Posted by Pierre LeBrun
DETROIT -- A flying start to such a pivotal game in the chase for Lord Stanley's prize.
We didn't get a whistle until 7:16 into the first period as the two teams set a blistering pace. Fun stuff to watch.
The Penguins got the first two good scoring chances of the game, both belonging to Ruslan Fedotenko. First, he got thwarted by Chris Osgood from in close -- a huge save early in the game by the Wings netminder. Then, Darren Helm prevented a sure goal when he checked Fedotenko just in time with a yawning cage starting at him.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock tricked everybody with his line combinations. After showing us Pavel Datsyuk returning on a line with Valtteri Filppula and Marian Hossa at the pregame skate this morning, Datsyuk instead played the first period with Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Cleary, while Johan Franzen joined Filppula and Hossa.
Datsyuk, making his return after missing seven games, showed no signs of rust, in my eyes. He looked strong on the puck, hammering Evgeni Malkin into the end boards and setting up the game's opening goal by Cleary.
Joe Louis Arena exploded when Cleary's wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle beat a partially screened Marc-Andre Fleury. I know the shot went through Brooks Orpik, but I don't like that goal on Fleury's part.
Scotty?
Scott Burnside: Agreed, Pierre; that goal has to be stopped.
The goal came on the rush after Sidney Crosby made a nice play along the goal line to try a surprise shot from a bad angle that Osgood handled easily. Cleary was one of a couple of players that didn't skate this morning, so there were some rumblings he might be hurt or sick, but he's clearly OK.
One major accomplishment for the Red Wings in the first period was the fact they killed off the only power play the Penguins had after Niklas Kronwall was whistled for tripping Chris Kunitz. The Penguins had no shots on net during the man advantage.
The Pens will face another critical penalty kill starting the second period as Kunitz took a goalie interference call after crashing into Osgood with the Penguins pressing. Not a good penalty to take with your team down 1-0.
Malkin had a good period again and I wonder if Babcock will separate Datsyuk going forward to try to keep the Pens star's chances at a minimum.
We'll see. Back with more after the second period.
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
