Tuesday June 9

With the Stanley Cup repeat only 1 win away the Detroit Red Wings fell short on Tuesday opening the door for a Pittsburgh comeback as the Penguins downed the visiting Wings 2-1 to even the series at 3-3. Game 7 is Friday night and after that we will officially have a champion. The home team has won each of the first 6 games which would seem to swing the pendulum in Detroit's favor but Pittsburgh does have 3 active Former Islanders which undoubtedly gives them the upper hand. Ooh... Only time will tell. However, 2 FIs did try to help in Game 6. Here is a look:

Pitt winger Ruslan Fedotenko had the secondary assist on the game winning goal at the 5:35 mark of the 3rd Period. Fedo now has a balanced 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points on 23 games. Tank has been inconsistent, however, in this final with only 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) on 6 games. Playing like a champ but taking the loss was Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood who looked stellar stopping 29 of 31 shots faced. Ozzie still deserves some serious Conn Smyth consideration and Game 6 was one of his best this postseason. Alas the loss drops him to 15-7 on the postseason while his goals against average remained steady at 2.00 and his save percentage raised slightly to .927. How do you like them apples?

Check back soon as Friday will officially end the 2008-09 season/2009 playoffs. What a glorious ride it has been here at FIW. Thanks for reading.