The Leafs are pursing swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson, the 24 year old who has NHL scout’s and GM’s drooling.  His stats from Sweden, if we follow the trend of previous goaltenders who have made the jump, point to him as an above-average NHL netminder.  As a rookie, he’ll be eligible for only an entry-level salary, so he won’t break the bank.  That’s also what makes him so attractive.  If they fail to land Gustavsson a longshot possibility is Jean-Sebastien Giguere, with whom Leafs GM Brian Burke has a prior relationship from their time together in Anaheim.  Giguere would come with a $6 million contract and that would make it almost impossible to fit him in under the salary cap.

The Leafs drafted a gifted center in Nazim Kadri.  Toronto is counting  on Kadri to make an impact in his rookie season.  Kadri outplayed his teammate and number one overall pick John Tavares in several of the London Knights’ playoff games.  Kadri has a great stick and great vision.  He’s big, lanky and skilled.  He uses his size to accentuate his puck skills.  Size, reach, stick handling ability, Kadri has the kinds of stick movements that hockey legend Mario Lemieux used to make famous.  Kadri had bad patches last season, but some of it can be ascribed to a broken jaw and weight loss in early winter.

Toronto has some snipers that they can count on like Mikhail Grabovski, Jason Blake and Alexei Ponikarovsky, but  the Leafs desperately need a top notch scorer to solidify a young offensive unit.  I know no one wants to hear it but Ottawa Senators disgruntled forward Dany Heatley could be exactly what GM Brian Burke is looking for.  If Toronto gets some decent goaltending they’ll make the playoffs.  If they get the scorer they desire they could make a run in the playoffs.

Both teams came out ready to do battle again for another 20 minutes.  Pittsburgh struck first just 1:13 into the 2nd period.  Talbot took a pass from Malkin from the side of the net, cut inside and beat Red Wing goaltender Chris Osgood right between the five hole.  Talbot scored his second of the period at the 10:07 mark.  He streaked up the left side on a two on one, held onto the puck and then beat Osgood with a wrister over his left shoulder.  Osgood allowed two goals in the second period after allowing just two goals total in the first three home games of this series.  Crosby however played just one shift after leaving the ice during the second period after taking a hard hit along the boards from Johan Franzen that left him unable to walk due to a knee injury.  Because he’s a hockey player and tough as nails Crosby made it back to the ice midway through the third period for the one shift.  He then just sat on the bench and watched his teammates hang on.  I’m sure it was tough for him not to play but like I said earlier, others stepped up in his absence.

Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury really made a name for himself by playing a very solid game.  Coming back to the same arena where just days earlier he had been pulled in favor of their backup because he gave up 4 goals in that game, Fleury faced his opponents again but this time he won the battle and in the process the war.  He gave up only 1 goal to help pace the Pens.  Fleury was solid in the 1st and 2nd periods but he saved his magic for the 3rd period.  Yes he gave up a goal to Jonathan Ericsson with just over 6 minutes remaining in the game to cut the Pens lead in half but he stopped Detroit from scoring in the closing seconds of the game to seal the Stanley Cup clincher.

This is Sidney Crosby’s first Stanley Cup win.  He became the youngest team captain at 21years old in NHL history to hoist the Stanley Cup over his shoulders, only four years after he was drafted 1st overall.  Owner Mario Lemieux once again tasted the sweet victory of a cup win for the 3rd time, his first as an owner.  He won the Stanley Cup as a player twice when Pittsburgh repeated as Champions in 1991 and 1992.

This game will go down for sure as one of the top ten games in NHL history.  The Penguins are the first to win the title the year after losing in the finals since Edmonton 25 years ago against the New York Islanders.

Evgeni Malkin, who led all scorers in the playoffs with 36 points, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP.  This is on the heels of him winning the Art Ross Trophy as the player with the most points in the regular season.

The Red Wings Darren Helm and Brad Stuart scored less than 3 minutes apart to end the first and start the second.  With a 2-1 lead the Wings were feeling really confident until Pittsburgh got going.  The Penguins are showing their youth by out playing Detroit with their endless up tempo energy.  I bet the Wings were saying to themselves after the game that Pittsburgh’s youth and vitality is breaking them.  For the fourth straight game Detroit’s regular season points leader Pavel Datsyuk was scratched from the line-up.  He came out for the pre-game warm up skate but after taking a few laps around in his own end, he left the ice and returned to the dressing room.  It was then announced that he would miss the game.  One thing is for sure, the Red Wings sorely miss his presence on the ice and are hoping with some more treatment he can be ready for game 5.

With the win the Penguins tied the series at 2-2 and assured themselves a return trip home for 1 more game at the Mellon Arena.  Game 5 is Saturday night in Detroit, with Game 6 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night after the series’ first two-day break. Game 7 would be June 12 in Detroit.