Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings – Game 7 Preview
It all comes down to tonight, as the defending champion Detroit Red Wings host the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 7 of the NHL Finals. The home team has won every game in this series and the Penguins will have to break that trend if they want to unseat the Red Wings as NHL champions. The Penguins beat the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference playoffs in a game 7 at Washington, so they are no stranger to playing an elimination game on the away ice. Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in game 6 only allowing one 3rd period goal and making 25 saves, but he is 0-3 in Detroit in this series, has given up 11 goals in 3 games there, and has always had trouble with the boards at Joe Louis Arena. He has to play solid tonight, as the Penguins may have to win another low scoring game like they did in game 6 winning 2-1. Sydney Crosby has been blanketed all series by Henrik Zetterberg and in Crosby’s last 6 finals’ games in Detroit the Pittsburgh star does not have one goal. It is do or die time for both teams, but Detroit has history on their side, as Home teams are 12-2 in championship Game 7’s and have won 80 of the 128 playoff series that have gone 7 games.
One of the leading sportsbooks has moneylines and has the Red Wings as favorites in this game at -200 and the visiting Penguins as the underdogs posted at +165 with a total of 5.5 goals.
Pittsburgh has confidence going into this game, as they know they can win when their stars do not score. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the NHL with 113 points in the regular season, but went pointless in the Game 6 win. Game 6 was the first time since the duo joined the team that they were held scoreless and the Penguins still won. Even though they won game 6 the Penguins need these two to score some points, as they cannot count on holding the dynamic offense of the Red Wings to only 1 goal again. In game 6 Pittsburgh played great on defense and they will have to do that again tonight. Detroit has to take care of the puck better then they did in game 6 when they allowed the Penguins to have 11 takeaways. Chris Osgood has been stellar at home between the pipes, as he has only allowed 2 goals in 3 home games. The Red Wings offense has to take some pressure off Osgood tonight and they can do that with some early goals.
The key in this game will be if Pittsburgh can play in Detroit like they have at home. They have to do that tonight, as the Red Wings have been great in Detroit not only in this series, but also in this season’s playoffs. One thing that has plagued the Penguins in this series has been penalty minutes, but they only had 4 in game 6 and they have to stay out of the penalty box tonight. All the stats and history go out the window when the puck is dropped tonight, as the winner of this game will be hoisting the Stanley Cup.
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