Stanley Cup Finals Game 1

Detroit Red Wings vs Pittsburgh Penguins: Detroit wins 3-1 (Detroit leads series 1-0)

The Detroit Red Wings were not distracted by all the injuries on their roster. Captain Niklas Lidstrom came back and skated 24 minutes with a +1 rating, Johan Franzen, last year's top playoff scorer for the Red Wings, scored the game winning goal, and two rookies Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino combined for the 3rd period put-away score as the Red Wings defeated the Penguins 3-1. Outstanding games by Darren Helm and Chris Osgood led the way, however, as Helm skated hard every shift and took the third star award while Osgood made a key save on a breakaway opportunity by Evgeni Malkin, staying on his feet and getting his glove up to rob the regular season and the postseason's leading point scorer of a potential go-ahead goal in the second period.

This was exactly the kind of effort the Red Wings needed out of their young players with all the injuries, and the fact that game 2 will be tomorrow night to finish off a weekend of back to back games. Datsyuk is probable for game 2 and Kris Draper is day to day, so if those two can get back for game 2 after not having played game 1 and being fully rested, the Red Wings may go up 2-0 and would pretty much set themselves up for a 5 game series if they can steal one in Pittsburgh.