Red Wings lose in 3 OT Thriller

Its a tough loss to swallow, the 4-3 triple overtime game, but the Red Wings are as close to the Cup now as they were before Game 5. Unfortunately the series does head back to Pittsburgh, but the Red Wings proved they could win at Mellon Arena. Hopefully history repeats itself.

I don't have much time but I'll get in some observations really quickly:

A) Officiating for this series blows. Phantom calls on both sides. Datsyuk got called for tripping last night when someone on Pittsburgh just lost an edge. Also, the two goaltender interference calls were crap.

B) Red Wings clearly the better team. They pelted Fleury all night last night.

C) Fleury won the Penguins game 5. Quite simply. He was amazing last night.

Now onto something that I had been ironically discussing via e-mail with a reader. We were discussing how sudden death overtime is pretty dumb and then ironically just happened to cost the Red Wings a game last night.

Last night's game was a perfect example of my problems with overtime in the NHL. Pittsburgh played not to lose. They sat back on their skates for 2.5 overtime periods and scored a lucky goal on a shot that was deflected, screened, or both.

How to fix it. Make overtimes 10 minute periods. Take away sudden death. You play until an overtime period ends without a tie. This makes both teams be aggressive rather then playing a defensive game.