Pens Survive Late Fireworks, Stay Alive

Why not make it seven?

When there's hockey being played as urgently, breathlessly, and brilliantly as Tuesday night's Game 6, and you're given the gift of more, you don't ask why. You just accept it and offer gratitude to the two teams who made it possible. Forget Saturday's anti-climax, a 5-0 win for the Red Wings over the Penguins that again had Detroit looking epic and Pittsburgh embodying the lamb. Forget what you've known through six games.

These two teams deserve the most poignant of climaxes to the thrilling narrative they've written thus far.

Penguins 2, Red Wings 1: Recap | Box Score
Videos: Thrilling Saves for Pens

The Penguins were content to keep the game rough and methodical to even the series, and it worked in bottling up the Red Wing forwards through the game's first half; Detroit only had 12 shots through the first two periods and struggled to find a rhythm. Yet time eroded that Pittsburgh wall, and Detroit found increasingly more daylight as the game wore on.

With that, things started getting interesting.

After Jordan Staal put a rebound past Chris Osgood in the second period, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead, the teams began punching and counter-punching, the ice tilting to and fro like a seesaw. Pittsburgh stayed relatively in control into the third, widening the gap to 2-0 through intermittent Red Wing attacks, but then Detroit dropped anchor in the Penguins zone.

Kris Draper cut the deficit back to one, and it's not hard to imagine doubts creeping into the minds of the Pittsburgh players, or at least their fans. These are the Red Wings, after all, that epic, seemingly unbeatable unit. And after being bested for almost the entire game, they were going to simply turn it on late just because they could and put the Penguins back in their place.

Latest NHL Images

Two Detroit Red Wings fans wear their team's red colors as they stand among a sea of white shirted Pittsburgh Penguins fans before the start of Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals hockey series in Pittsburgh, June 9, 2009. REUTERS/Shaun Best (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Reuters

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury waves to the crowd after the Penguins 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Pittsburgh Penguins players mob goalie Mar-Andre Fleury as they celebrate after the Pengiuns defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final hockey series in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 9, 2009. The series is now tied 3-3. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

Reuters

Pittsburgh Penguins players celebrate around goalie Mar-Andre Fleury (top C) ater the Pengiuns defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final hockey series in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 9, 2009. The series is now tied 3-3. REUTERS/Jason Cohn (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

Reuters

Detroit Red Wings' Darren Helm, Chris Osgood, Kris Draper, from left, and teammates skate off the ice after a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) is congratulated by Kris Letang, right, after the Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. The win by the Penguins evened the series at 3-3. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Pittsburgh Penguins players Sidney Crosby (R) celebrates with goalie Mar-Andre Fleury (L) ater the Pengiuns defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final hockey series in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania June 9, 2009. The series is now tied 3-3. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

Reuters

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, left, and teammate Kris Letang celebrate the Penguins' 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Reuters

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury celebrates with Maxime Talbot after the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, June 9, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

At times, the Penguins made it easy for Detroit to do it, with a fortunate bounce or shot off the post (sorry, Mr. Zetterberg) saving the Penguins' lead. But that's OK, nothing wrong with a little luck sometimes.

And there was certainly nothing wrong with Marc-Andre Fleury on this night, who was always there even when the luck wasn't. Under an increasing barrage in the game's final minutes, Fleury withstood, answering questions about how he would respond after being pulled from Game 5. He was simply phenomenal on Tuesday night, putting the team on his back when most were looking at Sidney Crosby to bear the yeoman's work.

But now there are other questions that Fleury has to answer, namely whether or not he can play similarly in Detroit, where he's allowed 11 goals in three losses this series. After the Game 6 victory, Crosby seemed confident that Fleury would throw away all memories of past experiences at Joe Louis Arena and find liberation in the fact that this game, the seventh one, is All. That. Matters.

Whether Fleury finds comfort in that remains to be seen, but it's true. He and his teammates have earned the right to erase the slate and get one more definitive chance. The Red Wings have earned the right to have that one last definitive chance take place in the comforts of their home.

We fans? We haven't done anything to earn this Game 7, but we'll all take it anyway, won't we?