Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 4 (3OT)

Last night's game-winning goal. (AP Photo)

Aiiieee. Who’d a thunk it? Here we were… 35 seconds from the end of the game, 35 seconds from the end of the series, 35 seconds from becoming the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions, 35 seconds!… and Pittsburgh scores to tie. The “pull the goalie, add the extra skater” tactic usually fails, but last night it worked in spectacular fashion. So: to overtime… two complete periods and half of a third… and a conclusion that disappointed the entire city of Detroit and Wings fans everywhere. Here’s Bob Wojnowski, writing in the Detroit News:

DETROIT -- Party postponed. Put the Stanley Cup back in the box, for now.

On an incredible night of emotional swings, when the game seemed won and lost and won again about a dozen times, the Red Wings lost in crushing fashion, in the third overtime. As the clock ticked toward 1 a.m., Penguins right wing Petr Sykora fired a shot past Chris Osgood to beat the Wings, 4-3, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday.

All of sudden, the pressure grows. All of a sudden, the Wings' lead is only 3-2, with Game 6 Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

[…]

The Wings had their chances -- oh, my, did they have their chances. But Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stole the game and killed the party, thwarting the Wings' furious flurries. The Wings outshot the Penguins by an astounding 58-32, but couldn't get the clincher.

[…]

Maybe the size of the moment hit the Red Wings flush in the face. Or maybe thoughts of parades and trophies danced too early in too many heads.

Or more likely, Fleury was just magnificent. The puck bounced crazily all night, off sticks, off crossbars, off skates. And yes, again and again, it hit Fleury, as the Joe Louis Arena crowd shrieked and gasped.

This was terrific drama, if you're into heart-stopping entertainment and ridiculous saves. The Wings overcame early nerves and a two-goal deficit with a furious rally and a relentless array of shots, but they couldn't get the winner, no matter how desperately they pressed.

Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Dan Cleary and others all had prime chances in overtime, and with every save, the exhausting tension mounted.

Mounting tension? It was unbearable tension! There were at least five or six occasions during the OTs where I thought the Wings had won it. But noooo… Fleury stopped each and every shot. I’ll hand it to him, grudgingly: it was a magnificent performance. And Fleury is the primary reason the Wings didn’t skate the Cup around The Joe last night. He’s also the reason there are literally thousands of long faces all over Deetroit today. Michael Rosenberg, in The Freep:

You know that feeling you have this morning? The wobbly stomach, the dry throat, the constant headache? Either you drank too much or you are just a normal hockey fan. Maybe both. Hey, it was a long game.

Red Wings fans showed up for a coronation. By the end of the first period, they were wondering if the emperor had no clothes -- clearly, he had no teeth. The Wings were down 2-0, and even if you weren't a worrier, you worried.

What if the Wings actually ... uh ... lose this game? They would have to go to Pittsburgh, where the Penguins have not lost since Mario Lemieux's first retirement (except for when the Wings beat them the other night). And when -- I mean IF -- they lose that one, they'll face Game 7 at home with those idiotic columnists asking if they're choking!

That fear became reality halfway through the third overtime. And the most normal feeling for a hockey fan -- constant nervousness -- came back to Wings fans for the first time since the first round against Nashville.

Boy Howdy! Rosenberg’s right on the MONEY! Game Six is tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, and as much as I hate to think about it, there will most likely be a Game Seven Friday night in Detroit. But…that’s hockey. Statistically the Wings are the better team in this series, by each and every metric… shots, hits, face-offs won, and total goals scored in the five games played to date. But those pesky Penguins absolutely refuse to be closed out, so far. So, yeah: Nervousness. In frickin’ spades.

We’ll see what we see.