With Detroit on the verge of winning their fourth Stanley Cup since 1996 after a 2-1 win tonight that gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, I figured it was high time to give an excellent unit its due.  Much of the hype pre-series was about star power on both sides.  But as so often happens in hockey, highlight-reel offense has given way to great defense.  Pittsburgh’s previously unstoppable offense has been stone cold against Detroit, scoring only four goals in four games, and never putting more than 24 shots on Chris Osgood in any contest.  Sidney Crosby has been held to two goals - both at home in Game 3 - and Evgeni Malkin, hyped as the ‘real’ best player in hockey throughout the playoffs has been completely obliterated in the Finals, held pointless in four games.

Although I said in my last post there was no real compelling rooting interest I am sort of hoping Detroit wins, if nothing else but to end the so-called European captain hex.  Few, if anyone would be more deserving than Nicklas Lidstrom, who’s been the best defenseman in hockey for a decade if not longer and does it with quiet determination.  Lidstrom had a stellar Game 4 tonight, scoring the tying goal in the first period and being named first star because of his work on the high-powered Penguin offense during his team-leading 28+ minutes of icetime.

Plus, as a Devils fan I still have a soft spot for Brian Rafalski though I know a lot of my bretheren would give me a beatdown for expressing such sentiments.  Then again the same was true when Rafalski was a Devil, since he was often underappreciated there by the fans, media and even management to an extent.  Rafalski’s chipped in 11 points in the playoffs to go along with his typical 20-25 minutes of very good defense, though his assist on Lidstrom’s goal was his first point in seven games.

On the other hand, I’ve never been a big fan of Brad Stuart.  I’ve always felt he got overhyped and was extremely overrated, as evidenced by his bouncing from team to team.  And while he had only two assists in the first three rounds of the playoffs he’s putting up points like a machine in the finals.  Call it the dash for cash if you will, since his five points and +7 against the Penguins while playing 20+ minutes a night through the first four games will surely convince someone to throw big money at him in a shaky FA market for defensemen.

Similarly, I’ve always thought injury-prone Niklas Kronwall would never live up to his immense hype.  But he took a big step toward doing so this year by putting together a 35 point, +25 regular season and adding 13 assists during the Red Wings’ playoff push thus far.  He had another terrific game tonight, playing 25 minutes with a +1.

And three cheers for the guy behind it all, Osgood.  Yes as I stated above he hasn’t had to make a ton of saves in any game in the finals, and throughout the playoffs Detroit’s D has only given up 25+ shots three times in Osgood’s sixteen playoff starts but the much-maligned veteran has made the saves when he’s had to - particularly during Detroit’s first-round series against Nashville when he took over for an ineffective Dominik Hasek with the series tied 2-2 and won two straight. 

Detroit hasn’t looked back since, and two straight shutouts of Pittsburgh - their first two times being shut out in the playoffs - is nothing to sneeze at.  Osgood is on the verge of winning his third Stanley Cup (second as a starter) and quite possibly a Conn Smythe trophy with his 13-3 record in the playoffs, a 1.48 GAA and .935 save percentage.  Not bad for a guy that’s bounced around the league the last several years and wasn’t even the number one goalie on his team heading into the playoffs.