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Stanley Cup is Wings' relief pitcher

Detroit survives late flurry to claim its 11th NHL title

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 4, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.

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Tomas Holmstrom celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Photo by Getty Images

Tomas Holmstrom celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Red Wings players have their pictures taken after winning the Stanley Cup after beating the Penguins 3-2 in Game 6 of the Finals on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

Red Wings players have their pictures taken after winning the Stanley Cup after beating the Penguins 3-2 in Game 6 of the Finals on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

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PITTSBURGH — Whew . . . then wow.

Emotions changed oh, so quickly Wednesday night for the Detroit Red Wings in yet another wild finish in the waning seconds of their 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena.

They came thisclose to squandering yet another chance at securing the 11th Stanley Cup in franchise history before hanging on to clinch the best-of-seven series in six games and secure the trophy for the fourth time in the past 11 seasons.

"We knew it was going to be tight all the way to the end," said Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason.

The Red Wings needed a last- second save by goalie Chris Osgood on Sidney Crosby's back- handed shot to protect the lead. Then, after Osgood knocked down the puck with his left arm, Marian Hossa took a swipe and sent it right through the crease, within inches of the goal line.

Visions of the game Monday, when the Penguins scored with 34.3 seconds left and won in triple overtime, might have been dancing through the Red Wings' minds.

"It was chaotic the last 40 seconds," said Osgood, who finished with 20 saves. "Crosby was flying. I knew it was a good back-hander. I tried to get out as far as I could and it ended up hitting my arm. I think time had run out before it started rolling over to the side of the net. I was happy to see the ref yell time was up when I looked up."

So was Zetterberg, who delivered what proved to be the decisive goal, at 7:36 of the third period, led all playoff scorers with 27 points and was a force killing penalties, including a lengthy two-man Penguins advantage in the first period.

"I don't know how many seconds were left, but when I saw the puck behind the net and I looked up and it was zero on the game clock, I was a pretty happy man," he said.

After handing Zetterberg his hardware, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presented the Stanley Cup to Swedish-born Nicklas Lidstrom, who became the first European-trained captain in league history to win the silver chalice.

"It's something I'm very proud of," he said.

"I've been over here for a long time. I watched (retired captain) Steve Yzerman hoist it three times and I'm very proud of being the first European. I'm very proud of being a captain of the Red Wings.

"(There's) so much history with the team and great tradition, and we see some of the older players coming through, so I'm very proud to be the captain - and to win the Stanley Cup, too."

In a nice gesture reminiscent of the Avalanche's 2001 Cup triumph, when Joe Sakic handed the prize to Ray Bourque, Lidstrom passed it to Dallas Drake, a veteran of 15 NHL seasons who never previously has been to a Finals.

"I started thinking about it in the first round," Lidstrom said. "I didn't tell anyone about it. But I started thinking about, if we were to go the whole way, who should be the guy I gave it to first."

Lidstrom and his teammates might have started thinking other thoughts when Hossa redirected defenseman Sergei Gonchar's shot into the net with 1:27 remaining with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on the bench for a six-on-four advantage after Jiri Hudler was penalized for hooking Evgeni Malkin.

Was another miracle finish in store?

"The hockey god was not on our side," said Penguins coach Michel Therrien, who also might have been referring to Zetterberg's winning goal.

Zetterberg, who had 13 goals and 14 assists in 22 playoff games, needed an assist from Fleury to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead.

After accepting a pass from Pavel Datsyuk in the left circle, Zetterberg whipped a shot that slid between Gonchar's skates and Fleury's pads. Only Fleury didn't realize the puck had squirted behind him. When the goalie fell on his back, he knocked the puck into the net.

"It feels pretty good," Zetterberg said. "It's been a long season. Especially a few nights ago in Joe Louis Arena, it was devastating. We found a way to battle back."

The Red Wings built a 2-0 lead on goals by defenseman Brian Rafalski and forward Valtteri Filppula, but the Penguins pulled to 2-1 at 15:26 of the second period on a power-play goal by Malkin, who hadn't scored in nine playoff games after collecting nine goals in the first 10.

Malkin was in the left circle when he took a cross-ice pass from Crosby and sent a shot that found its way between Osgood's pads.

"We left everything out there," a disconsolate Crosby said.

NUMBERS GAME

5 Red Wings players have won the Stanley Cup four times: Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom , Nicklas Lidstrom , Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty.

WAIT TILL NEXT SEASON

Penguins coach Michel Therrien believes his young team will be even better next season, having gone through this lengthy playoff run for the first time. Just two years ago, the team finished 29th in the 30-team NHL.

"We made big strides, there's no doubt about that," Therrien said. "We're going in the right direction with those young kids. They were surrounded by good veterans. The future is bright with those young kids."

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was crushed by the loss.

"I haven't experienced a Stanley Cup Finals loss before," Crosby said. "It's not a good feeling. We've come a long way, but that doesn't make this any easier."

LONG WAY FOR DRAKE

Red Wings right wing Dallas Drake, who has played in 1,009 regular-season games and 90 playoff games, won his first Stanley Cup in his first trip to the Finals.

Teammate Dan Cleary became the first native of Newfoundland and Labrador to win the trophy. Cleary is the second Newfoundlander to compete in the Finals, the first since Alex Faulkner for Toronto (1964).

HE SAID IT

"I've got no feeling right now. It's tough. We came here to win. We didn't miss out by much."

Max Talbot, Penguins forward.

Comments

  • June 5, 2008

    9:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    farsidefan writes:

    I dislike the Red Wings as much as the next guy, but they have a terrific team and coaching staff. I hope the guy in charge of European scouting gets his name on the cup. His should be the first one..
    AVs take note.

  • June 5, 2008

    1:52 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Avs_Blow writes:

    GO WINGS....LORD STANLEY IS BACK HOME IN HOCKEYTOWN!!!!!!!!

  • June 5, 2008

    2:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    MrBrightSide writes:

    You TWO Av fans act like there is still a rivalry. That was eight years ago, it's over, Av's reek and the Wings still rule. Deal with it.

  • June 5, 2008

    8:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    AvalancheSuck writes:

    F*** DENVER

    F*** YELLA

  • June 6, 2008

    12:13 a.m.

    Detroitrockcity writes:

    (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

  • June 6, 2008

    4:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    dietpepsi writes:

    yeah i thot the games in detroit were actually in Denver 'cause all the redwing sweaters in the crowd...

  • June 6, 2008

    8:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Detroitrockcity writes:

    lets go Red Wings!!