The road to the Stanley Cup just got 2,600 miles longer, with another 2,600 miles still a strong potentiality as a city ready to explode in celebration must instead stew in its hot disappointment for another 72 hours.
Or more.
All of the joyous festivities planned and otherwise, all the parties and spontaneous eruptions, all the civic precautions necessary to modulate still another major sports championship being delivered to Pittsburgh, right down to the last police horse, were forced to stand down Thursday night as the San Jose Sharks re-emerged from the depths to maul the Penguins, 4-2, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.