The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a thrilling Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Friday night.  Max Talbot scored 2 2nd period goals for the Penguins and the Penguins held on down the stretch for a dramatic 2-1 victory.  Most critics predicted a back-to-back Stanley Cup championship for the Red Wings, who had only lost 1 game at home during the 2009 post-season (way back in the 1st round against the Anaheim Ducks).  Plus, the Red Wings had beaten the Penguins easily in 3 home games thus far in the finals, outscoring the Penguins 11-2 coming into the game.

But it was the Penguins night, as they won their first Stanley Cup championship since back-to-back title in 1991 and 1992 when current owner Mario Lemieux was the Penguins’ super star.  The Penguins even overcame the loss of Captain and superstar Sydney Crosby after he suffered a knee injury on a hard hit along the boards by Johan Franzen early in the 2nd period.  Ebgeni Malkin was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the NHL’s postseason MVP.  He scored 36 points during the playoffs – the most by any player in the league – and he assisted on Talbot’s 1st goal in the 2nd period.

Penguins’ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had a phenomenal night.  The 25-year old sensation stopped 23 of 24 shots on goals including a barrage of shots on goal late in the 3rd period.  Although Jonathan Ericsson cut the lead to 1 with 6 minutes left in the game, Fleury showed some resolve by not losing focus and staying the course during the final tense stress.

The Penguins are the 1st team to win a Game 7 on the road in a championship series in any major sports since the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series way back in 1979.  It hadn’t been done in the NHL since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in a Game 7 in Chicago back in 1971.  The Penguins fell behind 2-0 after to road losses in 2 different series this post-season (to the Washington Capitals & the Red Wings), but still had enough poise and confidence to win both series, and ultimately the Stanley Cup.

Kudos to Mario Lemieux and the entire Pittsburgh Penguins organization for drafting well and putting together a great solid combination of youth and veterans to attain the highest goal…

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday night at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals.  The home team has held serve in each of the first 6 games of the Stanley Cup finals.  The Penguins took a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the 2nd period on Jordan Staal’s 4th goal of the playoffs.  Tyler Kennedy increased the Penguin lead to 2-0 with his tally a little over 5 minutes into the 3rd period.  Kris Draper got the Red Wings on the board with his 1st goal of the playoffs 8 minutes into the 3rd period.

Penguins goalie made 25 saves and held off a barrage of shots from the Red Wings in 3rd period – 14 in all.  Chris Osgood had a good game for the Red Wings – 29 saves on 31 shots on goal – but it wasn’t enough.

Game 7 will be in prime time on NBC on Friday night – June 12th.  The odds are in the home team’s favor, so that should be good news for the Red Wings.  The Red Wings are 11-1 at home during the playoffs this year and they have outscored the Penguins 11-2 in the 3 games played in the Stanley Cup Finals thus far this year.  Since 1987, in Game 7 Stanley Cup games, the home team has won all 6 contests – no road team has raised the Stanley Cup after a Game 7 win since the Montreal Canadiens did so in Chicago way back in 1971.  But then again – that’s why they play the games.  Stay tuned as we keep you posted on the latest NHL/Stanley Cup updates over the next few days…

The Orlando Magic defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 on Tuesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at the Amway Arena in Orlando.  Despite trailing by 4 points after the 1st quarter, the Magic never lost focus and used a 9 point edge in the 2nd quarter (32-23) to take the lead for good.  Although it got a little dicey at the end, the Magic held on to the 4-point win and cut the Lakers series lead to 2-1.  And like they always say, a series doesn’t begin until the home to loses.

Dwight Howard led the way for the Magic with 21 points and 14 boards.  But the key was Rafer Alston, who had been disgruntled in the 1st 2 games of the series with the return of Jamir Nelson who cut into his playing time.  Alston played 36+ minutes and scored 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Alston dished out 4 assists and had only 3 turnovers while shooting 3 of 4 from the charity stripe.  3 other players also had great games for the Magic – Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 points, with 6 rebounds and 7 assists; Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, with 5 rebounds and 5 assists; and Mickael Pietrus scored 18 points and stayed out of foul trouble unlike the 1st 2 games of the series.

The Magic played with a lot more energy than the Lakers did in the 1st half.  Kobe Bryant (18 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists) and Pau Gasol (23 points and 3 rebounds) had their typical games, but the rest of the Lakers players seemed out of sync.  Derek Fisher scored only 9 points and dished out only 2 assists, while Andrew Bynum scored only 4 points.  Lamar Odom grabbed only 2 boards in Game 3 – he had 14 rebounds in Game 1 and 8 rebounds in Game 2.

Game 4 of the NBA Finals is set for Thursday night at 9:00PM EDT on ABC.  If the Magic can even up the series, we could be looking at a classic NBA Finals series this June.  The NHL Stanley Cup series will be decided between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins in a decisive Game 7 – maybe the NBA Finals will too…

The Red Wings ousted the Blackhawks with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win in Detroit.  Darren Helm scored the game winner for the Red Wings just 3:58 into OT.  The Red Wings will face the Penguins in the Stanley Cup for the 2nd straight season.

After high scoring affairs in the series 1st 4 games, this was a defensive struggle.  Neither team scored until the 3rd period and each team was 0 for 3 on the power play.

The Red Wings struck 1st on Dan Cleary’s goal 6:08 into the 3rd period.  Patrick Kane tied the game with just over 7 minutes to play in regulation.

Chris Osgood saved 30 shots for the Red Wings while Cristobal Huet shined for the Blackhawks saving 42 shots on the net during the night.