DETROIT -- Someone is going to be a hero.
That someone might not be the someone you'd think.
When the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins take the ice tonight at Joe Louis Arena for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, there will be 18 skaters on each side.
Only one of them will score the Stanley Cup-winning goal.
The logical suspects would be Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk, maybe even captain Nicklas Lidstrom.
If Pittsburgh gets it, you'd expect it to come from stick of either Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or Sergei Gonchar.
More than likely, though, it will not.
Defenceman Brian Rafalski is the only Red Wing with previous Game 7 experience in a Cup final series.
His New Jersey Devils blanked Anaheim 3-0 in the deciding game of the 2003 Cup final, but the hero was about as unlikely as they come:Mike Rupp, who had the game of his life in the biggest game of his life.
"He had a great game," Rafalski recalled of fourth-line winger.
Rupp's one-goal, two-assist performance, which included netting the Cup-winner, to date, the only playoff goal of Rupp's NHL career.
James Morton
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1 comment:
Canadian players, that's who. The Penguins will win because of their Canadians. Talbot is the star so far. Malkin a no show for Pittsburgh. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Listrom and Hossa, merely ornaments on the Wings tree. Crosby finally wins his Stanley. With guts, determination and a love of the Stanley Cup. This coming from a Wings fan. It hurts hockey-wise but as a Canadian, I am grinning ear-to-ear.
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