The Stanley Cup Final 2009
The Pittsburgh Penguins will faceoff against the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. This matchup promises to be one of the best final series of many years to come with both teams showing impressive form throughout the NHL playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings are the defending champions of the cup, but the Pittsburgh Penguins do not deserve any type of criticism.
Offense wise Detroit boasts some of the best forwards on ice. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are an excellent pairing, and happen to be only part of the brigade of excellent forwards in the Detroit lineup. Pittsburgh have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to combat their opposition forwards. Pittsburgh in the finals seem to have stepped up more than the Red Wings, so look for Pittsburgh to really bring it together when scoring.
Defence wise, Pittsburgh have some well known defenders in Sergei Gonchar, Ryan Whitney, Hal Gill, Rob Scuderi and Brooks Orpik. They know how to shut down speedy opposition and move the puck out of their own quarter. Detroit however, has noticeably protected the goaltender very well so the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Nichklas Krnowall have made Chris Osgood’s job much lighter. Given Chris Osgood has had an easier time in goals, Marc-Andre Fleury has given the cameras plenty of highlight shots with spectacular saves. Given this, Fleury has to have the edge when we are matching up the goaltending.
Because Pittsburgh has had to really battle it out past some quality opposition during the final series, they are fair to be judged to be producing a higher quality of hockey than Detroit. Both teams will have to protect their goaltender and muscle up to shut out the forwards. Look for this series to go to six or seven games.
