Goalie Osgood stars in Red Wings victory

The opening night of the NHL finals was supposed to star Pittsburgh Penguin forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, instead Detroit goalie Chris Osgood stole the show.

Detroit Red Wings goalkeeper Chris Osgood stole the show in the opening game of the Stanley Cup final.

DETROIT // The opening night of the National Hockey League finals was supposed to star Pittsburgh Penguin forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but Detroit goalie Chris Osgood stole the show on Saturday night. Osgood stopped 31 shots, including a breakaway by Malkin in the second period when the game was tied, helping the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 victory in the opening game and earning the mantle of the game's No 1 star.

"Huge ... especially at that moment of the game," the Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said of the stop on Malkin. "Momentum could have swung in their favour, but he came up big. He came up big at other occasions later in the game too." Osgood has sometimes been overlooked as the goalie for a talented Red Wings team looking to repeat their success in last year's Stanley Cup in a rematch of last year's finals with the Penguins.

Detroit won that series 4-2 for their fourth cup triumph since 1997. If they are to manage that feat, it will be in no small part due to the 36-year-old netminder. They took a big step in that direction on Saturday. 78 per cent of Game One-winning teams have gone on to win the Stanley Cup since the seven-game format was introduced in 1939. Only Ruslan Fedotenko found the net for the Penguins, tucking a backhand shot into the net to tie the game late in the first period.

Osgood made his first important save a minute into the game, stopping an attempt by Maxime Talbot from the side of the cage to keep the game scoreless. He later got the tip of his catching glove on Malkin's wrist shot to stop the breakaway attempt. "He's got a great shot and he can make great moves," Osgood said after the game. "I was fortunate to get my hand on it." Osgood made several key stops on two power plays later in the period, keeping the game tied until Franzen scored.

After Abdelkader made it 3-1 for Detroit, Osgood protected the lead with defiance, stopping a hard slap shot by Kris Letang from 46 feet out and foiling Crosby by the side of the net to leave the crowd chanting "Ozzie, Ozzie." "They definitely are dangerous and tonight they bounced our way," Osgood said of the Penguins and the puck. *Reuters