Penguins defeat Redwings in game 6 of Stanley Cup (ESPN.com)

This post originally appeared on Kevin Patra's website thesportsunion.com

Sidney Crosby said before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals that the Pittsburgh Penguins' learning curve needed to stop. With their 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, consider the curve stopped.

Last year the Penguins watched the Red Wings hoist the Stanley Cup on their home ice.
Not this time. Not this Game 6. Not on their ice.

The Penguins brushed aside an embarrassing 5-0 loss in Game 5 and controlled the pace of the must-win game to force a Game 7 Friday in Detroit.

Feeding off a raucous crowd at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, the Penguins dominated most of the first two periods and capitalized on several mistakes from the Detroit defensemen. Brett Lebda got out of position and lost the puck to Jordan Staal, who dashed the other way on a 2-on-1 break away. Staal ripped a shot at goaltender Chris Osgood, who made the original save. Staal, not giving up on the play, was able to corral the rebound and put it past a sprawling Osgood to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds into the second period.

The teams played at a hard-hitting and frantic pace the rest of the period. The Penguins kept pressure on the Red Wings; out-shooting Detroit 24-12 and out-hitting them 23-16 through two periods.

Controlling most of the play in the Detroit zone, the Penguins had several chances to extend the lead in the second period, and if it weren't for some spectacular saves by Osgood, the lead could have grown. With the period coming to an end he made two consecutive close-quarter shots by Ruslan Fedotenko and Evgeni Malkin to keep his team within one.

That margin wouldn't last long. 5:35 into the third period Pittsburgh extending its lead to 2-0. Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson got out of position behind his own net, allowing center Tyler Kennedy to corral the puck and swing a wrap-around shot that beat Osgood over the shoulder.

The physical but smart play of the Penguins allowed them to create their own opportunities on offense. They kept the puck along the boards and were able to bump Detroit off the puck and not allow them to play an open ice game.

While superstars Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have got most of the attention this series it was the Penguins supporting cast who played with confidence and passion in the high-pressure back-to-the-wall game.

As the Wings pressed on offense for most of the third period trying to close the gap, the Penguins blocked several shots from the point to nullify scoring chances.
Detroit's Chris Draper got the Wings within one goal on a rebound from a point shot that beat goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

After giving up five goals in Game 5, Fleury, who didn't see much action in the first two periods, played stellar in the final session.

The most key save might have been on a Dan Cleary breakaway.

Cleary received a perfect outlet pass from Pavel Datsyuk and raced by the Pittsburgh defense. He brought the puck from his forehand to his backhand as he rushed on Fleury. As the goalie slid to his left he stretched out his left pad stoning the attempt to preserve the lead.

The Wings' flurry of shots didn't end there, and the biggest stop of the game didn't even come from the goalie.

With under 30 seconds remaining and the Detroit goalie pulled to give them an extra offensive skater, Fleury got out of position on a shot from the right side of the net, leaving the goal exposed as the puck bounced in the crease.

With Detroit forward Johan Franzen on the doorstep swinging at the loose puck Pittsburgh defenseman Rob Scuderi showed off his goaltending skills as he knelt to the ice to block two shots before Fleury recovered to cover the puck.

The victory set up a winner-take-all Game 7 and provided confidence to the Pittsburgh team.

One lesson was learned: they can win a Stanley Cup finals game facing elimination.
To complete their education they must pass one more test: Winning in Detroit.