Penguins gladly return favor

With history already against them and fate working its way into the opposing lineup, the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t buckle.

A year after watching the Detroit Red Wings celebrate winning the Stanley Cup championship on their ice, the Penguins returned the favor with a 2-1 win over the Wings in Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena on Friday.

Pittsburgh stormed back from an 0-2 deficit in the series to claim its third NHL championship and first since 1992. It did so behind two goals by Maxime Talbot, outstanding goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury and a gutsy effort after an injury to its captain, Sidney Crosby.

Talbot’s goals came in the second period, sandwiched around Crosby’s leaving the ice because of a leg injury that rendered him ineffective the rest of the game and left the Penguins without one of their top players and the heart and soul of the team. Meanwhile, Fleury made 22 saves, including a brilliant stop on Nicklas Lidstrom in the final second to out-duel Chris Osgood in net.

“This is the best day of my life,” Talbot said during the Penguins’ wild celebration. “We won the Cup. We did it with passion and with grit.”

Fleury’s effort was special and the main reason for the victory that stunned the Wings and the crowd that had come with the purpose of seeing the home team capture its second consecutive championship and 12th in franchise history.

“I care about my teammates -- they deserve it,” said Fleury, who made 23 saves. “They played hard in the playoffs. We have such a great team spirit and team chemistry. It’s just a great feeling to win it.”

Crosby was injured after he was checked into the boards at center ice by Detroit’s Johan Franzen early in the second period. Crosby slowly made his way to the bench and into the Pittsburgh dressing room while favoring his left leg. He came back to start the third but sat most of the period.

“It’s a dream come true,” Crosby said of his first Stanley Cup. “It’s everything you work for. It just feels so good. This is exactly how you picture it and what you play for.”

The Red Wings didn’t go quietly as they pulled to within 2-1 on a Jonathan Ericsson goal with 6:17 left in the third. They kept up the pressure but Fleury didn’t yield, even when Lidstrom had the puck and an open net as the clock wound down. The goalie lunged to his right and got a shoulder on the attempt just before the horn.

“That last save [Fleury] made won the series for us,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “That third period it seemed like the clock wasn’t even moving. Everyone just battled. Sid went down and guys didn’t really say anything.”

The Penguins joined the 1971 Montreal Canadiens as the only teams in Stanley Cup finals history to win Game 7 on the road after the home team had won each of the previous six games.

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ckuc@tribune.com