Detroit, MI (Best E Casino) - Petr Sykora's power play goal at the 9:57 mark of the third overtime helped Pittsburgh avoid elimination with a 4-3 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Joe Louis Arena.
In the third session, Pittsburgh was awarded a power play when Jiri Hudler was called for a high-sticking double-minor after he hit Rob Scuderi and drew blood.
On the power play, Sergei Gonchar, who had sat out the first and second overtime periods, and was put on the ice for the power play, blasted a shot from the right point that missed the net. However, Evgeni Malkin grabbed the puck along the right side and fired a pass out to Sykora, who snapped a wrister from the right circle that hit off the left arm of Chris Osgood and squeezed into the net for the win.
Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist while Maxime Talbot scored with 34.3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime for the Penguins, who now trail the best-of-seven series, 3-2.
"Our backs were against the wall," said Pittsburgh forward Ryan Malone. "We came out and found a way to win. That was the biggest thing."
Marc-Andre Fleury came up with his best game of the series thus far as he stopped 55 shots in the win for Pittsburgh, which is looking for its first Stanley Cup championship since 1992.
"He's topped himself the entire playoffs," said Scuderi about Fleury. "We needed him to be big because most of the play was on our side of the red line."
Darren Helm, Pavel Datsyuk and Brian Rafalski each scored a goal for the Red Wings, who are seeking their fourth Cup in the past 11 seasons. Osgood, who shut out the Pens in Games 1 and 2 at Joe Louis Arena, finished the game with 28 saves.
"It's physically draining," said Rafalski. "We played a good game, played solid the whole way through. The power play goal, what can you do?"
Pittsburgh will look to keep its chances alive on Wednesday as Game 6 is set to take place back in the Steel City.
"We're playing for the Stanley Cup and it's not going to be easy going in here and playing for it," said Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. "They're not going to give up. We saw that tonight. We just have to respond again coming in a couple nights."
The Pens had blown a two-goal lead, but with time winding down in regulation, the Penguins got Fleury out of the net for the extra attacker and went to work in the Detroit end. Hossa found himself with the puck along the deep right boards and threw it on net. From the right side of the crease, Talbot tapped his first shot off of Osgood's left pad, but he buried the rebound behind the goaltender with 34.3 seconds to play and force overtime.
The first opportunity of the first overtime came about five minutes in when Datsyuk fired a shot from the low left side, but Fleury came up with a body save to keep the puck out of the net.
About two minutes later, Valtteri Filppula found himself all alone in the slot with a clear shooting lane. He lasered a shot on net, but Fleury kicked the puck out of harm's way with a right pad save.
Not to be outdone, Osgood kept the game going by stopping a Malkin chance. Jarkko Ruutu had the puck along the right boards and spotted Malkin flying in. After Malkin got the pass, he snapped a shot on net that Osgood knocked into the air with the glove and then snagged it out of the air for the whistle with 10:39 left in the first overtime.
Pittsburgh was awarded a power play with 2:35 to play in the first overtime after Henrik Zetterberg was called for interference. However, the Red Wings were able to keep the Penguins from mounting any attack and the game went to a second overtime.
Pittsburgh got its second power play of overtime in the second extra session when Dan Cleary was called for goaltender interference after he ran into Fleury as he got a shot on net. Osgood made a big save during the power play on a turnaround shot by Malkin in the slot.
The Red Wings were awarded a man advantage with 2:16 to play in the second overtime after Sykora was called for hooking. However, the Red Wings were unable to capitalize and the game went to triple overtime where Sykora eventually scored the game-winner.
Trailing, 2-1, Detroit tied the game in the third period after Tyler Kennedy was called for hooking. Zetterberg had the puck at the right circle and fired a hard pass to the slot where Datsyuk redirected the disc between the pads of Fleury to tie the contest at the 6:43 mark.
Detroit then took the lead less than three minutes later. The second goal seemed to give the team some life and the Wings put tremendous pressure on the Penguins. All the work paid off as Johan Franzen fired a pass from the low left side to the right circle where Rafalski fired a wrist shot through a screen and past Fleury for a 3-2 lead.
The Detroit defense kept the Penguins from getting a shot on net in the third until Sidney Crosby got off a weak backhander from the right side with 6:42 to play, but Pittsburgh was able to capitalize late to force overtime.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the first period to take a 2-0 advantage.
The first goal came at the 8:37 mark. Pascal Dupuis won a battle to get the puck at the right boards and dished to Crosby, who immediately sent it out front where Hossa grabbed it and flung the puck into the low left corner past Osgood.
With 5:19 left in the first, the Penguins grabbed a two-goal edge thanks to a fortunate break. Adam Hall brought the puck from the deep left boards to the front. He lost control of the puck and Niklas Kronwall tried to clear it out, but the puck caromed off the skate of Hall and slipped past Osgood.
"I just went to try to clear it and it hit the guy's skate and went in the net," said Kronwall.
The Red Wings made it a one-goal game just 2:54 into the second. A weak clearing attempt was kept in by Kirk Maltby at the left point. He got the puck to Helm, who fired a shot on net that hit off the skate of Scuderi and went between the pads of Fleury.
With time winding down in the second, Hal Gill fired a shot on net from the high slot that hit Malone in the face. Malone immediately got up and, while bleeding heavily, skated off the ice with trainers in attendance. He did come back to play later in the game.
Game Notes
Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom came back to play after sitting out Game 4 with a hamstring injury...Malkin, who finished second in the league in points in the regular season and was held without points in the first four games of the series, had an assist in the game...Crosby has been held to two goals and three assists in the series...The only other team in NHL history to erase a 3-1 series' deficit was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Detroit...Each team went 1-for-5 on the power play.
