The Detroit Red Wings dominated Game 5 from start to finish, leaving Pittsburgh one loss away from falling short for the second straight year. Can Pittsburgh keep the home team streak alive to at least stretch it to Game 7?
After a crushing defeat in Game 5, it is getting more and more difficult to believe that Pittsburgh has a real chance of winning this series. They have been so handily dominated when playing in Hockey Town that it is hard to fathom that they will magically be able to put it all together to steal Game 7. If the Penguins couldn’t capitalize on the momentum shift heading into Detroit after two home wins, mustering up confidence after Game 5’s 5-0 shellacking will not be easy.
This is all assuming, of course, that they even make it to Game 7. Needless to say they will need to bring a much better game to the table than they did Saturday to do so.
As I said before Game 5, this series has truly been un-cappable, with one glaring exception; "Bet the home team". Heck, taking it a step further:
If the game is in Detroit, bet Detroit on both the moneyline and the puckline, and bet the under 5.5 goals (these wagers would be a collected 9-0)
If the game is in Pittsburgh, bet Pittsburgh on both the moneyline and the puckline, and bet the over 5.5 goals (these wagers would be a collected 6-0)
Joe Square, the guy that tells all his buddies that the home team and/or the favorite always wins and that all you need to do is bet the home team/favorite all series long is sitting at 5-0 moneyline and 5-0 puckline right now. I tip my hat to you, Joe Square; it won’t always be this easy, but this year, I hope you buy something really nice with all of your winnings.
I’m not a big fan of trends generally, as each game is an individual event and should be treated as such. But when two evenly matched teams both play so blatantly different depending on the stadium they are in, why should this change now?
Detroit backers will argue that Game 5 completely took the wind out of Pittsburgh’s sails. That the return of Pavel Datsyuk, who played incredibly in Game 5, puts Detroit over the top and gives Pittsburgh more than they can handle. Detroit also rattled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury which could potentially carry over into Game 6. Detroit knows how to close out a series, and will beat the reeling Pens.
Pittsburgh backers will argue that the Penguins are a completely different team on home ice, and that they control the tempo and having last line changes allows them to get more favorable match-ups, especially in the offensive zone. They’ll also argue that last year Pittsburgh lost the deciding game on home ice and forced their home crowd to watch Detroit triumphantly lift the cup; something they will not let happen again at any cost.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It pains me, but I have to stick with the home team here.
The Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins -120