Author: Matt Pelc | Article Posted at: June 12, 09 - 1:02 pm

Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Game 7: Penguins at Red Wings (Series tied 3-3)

No matter who wins Friday night’s game in Detroit, there will not be another meaningful hockey game until October, because the 2007-08 NHL hockey season comes down to one game, Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena.

Pittsburgh was able to force this game by keeping Detroit away from their second straight cup in Game 6 at Melon Arena with a 2-1 victory.

The odds appear stacked against the visiting Penguins to win this game.

History strongly favors the Detroit Red Wings heading into the final game of the season. Home teams are 12-2 in championship Game 7s and have won 80 of the 128 playoff series that have gone the distance (62.5 percent).

No team has won a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals on an opponent’s ice since 1971, a streak spanning 12 finals seventh games. Fourteen finals have reached an penultimate Game 7 with the home team winning 12 times. In 128 overall playoff series, the home team has won 80 times for 62.5 percent of the time.

But Pittsburgh thinks, perhaps, the odds are stacked in their favor because a statistic like that, 12 straight home team wins, has to end at some point and it is due-overdue-to come to an end.

Most people gave a slight edge in this series to Detroit due to the playoff experience and Stanley Cups in the dressing room, but in this Game 7 no team has the edge, because with all their playoff games since the early 1990’s, one thing the Red Wings have never faced is a Game 7 in the Finals.

Detroit has been to six Stanley Cup Finals series since 1995. They have won four and lost one. Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper are the only players who were also on that 1995 squad that were swept by the New Jersey Devils. Tomas Holmstrom and Kirk Maltby join the prior two as the only other players to win all four Stanley Cups. Goaltender Chris Osgood was not on the 2002 team, but was on the other four teams in their trips into the Finals.

None of those players have faced a seventh game in the Stanley Cup Finals. 1995 was a sweep of the Devils over Detroit, 1997 and 1998 were Detroit sweeps, 2002 was a five-game Red Wings win over Carolina and last year was a six-game win for Detroit over Pittsburgh.

Detroit all-time is 12-7 in Game 7, including their second-round matchup with Anaheim when a late goal by Dan Cleary won the series for the Red Wings, but Game sevens have been rare in the Wings’ playoff runs. Usually when they win their series, they win early, when they lose, its usually in six games.

The Red Wings have not played in a Finals Game 7 since dropping one in 1964 to the Montreal Canadiens and have not won one since 1955, also against Montreal.

The only Detroit player to have experience in a one-game take it all scenario is defenseman Brian Rafalski, who went twice in three years, losing to Colorado in 2001 and beating a Mike Babcock coached Anaheim Ducks team. Babcock is now the Red Wings head man.

The Pittsburgh Penguins also have one player experience in this scenario, Ruslan Fedotenko, who was in the same situation in 2004. His Tampa Bay Lightning were down 3-2 and had to win a game in Calgary in Game 6 to force a Game 7. They did that and won Game 7 2-1 with Fedotenko scoring both goals in the clincher.

The Penguins are 6-4 all-time in Game 7s, including their road Game 7 win over the Washington Capitals in the second round this season.

Pittsburgh also clings to their hopes that a home team is due to lose in the series. Each team has won their three home games in the series. In last year’s Finals, Detroit won twice in Pittsburgh, Game 4 and the cup clincher in Game 6 and the Penguins beat the Red Wings in triple overtime in Game 5 at the Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit is looking for their 12th Stanley Cup championship and fifth in 11 years while Pittsburgh is looking for their third cup and first since 1992. The Penguins have clinched the cup on the road in the previous two championships.

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