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Goaltender Chris Osgood stopped all 19 shots he faced for his second shutout of the playoffs and Mikael Samuelsson staked the Red Wings to a 2-0 lead as the Red Wings took a 1-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-0 win over the Penguins Saturday night. Dan Cleary (shorthanded) and Henrik Zetterberg (power play) also scored for Detroit, which held Pittsburgh to just 7 shots over the final 40 minutes of the game.
The victory improved Osgood's record in the Stanley Cup Final to 5-0.
Detroit started the game precariously as the Red Wings were flagged for four penalties in the opening period. The penalty kill, however, was perfect. The Red Wings appeared to take a 1-0 lead when defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom's shot from the left faceoff circle sailed past Marc-Andre Fleury -- but the goal was waived off in another phantom reputation call on Tomas Holmstrom, who was moving over to screen Fleury, who was outside the crease.
Pittsburgh outshot the Red Wings 12-11 in the first period and had several glorious scoring chances, but Osgood was equal to the task.
Samuelsson opened the scoring 13:01 into the second period on a bad line change by the Penguins and a superb individual effort. Samuelsson gained the Pittsburgh blueline and raced in on Fleury. After being veered away from the net by the Penguin defense, Samuelsson took the puck behind the net for a wraparound attempt that deflected into the net off Fleury's left skate.
Detroit ramped up their play in the second period en route to a 16-4 shot advantage.
The Red Wings didn't let up on the third and early forechecking pressure kick-started by Samuelsson gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead. After Sameulsson forced a turnover behind the net, Evgeni Malkin lost the puck due to an active stick from Kris Draper. The puck bounced loose in front of the crease, where Sameulsson corralled it and slammed it into the net just inside the left post.
The defensive clinic was on from there.
The Penguins, however, got an opportunity late in the third when Lidstrom was called for interference. The Red Wings didn't let up on the penalty kill, with Dan Cleary -- he of the recently removed facemask -- backhanding a shorthanded tally over Fluery's shoulder.
Zetterberg closed out the scoring with 13 seconds left on a Detroit power play to close out the scoring.
Pittsburgh could only muster three shots on goal over the final 20 minutes.
The Red Wings outshot the Penguins 36-19 for the game. Pittsburgh finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Detroit finished 1-for-6.
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