Just like last year, the Detroit Red Wings took Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With a 3-1 victory over the Penguins, the Red Wings lead the series one game to none.
Pavel Datsyuk was sidelined with a foot injury, but Nicklas Lidstrom and Jonathan Ericsson returned to the team in time for the first game.
Detroit’s Brad Stuart scored the first goal of the game before Pittsburgh’s Ruslan Fedotenko netted the equalizer with 1:23 left in the first period. Johan Franzen scored the game-winning goal late in the second period. However, Red Wings rookie Justin Abdelkader scored his first playoff goal off his own rebound to give Detroit a 3-1 lead early in the third period.
“That was huge for us to get that insurance goal,” said Lidstrom.
With this win, Detroit now has won nine consecutive Game 1′s, which is the longest active streak and is tied for the third-longest in NHL history.
The Red Wings are now 9-1 at home this postseason. In eight of those ten games, Detroit has held the opposition to no more than two goals.
