Heroics were nearly endless

Penguins showed staying power

Petr Sykora wouldn't have been grilled about his goal Monday night if not for the netminding of Marc-Andre Fleury (left). (Frank Gunn/Associated Press)

PITTSBURGH - Yesterday, as they will do into the summer and for years to come, puckheads were buzzing about Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, which had every twist imaginable.

A 2-0 Pittsburgh lead transforms into a 3-2 Detroit advantage. The Stanley Cup is taken out of its case. Maxime Talbot silences the crazed fans at Joe Louis Arena with an unexpected equalizer. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stands on his head. Monday becomes Tuesday as the teams skate into triple overtime.

Then Petr Sykora, who predicted during the second OT that he'd score the winner, keeps his promise by ending the action with a power-play strike that extends his club's season.

All that, however, is old news for these black-and-blue Penguins.

"We came back and it's nice to talk about the game," Talbot said yesterday at Mellon Arena. "But it doesn't mean anything if we don't win Game 6. We still have a lot of work to do."

The Penguins, presumably down and out against the mighty Red Wings, performed some superhuman acts in Game 5 that would make Marvel Comics stand up and notice. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who slammed full speed into the end boards in the second period and injured his back, didn't play in the third period or either of first two overtimes, but assisted on Sykora's winner at 9:57 of triple OT.

Because of Gonchar's absence, defenseman Ryan Whitney logged a 50:46 workload, more than double the 22:26 he averaged during the regular season.

Winger Ryan Malone, whose already broken nose was bashed in the second period by former Bruin Hal Gill's one-timer, left a trail of blood on the sheet as he made his way to the dressing room, but he returned to the bench a period later and finished out the match.

Fleury, so-so in Games 1 and 2, turned in the game of his life, stopping 55 shots, including 24 over the three OTs (in comparison, Detroit counterpart Chris Osgood made 28 stops over 109:57 of action).

"I've known Marc for a while, and that's the greatest game he's ever played," said Talbot, who was particularly impressed by Fleury's left-toe stop to bust up a give-and-go odd-man rush. "That was one of the greatest saves he's made in the second period against [Mikael] Samuelsson.

"Just look at him. He's having fun in the net. He was so good for us [Monday] night. It's inspiring for us."

But as good as their sticks, skates, and gloves were in Game 5, the Penguins' heads were even better.

"It's more mental than anything," Talbot said. "With long games like that, I think the body can take way more than you think. It's a mind game. If you're strong mentally, the body is going to follow."

Above all else, hockey is a mental game. The Penguins had been weak mentally in Games 1 and 2, making critical mistakes and rarely testing Osgood despite all of their high-octane weapons - Sidney Crosby, Malone, Gonchar, Sykora, Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins allowed the Wings to roll all over them to take a 2-0 series lead. Pittsburgh rebounded in Game 3 at Mellon Arena, but the Wings claimed Game 4 and rubbed out an early Penguins lead in Game 5 to come within less than a minute of capturing the Cup before Talbot tied it with 35 seconds left.

Pittsburgh's resolve, however, stood firm.

"It was a character win, no doubt about that," said Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien. "It will give a lot of confidence to the players to approach the next game."

Before Game 5, the Penguins talked about taking one day at a time and winning one game, not three in a row. But given the power of the Wings and the efficiency of their puck-possession game - to say nothing of the leadership from captain Nicklas Lidstrom and been-there-before ring bearers like forwards Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom - Pittsburgh's words were just that: talk.

But the Penguins backed it up.

"After coming back with a win like that, it feels great," said Sykora. "Mentally, we have to go back to the same focus and the same mind-set we had before Game 5. Nothing changes. We have to win."

Therrien said he expects Gonchar to play tonight. Same for Malone, who underwent X-rays yesterday.

And while momentum is on Pittsburgh's side, Detroit coach Mike Babcock reminded his club that the Wings put 58 shots on goal and missed on 41 others, underscoring the number of opportunities they had to win the game and take the Cup. For most of the third period and virtually all of the first overtime, the Wings dominated the Penguins but just couldn't close them out.

"I didn't like our start," said Babcock, whose club surrendered two first-period goals. "But I liked a lot of other things about the game. Let's do it again. Let's do it better."

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com