Stanley Cup Final Report

June 5, 2008 11:00am CDT

Well, the book is closed on another NHL season following one of the more entertaining championship rounds in recent memory. We left off last week with the Wings holding a 2-1 series lead. The Penguins had used home ice to get back into the series with a narrow win in Game 3.

This set the stage for what was a pivotal Game 4.

The Pens were hopeful of evening the series, but the Wings were looking for firm control.

Detroit's Dallas Drake took a roughing penalty only 2:11 into the contest to give the Pens a chance to establish some momentum Pittsburgh capitalized quickly on a goal by Marian Hossa, who has erased the memory of repeated personal failures in his previous postseason appearances, in notching his 10th goal of these playoffs.

While Pittsburgh should have been buoyed by this early lead, the Wings reverted to their season-long formula for success. They skated hard, checked relentlessly and used a quick counter-attack style to dominate the rest of the opening frame. In fact, they tied the score on a point blast from captain Nicklas Lidstrom to even the score by the 7:06 mark. The score at the end of one period flattered the home side, as Detroit enjoyed a 14-9 shot advantage. Clearly Marc-Andre Fleury was doing his part to give his mates a chance.

Despite a parade to the penalty box, the middle stanza went scoreless.

Early in the third, the deciding goal was scored by depth forward Jiri Hudler, with assists to playoff call-up Darren Helm and late-season acquisition Brad Stuart. All three players are a further testament to the work of the Wings front office and their efforts to comb over all possibilities to constantly work at improving this club.

The Wings really showed their mettle midway through the final frame, as they turned back the vaunted Penguins power play on a lengthy 5 on 3 shorthanded situation. Henrik Zetterberg and the deep Detroit defense were particularly effective in diffusing this critical situation. The Wings held on to earn that critical 3-1 series lead.

Game 5 was expected to be the night of the Wings coronation. It was a dramatic evening, to be sure, but the result was not favorable to the expectant home side.

The Pens struck early in the first period, on a pair of goals by Marian Hossa (again) and Adam Hall to gain traction and confidence while quieting the home crowd. However, as has been their tendency, the Wings turned up the heat, again producing their best hocke, whenever trailing in games throughout this series.

They poured 26 shots at Fleury, who was turning aside many of these excellent scoring chances with a spectacular display. Darren Helm, Pavel Datsyuk and Brian Rafalski all found ways to dent his armor and give the Wings a 3-2 lead with ten minutes to play. With the countdown underway, Rafalski's goal would be a neat storyline as the hometown boy who would score the Cup-winning goal on home ice. Again, the Pens had other thoughts.

Gary Roberts was seen on the bench exhorting his younger mates to keep pushing to even the score and not give up. Immediately to his left was seated Maxim Talbot, who has been quoted as recognizing the extraordinary leadership skills of the veteran winger. With less than one minute remaining in the third. Talbot positioned himself in Roberts-like fashion at the edge of the crease to bat home the dramatic game-tying marker.

This set the stage for a long overtime which would either end the series or prolong it.

Despite a wide territorial edge, outshooting Pittsburgh 24-14, the Wings could not put the Pens away. In the end a critical double-minor to Hudler, for high-sticking, would prove decisive. A pretty passing play, with setups from Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin led to the winning goal from Petr Sykora.

With the series now at 3-2, there were more whispers that this series was potentially a long way from a conclusion. The Pens were coming home with a chance to tie it up.

This time it was the Wings who would take control early. They would take advantage of an early power play opportunity, with Rafalski converting passes from Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. In the second frame, Valtteri Filppula scored a key second goal (a bit of a soft one) against Fleury, who was not able to duplicate his spectacular Game 5 effort in this game. Still the Pens would draw close as Evgeni Malkin fired in a power play goal to cut the deficit in half. The Pens had to be sparked by that goal because Malkin was playing his best game of the series and finally having a positive impact.

A goal by eventual Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) winner, Zetterberg, which was again a bit of a fluke, actually propelled by Fleury as he tried to smother it, gave the Wings a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead. The Pens would continue to press, though and a goal by Hossa with 1:27 remaining gave them one final chance. However, a late flurry at the final buzzer was turned back by another Wing playoff hero, goalie Chris Osgood, to clinch the victory.

The Detroit Red Wings captured the 11th Stanley Cup in franchise history, completing a year that saw them put up the best regular season record and emerging victorious through four playoff rounds to earn the biggest prize of all.

CONGRATULATIONS HOCKEYTOWN!!!