Talbot’s ‘bad hands’ hold Stanley Cup glory

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This article was published 13/06/2009 (6174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DETROIT — Max Talbot scored two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame an injury in the second period to captain Sidney Crosby to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in a gripping Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup on Friday night.

The Penguins won a third Cup in their history and their first since their titles in 1991 and 1992.

Rookie Jonathan Ericsson scored with 6:07 left in the third period for Detroit, which failed in a bid for a second straight Cup and fifth in 12 seasons.

Crosby played just one shift in the third period after suffering a knee injury early in the second period on a hit by Red Wings forward Johan Franzen. But nothing could prevent the 21-year-old from hoisting the Cup, one year after suffering a heart­breaking loss to Detroit in the final.

"It means so much," said Crosby. "It’s even way beyond that. It’s all the sacrifices that people make so you can get to this point, and my par­ents. It’s the coaches you have along the way. It’s the people that influence you.

"These things are all things that, you think about. You go through to­day, for example, you’re preparing for a Game 7 Stanley Cup final, and that’s the only thing I could think about is all these people who are watching, and all these people I want­ed to do it for personally."

The popular Talbot, whose line­mate Evgeni Malkin accused him jokingly of having "bad hands" early in the series, ended up lead­ing the final with four goals.

And the Penguins avenged last year’s loss to the same Red Wings, who could not repeat as cham­pion against a gifted young team that had too much energy and firepower for the battered home side.

"I looked up at the clock and there were six seconds left and I couldn’t believe it was actually going to happen," said Penguins forward Bill Guerin.

It was also a hard loss to swallow for Red Wings winger Marian Hossa, who left the Penguins as a free agent last summer because he felt he had a better chance to win in Detroit. Hossa was held without a goal in the final.

"Regret? I don’t have any regrets," said Hossa. "Whether your like it or not, in life, there’s going to be pres­sure. It squeezes you. It’s very diffi­cult to play like that."

Marc-Andre Fleury, chased from the net after allowing five goals in Game 5 a week ago, bounced back with a huge game as the crowd of 20,066 spurred their team with chants and roars through a stunning end to what had been a thriller series between Pittsburgh’ young talent and Detroit’s cool and efficient veterans.

"They have great talent and we tried to pack it in a bit," said Penguins defenceman Rob Scuderi. "Everyone came back and didn’t allow them quality chances. And (Fleury) was there for us when we needed him most."

The Penguins played the final period as though killing a long penalty, but Joe Louis Arena erupted in glee when Fleury missed Eric­sson’s high shot from the right point with his glove to make it a one-goal game.

With just under two minutes to play, Niklas Kronwall’s wrist shot had Fleury beat but struck the cross­bar and a last-minute six-man swarm came up empty.

"We had our win last year but we’ll learn from this too," said Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg. "We’ll come back stronger."

— The Canadian Press