Penguins won’t have Sykora for Game 7
Let’s get to the injury news for Friday’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings first: Penguins winger Petr Sykora will not play because of a broken bone in his right foot.
It’s not like the Pens will miss him too much, since Sykora hadn’t played since May 6 before seeing time in Game 6. He was hurt while blocking a shot in the second period and played sparingly afterward. Sykora did block a team-high six shots that night.
When Sykora was benched for the past month, Miroslav Satan took his place. Satan didn’t play Tuesday but should replace Sykora in Game 7. Sykora has just one point and is minus-3 in these playoffs, while Satan has six points and is plus-2.
“Obviously, Sykora hasn’t played much but he had that real big blocked shot in the second period, which might have seemed like a little thing to a lot of people, but it really got the whole bench going and provided a lot of energy for us,” said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik.
Pittsburgh is a +162 WagerWeb.com money line underdog for Game 7.
For the Wings, neither Kris Draper nor Dan Cleary was able to practice on Thursday. However, both are very much expected to suit up for Game 7.
Stars on both teams are struggling in the Finals. Pens star Sidney Crosby has just one goal and three assists. Detroit’s Marian Hossa led the Wings with 40 goals in the regular season but has just six goals in 22 games in the postseason with zero goals and three assists in the Finals.
The recent schedule in this series could benefit the veteran Red Wings. After only eight days between Games 1 and 5 of the Finals, there will be six between games 5 and 7. And of course two off days in between Game 6 and 7.
Detroit, which is -185 on WagerWeb.com for Game 7, is 11-1 in the playoffs on home ice while the Penguins are 6-6 on the road, with three of those losses coming in this series. The Penguins are 1-5 in Detroit over the past two postseasons. They’ve failed to score in three contests. Detroit is 11-2 in Stanley Cup Finals home games since 1997, with both losses coming in overtime.
The Penguins have never played in a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Finals, while the Wings franchise has played in six, although none since 1964, and is 3-3.
The Red Wings and Penguins are a combined 6-0 in their past three deciding games.
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