By Jordan Long
On this date in 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins were seeking payback on the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit had won the Stanley Cup over them in 2008 in game 6, by the final of 3-2. That disappointing series gave them motivation for the 2009 season.
The Penguins ended the regular season with a record of 45-28-9 for a total of 99 points, 3rd in the Atlantic Division. Their 1st-round match up was with the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a hard fought 6 games series that Pittsburgh ended up victorious.
In the 2nd-round they faced the Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh went down 2-0 after two tight losses by one goal. Pittsburgh came back to win the next 3 games to take a 3-2 series lead. They could have ended the series in game 6 but Washington won that game in overtime. Pittsburgh knocked off Washington in game 7, 6-2.
Their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals was the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina was no match for Pittsburgh as the Penguins swept them in 4 games. They had reached the Stanley Cup Final for the 2nd consecutive year. Pittsburgh hadn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1992. They wanted to end that drought. The Red Wings sought to become the first team to win back to back Stanley Cups since they did it in 1997 and 1998.
In games 1 and 2, Detroit outscored Pittsburgh 6-2 to take a 2-0 series lead. Detroit was skating well and outplaying Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh knew heading home it was going to have to be a different game. Pittsburgh took games 3 and 4 to even the series. In game 5 Detroit drummed Pittsburgh 5-0. Detroit was 1 win away from another Stanley Cup Championship. All the pressure in game 6 went to Pittsburgh. A win and they would force a game 7. Luckily Pittsburgh edged the Red Wings 2-1 in game 6 and the series shifted to Detroit for game 7.
The Penguins knew they had confidence. Detroit missed an opportunity to end the series but had home ice advantage. Game 7 the goaltenders were going to dictate the play. The starting goaltenders were the same for game 7 as they were throughout the series, Chris Osgood for Detroit and Marc-Andre Fleury for Pittsburgh.
Both teams came out flying and had scoring chances. The goaltenders made the saves to keep the game scoreless. The 1st period ended with neither team able to score.
In the 2nd period, Max Talbot scored 1 minute and 13 seconds into the period to make it 1-0 Pittsburgh. 8 minutes and 54 seconds later, Talbot found the back of the net yet again to increase the Pittsburgh lead to 2-0. Pittsburgh ended the 2nd period up 2-0 and were a period away from winning the Cup. Detroit wasn’t going to go down easy.
Detroit put the pressure on and fired pucks on net but Fleury kept turning them away. Finally, with 6 minutes and 7 seconds left in the game, Jonathan Ericsson found the back of the net to cut the Pittsburgh lead to 1. Detroit tried to find the equalizer but couldn’t. Pittsburgh won game 7, 2-1 to win the Cup.
Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the playoffs. Malkin scored 14 goals and added 22 assists for a total of 36 points during the postseason.
Pittsburgh won two more Cups since 2009. For Detroit, they haven’t been back to the Final. They advanced to the 2nd-round once, 2013. Detroit last made the postseason in 2016. Today though, the NHL remembers Pittsburgh winning the Stanley Cup in 2009 for the first time since 1992.
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