Penguins stay alive in five

Detroit let slip 3-2 lead late in third period before losing in third overtime

Last updated: 3rd June 2008

Pittsburgh Penguins celebrating winning game five

Sykora is congratulated after scoring the winner

The Detroit Red Wings missed out on clinching the Stanley Cup on home soil as they were beaten 4-3 in triple overtime by the Pittsburgh Penguins in game five of the series.

Petr Sykora scored to end the fifth longest game in the history of the finals and force a game six back in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

His wrist shot beat Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood at 9:57 through the third period of extra time after the two teams had been locked together at 3-3.

Pittsburgh had been handed a four-minute, one-man advantage after Detroit's Jiri Hudler was called for high sticking during a gruelling contest which lasted nearly four-and-a-half hours.

Tough games

"I've had a few tough games, no bounces, no real shots," Sykora said. "It's nice to get over like that to keep us alive.

"We get to live another day, another game on Wednesday. I think if we come up with the win it's going to be a lot of pressure on them."

Needing nothing less than a win to stay alive in the best-of-seven series, the Penguins raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from Marian Hossa and Adam Hall.

However, Detroit cut the deficit in half when Darren Helm notched his second goal of the play-offs in the second period.

Detroit blitz

With a capacity crowd inside the Joe Louis Arena roaring them on, the home side hit their opponents with two goals in the space of three minutes during an all-out blitz at the start of the third.

Pavel Datsyuk and Brian Rafalski found the net to give the Red Wings a lead that looked to be enough for them to clinch the cup for an 11th time until, with the goaltender pulled, the visitors made it three apiece right at the death.

Maxime Talbot rammed the puck past Osgood with just 35 seconds remaining, leading to a lengthy overtime duel that finally came to an end when Sykora scored.

Pittsburgh's success means they can still match the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs in being the only team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to lift the Stanley Cup.