The Detroit Red Wings, stunned to have lost Game 5 at home in triple overtime, played a perfect road game Wednesday night at Mellon Arena, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, in Game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final to go wire-to-wire as the best team in the National Hockey League this season. Henrik Zetterberg was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the postseason and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European captain to lift the Stanley Cup aloft.

I Detroit Red Wings hanno vinto la Stanely Cup. Dopo aver perso gara-5 sul ghiaccio amico, riaprendo la serie con i Pittsburgh Penguins, sono riusciti a espugnare la Mellon Arena in gara-6 vincendo 3-2 e chiudendo la finale Nhl sul punteggio di 4 partite a 2 in proprio favore. Un successo dal sapore speciale per Nicklas Lidstrom, primo capitano di una squadra campione Nhl nato in Europa. Henrik Zettenberg e’ stato invece nominato Mvp dei play off.

Counted out in many circles after falling behind 3-1 in the Stanley Cup Final, the Pittsburgh Penguins came off the ropes and got off the canvas time and again Monday night to stun the Detroit Red Wings in triple overtime, 4-3, winning Game 5 of the series and forcing a return trip to Pittsburgh for Game 6 Wednesday night. The game was the fifth longest in Stanley Cup Final history, with overtime lasting 49:57 before Petr Sykora ended it. The longest overtime was 55:13, set on May 15, 1990 when Petr Klima scored to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win over Boston in Game 1.

The Detroit Red Wings now have a 3-1 stranglehold on the 2008 Stanley Cup Final thanks to Saturday night’s 2-1 win at Mellon Arena that saw the Wings frustrate the Pittsburgh Penguins at nearly every turn, especially in the third period when the Wings denied a 5-on-3 Penguins power play for 1:26. Playing without first-line winger Tomas Holmstrom, out with a reported hamstring injury, the Red Wings still found a way to win by emphasizing strong forechecking and defense that frustrated the Pens time and again.

It took three tries, but the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins finally know what winning a game in the Stanley Cup Final feels like. They also know they won’t feel nearly as good if they can’t follow with another win in Game 4 on Saturday night. Crosby scored twice as the Penguins took a 2-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 3. That gives them a chance to get even and guarantee at least a return trip to Mellon Arena for a sixth game. As happy as Crosby was to be on the winning side for the first time in a Cup Final game, he knows the Penguins still have a big task in front of them.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a Memorial Day weekend in Detroit they would just as soon forget. The Detroit Red Wings jumped to a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final with a 3-0 win in Game 2 that did nothing to raise the Penguins’ confidence or lower their blood pressure. Brad Stuart and Tomas Holmstrom scored first-period goals and Valtteri Filppula added a third-period goal to ensure the victory for goalie Chris Osgood, who posted his second straight shutout.

An unassisted goal is an anathema to a team built on collective success like the Detroit Red Wings. But two unassisted goals off the stick of Mikael Samuelsson lifted the Wings to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.