The Pittsburgh Penguins Win the Stanley Cup in Game 7Considering that the Detroit Red Wings are a great home team, the home team won all 6 previous games in this series and in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals the home team absolutely dominates the record books, it seemed the Pittsburgh Penguins were counted out before the game ever began. However, Pittsburgh didn't go along with the prewritten script, barely hanging on to beat the Red Wings 2-1 and claim the 2009 Stanley Cup Championship. The game opened up with the Red Wings outplaying the Penguins. They were hustling and winning all of the small battles as a deafening crowd cheered them on. Dan Cleary beat out an icing that led to a great scoring chance for Detroit. The Penguins came on strong in the middle of the period helped by a power play opportunity when Evgeni Malkin had his stick slashed. The Red Wings responded with a strong finish to the session and both Marc Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood held their teams together in the first. With the game scoreless entering the second period, it took only a minute for the Penguins to break onto the scoreboard. Maxime Talbot sent a quick shot through the 5 hole of Osgood with Malkin getting the assist after a Detroit turnover.
Action then turned to 4 on 4 situation with both teams getting scoring chances following one another, with Osgood turning away a breakaway opportunity. Sidney Crosby then was forced to leave the ice after a hit from Johan Franzen left him visibly struggling. It appeared his left knee as slammed into the boards. He did not return to play in the second but would eventually return to play in the third in a very limited role, only taking the ice for one shift. Midway through the session Talbot led a 2 on 1 break for the Penguins. The Detroit defenseman didn't commit to either player, so Talbot held onto the puck and sent the puck over Osgood's glove and just under the crossbar for his second of the game, eighth of the playoffs and a 2-0 Pittsburgh lead. For most of the third period the Penguins maintained control and seemed to somehow be cruising towards taking the Cup home. With six minutes left in third Jonathan Ericsson scored on a one timer from the corner of the zone. The score was 2-1 and the crowd erupted in excitement. This led to a frenetic few minutes where Detroit went immediately to work trying to tie the game.
The Penguins regained composure until Niklas Kronwall pinged the crossbar with two minutes left in the game, leaving the entire arena – including goaltender Fleury – looking around in shock. Detroit called a timeout and sent Osgood to the bench but no more Detroit magic was in store. Fleury made a sprawling save in the closing five seconds to seal the victory and the Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals in Game 7. That wraps up our coverage of the entire NHL postseason and the race to the Stanley Cup Championship. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on winning the 2009 Stanley Cup.
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