Seed, Smeed!
And then there were eight. Not just eight teams left to vie for
Lord Stanley's Cup, but the eighth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team that nobody gave a chance to win. The same Pittsburgh
Penguins team that I myself said would lose in five games. The
same team that lost their leader and captain Jaromir Jagr in the
first game of the series. The team that knocked the New Jersey
Devils out of the playoffs.
The Penguins headed into the Continental Airlines Arena Tuesday
night for a deciding Game 7 with the hope of being the second
straight Number 8 seed to send the Devils to the golf course
early after a first round exit.
The Penguins were able to manage four goals on only 13 shots and
now advance to the second round to meet the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jan Hrdina's goal with 17 seconds left in the second period
proved to be his biggest goal as a pro, not to mention the game-
winner. German Titov netted his first playoff goal of the year
in a Penguin's 3-goal second period. Tom Barrasso was stellar
between the pipes to insure the Penguins would have at least four
more games to play. Martin Straka had one goal and two assists
to bring his playoff point total to 11 (six goals, five assists).
Oh yeah, Jaromir Jagr chipped in with a pair of assists and
finished the series with five points in three games.
Jagr returned to the Penguin lineup Sunday afternoon for a
pivotal Game 6 in Pittsburgh. And although he was not playing at
100% due to his groin injury, he only managed the game-tying and
overtime goals to force a seventh game. Jagr was almost
Mario-like. He showed the world Sunday that he, not only is the
greatest player in the world, but that he can really step up and
be a leader. He single-handedly brought the Penguins back from
elimination.
With just over two minutes to go in the third period, the Devils
were enjoying a 2-1 lead and the fact that this just might be
their year. Their year to advance to the second round. Their
year to win only their second playoff series since their Stanley
Cup in 1995. Their year to take the number 8 seed out, and not
vice-versa. Well guess what? Their year is over. Jagr took a
German Titov pass in the third and stuffed in under Devils goalie
Martin Brodeur to knot the game at 2-2 and send the game into
overtime. Did you think he was done? Not a chance. Jagr
delivered an encore that would send the team back to New Jersey
and send the Igloo into an absolute frenzy.
With just about nine minutes left, Martin Straka skated down the
left wing boards. He turned Scott Niedermayer inside out and cut
towards the net. Jagr, who was breaking down the right side,
took a picture-perfect pass from Straka and roofed a goal past
Brodeur. Not bad for a guy who didn't even expect to play.
Which brings us back to Game 7.
The Pens, who trailed this series 1-0 and 3-2, now had the chance
to be the second straight 8 seed to say buh-bye to "El Diablo".
The Pens did not waste their chance. German Titov opened the
scoring in the second period. He took a Martin Straka pass and
knocked it into a wide-open net to give the Pens a 1-0 lead.
Jason Arnott scored about three minutes later to tie the game at
-11. Later in the second, Alexei Kovalev collected his fourth
goal of the playoffs after a wrist shot found the five-hole on
Brodeur and gave the Pens a 2-1 advantage. Rookie sensation Jan
Hrdina one-timed a Jagr pass with just 17 seconds to go in the
period and put the Pens up by two goals, 3-1.
Dave Andreychuk brought the Devils within a goal in the third
after throwing a rebound past Tom Barrasso. But once again it
was Straka and Jagr that put the nail in the coffin of the
Devils. While New Jersey was in the midst of a line change, Jagr
and Straka broke in on a virtual 2-on-0, Jags put a shot on net
and the rebound came right to Straka who backhanded it upstairs
and gave the Pens a 4-2 lead and an eventual victory. The Devils
once again managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Toronto, who eliminated the Flyers in six games, will host the
Penguins Friday night. This series proves to be an equal
matchup. The teams split the season series 2-2. Both teams
scored 13 goals in the four games. So now you gonna ask me who I
think will win. Well, I've pretty much been wrong the entire
season about the Pens. I said the Pens would suck this year, I
was wrong. I said that Jaromir Jagr would not fill the skates of
Ron Francis and lead this squad, once again, wrong. I said that
the Pens had zero chance to beat the Devils and that they would
lose in five, you guessed it; wrong again! So now I will say
this, the team that wins four games first will win. Finally I'm
right.
