When a team is losing 5-2 in the third period against the defending Stanley Cup Champions it is usually time to call it quits, regroup, and think about the next game. At that point, many Pens fans probably turned off the TV or radio in shame.
Thoughts of another shot at the Cup were fading with the impending loss to Detroit.
But then, on a 5-on-3 power play, forward Evgeni Malkin scored, and within 72 seconds Jordan Staal put another in the back of the net spurring the young stars explosive hat trick that would eventually tie the game at 6-6.
When asked about Staal's performance, captain Sidney Crosby
said, "You can't step up much more than that." And boy was he right. It would be hard to ask for that kind of a performance from a star player like Malkin or Crosby, let alone third-liner Jordan Staal.
It just goes to show the kind of depth on a team that is often criticized for relying on Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury.
So the score was now 5-4 before Detroit's Jiri Hudler beat Fleury to bring their lead back up to two.
Cue Jordan Staal, who managed to score two more goals before regulation time expired, to tie the game.
Detroit fans and players were distraught. Their faces were saying, "How did we let this happen? We had a three point lead in the third period."
Both teams came out skating hard in the overtime period. The suspense was palpable as both teams tried for the game ending goal.
Then Staal continued his one man show as he stripped the puck from a Detroit defensiveman and set up Ruslan Fedontenko for the goal that finished off the Wings for the game.
"We just battled back," head coach Michel Therrien said. "We showed a lot of character winning that game."
They also showed that they are a solid contender for the cup again, despite their loss of talent in the offseason.
