Zetterberg to get Conn Smythe?

With a possible Cup-clinching game five in Detroit on Monday night, it's a foregone conclusion that the Red Wings will eventually sew it up. It's a pretty common opinion that they'll do it on Monday night at home. There are, however, different opinions about who will win the Conn Smythe trophy. My vote is for Henrik Zetterberg.

If I remember correctly, the people who participate in the voting do so during the second intermission of a potential cup-clinching game. While the trophy most often goes to a member of the Cup-winning team, it has gone to a member of the losing team five times.

If Zetterberg wins the playoffs MVP trophy, he will be just the third non-Canadian to do so in its 43-year history. Fellow teammate and fellow Swede Nick Lidstrom won the hardware in 2002, and American Brian Leetch won in 1994.

Zetterberg has 23 (12/11) points in the playoffs, which is second to Sid Crosby's 24 (6/18). He leads all players in the playoffs with a +16 rating. He has also proven to be a very valuable two-way player. The play he made against Crosby during the five-on-three sequence was one for the ages. You know the one. That was an epic shift for him as he probably took away a goal with his stick-on-stick play against Crosby, then created a quality shorthanded chance (three on five, no less!).

There's also a lot of buzz about Chris Osgood, who has been sensational in the nets. In this finals series, he has only surrendered four goals. He has two shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals and one other in the playoffs. To be fair, though, Detroit's vice-like defense has made his job pretty easy, limiting the other teams to very few quality chances.

If Ozzy has a shutout going at the second intermission on Monday night, it'll be hard for the voters to dismiss him, but I still think Zetterberg deserves it.

All that said, I hope the Penguins can eke out at least one more win. Just to make it interesting.

If the Wings close it out on Monday, fans will witness the third Stanley Cup presentation at the Joe. If they need to take it to game six, it will be Mellon Arena's first Stanley Cup presentation. Both Penguins Cups were won on road ice.

Pens waddle home down 2-0

On Monday night, the Penguins came up empty in game two against the Red Wings, falling 3-0. They are down 2-0 in the series and will go home for games three and four on Wednesday and Saturday. Winning game three is absolutely imperative.

If the Penguins made any adjustments rather than subbing Roberts in and Laraque out, it didn't look like it. They still looked lethargic. They still looked about a step slower than Detroit. They still looked frustrated and exhausted. They still couldn't get the puck deep. They still missed the few quality chances that they had. Ryan Malone and Maid Marian Hossa still looked confused.

It isn't so much that the Penguins were playing like crap. The Wings have had some unbelievably good defense. Osgood hasn't really had to work that hard, and even when a shot gets through, he paddles it down to a sea of red sweaters. They're keeping the Pens forwards out of the house. They're dominating the neutral ice play, they're getting to all the loose pucks behind the net. The Red Wings blueliners have even drawn defensive zone penalties.

Through two games, the Penguins have only mustered 41 shots on goal. This isn't going to get it done.

For game three, the Pens are gonna have to juggle the line combinations. They're gonna have to find a way to get the puck through the neutral zone. They're gonna have to find a way to keep it deep. They're going to have to take some shots and put some big bodies down low. In short, they're gonna have to figure out how to play against the Wings suffocating defense.

On top of all this is the most obvious thing. They're gonna have to find the net.

The good news is that Pittsburgh has won 16 straight games at the Igloo. The last time they lost there was a 2-1 shootout loss to the Sharks way back on February 24.