Max-ime-mum Effort As Pens Win 3rd Stanley Cup

Pardon me for being a few days late as I've been away from my computer for quite some time, but Go Pens!!!

Maxime Talbot provided all the offense needed for the Penguins to claim their 3rd Stanley Cup trophy and first since winning back-to-back in '91 and '92. Talbot scored two goals in the 2nd period that proved to be the only scores the Pens needed to eclipse the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1.

Whether or not the Penguins would make the playoffs was in serious jeopardy earlier in the season when they fired head coach Michel Therrien after a 27-25-5 start to the year.

Dan Bylsma, of relative anonymity prior to taking over, filled in as interim head coach for the remainder of the season and earned himself an official "head coach" tag and multi-year extension after his squad disposed of the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It's safe to say that few saw this kind of a run coming but the Penguins played truly inspired hockey under Bylsma's direction.

With their 2-1 victory on Friday night in Detroit the Penguins became the first professional team since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) to win a championship Game 7 on the road. And oh how sweet it was to exact revenge on the very team that eliminated the Pens a year ago on their home ice.

Congratulations to the entire Pittsburgh Penguins organization, to Sidney Crosby (youngest captain - 21 - to hoist the Cup), Evgeni Malkin (first Russian-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy), Marc-Andre Fleury (goat of the first 3 games in Detroit where he surrendered 11 goals) and the entire city of Pittsburgh for not giving up on the franchise and letting it move to another city just a few short years ago.

One more thing - I want to add that this is a particularly sweet victory given the lack of faith bestowed from one Stars and Slights' long-time readers.

A friendly wager was placed on the series and now the one who ran his mouth (not me) has to pay the consequences. He of all people should have known better, too, as a lifelong Red Sox fan. Remember this? It's not over 'til it's over... don't ever forget that!

Stanley Cup and Super Bowl champions in the same year? Oh how sweet it is!

Geno + Sid = 2-2

AP Photo Credit/ Gene J. Puskar

A good friend of mine and Justin's and longtime follower of Stars and Slights told me, during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, that the Red Wings would win that game 4-1 and the Wings would sweep the series. He even offered that the cup would probably start being engraved later that night after the victory.

He was almost entirely right... but completely wrong at the same time. The Red Wings won Game 2 3-1 and looked to be in commanding lead of the series. They lucked out by scoring two cheap goals in Game 1 off of dumps into the Pittsburgh zone - not real shots on goal!

Pittsburgh rebounded in Game 3, though, as Pens won 4-2 off of a strong performance from it's supporting cast and, of course, Evgeni "Geno" Malkin who had 3 assists.

Tonight's Game 4 was no different than the prior game, as the Penguins eclipsed the Red Wings 4-2.

This game was much more exciting than the prior, though. Malkin put the Penguins ahead 1-0 after he drew a penalty early in the 1st period and then capitalized on a rebound to score the game's first goal.

From there, Detroit actually claimed a 2-1 lead. But the Penguins were not discouraged - scoring 3 goals in less than 6 minutes during the 2nd period.

Jordan Staal, in fact, scored a short-handed goal during a 4-minute span where the Red Wings were unable to score on the man-advantage.

Aside from Malkin's 2 point performance, Captain Sidney Crosby finally ended his Stanley Cup frustration by scoring on a fantastic feed from Malkin at 10:34 into the 2nd period.

Needless to say, this series is far from over as the two teams head back to Detroit for Game 5 tied at 2-2.

Take a look at the highlights from Game 4 and enjoy. So much for a 4-game sweep. Let's Go Pens!!!