Pittsburgh Needs Shots To Have A Shot

Pictured to the right is Larry Goodenough. He was a slight but slick puck moving defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks in the 1970s. For all of his obvious skill, he lacked size and confidence, leading to questions about his effectiveness in the league. That also led to his inevitable nicknamed - "Izzy" Goodenough - because people wondered "is he good enough?"

That is a question that has plagued Chris Osgood for pretty much all of his career, and this post-season as well.

With two shutouts in two games against the high flying Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit goaltender has definitely answered that question: Chris Osgood is Chris Os-better-than-good.

Granted, Osgood plays behind the most disciplined defensive team in the league. The Red Wings limit the shots against to just 23.3 per game. Many of those shots are from the perimeter, and most rebounds are immediately cleared. Perhaps Osgood only has to be good and that is good enough for his third Stanley Cup championship, and second as the starting goaltender.

This is where Pittsburgh needs to step up their game dramatically. They only mustered 19 shots in game one, including just 4 and 3 in the second and third periods, respectively. In game two it took an agonizing 12 minutes to test Osgood. The 22 shots for is a far cry from the more than 31 shots for they averaged in the first three rounds of the playoffs.