匹兹堡企鹅，如果单谈冰上的表现，可以说在决赛中是非常糟糕了，在Dead Puck Era（NHL在1994-1995赛季停摆之后有段进球率十分低的时期，编者注）之后可以说是最差的之一。在总决赛第一场匹兹堡企鹅队前37分钟没有一次射门，防守那时候也看起来有漏洞。纳什维尔掠夺者也经历了一段似乎忘记如何打球的一段时间。
PITTSBURGH – When it comes to the product on the ice, this has been a really bad Stanley Cup final,one of the worst since the Dead Puck Era™. The Pittsburgh Penguins went 37 minutes without a shot in Game 1; their defense at times has looked leaky. TheNashville Predators have gone through stretches of time where it looks like they’ve forgotten how to play hockey.
有两件事情现在可以拯救这个系列赛。第一就是在本周末纳什维尔赢下第六场，使得两队下周三回到匹兹堡打史诗级的第七场，第二就是克罗斯比继续做克罗斯比，做那个在比赛中有独特时间感和位置感的克罗斯比，因为如果他按照刚结束的前两场比赛的打法去完成剩下的系列赛，这就会成为史诗级的表演。
“我不知道我一直在一名真正的运动员身边，不仅仅是一名球员，而是一名运动员，这就是克罗斯比正在做的。”企鹅队教练Mike Sullivan说道，“我认为克罗斯比是真正了解这个球队能做什么的人，他不把一起视作理所当然，他正如一名真正的运动员一样有推动力，也像我见过的球员一样渴望胜利，我认为他也明白这一点，他正在抓住每一次机会让我们离成功更近一步。”
“I don’t know thatI’ve been around an athlete – not just a hockey player, but an athlete – that is as driven as Sid is,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “I think Sid really understands the opportunity that this team has and he’s not taking anything for granted. He’s as driven an athlete as I’ve seen. He’s as hungry as I’ve seen aplayer, and I just think he understands it. He sees the opportunity in front ofus, and he’s doing everything within his power to try to help us be successful.”
看起来克罗斯比在第四场失利的比赛当中，坚持要把自己渗透到比赛的每一刻。第一节后半段当P.K. Subban在企鹅门前和企鹅队乱做一团的时候，克罗斯比几乎过去放倒了他，然而这种情况不下几次，主裁判Brad Meier在给各队一个小罚之前就站在不远处看着整件事情发生。这就像掠夺者教练Peter Laviolette所说，太令人感到羞耻，这也是这个系列赛的常规判罚方式。裁判完全控制不住这个系列赛，还把它拖入坑中。
It seemed Crosby, who was by far the Penguins best player in their Game 4 loss, was insistent upon putting his fingerprints on every aspect of the game. Late in the firstperiod when he and P.K. Subban got tangled up behind the Penguins net, Crosby took Subban down and drilled his head into the ice no fewer than half a dozen times, with referee Brad Meier standing feet away and watching the whole thing before giving each player a minor penalty. It was, as Predators coach Peter Laviolette could be seen saying, “a f—king disgrace.” It was also typical ofthe way this series has been officiated. The referees have essentially lost control of this series and dragged it into the muck.
