2008 Stanley Cup Finals The 2008 Stanley Cup Final was a best - of - seven playoff series that determined the National Hockey League ( NHL ) champion for the 2007 – 08 season . As a culmination of the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs , the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings defeated the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins , four games to two , and were awarded the Stanley Cup . Henrik Zetterberg was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs . This was Detroit ' s 23rd appearance in the championship series , and its first since winning the Cup in 2002 . This was Detroit ' s 11th Stanley Cup title and was also the first Cup Final between two United States - based NHL teams since 2003 . The 1993 Montreal Canadiens remain the last Canadian team to have won the Cup . This was Pittsburgh ' s third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final , and its first since winning consecutive championships in 1991 and 1992 . The Cup Final was broadcast in the United States , Versus televised games one and two , and NBC broadcast the rest of the series . It was broadcast in Canada and some parts of the United States as part of CBC ' s " Hockey Night in Canada " in English and on RDS in French . In the United Kingdom , all games were aired live on Five , and on the cable sports channel North American Sports Network ( NASN ) . The series was also broadcast by NHL Radio via Westwood One . Paths to the Final . The Detroit Red Wings entered the Final after winning the Presidents ' Trophy as the team that had the best record during the regular season . Led by forwards Henrik Zetterberg , Pavel Datsyuk , and Johan Franzén , Detroit scored 55 goals in the first three rounds of the playoffs . With struggling goaltender Dominik Hasek being replaced mid - series by Chris Osgood , the Red Wings defeated their division rival Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Quarterfinals , in six games . The team swept the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Semifinal round , and defeated the Dallas Stars in six games to win their fifth Clarence S . Campbell Bowl in franchise history . The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the championship series after winning the Atlantic Division and earning the second - best regular season record in the Eastern Conference . The team was led by Sidney Crosby ; missing 29 games throughout the regular season because of an ankle injury , the captain returned to lead the first three rounds of the playoffs in assists , and to tie for the lead in points heading into the Stanley Cup Final . Goaltender Marc - Andre Fleury recorded three shutouts throughout the playoffs , to lead the league in that category . Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa each recorded nine goals and ten assists throughout the playoffs . The Penguins swept the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals , a reversal of the series of the previous season when Ottawa beat Pittsburgh 4 – 1 . In the Eastern Conference Semifinals , the Penguins defeated division rival the New York Rangers , in five games . The team won the Prince of Wales Trophy by defeating another division rival , the Philadelphia Flyers , also in five games . The series . The 2008 Stanley Cup Final marked the first time that the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins have met in postseason play . The Red Wings and Penguins did not play each other during the 2007 – 08 regular season . Game one . Pittsburgh ' s Gary Roberts and Detroit ' s Chris Chelios were both healthy scratches for game one . Prior to the game , a ceremonial faceoff featuring former Pittsburgh captain and current team chairman Mario Lemieux and former Detroit captain and current team vice president Steve Yzerman . Each dropped a puck to their current captains Sidney Crosby and Nicklas Lidstrom , respectively . At 15 : 20 into the first period , a goal scored by Nicklas Lidstrom was waved off after Tomas Holmstrom was called for goaltender interference . The remainder of the first period went scoreless , as Pittsburgh failed to capitalize on four consecutive power plays . At 13 : 01 into the second period , Mikael Samuelsson gave the Red Wings the unassisted game - winning goal , on a wrap - around . Just over two minutes into the third period , Samuelsson added his second unassisted goal of the game . At 17 : 18 into the third period , Dan Cleary scored shorthanded to give the Red Wings a 3 – 0 lead . Henrik Zetterberg scored on the power - play with 13 seconds remaining . Chris Osgood recorded his second shutout of the playoffs , to give the Red Wings a 4 – 0 victory in game one . The Red Wings outshot the Penguins 36 – 19 . Game two . In preparation for game two , head coach Michel Therrien revised Pittsburgh ' s lines ; the revision included Gary Roberts who did not play in game one . Johan Franzen , the leading goal - scorer in the playoffs , returned to the line - up for Detroit . Detroit ' s Brad Stuart scored the first goal of the game 6 : 55 into the first period , on a slap shot , with an assist from Valtteri Filppula . Tomas Holmstrom added a goal at 11 : 18 into the first period , to put Detroit up 2 – 0 . Pittsburgh struggled throughout the period , failing to get a shot on goal for the game ' s first twelve minutes . Detroit outshot the Penguins 11 – 6 in the second period , but both teams failed to score . At 8 : 48 into the third period , Valtteri Filppula scored his first goal of the series , beating goaltender Marc - Andre Fleury with a wrist - shot . Chris Osgood recorded his second consecutive shutout , stopping all 22 shots faced . Game three . Game three was held in Pittsburgh , where going into the matchup the Penguins had won sixteen consecutive home games . Pittsburgh continued to shuffle their lineup by replacing defenseman Kris Letang with veteran Darryl Sydor , but going back to the top line combinations from game one . Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored the team ' s first goal of the series late in the first period , with an assist from Marian Hossa . The Penguins went up 2 - 0 after Crosby scored a second time , his second coming on the power - play , just 2 : 34 into the second period . Johan Franzen pulled the Red Wings within one , when he scored on the power - play at 14 : 48 of the second period . Adam Hall scored his second goal of the post season , when the Penguins winger scored at 7 : 18 of the third period , putting his team up 3 - 1 . Mikael Samuelsson scored a second goal for the Red Wings , with assists from Brad Stuart and Valtteri Filppula . However , Pittsburgh ' s 3 - 2 lead held , giving the team their first victory of the series . Despite winning the game , Pittsburgh was outshot by the Red Wings for the third consecutive game by at least 10 shots . Game four . Entering Game Four , Petr Sykora said the game was a must - win for the Penguins , " For us , basically , [ game four ] is a do - or - die game " . Jiri Hudler ' s game - winning goal at 2 : 26 of the third period broke a 1 – 1 tie , and the Red Wings killed off a Penguins 1 : 26 5 - on - 3 advantage midway through the final period to help preserve the victory , thanks in large part to a terrific defensive play by Henrik Zetterberg on Sidney Crosby , preventing what would have been a tap - in goal when he tied up Crosby ' s stick at the front of the net . Pittsburgh scored first on Marian Hossa ' s power play goal 2 : 51 into the game before Nicklas Lidstrom tied the game at 7 : 06 of the first period . Game five . Pittsburgh ' s Marian Hossa scored the first goal of the game at 8 : 37 into the first period . Teammate Adam Hall added his second goal of the series at 14 : 41 of the first period , giving the Penguins a 2 – 0 lead . Detroit then scored three consecutive goals — by Darren Helm , Pavel Datsyuk , and Brian Rafalski — to gain the lead . After Pittsburgh pulled its goalie with less than one minute remaining in regulation , Maxime Talbot scored with 34 . 3 seconds remaining to tie the game and force overtime . The goal marked only the second time in NHL history that a team avoided elimination in the Final by scoring in the last minute of the third period . The first two overtime periods were scoreless , and the game went into the third overtime with Detroit killing two consecutive penalties , and Pittsburgh killing one . At the 9 : 21 mark , Pittsburgh ' s Petr Sykora scored the game - winning goal on another power - play , forcing the series back to Pittsburgh for game six . The goal was assisted by defenseman Sergei Gonchar , who was playing his first shift in forty minutes as a result of an injury , and Evgeni Malkin , who got his first point of the Final . Pittsburgh became the first team in modern NHL history to have three overtime power - plays in the Final . Goaltenders Marc - Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood stopped 55 and 28 shots , respectively . The triple overtime game was the fifth - longest in Stanley Cup Final history . Game six . Pittsburgh ' s Ryan Malone was scheduled to have X - rays on June 3 , after being hit in the face with the puck in game five , but was expected to play . The Red Wings took a 2 – 0 lead in the second period in game six en route to a 3 – 2 victory to clinch the Stanley Cup . Brian Rafalski scored a power play goal at 5 : 03 in the first period before Valtteri Filppula extended the lead with a goal at 8 : 07 in the second . The Penguins had an opportunity to get their first goal later in the first period , with a 5 - on - 3 advantage for 1 : 33 , but could not convert . Pittsburgh finally cut the lead at 15 : 26 of the second period with Evgeni Malkin ' s power play goal . However , a third period shot by Detroit ' s Henrik Zetterberg squeezed through the legs of Pittsburgh goaltender Marc - Andre Fleury , who , after noticing he was not covering the puck , fell backwards and accidentally knocked the puck across the goal line for the Red Wings ' third goal . Marian Hossa scored a power play goal at 18 : 33 of the third period to cut the lead to 3 – 2 , but the Penguins , despite a shot by Sidney Crosby and shot off rebound by Hossa in the final seconds , could not tie the game before time ran out . Lidstrom became the first European - born Stanley Cup captain . Television ratings . Game one of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals had a 1 . 8 rating in the United States , drawing 2 . 3 million viewers . The rating was a 157 % increase over the previous Playoff Finals opener , and a 100 % rise from two years previous . Game two had a 1 . 9 rating , drawing 2 . 5 million viewers . It was the highest - rated and most - watched cable telecast of the finals in six years in the United States . The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus and the second highest rating for a Versus broadcast ever only to Lance Armstrong ' s seventh straight Tour de France victory in 2005 . Game three drew a 2 . 8 rating , representing an 87 % increase over the previous year ' s game three . In Detroit , game three drew higher ratings ( 18 . 2 ) than game five of the 2008 NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics ( 15 . 9 ) . Game six had a 4 . 4 rating , the best performance in a game six since 2000 . It was a 100 % increase over game six of 2006 and was the highest rated game for NBC since they reacquired the NHL broadcasting rights in 2004 . On the CBC , this was the last Stanley Cup Final that Bob Cole would serve as the play - by - play announcer for , as Jim Hughson would take over the following year . Rosters . Years indicated in boldface under the " Finals appearance " column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year .