Yes, we know: The Conn Smythe goes to the end boards at the Joe. Or various limbs on Marc-Andre Fleury(notes).

But the Detroit Red Wings earned their Game 1 victory, 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brad Stuart's(notes) goal was fluky, but the set up was all pressure from the Wings and containment at the blue line. Same thing with the Johan Franzen(notes) game-winner, as Henrik Zetterberg(notes) beats Sidney Crosby(notes) on the face-off -- Sid the Kid was as putrid 5-16 (31 percent) against Hank -- and the Red Wings contain the puck in the zone before Franzen makes an aggressive play off the friendly bounce. Ville Leino(notes) to Justin Abdelkader(notes) was also the epitome of hustle, and a reminder that two players that good are on Detroit's fourth line. Sheesh.

Not a good night for Fleury, whose backside now has as many goals in the last two Stanley Cup finals as Franzen (2). Not a good night for the Penguins' blue line, as Hal Gill(notes) and Rob Scuderi(notes) both finished at a minus-2. And not a good night for Sidney Crosby.

Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe last season because he starred on offense and defense. Tonight, he dominated Crosby in the faceoff circle, kept him away from dangerous spots in the offensive zone and didn't allow him much room to create. Credit also goes to Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), who went from questionable on Friday to 24:07 on the ice on Saturday, to lead all players.

Crosby will likely get a load of "he needs to be better" critiques, but honestly: This is what the Red Wings do to you.

It was a prototypical Red Wings effort. The flow was choppy. The goals were born of fortitude rather than panache. The biggest goal of the game didn't come from Hossa or Zetterberg or Holmstrom; it came from some kid with 10,000 vowels in his name. And Chris Osgood(notes) was, well, Chris Osgood. 

Tonight was a case study in the conundrum that is Osgood: Gives up a weak goal to Ruslan Fedotenko(notes) on a rebound shot, stops Malkin on a breakaway. Looks shaky on puck control all night, and yet he ends up with 31 saves and back-bones the team to victory. It's baffling if you're not a Wings fan; if you're a Wings fan, it's Osgood.

A few thoughts:

• Great job by NBC getting the Sidney Crosby vs. Kirk Maltby(notes) incident after the final buzzer, as Sid slashed Maltby in the line of Wings skating over to Osgood. Crosby said after the game that Maltby was doing a ton of yapping during the night: "He felt it was necessary to keep talking after the game, and I thought I'd whack him." Awesome.

• Look, the Penguins struggle in the faceoff circle. But for Detroit to have a 39-16 advantage without Pavel Datsyuk(notes) and Kris Draper(notes) is astounding.

• One of the reasons this game was closer than it might have been: The Red Wings had 20 giveaways to Pittsburgh's 13.

• While some Pittsburgh defenders struggled, some didn't: Kris Letang(notes) had a game-high five blocked shots. Marian Hossa(notes), for the record, had four.

• The biggest issue after Game 1 is, of course, Game 2. Will Lidstrom's ice time affect him on Sunday night? Will Datsyuk and/or Draper return? Will Bylsma tweak the lineup for better matchups on the road? And, perhaps above all else, can Fleury rebound with a confident effort against a team (and an arena) that seems to haunt him?

• Finally, the Associated Press is in love with the DJ at the Joe. They're the only ones. Human League? Seriously?

Related: Stanley Cup Playoffs, Crosby vs. Ovechkin vs. Malkin