Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, your 2009 Stanley Cup Champions!

It goes without saying the bulk of the readers of this blog will be very disappointed with tonight's outcome. There wasn't much separating these teams, but in the end, the bounces which Detroit seemed to receive during the first two home games in the series were absent tonight.

It all seemed to change late in the 3rd period when Jonathan Ericsson's point shot found the back of the net with 6:07 left to give Wing fans hope. However, Niklas Kronwall's wrist shot rang off the crossbar with 2:15 remaining and the Wings mustered a last-second charge that fell short, awfully similar to last season's rally by the Penguins at the buzzer in Game 6.

The Penguins capitalized on Detroit's defensive miscues and Detroit quite simply couldn't convert on Pittsburgh's errors. Maxime Talbot was the unlikely hero, as he stepped to the forefront tonight and scored the two biggest goals of his life. Meanwhile, Detroit offense dried up at the absolute worst possible time scoring only one goal in each of the two final elimination games.

On the flip side, although a certain Red Wing defensemen might get singled out as the goat following tonight's game, this loss was a team effort. In the end, the Red Wings weren't good enough as a team to win this series. End of story.

The Pens certainly limited the effectiveness of Detroit's offensive attack by the number of blocked shots their team had as a whole. Pittsburgh blocked 20 shots in Game 7, in comparison to 3 blocked shots by the Red Wings. Quite simply, Pittsburgh must be commended for their solid defensive play in these final two games, limiting the Wings to one goal in each elimination game.

I'll have more analysis on the fallout from this devastating Game 7 loss for the Wings to follow. Unfortunately, the Red Wing dressing room was eerily quiet following tonight's game as several players expressed their disappointment to the media. Only time will tell which faces remain and which faces go. There is one thing you can be certain of though when the puck is dropped next fall. Ken Holland and his staff, along with Mike Babcock will do everything in their power to put this Red Wing team in the best possible position to reclaim the Cup that is so difficult to attain.

And that is the only positive a Red Wing fan can cling to following tonight's loss.


More to follow on Saturday and Sunday.


mark.spizzirri@hockeybuzz.com