He who gives it can also take it away as Marc-Andre Fleury proved in the last two games of the series. The Penguins young goalie was the fundamental reason Pittsburgh stayed alive by winning Game 5 in triple overtime, but his play cost the team Game 6 and the series.
Fleury wasn't horrible Wednesday because he did make 27 saves, enough of them difficult ones. And he didn't have a chance on Detroit's first goal which eluded him after hitting a Pittsburgh defenseman and changing directions. But the second and third goals of the game were misplays by Fleury, and few teams can afford them in an elimination game.
On one, Fleury played a shot too loosey goosey, allowing a big rebound that led directly to a goal, and on both, he let shots squirt through his pads even though his view was unimpeded. In fact on Henrik Zetterberg's goal in the third period, Fleury knocked the puck into his own net after he tried to cover up by sitting on it. Still no one on the Penguins was knocking the 23-year-old, who was very good through his first long playoff run.
"I don't think anything needs to be said," Sidney Crosby insisted. "Without him, no one would be in this position."
SPREADING IT AROUND
If you have a chance to see the Red Wings next season, pay attention to Valterri Filppula, Jiri Hudler and Darren Helm. They're not the household names for Detroit, but all three forwards are really good skaters who handle the puck well.
They were among 12 players who scored goals in the Finals for Detroit, and the contribution of these role players was a big part of the Red Wings success against Pittsburgh. The Penguins lesser knowns did much less for their team, although Maxime Talbot and Adam Hall were effective.
POWER OUTAGE
The turning point in Game 6 came early in the first period when the Penguins failed to score with a 5-on-3 advantage for 93 seconds. Pittsburgh got the power play a few minutes after Brian Rafalski opened the scoring for Detroit, but managed only two shots That blew a quick and great chance to get back in the game and provided momentum for the Red Wings.
It was the second time in as many home games that Pittsburgh couldn't convert a two-man power play. They had nearly as much time late in Game 4 when Detroit was clinging to a 2-1 lead.
FOCUS FACTOR
After the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, several players admitted they had fooled themselves into believing they were ready to close things out at home the game before.
"I'll be honest with you, we got caught up in things like getting tickets for everybody," said veteran Kris Draper. "We said all the right things, that things weren't going to be a distraction, but they were."
But Draper said the veteran Red Wings weren't panicked about going back to Pittsburgh because they had closed out the three previous series on the road.
"One of the thingss we've prided ourselves on is our ability to win on the road," Draper said. "It was a tough loss (in Game 5) but we put it behind us pretty fast. We weren't going to let this opportunity slip away."
MUTUAL RESPECT
There was some predictable gamesmanship in the Finals thanks to Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien, who complained about the referees and drew the ire of Detroit coach Mike Babcock because the whining seemed to work at times.
But when it was over, Babcock had only nice things to say about Therrien.
"I was very impressed by his ability to run the bench," Babcock said. "He has a good feel to know who is playing the best and he makes adjustments accordingly. I thought he made it hard for us as a team."
:Coaches don't get here by accident. You need good players and he knows what he's doing. In the time he's been here, he's made a huge difference."
