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Congrats to the Detroit Red Wings on winning the Stanley Cup by hanging on for an exciting 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Six at a loud Mellon Arena. They truly were the best team and very deserving of winning their first Cup in six years and fourth in the last 11.

After losing in very tough fashion with the hardware in their building the other night, the experienced Original Six club responded by playing a whale of a game dominating large portions against a younger opponent. They got the first two goals including ex-Devil Brian Rafalski’s power play tally which opened the scoring at 5:03 of the first.

The Wings doubled their lead when Marc-Andre Fleury couldn’t control a Mikael Samuelsson rebound allowing a cutting Valtteri Filpulla to sneak a backhand through shortside for a 2-0 cushion nearly halfway through the contest. But the Pens responded via the man-advantage when Evgeni Malkin finally got on the board for the first time in the series. Taking a perfect Sidney Crosby cross-ice pass, the 22 year-old Russian rifled the puck past Chris Osgood for his 10th of the postseason.

Clinging to a one-goal lead with 20 minutes left, the Wings ratcheted up their level outplaying the Pens severely by getting 12 of the first 13 shots. They also had some luck fall their way when eventual Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg’s shot trickled through Fleury and with it hanging close to the line, the 23 year-old Pitt netminder accidentally knocked it into his own net. While it was a bad break for the Pens, it was also a great individual effort by Zetterberg befitting of why he took home playoff MVP.

Taking the puck from superb linemate Pavel Datsyuk, the Swede went 1-on-3 and then found room to take his wrister which resulted in his 13th and the Cup clincher. That was the kind of skating which defined how dominant Zetterberg and Datsyuk were throughout the entire postseason. They somehow would make amazing plays out of nothing and score goals which defied logic. Perhaps he was a bit lucky on the goal which made it 3-1 with 12:24 remaining but it also was created by a very smart player who will no longer fly under the radar when it comes to being one of the game’s best.

For the most part, Pittsburgh looked completely outclassed and had nothing going until a Jiri Hudler minor gave them life late. Sergei Gonchar’s slapper was deflected home by Marian Hossa cutting it to 3-1 with still 87 seconds to go. Plenty of time for the Pens, who used a Max Talbot goal to hold off the celebration in Detroit a couple of nights ago.

Could they duplicate that and force another sudden death? Unfortunately, they just ran out of time. Off a broken play, Crosby got off a tough backhander which Osgood stopped. With the puck dangerously close to the line, the veteran Detroit netminder who entered the postseason as a backup to Dominik Hasek got his goalstick on it before Hossa got to it. By the time his backhand attempt took place, the clock was at zero. So even though the puck just went wide, it wouldn’t have counted.

If ever there was a great story which developed out of nowhere, it had to be the clutch play of Osgood, who in relief of Hasek was utterly brilliant winning 14 of his club’s 16 games and posting a splendid 14-4 record to win his third Cup (second as starter).

His team did play intelligent defensive hockey getting in the path of shots and breaking up passes but Ozzie made his share of high quality saves and arguably could’ve won the Conn Smythe as well which went to Zetterberg. He finished with a miniscule 1.55 GAA, .931 save percentage and three shutouts including back-to-back in the first couple of games of the Final series. For a man who had always been doubted as a starter being capable enough to backstop Detroit to championships, it was pretty amazing to see the 35 year-old Peace River, Alberta native lead the Wings to another Cup exactly a decade afer helping them repeat in a sweep over the Capitals.

Just awesome.

As for Zetterberg, with a goal and a helper, the brilliant 27 year-old former 1999 Detroit seventh round gem finished the postseason with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) along with a gaudy plus-16 rating typifying just how special a player he really is. Complete in every facet.

The selection of him for the Smythe was a superb one. If Osgood wasn’t going to win it, why not give it to the most consistent performer in the 2008 playoffs? I’d have to imagine Datsyuk and Osgood finished second and third though I wouldn’t venture to guess which order.

I also want to congratulate Rafalski on winning his third Cup. The former Devil blueliner who helped the franchise win two of their three Cups was outstanding playing alongside Detroit captain Nick Lidstrom, who broke the Euro hex becoming the first European born captain to lead an NHL club to the championship. I was amazed at the chemistry the two dynamic defensemen had. They always seemed to be a step ahead of the opposition working the puck out diligently and making a smooth transition to offense. The performance by both was oustanding as was the physicality from Niklas Kronwall and a rejuvenated Brad Stuart, who freight trained Crosby during the second with a clean hit forcing No.87 to limp to the bench.

The Mellon Arena crowd also did itself proud by continuing to support their team with chants of “Let’s Go Pens, Let’s Go Pens, Let’s Go Pens” after the final buzzer had sounded. The vast majority remained for the postgame ceremony and respectfully cheered. It was extremely nice considering how tough the circumstances had to be after watching their club come so close to miraculously tying it.

What started as a disappointing series turned into a very good one with the Pens trying as hard as they could to comeback from an 0-2 and 1-3 hole. They weren’t as good as the Wings but did their best to make this a fun Stanley Cup Final which generated some excellent ratings on NBC. This was much needed for the sport with the series only lacking a dramatic final Game Seven.

Congrats again to the Red Wings on their great victory. They truly proved to be the best team.