NEW YORK -- Nervous?
Yeah, that's natural. It's Game 7. One and done. Do or die. Every shot, every pass ... every fidget toward the remote, every foray a fan takes in one superstitious direction or another can feel paralyzing.
Nothing I'd write here could change that. Not even an optimistic prognosis on Sidney Crosby and/or Tristan Jarry and/or Rickard Rakell to materialize onto the Madison Square Garden ice -- which I believe they will -- in time for the Penguins' climactic 7:10 p.m. faceoff with the Rangers.
But hey, what's the harm in trying?
I'll start with this: Count the blessings, too.
Yeah, Games 5 and 6 were crushing. I was there for both. Each hit differently, lowlighted in the former by Jacob Trouba's vicious and unpenalized head shot that felled Sid, lowlighted in the latter by ... this:
But, just like Louis Domingue, no one can have that shot back. Or those games. Or all that extraordinary emotion that was invested. The lamp was lit, Jeff Carter was too late to sweep it out, and here we are, back in Manhattan for one more.
And I dare say anyone reading this would've embraced this exact scenario in a split-second if they'd known all that'd surround it.
Doubting that?
OK, let's weigh all this again ...
The Penguins have played part or all of this series without the following: Crosby, Jarry, Rakell, Brian Dumoulin, Brian Boyle, Jason Zucker and Casey DeSmith. That's not just a third of the active roster. It's a vital third, one that includes the franchise's two most important players in Crosby and Jarry.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins have squeezed three wins out of Louis Domingue, a 29-year-old AHL journeyman who's posted an .898 save percentage and who pretty much put home the Game 6 winner himself.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins have had Alex D'Orio, a baby-faced minor-leaguer who'd just split the 2021-22 season between Wilkes-Barre (.894 save percentage) and Wheeling (.865) and who'd need ID to get past PPG Paints Arena security, suited up as the backup for five consecutive games.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins were facing a goaltender who's a good bet to be a unanimous selection as the NHL's Vezina Trophy winner, and Igor Shesterkin had very much looked that part through the series' first two games with a .956 save percentage.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins' power play has gone 4 for 18 in this series, and half of those goals came from the second unit. They had a five-on-three in Game 6 that might've been the most gruesome two-man advantage I've ever witnessed. It's capable of so, so much more.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins' 66.7% penalty-kill rate ranks 14th among the NHL's 16 playoff participants and, worse, it's conceded goals at the most inopportune times. It's capable of so, so much more.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins wasted this singular bit of brilliance from Evgeni Malkin the other night:
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins were predicted by most people, present company included, to get blown up in four or five. Maybe even in three.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins have been forced to function without half of their top-six forwards, a top-pairing defenseman and one of the NHL's top 10 goaltenders. Just to repeat that for dramatic effect.
And they're still playing Game 7.
The Penguins, to go for even greater dramatic effect, though it's accurate, lost the generation's greatest player, their captain and one of the top performers anywhere in these playoffs in Game 5, and they did so in a way that brought back awful visions of David Steckel's equally filthy hit that fateful night on the outdoor ice at Heinz Field.
And they're still playing Game 7. Maybe with Sid.
Oh, and this that I can't leave out: The Penguins have never lost a Game 7 on the road, having gone 6-0 with some of the franchise's most treasured triumphs in that collection,
And last time I checked my hotel reservation, they're still playing this Game 7 on the road.
Ask Mario Lemieux, circa 1992, in Landover, Md.
Ask Jaromir Jagr, circa 1999, in East Rutherford, N.J.:
Ask Darius Kasparaitis, circa 2000, in Buffalo, N.Y.:
Ask Sid and Geno, circa 2009, in Washington:
Ask Max Talbot, circa 2009, in Detroit:
Ask Marc-Andre Fleury, circa 2017, in Washington:
As the 'Superstar' Max himself might offer as advice, hush out there.