NOTES….. As everyone must know by now, Detroit Red Wings RW Daniel Cleary is attempting to become the first player from the Canadian province of Newfoundland to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Cleary, who is from Harbour Grace, NL, has only one goal in his last 14 postseason games…… Jamie Samuelsen, who blogs for the Detroit Free Press, said the Game 5 loss bordered on cataclysmic. He says the Wings outplayed the Penguins the whole game and that two of the goals Pittsburgh scored were gifts, Kronwall’s own-goal, and the 3OT four-minute power play goal by Sykora. Samuelsen predicts the Wings will win their fourth Cup in 11 years because of their ability to respond to adversity….. The Pittsburgh Penguins are 9-1 at the Mellon Arena during the 2008 Playoffs, with their only loss coming in Game 4 last Saturday….. Pens trade deadline pick-up Marian Hossa might not be as consistent as Sidney Crosby but he is still third in the league in post-season scoring with 11 goals and 13 assists. At the very least he should be 2nd in line to Crosby as the Pens candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy….. Pens defenseman Brooks Orpik blocked 10 shots in Game 5….. Pittsburgh blueliner Ryan Whitney played 50 minutes and 46 seconds in Game 5….. Pens forward Ryan Malone is expected in the line-up tonight after taking a Hal Gill slapper off the nose. Malone, who has already broken his nose this postseason, only missed a few shifts after gushing blood and is proving to be a true hockey warrior…… Defenseman Sergei Gonchar is questionable for tonight’s game. He sustained a back injury early in Game 5 and missed a significant amount of time but did however get an assist on Sykora’ winning goal….. Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock has been extremely frustrated with the goaltender interference penalties that have been called in this series. He feels that the referees are picking on Detroit because of a perceived reputation of goalie running….. The Red Wings have five players who can win their 4th Stanley Cup tonight (Niklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Darren McCarty, Chris Chelios)……
For Illegal Curve, I’m Ezra Ginsburg.
