DETROIT, Michigan -- Goaltender Chris Osgood earned his second consecutive shutout as the Detroit Red Wings rolled to a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night, giving them a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Osgood stopped 22 shots in the effort and became the second goalie in NHL history to start his Finals career with six consecutive wins.
The Red Wings got on the board just 6:55 into the game when Brad Stuart rifled a shot off of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and into the net.
Valtteri Filppula gained the Pittsburgh zone on the left side and slid a pass across to a trailing Stuart while going to the net. Stuart waited for Filppula's screen before blasting a shot on net. Fleury got a piece of it but not enough as it deflected up and in.
Tomas Holmstrom stretched the lead to two 4:23 later, finishing off a chance by Henrik Zetterberg.
Holmstrom sent the puck from behind the net to Zetterberg in the slot to bang between Fleury's pads. It slowly slipped through and Holmstrom reached in behind Fleury to push the puck across the goal line.
A highlight reel goal by Valtteri Filppula finished off the game's scoring at 8:48 of the third.
With the teams skating four aside, Filppula was sprung on a rush into the Pittsburgh zone with a pass by Johan Franzen. He raced around defenseman Kris Letang and cut back in front of Fleury while being hooked. On one leg, he put a shot past Fleury before flying through the air.
The game ended with the Penguins trying to assert themselves physically, as Petr Sykora bumped Osgood, leading to a scrum that saw Pavel Datsyuk drop Gary Roberts. After time ran out, Maxime Talbot approached the celebrating Red Wings but was led away by the officials.
The Red Wings will look to take a stranglehold on the series in Game Three from Pittsburgh on Wednesday, a virtual must-win for the Penguins.
Notes: Franzen returned to the lineup after missing six games with concussion-like symptoms. Darren McCarty was scratched to clear room for him.
One down for the Wings but the Penguins will look to rebound. Too early to call anything a must-win though it would be easy to, as Detroit would do well to hold serve at home and the Pens would love to make this a five-game series in which they have home ice.
Rumblings are that Johan Franzen could return tonight. He hasn't been cleared to play but it sounds like he's in as soon as he's cleared.
It's a tough call but I think I'd pull Darren McCarty out of the lineup when Franzen comes back. He's been playing well but everyone else (Helm included) has been just a bit better.
Decent period. The Penalty Kill's looking good. Another chance on the Power Play coming up, hope they can take this one.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! My dad just said "Hoodler". I'm ashamed =/ And earlier he said 'Fraaaaanzen'
I'm happy for the Wings awesome start.
I hope it stays like this for the rest of the second (the domination, I mean).
KEEP CROSBY AND MALKIN GOALLESS!
I just got done putting my kid to bed I see it's still 2-0 but it looks like Pitt is starting to get more chances and control it more than they have. Am I right?? Did I miss anything exciting?
What a surprise, best opportunity for Pittsburgh comes on Lilja falling down.
Hahaha, that just made my day. =/ I hope Lilja goes soon.
Penguins playing better defensively but it seems to have cost them what little offense they could get going. Works for me, the Pens are the ones that need goals right now. Still holding my breath though.
Is it taking anyone else 4-5 tries to get the site to load?!?!?!?!
Datsyuk's a madman! I didn't think he would ever hit anyone. But I'm proud of him, if I can even say that
It's cool he's standing up for the team. And that's stupid that the Penguins keep doing that.
That goal was almost as beautiful as the goal scorer itself!!! <|3
YAY! I'll proudly be wearing my jersey tomorrow!
Yeah, that wasn't cheap at all. =/ What a jerkface. How many penalties has that guy had tonight?
edit;; KILLL HIM!!!!!!!!! Darn. =/ I was hoping for a fight.
Datsyuk and Franzen!!!!! Badass ![]()
Ok, now I feel calm <|3 and happy. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Who knew we'd be watching Pavel Datsyuk, one of the players not associated with toughness, beating people up in the Playoffs? I am amazed. This game keeps getting better and better.
And another great defensive performance. It's like a brick wall out there. Sidney Who? Two to go! Get in!
I love that Don Cherry just showed a picture of a sleeping kid and said 'He has the right idea here' ! LMAO. XD
TAKE THAT CROSBY LOVERS!
Let's see if the Western teams get ignored next year?(Probably still, yes, I know)
SHUTOUT! ![]()
i think it's really funny that Pittsburgh just made themselves look so desperate and completely stupid on national TV. Datsyuk? wtf? My friends and me were jumping up and down because Dats starts crankin out haymakers.
Anyone else notice how the pens were trying to take shots at Franzenstein's head?
I'm sure there won't be any suspensions, but I think a talking to and maybe even some fines are in order.
Good win--we'll see how desperate they look at home on wednesday.
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