"First goal. First goal. First goal. In these playoffs, when the Penguins score the first goal, they're a perfect 11-0. If the Penguins can score first in Game 4, the home crowd will be fully engaged for their heroes. More important, the Pens' bench will be fully confident the momentum of the series has truly swung to their side. They will be better able to settle into their game and will have the Wings back on their heels a bit." - EJ Hradek, ESPN

"I think the Wings were really knocked on their asses in Game 3 after the first goal, and left the middle of the ice wide open. If they give it up again, I don't see the same result." - Me, Puck Daddy Game 4 live blog.

I'm not quite sure how the "Pens score first, book it, Dan-o" theory spread like herpes before Game 4, other than the superficial repurposing of that glowing 11-0 record. The first goal in Game 3 was the first goal by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. It came on home ice in front of a rabid crowd. And it was scored by Sidney Crosby. This was a perfect storm of circumstances that knocked a sprocket out of the Detroit Red Wings' machine; creating an airport runway in the middle of the ice the Penguins hadn't had in the previous two games. Their 13 shots in the second period of Game 3 remain a series high.

But it was silly to think that a stoic, professional team like the Red Wings -- under the tutelage of sports psychologist Mike Babcock, no less -- was going to go into the fetal position if Pittsburgh had a 1-0 lead in Game 4. The defensive system remained stout until Lidstrom tied it, it kept the game tied until Jiri Hudler's softie beat Marc-Andre Fleury for the lead, and then the system may have actually won the series with that dominating 3-on-5 kill in the third.

(Oh, and those questions about Chris Osgood? Yeah, the only one still lingering after his dazzling 22 save performance is whether he can still edge out Henrik Zetterberg for the Conn Smythe. Kristen Bell must have been clutching her "I heart Ozzie" Trapper Keeper extra tightly last night.)

The biggest disappointments in Game 4 ... well, I was going to say it was the strange lack of fire from the Penguins during stretches; but in reality, and without a doubt, they were found in NBC's broadcast.

While it was nice the telecast acknowledged the tragedy, failing to show the moment of silence before the game in honor of Luc Bourdon was a disgrace and showed a massive misunderstanding of NBC's hockey audience. The death of an NHL player is a rather atypical occurrence; a moment of silence before a Stanley Cup finals game for a fallen peer is extraordinary. It was a newsworthy moment, and NBC dropped the ball.

As for this new "glow puck comet"-esque technology used to track the path of the puck ... I'm sorry, but when did the Smoke Monster from "Lost" escape, and why is it trying to eat Marian Hossa's shots? This technology has great potential as a hockey teaching tool; but graphically, it actually made me yearn for the subtle nuance of FoxTrax.

So does this loss end the series? Eighty-four percent of our live blog readers last night thought the Stanley Cup will go to the Red Wings at the end of Game 5. The defensive clinic they put on for most of Game 4 would seem to indicate that. And if Tomas Holmstrom can go, perhaps that power play will look better than the disjointed 0-for-3 it was last night.

For the Penguins, what can you do but hope that there's some malaise of inevitability that dulls the Detroit defense back in Hockeytown? It's just not working offensively. Evgeni Malkin now has one goal in his last eight playoff games. He's been faster and more involved during the games in Pittsburgh with eight shots, but the only time he found the back of the net was when he slid on his ass into it during Game 4. No power-play points in 11 games for a guy that had 40 in the regular season -- ouch. The only question is whether you blame Malkin or Michel Therrien for not figuring out a set-up to get him going.

It could be worse. Malkin could be Petr Sykora, with one goal in 13 playoff games; what is he waiting for, Arnott and Elias to show up?

Pittsburgh needed an offensive hero last night, and no one grabbed the cape. Wonder what the mainstream hockey media that got on its knees for Crosby after Game 3 were thinking when "the beacon lighting the way for the Pens" couldn't set up or score a goal on a nearly two-minute 5-on-3 power play in the third period? Instead, he was left barking at Zetterberg out of frustration.

Will the same media that was comparing Crosby's Game 3 efforts to that of Mark Messier turn around and criticize his lack of valor in Game 4? Of course not, because it doesn't fit in the grand narrative of Sidney Christ, the Next One, does it?

Nah, they've moved on to more important hyperbole. Cue EJ Hradek, again: "I'm starting to think Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom is hockey's version of baseball icon Joe DiMaggio." Uh-huh.