PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins made sure this year’s Stanley Cup final followed a different script.
Pittsburgh tied the NHL best-of-seven final at two games apiece with a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. With the win, the Penguins moved a step closer to getting revenge on the team that beat them in six games in last year’s final and hoisted the Stanley Cup in their building.
The Penguins were hoping for a different result in the rematch of last year’s Cup final, but the first three games of the series followed the same pattern. Detroit won the first two games at home, while Pittsburgh got one back in Game 3 at Mellon Arena.
Fortunately for the Penguins, that’s where the similarities end. Detroit took Game 4 last year en route to winning the Cup in Pittsburgh. But this time around the defending champions find themselves heading home with the series all tied up.
The Penguins will head back to Detroit for Game 5 on Saturday with their dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin clicking. Pittsburgh’s young superstars each had a goal and an assist Thursday night and have been a presence all series.
Detroit would love to have that kind of a one-two offensive punch, but the Red Wings are still without their most potent offensive weapon. Pavel Datsyuk, a finalist for the NHL’s most valuable player award, has yet to play a game in the series because of a nagging foot injury.
Despite the momentum shift in the series, Pittsburgh still has to win in Detroit, which has been next to impossible this post-season. Detroit has won 10 of the 11 playoff games they have played at Joe Louis Arena in 2009. Their only loss was a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.
