The Great Hockey Game

Last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins battled for their lives. Caught in the city of Detroit with the Red Wings on the verge of claiming the Stanley Cup, the Pens reached deep; they tied the game with 35 seconds to go, and then essentially played an entire second game of hockey, going in to triple overtime before winning thanks to a goal by Peter Sykora.

There were plenty of amazing storylines last night: Malone getting blasted in the face by a slapper from Hal Gill, only to return with a bloodied, purple mug to finish the game; Gonchar leaving the game after a shoulder injury, and coming back just in time to play on the game-winning powerplay; goaltender Marc Andre Fleury stopping 55 shots and playing the game of his life; Crosby sacrificing his body and diving in front of almost every overtime shot he saw; and, of course, Peter Sykora telling Pierre McGuire that he will score the game-winning goal... and then doing it! Rightfully, that game will go down as one of the best ever in Pens history.

Driving to work this morning was fun. Sure I'm exhausted, but I found that most of the city seems to be tired too. It's a good kind of tired; strike that, a great kind of tired. I pulled up to the drive-thru coffee place I frequent and got a red eye with a double shot. "Stepping it up?" the barista asked me through the window (they can see me coming a mile away). "It was a long night," I said. She agreed, letting me know how hard it was for everyone there to work this morning after watching the game. While that's a little odd coming from workers who get as much free coffee as they want, it is a sentiment shared by much of the city today.

The Fed-Ex and UPS delivery men, who I see just about every morning at work, were certainly dragging anchor today. Everyone who walks through our door says something along the lines of "How about that game!" It wasn't the longest overtime game the Pens have been involved with, but it may have been the most emotional. The entire city is behind the team right now, and it feels as if everyone in Western PA was up last night, screaming at one in the morning.

I can't begin to guess what will happen in tomorrow's game. Will the momentum from this huge win carry us to Game 7? Or will the Red Wings regroup and come back more focused than ever? Regardless, last night's game shows that the Pens, while young, have heart and are willing to sacrifice everything (in a number of different languages) to win this thing. This city has been blessed with a great group of players.