Sat May 24 23:00:57 2008

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Samuelsson, Osgood give Wings one-game lead over Pens

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Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Mikael Samuelsson scored a pair of unassisted goals to help the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Joe Louis Arena.

Chris Osgood turned aside all 19 shots he saw for the Red Wings, who are seeking their fourth Stanley Cup in the past 11 seasons. It was Osgood's second shutout of these playoffs and his 12th career postseason blanking.

Marc-Andre Fleury was charged with all four goals on 36 shots for the Penguins, who are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1992.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who both made their first Stanley Cup appearance, finished the game with a combined four shots and a minus-two rating.

Game 2 is set for Memorial Day in Detroit.

The game remained scoreless despite several power plays through the first 33 minutes.

However, with 6:59 left in the second the Red Wings took the lead. Samuelsson had the puck in the neutral zone while several Penguins went off on a line change. He took advantage of the open ice and flew into the Pittsburgh end, skated around the net from the left side and from the right side banked in a wraparound off Fleury's outstretched pad for a 1-0 lead.

The Red Wings defense shut down the Penguins throughout the second period and Osgood needed to make just four saves to keep the Pens off the board.

Just 2:16 into the third period Samuelsson struck again. He finished a check behind the Pittsburgh net and the puck came out to the right side. Fleury tried to poke the disc into the right corner, but it bounced around before going out front where Samuelsson fired a low shot into the back of the net.

Pittsburgh nearly broke through on Osgood with under nine minutes to play. A right circle faceoff win resulted in Marian Hossa getting the puck down low. He beat Osgood with a shot, but it rang off the right post.

Detroit sealed the victory on a short-handed goal with 2:42 to play as Brad Stuart fired the puck down the ice and it took a big bounce off the back board to the right circle where Daniel Cleary backhanded it past Fleury.

Henrik Zetterberg's power-play wrister that beat Fleury over the glove with 12.2 seconds to play accounted for the final score.

The first period saw a total of six power plays and 23 shots, but neither side was able to get on the board.

On Pittsburgh's third power play of the frame Osgood was sharp on the kill as he made several big stops during the advantage, including a block of a Crosby redirection from down low.

With 4:40 left in the frame Detroit appeared to take a 1-0 lead as a Nicklas Lidstrom wrister from the left circle found the left corner of the net, but Tomas Holmstrom's stick got in the way of Fleury and the goal was waived off. Holmstrom was also called for goaltender interference, but the Red Wings effectively killed off the power play.

In all, Osgood made 12 saves in the first frame while Fleury stopped 11 shots.

Game Notes

This is the first time these teams have met this season and is also the first playoff series ever between Pittsburgh and Detroit...Detroit was without defenseman Chris Chelios, who was a healthy scratch, and forward Johan Franzen, who is still suffering from concussion-like symptoms...Pittsburgh forward Gary Roberts was a healthy scratch...Zetterberg has 22 points in the postseason, which leads all skaters...Detroit went 1-for-6 on the power play while Pittsburgh finished 0-for-5.