BIG MOMENTS - May 31, 2009: PIT @ DET

The plays that turn the tide in every game of playoff action -- that is what the beauty of hockey history is built on.

Check back every night following all the 2009 playoff action to witness NHL.com's game-changing moment from each game, as well as the rest of each game's goals, saves and hits.

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Thanks to all who voted -- and enjoy the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs!

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Stanley Cup Finals - Game 2 - Pittsburgh at Detroit

A) Ozzie keeps it tied - Pittsburgh struggled to put shots on net early despite applying pressure in the offensive zone. In the first 10 minutes, the Penguins only managed two shots on goal. Their best, however, came just under seven minutes in when Evgeni Malkin attracted attention with the puck near the right corner. While pulling the defense in toward him, Malkin shot a quick pass to Kris Letang in the right faceoff circle, who blasted a one-timer on net.

Chris Osgood was there to make the save, muting Pittsburgh's best chance up to that point and keeping the game scoreless in the first period.

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B) Geno throws it in - The game was still scoreless late in the first period when Pittsburgh found itself with the first power play of the game after Niklas Kronwall was sent off for cross checking. With the extra man, the Penguins generated a number of chances in front of the net, as Bill Guerin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang all screened Chris Osgood. Evgeni Malkin fired a shot from the right circle only to have the shot blocked and bouncing around the crease.

The puck found its way again to Malkin, who threw it back into the mixer. This time the puck bounced off Detroit's Brad Stuart and past a blinded Osgood. The goal silenced the Joe Louis Arena crowd, giving the Penguins their first lead of the series.

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C) A save and a score - Detroit made big plays at both ends of the ice to climb back into the game. Maxime Talbot set up a one-timer for Evgeni Malkin from behind the Red Wings' net. As Malkin flew into the slot he shot the puck from close range, but Chris Osgood was there once again to make the save. Keeping Malkin from his second score of the night would prove huge just a minute later, as Jonathan Ericsson would light the lamp for the Wings, tying the game at one goal apiece.

Ericsson's tally reignited the crowd at the Joe and threw the momentum back to the Winged Wheels, but it wouldn't have been possible without Osgood's stellar stop 62 seconds earlier.

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D) Filppula's tough angle - Detroit got its first power play of the night midway through the second period on an interference call against Evgeni Malkin, but the Wings struggled to get many chances with the extra man. Seconds after the penalty expired, however, Detroit would grab its first lead of the night as Malkin, fresh from the sin bin, laid a check in the crease that accidently knocked Marc-Andre Fleury out of position.

The puck bounced out to Valtteri Filppula, who backhanded the puck into the net from an awkward angle by the right side of the goal line. Filppula's world-class tally put the Wings in front at the expense of a man who had scored a similarly spectacular goal a week earlier in the conference finals.

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E) Abbie again - For the second night in a row, the unsung Justin Abdelkader iced a Stanley Cup Final victory for Detroit. With the Wings looking to put the game out of reach early in the third, Abdelkader took a long pass across the neutral zone from Tomas Holmstrom. The winger then took the puck over the blue line along the right boards and skated across the right faceoff circle waiting to find an opening in the defense.

Abdelkader finally found a shot when he hit the top of the left faceoff circle and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a fluttering shot, giving the Wings a two-goal edge that would seal their Game 2 victory.

FINAL SCORE: Red Wings 3, Penguins 1

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