Pens turn Hockeytown into Mopetown

DETROIT – They started bad and finished worse. The Detroit Red Wings turned into giant party-poopers Monday night/Tuesday morning.

The big question: How pooped are the Western Conference champions after skating 109:57 for nothing?

The veteran roster, experience through and through, gets tested now as – surprise, surprise – this best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals shifts back to Pittsburgh for a Game 6 on Wednesday. The Wings remain closer to their 11th Stanley Cup than the Penguins do to their third, but Detroit also knows it might have let Pittsburgh back into the series.

"I think the hardest thing in a game like this is the mental part," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said after losing 4-3 in triple overtime. "It's not the physical part. The mind drives the body. Your body can keep going. It's the mental part.

"You were that close, and then, 'Oh, tough', " he added.

"And I think it's natural to feel bad for us for a bit, and feel bad for yourself. But it's the Stanley Cup playoffs. It's not supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be a battle, and obviously we're in one."

Playing in front of a full building of red-clad support, the Wings came out nervous in the opening period. Pucks jumped off their sticks, they lost battles they didn't lose in the first four games and they looked at each other as if waiting for the next guy to make a play.

Pittsburgh took advantage, scoring twice in the opening 14:41 to serve notice that the Penguins were not going to go away quietly.

"I thought we were really nervous," Babcock said. "We never made a play in the first period, for whatever reason. And whether that's focusing on outcome rather than just process and doing what you always do."

Pascal Dupuis threw a shoulder into Brian Rafalski to win a one-on-one battle in the corner for the puck, then fed Sidney Crosby who passed on the stick of Marian Hossa in the slot. The trade-deadline acquisition didn't miss, scoring the game's first goal at 8:37.

The second goal was fluky but one the Penguins deserved since their fourth line out-hustled Detroit's No. 2 unit. In the end, Adam Hall walked to the front of the net, lost possession, but Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored an own goal when his attempted toss to the corner hit a skate and landed in the upper corner of the net behind Wings goalie Chris Osgood at 14:41.

The hosts were better in the second, cutting the deficit in half when Darren Helm scored 2:54 into the period when his shot deflected off the skate of Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi and through the legs of Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was outstanding in Game 5.

The third period was all Detroit at the outset. Fleury was unforgiving, but he surrendered a tying goal when Detroit's top power-play unit converted (Pavel Datsyuk at 6:43). Rafalski's goal at 9:23 had the feel of a Cup winner, and everyone celebrated as such.

But it didn't hold up.

With Fleury pulled for an extra attacker, Pittsburgh's Max Talbot scored at 19:25, just 35 seconds before Detroit envisioned skating off with the Cup.

"Sure you're disappointed," Babcock said. "But we had such a great third period. We outshot them 14 4. We went into the third period, and we were down. We came out with an opportunity to win the game in overtime."

Outshot 34-18 through regulation, out-hit, out-played, it didn't matter to the Pens. And it continued into the first OT. The Wings dominated the first 20 minutes in shots, 13-2. The shots were 54-28 for Detroit after 100 minutes and two overtimes. Still, no game-winner and no Cup.

When Jiri Hudler clipped and cut Scuderi with a high stick halfway through the third OT, there was no killing a double-minor. Not at this early hour of Tuesday morning, not with this little energy left.

Petr Sykora scored a winning goal in a fifth overtime for Anaheim against Dallas in 2003. Babcock was coach of that winning team. So when Sykora did it again – this time at 9:57 for the winner – the coach was not surprised in the least.

"I hate to see Petr Sykora get that puck late," he said. "You just know it's going in. He's that kind of guy. … Petr has that ability to score."

As per his routine, Babcock didn't say anything to the group afterward. He doesn't talk to the Wings when they win, and he doesn't say anything when they lose. He touched base with the leadership on the team just to communicate their travel plans later in the day back to Pittsburgh, and to let them know any skating would be optional.

"We just have to ask ourselves how bad we want to win, and how determined we are," Babcock said. "I think the resolve of the group is real good. I think the determination is real good.

"It's not like we didn't have every opportunity. I believe when you do good things, good things happen. Just do good things again."