Game Three Recap (Penguins 3, Red Wings 2)

There was a seven minute or so stretch in the third period of Game Four that went end-to-end more than a dozen times without a whistle. The Penguins were leading 3-1 at the time and trying to add to their lead, while the Red Wings were pulling out all the stops to get back into the game. It was the most entertaining stretch of any sporting event I can remember seeing in some time. There were a couple of near-goals, several other shots and an endless stream of sleek skating and precise passing by two extremely talented teams. Of course, there were also four well-hyped checks...

It was the sort of thing you could never get from a football or baseball game, either of which can be fairly characterized as brief spasms of activity followed by a longer interval of talented people standing around waiting for the next spasm. Game Three remains on our DVR, and if the series goes the right way, I'll take the time to break it down more precisely.

Despite all that, only one of tonight's five total goals could be described as pretty to see. Johan Franzen's goal to make it 2-1 was a fantastic one-man effort to thread through the Penguins' penalty killers and surprise Fleury with a move to the net. The rest of the goals could be more fairly characterized as garbage goals, but they still count the same.

By the end of the night, we should know if we have a series.