a penguins post-mortem

Well, we learned this much: The Detroit Red Wings really are the best team in the National Hockey League. Their dominance of the Pens for so much of the Stanley Cup finals was so evident -- Detroit's speed and its ability to play defense was such that often it seemed the team had six skaters on the ice -- it's a wonder the damn thing actually went six games. But we also learned this: The Pens played with tenacity and grit, enough to literally steal that memorable Game 5, which they certainly should have lost. And today, we learned that something really was wrong with Evgeni Malkin, whose play was mysteriously poor throughout the series. Bottom line: The Pens are young -- Sid Crosby is 20, Malkin 21 and Marc-Andre Fleury just 23 -- and many of the game's all-time greats had to lose before they won. They will be back.