Super Sykora saves Pens

Petr Sykora looked a lot like Babe Ruth Monday night.

No, the Pittsburgh Penguins winger… Petr Sykora looked a lot like Babe Ruth Monday night.

No, the Pittsburgh Penguins winger didn’t magically gain 100 pounds, nor did he slam a puck out of Mellon Arena.

Instead, Sykora wrote another chapter into sports folklore when he called his shot – and actually followed through on his declaration.

In minutes, Sykora turned from goat to hero.

Well, a hero, not the hero. The Penguins had plenty of those to go around after Monday night’s triple-overtime outlasting of the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3.

You could check off the integral contributors to the victory like items on a grocery list.

The list is topped by goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, with his incredible 55 saves. Add Maxime Talbot, whose goal with more than 30 seconds remaining in regulation as an extra attacker tied the game and set up the ensuing drama.

Ryan Malone took a Hal Gill slap shot to the face and only missed minutes of ice time. Sergei Gonchar missed every overtime second until hopping on the ice for a shift that resulted in the winning goal. Adam Hall scored again, as did Marian Hossa.

Sidney Crosby was Sidney Crosby. But Sykora took center stage when his shot at 9:57 in the third overtime scorched past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood on the power play, sending disappointed Red Wings fans home for the night and the Stanley Cup Finals back to Pittsburgh.

Up until that moment, Sykora had barely walked backstage in the eyes of Penguins fans and media. His play in the Finals has been highly criticized, along with linemate and MVP candidate Evgeni Malkin.

Sykora and Malkin fed off of each other all year, scoring massive success on Pittsburgh’s dynamite second line behind Crosby’s.

Sykora scored 28 goals and registered 63 points in the regular season playing to Malkin’s right. Without his contributions, Malkin likely wouldn’t be an MVP finalist.

But much like Malkin, Sykora essentially vanished in the last two rounds of the playoffs. His last goal came in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and his last point was in Game 3 of that series.

Many have attributed Malkin’s failures to late-season fatigue from a young player. But Sykora is a 31-year-old veteran. Why the lack of production?

NBC’s Pierre McGuire reported early in the game that Sykora might have been suffering from an upper-body injury, thus excusing the poor play. Sykora wouldn’t make such an excuse.

The real shocker though, also flowed from McGuire’s mouth.

Late in the second overtime, McGuire claimed that Sykora came up to him and said that he was scoring the winning goal.

Daring? Sure. Moronic? Probably so.

Minutes after McGuire’s admittance, Sykora was called for Pittsburgh’s only penalty during the overtime periods, a hooking offense on Niklas Kronwall.

Suddenly, Sykora appeared as incorrect as the Miss Teen Pageant winner who couldn’t identify the United States on a map.

Luckily, the Penguins killed the penalty and Sykora was awarded a second chance.

A chance that would make good on his promise.

The goal was just the confidence booster that Sykora and his Penguin teammates needed. Malkin recorded an assist on the goal and played much better than any of the first four games of the series.

If Sykora and Malkin can find their regular season magic in Game 6 in Pittsburgh, that will take a lot of pressure off of Crosby and Hossa to score.

It would be remiss to ignore Fleury’s outstanding performance on Monday. His overall play was every bit as important as Sykora’s goal.

Fleury turned aside 55 of 58 shots, 24 of those saves coming in overtime. Many were in dramatic fashion and showed how athletic the 23-year-old really is and cemented his status as a top-tier goalie.

After Game 4, nearly all the hockey experts predicted the Cup would stop in Detroit. Now that the series returns to Pittsburgh, the Penguins need a much better defensive effort to emerge victorious.

Gonchar, Gill, Ryan Whitney and Brooks Orpik all played decent games, but group veteran Darryl Sydor was awful.

The main problem coach Michel Therrien needs to address is turnovers, specifically deep in the Penguins’ zone. Countless times Monday night, Malkin, Jordan Staal and the defenders gave away the puck to attacking Red Wings.

The team was lucky to escape such torture on a continual basis.

If Pittsburgh solves the turnover quandary, it’ll win Game 6. However, I can’t picture a situation where the Penguins come out of Detroit after Game 7 with a victory and the Cup.

Detroit has just been too good for the young Pens, but a potential dynasty is brewing in the ‘Burgh. We might just have to wait until next year to see it.

Unless of course, Sykora morphs from Babe Ruth into Mario Lemeiux.