Wow.
The Pittsburgh Penguins went into the Stanley Cup Finals as the underdogs to the Detroit Red Wings, sure, but nobody expected them to be so heavy on the "under."
With last night's shutout victory ---the second of the series---the Wings took a 2-0 series lead and have outscored the Penguins seven goals to none. Who would have believed that a team with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa wouldn't be able to buy a goal after dominating their previous three playoff opponents?
And what happened to Marc-Andre Fleury? Is it time to call in Ty Conklin?
The good news for the Penguins is that they now head back home to Mellon Arena, where they haven't lost since February (no kidding). Also good news is that a 2-0 deficit is not nearly as tough to overcome as a 3-0 deficit.
But the odds are still against them.
I was in Pittsburgh this weekend (the Cubs lost in extra innings on both Saturday and Sunday, darn it), and I have to say the city has really come alive for the team. There are "Let's Go Pens " signs in every window downtown and half the jerseys worn at PNC Park were Penguins jerseys. That's dedication considering one of their primary colors is black and Sunday's game had direct sunlight for four hours. I hope the intensity that's sure to be present in the Mellon crowd for game 3 will propel the Penguins to a victory.
I'd hate to see the Wings get another Cup.
As for game threads, the one here for game 2 was most impressive, but I suggest everyone take the fun over to Pensburgh , the SB Nation Penguins blog. Frank D runs a great site and it's never been easier to join and comment on other blogs in the network, so help support hockey on SB Nation! Support Pensburgh and contribute to his game 3 open thread. His game 2 thread surpassed 100 comments, just like ours, so combining ours with his would make for quite a party.