So are Kronwall and Stuart. And did you see Stuart keep a bouncing puck in the Pittsburgh end leading to Hudler's goal?
-- On the winning goal ... Helm's pick on Brooks Orpik was beautiful. And Hudler, showing his smarts again, shooting back-hand rather to catch Fleury off guard was brilliant.
-- Too many superlatives by me. Have to tone it down.
-- The 5-on-3 shift by Henrik Zetterberg was amazing. (Darn, another superlative.) Total heart.
-- Being at the press conferences every day, I'm surprised at how Sidney Crosby refuses to dish out any praise to opponents. In the locker room, he's a nice guy, very polite, very respectful. But when asked about Zetterberg's 5-on-3 play last night, Crosby said, "I don't think he did anything out of the ordinary that any guy wouldn't do on a 5-on-3." Yah, he did. Darren McCarty called Zetterberg's performance "sick". I like that analysis better.