As the Buffalo Sabres visited the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, Team USA/Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller got a strong ovation (along with chants of U-S-A, U-S-A) while Canadian/Penguin Sidney Crosby drew boos from the crowed when the jumbotron showed footage of his gold-medal winning goal.

Miller’s ovation is at the start of the video, while Crosby is introduced at around the 1:10 mark. Pittsburgh won, 3-2, but Miller didn’t play.

Here’s reaction from local columnist and national writers after the Pittsburgh Penguins upset the Detroit Red Wings to win the 2009 Stanley Cup.

– Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Penguins earned the right to be called champions after beating the Wings on Detroit’s home ice.

– After lacing it up for the Penguins in the 2007-08 season, Marian Hossa has no regrets about joining the Red Wings this past year writes NHL.com’s Dave Lozo.

– Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press writes that fans and pundits can’t blame goalie Chris Osgood for the Wings’ loss.

– After winning his first Cup, Bucky Gleason notes that “Sid Kid” Sidney Crosby isn’t a kid anymore – he’s a bona fide champ.

– Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Wings leave the 2009 season with a quiet, empty feeling.

– Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that gritty Max Talbot turned things around.

With their 2-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game 6 on Tuesday night, the young Penguins are now one win away from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup and pulling off the best NHL upset of the decade.

One problem: They can’t score at Joe Louis Arena and that’s exactly where the decisive Game 7 will be played on Thursday night. In three games at the Joe this postseason, Pittsburgh’s managed to score just two goals and were shut out 5-0 in Game 5.

It’s time for Dan Bylsma to get a little creative with his front line. Why not put Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (the Pens’ top two scoring threats) together on the same line to increase scoring chances? Some Pittsburgh fans have been clamoring for this to happen since the Pens lost the Cup last year, so why not try it now?

Some might think that it would be unwise to change things up now with only one game left to be played, but now is actually the best time to take a risk like this because Pittsburgh needs to try and overwhelm Detroit they best it can. The Wings play with so much confidence at the Joe, so Byslma needs something to rattle their cage.

Of course, there are two main problems with the idea of putting both Crosby and Malkin together. One is that Pittsburgh has created scoring opportunities in every game this series, but just haven’t executed. Secondly, and this is a biggie, if the Pens put Crosby and Malkin together on the same line then that puts Maxime Talbot, Chris Kunitz, Ruslan Fedotenko together on the third line, which needless to say is a major disadvantage for Pittsburgh.

It’ll be interesting to see what strategies Byslma comes up with (if any) for Game 7. This one is for all the marbles and it’d be a shame if the Pens left scoring opportunities on the ice when there’s only one game left.

– Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press writes that it’s no longer last year anymore as the Penguins’ stars are starting to shine and take over this series.

– Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette boastfully claims that Detroit can’t win without Pavel Datsyuk, who has yet to play in the Cup Finals.

– The Detroit Free Press writes that the Wings played out of character in their Game 4 loss.

– Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette waxes poetically about Jordan Staal, who he says saved the day in Game 4.

– SI.com writes about the Penguins’ second period burst.

With their 4-2 victory over the Red Wings on Tuesday night, the Penguins have cut into Detroit’s lead in the Stanley Cup Finals and now have the chance to tie the series at two games apiece when the series continues on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Here is what local columnist and beat writers are saying about the Pens’ victory:

– Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press writes that even though they lost, the Wings look like more of a lock than when the series started.

– Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that the Penguins have new life after soundly beating Detroit in Game 3.

– Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press writes that if the Wings can’t kill penalties, then they won’t be able to put the Penguins away.

– Michael Farber of SI.com writes that the Penguins’ wounded warrior Sergei Gonchar, who hurt his knee when Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals knocked into him in Game 4 of Pittsburgh’s series with Washington, delivered when his team needed him the most.

– Scott Burnside of ESPN.com writes that Game 3’s defining moment was when Matt Cooke drew a penalty that lead to the Pens’ winning goal.