PITTSBURGH - Hockeytown is getting the Stanley Cup again.
Brian Rafalski, Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg scored in a 3-2 victory that gave the Detroit Red Wings the NHL championship series four games to two Wednesday night.
Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa scored Pittsburgh's goals.
Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European to captain a Stanley Cup winner as Detroit won its fourth title in 11 years. Lidstrom also was on the 1997, 1998 and 2002 championships teams.
Henrik Zetterberg accumulated a franchise-record 27 points in Detroit's 16-6 playoff run, picking up the Conn Smythe Trophy as post-season MVP. He was aided by an offence that also got big boosts from Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen.
The blue-line corps featuring five-time Norris Trophy winner Lidstrom was outstanding, and Chris Osgood was steady as a rock in the nets after replacing a slumping Dom Hasek in the first round.
Detroit outshot Pittsburgh 30-22 in the clincher and in all six games of the final to finish 222-142 in the series.
General manager Ken Holland built a swift and highly-skilled roster ideally suited for this NHL era of zero tolerance of obstruction fouls, and coach Mike Babcock implemented systems that featured forechecking and backchecking that frustrated opponents.
The experience factor helped, too. Eleven Red Wings with 24 Stanley Cup rings, compared to three Penguins with four rings.
Detroit's 2-0 edge after two games also loomed large. Teams winning the first two games of the final at home were 30-1 in pursuit of the Stanley Cup previously and, as hard as the courageous Penguins tried, they couldn't climb out of the hole.
They'll be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. They were 29th in the 30-team league just two years ago but are a powerhouse now. It's merely a matter of time before Sidney Crosby is standing where Lidstrom was after Game 6.
"We're going in the right direction with those young kids,'' said Penguins coach Michel Therrien. "The future is bright with those young kids. This is definitely a team that is really fun to coach. They paid a price to try to get better. I'm really proud of my players.''
Therrien felt his players kept up well with the Red Wings after beginning the final slowly.
"Obviously we were really nervous in our first game,'' said Therrien. "I thought we learned quick, because after Game 3 we started to play our game. You learn a lot in those situations, and that's going to make us stronger in the future.''
If there was one player the Pens could have used more from, it was Malkin. The Russian was second in league scoring with 106 points during the regular season and had 19 points through three rounds of the playoffs, but he managed only one assist before getting his lone goal of the six-game final. He added a second assist, and third point, on the Penguins' final goal of the post-season.
Pittsburgh had seized momentum with a goal with 35 seconds left in the third period that led to a 4-3 triple overtime win in Detroit on Monday, but the Red Wings weren't about to let the Stanley Cup be ripped out of their hands a second straight game.
Rafalski opened the scoring on a power play at 5:03 after Darryl Sydor was penalized for interference for knocking Kirk Maltby to the ice away from the puck. Zetterberg fed a pass to Rafalski at the top of the circle to the right of Marc-Andre Fleury and Rafalski's shot caromed off Hal Gill and into in the net on Fleury's glove side.
Both teams entered this game with a win-loss record of 12-1 when scoring first, so it was a huge goal.
Detroit escaped a two-man disadvantage after Dallas Drake was sent off for charging Ryan Whitney at 8:28 and Kris Draper was nabbed for roughing at 8:55 for knocking Sergei Gonchar from behind and into the end boards.
It was only the fourth time in the post-season that Pittsburgh trailed after one period. They'd won only once in this situation. Detroit was 12-1 when leading after one.
Crosby was crushed against the boards by Brad Stuart in the third minute of the second period and was bent over in pain after making it back to the bench, but he was soon back into the action.
Filppula made it 2-0 at 8:07. Fleury stopped a long Mikael Samuelsson shot and left a juicy rebound. Filppula put the puck between Fleury's legs. Fleury would have loved to have had this one back.
Malkin made it 2-1 on a power play. With Datsyuk off for interference, Malkin blasted a slap shot from the circle to Osgood's right that sent the puck through the goalie's legs as he dropped to his knees.
The Penguins were coming on, but Detroit had gone 13-0 during the playoffs when leading after two periods, while Pittsburgh had a 1-4 record when trailing after 40 minutes.
The Red Wings, best in the league defensively all season, checked the Penguins to a standstill as the minutes disappeared.
Zetterberg, shooting from the circle to the right of Fleury, made it 3-1 at 7:36 of the third period on another one Fleury should have stopped. He got a piece of the puck but it dribbled behind him. He plopped down in the crease hoping to smother it, but he knocked it into his net for his 13th goal of the post-season.
The Red Wings were licking their lips now, and checking feverishly. Pittsburgh got only one shot on Osgood through the first 16 minutes of the third.
The Stanley Cup was pulled out of its case -- just as it had been Monday -- and it would soon be in Lidstrom's hands.
When Jiri Hudler was penalized for hooking with 1:47 left, Fleury was replaced by an extra skater for a two-man advantage for the Penguins, and Gonchar took a long shot that beat Osgood with 1:27 left, setting up a tense finish.
The Penguins nearly extended their playoff lives once more in the dying moments of the game. Crosby fired a backhander which hit Osgood and bounced to the side of the net. Hossa swooped in and slid the rebound through the crease as time expired. It was over.
Danny Cleary of Harbour Grace will be the first player from Newfoundland and Labrador to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup.
