No. 1 Star: Tyler Kennedy, Pittsburgh Penguins
While Marc-Andre Fleury and the Pittsburgh defense certainly did their share, Kennedy factored in both goals for the Penguins in their 2-1 Game 6 victory over the Red Wings. His hustle play in the defensive zone helped set up Jordan Staal's second-period goal to open the scoring. The Penguins entered the third clinging to a one-goal lead; Kennedy made it 2-0 with Nicklas Lidstrom out of position, lifting the puck under goalie Chris Osgood's arm for his fifth of the playoffs. On top of that, the Penguins' checking line was one of the most effective in the Game 6 win.
No. 2 Star: Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Simply put, Osgood kept the Wings in this game before Detroit found its stride in the third period. He turned aside 13 of 14 shots in the first two periods, many of them above-average stops. As Mike Babcock said: "I thought he was real good early. He had to be."
No. 3 Star: Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
Fleury continued to play outstanding hockey, and get a few breaks on the Mellon Arena ice in back-stopping the Penguins to victory. His big stops on Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Cleary, and his acrobatic play as the Wings sent 14 shots his way in the third, propelled the Pens to Game 7 at the Joe ... where Fleury has, to say the least, had his struggles.
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Major Penalty: Tomas Holmstrom and Marian Hossa haven't scored a goal in the Stanley Cup Final, and were both ineffective again tonight. Hossa in particular had one shot on goal, one shot blocked and two shots that missed everything in failing to tally a point in a game that would have allowed him to skate the Cup on Pittsburgh ice.
Minor Penalty: A minor penalty for a minor penalty -- Evgeni Malkin's cross-check gave the Red Wings a power play at 9:18 of the third after Kris Draper scored at 8:01. That's 10 penalty minutes in the last three games for Geno.
Conn Smythe Watch: (The Top 10) 1. Evgeni Malkin, Penguins; 2. Chris Osgood, Red Wings; 3. Henrik Zetterberg, Red Wings; 4. Sidney Crosby, Penguins; 5. Johan Franzen, Red Wings; 6. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins; 7. Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings; 8. Daniel Cleary, Red Wings; 9. Jordan Staal, Penguins; 10. Sergei Gonchar, Penguins.
