Red Wings stone Pens in Stanley Cup Final rematch

The Detroit Red Wings used two goals from Pavel Datsyuk and a stellar goaltending effort from Ty Conklin to shut down the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday en route to a 3-0 win in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals.  The Red Wings suffocating defense held Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby to only one shot on goal as they improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight games against the Penguins.

Goalie Conklin and Wings forward Marion Hossa, both former Penguins, were booed and taunted mercilessly by the fans at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena but the scorn appeared to serve as a motivator for both men.  Conklin was impenetrable, stopping 25 shots for his 6th shutout of the season and Hossa scored an insurance goal for Detroit midway through the 3rd period.   After a scoreless opening frame, the Penguins Petr Sykora was sent off for hooking and the Red Wings’ Datsyuk took advantage of the opportunity scoring his 21st goal of the year on the power play with assists to Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski.  Hossa scored his 30th of the year midway through the third assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Andreas Lilja, and Datsyuk scored his 2nd of the game with just over two minutes remaining assisted by Nicklas Lindstrom. 

Hossa’s goal surprised even him, as he shot it off his backhand through a crowd hoping to get a deflection.  Instead, the puck made it to the net untouched and eluded Penguins goalie Marc Andre Fleury:

"I tried to put everything on the backhand I had and I tried to shoot it pretty quick. I was just hoping it would get there. It kind of surprised me [it went in]."

While goalie Conklin heard some boos from the passionate Pittsburgh fans, most of their venom was reserved for Hossa.  He handled the reaction with class, crediting the Pens fans for being passionate about hockey:

"These are great hockey fans, and they show you their emotions. Once or twice in your career you've got these games, so basically you try to enjoy it because this doesn't happen often. You try to use their energy to your advantage."

Detroit is neck-and-neck with San Jose for Western Conference supremacy, with the Sharks holding the advantage with a two point lead.  Both teams are running away from the rest of the pack, however, as Detroit holds a 13 point lead over third place Calgary.  The stretch run in the West is going to be wild, with only 9 points separating 5th place Dallas from last place St. Louis.  Detroit and San Jose are fortunate to be above this fray, but will continue to duke it out for the Conference title.  The Red Wings travel to Nashville on Tuesday, return home to play the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and face another tough road challenge against the Washington Capitals on Friday.

The Eastern Conference might not be quite as wide open as their Western Conference counterparts, but the battle for playoff spots will be no less furious.  At the moment, Pittsburgh is in 10th place putting them on the outside looking in at a playoff spot—but with only 8 points separating them and 4th place Philadelphia they’re still very much alive in the postseason hunt.  They’ll face a tough challenge on Wednesday as they welcome the Western Conference leading San Jose Sharks to Mellon Arena.  They’ll then hit the road for two games against struggling teams, playing at Toronto on Saturday and on Long Island against the NY Islanders next Monday.