Perseverance

Perseverance

The Pittsburgh Penguins are heading back to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Chris Kunitz beat Craig Anderson 5:09 into the second overtime to give the defending champions a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final Thursday night.

Kunitz scored twice, his first two of the playoffs. Justin Schultz added the other in his return from an upper-body injury, and Matt Murray stopped 28 shots on his 23rd birthday.

The Penguins are trying to become the first team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1998 to win back-to-back titles. They will host Western Conference champion Nashville in Game 1 on Monday night.

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Victory doesn't always come in the first four games.

If you are a hockey fan, you were on the edge of your seat through Game Seven of the seven game series to determine which team--Pittsburgh or Ottawa--would go on to meet Nashville in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In spite of the rapid movement of the players on the ice, it was a slow moving game. The score was still 0 - 0 at the end of the first period. It took not one but two overtimes to determine the victor for the evening.

Sometimes life is just like that hockey game. You are moving at a rapid pace, trying to score the points you need to attain your victory. Those who love you are on the edge of their seats as they cheer you on, as they pray for you, but the first period ends and you haven't scored a point.

What do you do? Do you throw down your hockey stick and quit playing? Do you slam the puck into your opponent's gut--hoping to put him out of commission for the rest of the game?

Of course, there is the inevitable "fight that breaks out at the hockey game." Do you become combative in your effort to gain a victory?

What the players on both teams did last night was to keep trying, to keep giving their all. They didn't relent until the game was over and the winner was determined. Perhaps one of the best evidences of the determination of every player was demonstrated by Mat Murray, the Pittsburgh goalie who stopped 28 Ottawa shots.

How many shots of the enemy of your soul have you stopped so far?

Are you willing to keep playing your best until your victory is won? Just as Murray had the whole Pittsburgh team behind his effort, so you have the faith and prayers of every believer behind you.

And your COACH--JESUS--has trained you to win.