Red Wings to win the Cup

May 21, 2008 | By Billy Brewer | Picks Articles Archive

The Stanley Cup Final has been set in stone. The Detroit Red Wings will face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins for the almighty holy grail of hockey. These two teams haven’t met each other since the 2006 season, but Detroit has won the last two meetings. The Detroit Red Wings are -165 moneyline favorites to win the Stanley Cup over the Pittsburgh Penguins +135. Get your Stanley Cup Prediction in now at BetUS.com

Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings
When: Sat, May 24, 2008 8:00 PM ET
Line: BetUS.com
Pick: Detroit -165

The Penguins are back in the Cup Final since they last won it in 1992, when they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. Their current roster has three players with Cup rings, Petr Sykora, Gary Roberts and Darryl Sydor (2). The Penguins went 11-4 SU throughout the first three series of the playoffs, they went 7-1 SU at home and 4-2 SU on the road. Part of their success has been the superb performance of Marc-Andre Fleury who is 11-2 with a 1.70 GAA with three shutouts after allowing 24 goals. On offense Sid the Kid hasn’t been the Gretzky or Lemieux that everyone expected him to be, but he is still playing hard and assisting his teammates. Instead they have multiple players who are contributing. Malkin, Staal, Hossa and Sykora have all answered the call. Pascal Dupuis has been a great addition with his two-way play, and their defense has done a great job lowering the scoring chances and keeping things simple for Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Red Wings are no strangers to the Cup. Their last Cup Final appearance was in 2002, which they won 4-1 over the Carolina Hurricanes. Their current roster has nine players with Cup rings, Darren McCarty (3) , Kirk Maltby (3), Kris Draper (3), Tomas Holmstrom (3), Nicklas Lidstrom (3), Chris Chelios (2), Chris Osgood (2), Brian Rafalski (2), Dominik Hasek and Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings went 12-4 SU throughout the first three series of the playoffs, they went 7-1 SU at home and 5-3 SU on the road. Two of their losses were due to goalie Dominik Haseks poor performance. Since Chris Osgood took over they’ve gone 10-2 SU. Overall Osgood is 10-2 with a 1.60 GAA with one shutout after allowing 20 goals. The Wings are no strangers to offense, they have a lethal one-two punch in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg while defenceman Brian Rafalski set career highs in goals and points. On defense they are, and have been, the best there is. Lidstrom, Rafalski, Brad Stuart, veteran Chris Chelios and Kronwall have been particularly impressive, throwing big hits when it counts and bringing toughness. They can shut down any offense. They also led the league in blocked shots.

Top 5 Producers for Pittsburgh	Top 5 Producers for Detroit
Sidney Crosby - 4 G 17 A 21 PTS Evgeni Malkin - 9 G 10 A 19 PTS Marian Hossa - 9 G 9 A 18 PTS Ryan Malone - 6 G 9 A 15 PTS Sergei Gonchar - 1 G 10 A 11 PTS	Henrik Zetterberg - 11 G 10 A 21 PTS Pavel Datsyuk - 9 G 10 A 19 PTS Johan Franzen - 11 G 12 A 3 15 PTS Jiri Hudler - 4 G 9 A 13 PTS Niklas Kronvall - 0 G 12 A 12 PTS

The Bottom Line: This Cup Final has been tagged as one of the best since the 1992 Final between NY Rangers vs Vancouver Canucks. Expect a fast paced game with spectacular goals and unbelievable saves. But the Red Wings are the favs and they should walk away with their sixth Cup in 13 years. Get your Stanley Cup Prediction in now at BetUS.com

Red Wings to win the Cup

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