Penguins outshoot the Penguins in fast-paced, but scoreless first period in Stanley Cup final

Red Wings, Penguins scoreless after first period

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins, trying to stay alive in the Stanley Cup finals, widely outshot the Detroit Red Wings in a fast-paced, yet scoreless first period in Game 6 on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh had the only two power-play chances in the frame, yet couldn’t solve goalie Chris Osgood, who shut them out in Game 5 to put the Red Wings on the verge of repeating as Stanley Cup champions.

The Penguins outshot the Red Wings 12-3 over the first 20 minutes and kept Detroit away from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for large chunks of the opening period.

Just like last year, the Red Wings came to Pittsburgh for Game 6 with a chance to hoist the Cup. They lead the series 3-2 and are seeking their fifth title in 12 seasons and 12th overall.

Home teams that trailed 3-2 in the finals have gone 9-14 in Game 6 since the best-of-seven format began in 1939. Only two of those nine teams also won Game 7 to capture the Cup.

Detroit had the best early scoring chance when Henrik Zetterberg fired a hard shot that Fleury turned aside at 3:25. Zetterberg crashed the net on the follow through, and swung from the crossbar behind Fleury, drawing a penalty for goalie interference when play stopped 10 seconds later.

But just as they did in the opening minutes of Game 5, the Red Wings’ much-maligned penalty-killers held off the Penguins during the advantage. Pittsburgh managed three shots at Osgood during the power play.

The Penguins received another power play when Valtteri Filppula tripped Bill Guerin at 13:29, but managed only one shot — a drive by captain Sidney Crosby after he got free with the puck in the Detroit zone.

Pittsburgh had gone 4 for 9 on the power play during the first four games before an 0 for 2 performance in Game 5.

Osgood put the Red Wings in position to win another title by stopping all 22 shots in a 5-0 victory over the Penguins on Saturday night. It was Osgood’s 15th postseason shutout, moving him into fourth place on the NHL career list.

Pittsburgh looked for a boost on offense, inserting Petr Sykora into the lineup in place of Miroslav Satan for the first time in the series, and playing top forwards Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same line from the start.

The hometown fans, hoping the Penguins could extend the season for one more game, chanted “Fleu-ry! Fleu-ry!” before the opening faceoff in support of their goalie, who allowed five goals on 21 shots in Game 5 and was pulled during Detroit’s four-goal second period Saturday.

His best stop came with 1:37 left in the first period when he turned aside Zetterberg again at the right post after a feed from Pavel Datsyuk.