More Evidence that Hockey Players are Not Normal

Hell of a game last night. This morning.

Actually, it was more like two games, since it took six periods to finish.

The Penguins can definitely play with the Red Wings, but they keep forgetting that. In game four, they came out flying and kicked butt - including a breathtaking penalty kill where every time Detroit brought the puck across the blue line they lost posession within three seconds. Then the Pens gave up a goal - and it really was just a lucky shot, not an especially great play - and their whole outlook changed. They couldn't pass, they couldn't set up an attack, and every time a Detroit player skated near them they lost the puck.

I'm particularly happy that Maxime Talbot got the game-tying goal. He's one of the guys who is least susceptible to this performance funk. He always plays hard and never gives up. It's one thing to say that, but it's another thing to watch him behind the net in what everybody thinks is the last minute of their season, chopping at the loose puck - not once, not twice. Three times. And the third time, it goes in.

I came across this bit in the Post-Gazette story about the game. As I said before, hockey players are not like other people.

The power play that led to his goal was made possible when Detroit forward Jiri Hudler smacked Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi in the face with his stick and received a double-minor.

"I was just praying for blood," Scuderi said.

He got his wish, and a nice scab on his chin. It matches the one on his upper lip where he got hit by a teammate in game two. And what did he say then? "It's unfortunate that it wasn't [Detroit], because it would have been four minutes."

Stoicism is pretty much a requirement in the NHL, but the playoffs do bring out remarkable feats of pain tolerance. Sergei Gonchar helped set up the Pens' winning goal. Gonchar crashed hard, head-first, into the boards at the end of the second period and left the game at the beginning of the third. But by the start of the third overtime, he said, he was feeling better. So he suited back up and thought maybe he'd try taking a shift if they got a power play (he had the most power play goals of any defenseman this season).

So Wednesday night we get our last home game of the season, win or lose. I can't complain. Hell of a season.

Though the cup would sure be nice.