In a game that kept any sports fan on the edge of their seat the Pittsburgh Penguins refuse to quit.
Petr Sykora, who predicted during the game Monday that he would score the winner, did so at 9:57 of the third overtime to force a Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The 4-3 victory against Detroit, and a 55-save performance by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury mean the series will shift Wednesday to Pittsburgh. The Red Wings hold a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series.
It was the fifth-longest game in finals history.
“We just didn’t want our season to end,” defenseman Rob Scuderi said.
Evgeni Malkin picked up his first point of the series on the play, and Sergei Gonchar returned from an injury to set it up.
Maxime Talbot scored with 35 seconds left in regulation, tapping a puck past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood’s outstretched pad to tie the game at 3 in the highest-scoring game of the series.
Fleury made all the routine saves and more than a few memorable stops to put the Detroit Red Wings’ planned Stanley Cup celebration on ice for at least a couple more days. Fleury turned away 55 shots in the Penguins’ 4-3 triple-overtime win in Game 5 that cuts Detroit’s lead to 3-2 in the Stanley Cup final.
“Every save he made seemed to get bigger and bigger,” Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “He’s the backbone of this team.”
The Penguins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, before the Detroit Red Wings stormed back to tie the game and eventually take the lead late in the third period.