BOUNCED BACK: Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury put a Game 5 disaster behind him, backstopping the Penguins to a well-deserved 2-1 win over Detroit in Game 6 on Tuesday. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Detroit was looking to etch their names into the Stanley Cup for a fifth time in 12 years. But that will have to wait until Friday as the Penguins lived to play another day with a 2–1 win at Mellon Arena on Tuesday night.
On this night, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury came up big and he had a little help from his goalposts and defenseman Rob Scuderi to boot. The Red Wings looked flat and only managed 12 shots through the first two periods.
Although the game started out with a buzz, the first period came and went without any scoring as the Penguins employed a strong forecheck and took away the neutral zone from the Red Wings.
Early in the second, the Penguins got on the board. Crashing Detroit’s net, third-line center Jordan Staal broke down the right wing on a two-on-one. He fired a wrist shot, which Chris Osgood saved. But Staal was able to control the rebound and fire past Osgood. The crowd erupted and the home team took a well-deserved 1–0 lead.
Throughout the series the referees have been letting players get away with just about any kind of infraction and Pittsburgh was especially chippy, sending numerous Wings players to the ice with strong bodychecks.
But the remaining story of the second period was the play of Chris Osgood. After giving up the goal early in the period, the Detroit netminder made several incredible saves to keep his team within one.
Starting the third period however, Pittsburgh put the Red Wings goalie back on his heels after a huge wrap around goal by center Tyler Kennedy.
Kris Draper gave the Red Wings some life after scoring off a rebound by Fleury at 8:01 in the third.
After killing off two penalties mid-way in the third, the Penguins got another big stop from Fleury after Detroit winger Dan Cleary got a breakaway with under two minutes remaining.
After that, as expected, the Red Wings pulled Osgood and sent the extra attacker to the ice.
Detroit threw everything they had at Pittsburgh. As they were attacking the net, a crowd of players swarmed in front of the goal and Pens goalie Fleury was displaced as he tried to make a save.
With the puck floating near the goal line, Pens defenseman Rob Scuderi saved the day, sprawling in front of the net, apparently covering the puck with his glove. But Fleury was also in the thick of the action and Scuderi’s play prevented the puck from going in.
If Chris Osgood was the standout in the second period, Scuderi was clearly the hero of the third.
Marc-Andre Fleury also came up big, making 25 of 26 saves and earning himself a .962 save percentage. The top draft pick from 2003 rebounded from a dismal performance in Game 5. His character was never questioned and he proved himself, once again, to be a clutch performer.
Game 7 goes Friday night in Detroit.