In the Face-Off Circle: Game 6 Matchups

In The Face-Off Circle: A game-by-game look at the face-off matchups in the Stanley Cup Final

Tuesday's game 6 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings proved to be one of the most intense, exciting, and nail-biting games in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, as it literally came down to a matter of inches in the closing minutes of the third period. It was also the first game in the series where the two teams were even in the face-off circle, as both teams won 24-of-48 draws.

Which ones had an impact on the game? Find out after the jump.

In game 6 of last year's series, Red Wings center Kris Draper won an incredible 15-of-18 draws. In this year's version, however, the Penguins managed to get the better of him on 7-of-12. Of course, that's not to say Draper wasn't an important player for the Wings on Tuesday night, or that he didn't make his presence felt. He not only scored their only goal (just 12 seconds after beating Craig Adams in the circle), but he was also 2-for-3 in shorthanded situations (all against Sidney Crosby) as the Red Wings managed to keep the Pittsburgh power play off the board for the second consecutive game.

Here's a look at his night and series:

Kris Draper's Night In The Circle
Opponent	Game 6	Series
Sidney Crosby	2-for-6	5-for-11
Craig Adams	1-for-2	3-for-5
Jordan Staal	0-for-1	3-for-4
Tyler Kennedy	1-for-1	1-for-1
Bill Guerin	1-for-1	1-for-1
Evgeni Malkin	0-for-0	0-for-1
Max Talbot	0-for-1	1-for-2
Totals	5-for-12	14-for-25

-- Neither team scored on the power play on Tuesday (both going 0-for-2) while the Penguins were just 2-for-5 on their face-offs with the man advantage. The Red Wings, meanwhile, were a perfect 4-for-4 on power play draws, including a 3-for-3 performance by Henrik Zetterberg.

-- Keeping track of the Crosby vs. Zetterberg matchup, the two squared off just three times on Tuesday (with Zetterberg winning two) which brings their totals to just 13 face-offs in the three games in Pittsburgh, while they've faced off 33 times in the three games in Detroit.

-- What could have been one of the Penguins' biggest wins of the night almost proved to be their most costly, as Evgeni Malkin won a draw against Zetterberg with just under two minutes to play in the third period. As Brooks Orpik controlled the puck at the blue line, he attempted to fire the puck deep into the Detroit zone only to have Pavel Datsyuk block the shot, and proceed to find Daniel Cleary behind the Pittsburgh defense for a breakaway opportunity against Marc-Andre Fleury, as the Penguins' goaltender made one of the biggest saves of the night.

Here's the updated leaderboard through the first six games:

Top Face-Off Performers: Games 1-6
Player	Win/Loss	Percent
Johan Franzen	8-for-10	80%
Kris Draper	14-for-25	56%
Darren Helm	37-for-66	56%
Henrik Zetterberg	52-for-94	55%
Craig Adams	17-for-31	54%
Sidney Crosby	52-for-98	53%
Evgeni Malkin	20-for-38	52%
Max Talbot	19-for-38	50%
Valtteri Filppula	34-for-68	50%
Justin Abdelkader	9-for-19	47%
Jordan Staal	29-for-87	33%

-- Jordan Staal has improved significantly the past two games, winning 13-of-23 draws. For Detroit, Darren Helm's early series face-off dominance has disappeared, as the speedy 22-year-old forward has won just 2-of-13 the past two games.