No. 1 star: Mikael Samuelsson, Detroit Red Wings
Typical of the Red Wings, it's a under-rated depth forward who steps up and grabs the spotlight in a huge game. Samuelsson is really no stranger to success. A career-high 23 goals in 2005-06, a solid postseason last year while appearing in 18 games. It's just when you're on a team with all those high-profile stars, it's easy to get overlooked. Don't expect Pittsburgh to ignore Samuelsson the rest of the way. Or do you think that classless slash to his chest by Jarkko Ruutu in the final two minutes of Saturday's Game 1 was an accident? Samuelsson got the Penguins' attention by scoring the first two goals of the series, one more than Detroit even needed to skate off with the opener. Samuelsson recognized Pittsburgh's bad line change midway through the second period, drove the puck hard to the net and beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a wrap-around for a 1-0 lead. Samuelsson was in the right place two minutes into the third period to take a Fleury turnover and put it behind the Pittsburgh netminder. Those were two of his five shots during 13:32 of efficient play.

No. 2 star: Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
It was just another night at the office for Detroit's nationally under-appreciated goalie. Osgood stopped the 19 shots he faced, including 12 in the opening 20 minutes when he took on four Pittsburgh power plays. Osgood has two shutouts this postseason as he continues his stellar work after stepping in for Dominik Hasek during Game 4 in the first-round series against Nashville. Osgood, who has 12 career playoff shutouts, is 11-2 this postseason and has allowed only 20 goals in 14 games.

No. 3 star: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Usually it's his offensive exploits that earn this kind of recognition, but besides his power-play goal and team-high eight shots Saturday night, it was Zetterberg's defense that should get him noticed. Along with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, Zetterberg went head-to-head with Pittsburgh's top line led by Sidney Crosby and the result was one-sided. Joined by Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, Crosby's group was shut out and held to eight shots on goal. Zetterberg blocked a shot, delivered a hit and won 10 of 19 draws during 22:03 of ice time.

Major penalty: Pittsburgh's special teams didn't execute. The Penguins had four straight power plays in the first period and needed to score the first goal to plant the seed of doubt in Detroit's mind. Didn't happen. The Pens moved the puck well on the power play, got decent chances, but didn't bear down in close or get any good luck for that matter. The fifth failed power play, which came after a 40-minute gap since the previous one, was a disaster. It resulted in a short-handed goal for Detroit. Enough said.

Minor penalty: Marc-Andre Fleury needs to simplify his game. He's come a long way as a goalie considering the huge expectations that come with being a No. 1 overall pick, especially considering the position he plays, but he over-handles the puck and isn't it simpler to just walk down the runway and skate on to the ice instead of running and taking a flying leap? Hey, that stuff works great in Pittsburgh, but someone should have warned him about the temporary rug on the ice in Detroit. Nice fall, the judges scored it an 8.5.

Conn Smythe watch
1. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
2. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
4. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
6. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
8. Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings
9. Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings
10. Sergei Gonchar, Pittsburgh Penguins

Related: 3 Stars