Zetterberg's Complete Game Helped Wings to Cup

By Larry Wigge, NHL.com, Jun 6, 2008

We've seen the him dazzle opponents with his stickwork and speed. We've marveled at his ability to do so many things at a fast pace, always on the move. From a distance, the 27-year-old center is magic. But there's much, much more to the abracadabra act we see from Henrik Zetterberg on the ice – and there's also more than the disheveled blond hair and unshaven look of a surfer.

Too small. Too this. Too that. That's what scouts said of the skinny kid from Njurunda, Sweden. He paid the price back then by having to wait until the seventh round before the Detroit Red Wings picked him with the 210th pick in the 1999 Entry Draft. Heck, for six weeks when he was 17, Zetterberg, wondering about his hockey future, actually took a part-time job cleaning lanes at a bowling alley.

But after getting a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in celebration Wednesday night at Mellon Arena following Detroit's 3-2 victory and its first NHL championship since 2002 and fourth in the last 11 seasons, Zetterberg saw all of his emotions gush out after a game in which he had one goal and one assist, six shots and two hits. His pass, made while he was being taken to the ice, set up Brian Rafalski for the game's first goal at 5:03 on a power play and gave the team a quick start. His goal 7:36 into the third period turned out to be the Cup winner.

Zetterberg's two goals and four assists in the six-game final series gave him 27 points in the playoffs. That enabled him to break a club record of 24 points previously shared by Sergei Fedorov (1995) and Steve Yzerman (1998) and tied him with Sidney Crosby for the most in the Playoffs. He went home with the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP.

"He can pass and he can shoot at an elite level. That's what makes him so difficult to stop, because you don’t know what he’s going to do," teammate and fellow Swede Nicklas Lidstrom said. "Seeing that kind of skill coming at you again and again makes defenders back off and creates openings for his teammates."

But the brilliance of Zetterberg is that he can do so many things to help the Red Wings win: one goal, eight shots, one hit, one blocked shot in Game 1; one assist, six shots, one takeaway, one blocked shot in Game 2; three shots, one blocked shot in Game 3; two shots, one takeaway, two blocked shots in Game 4; two assists, seven shots, two takeaways in Game 5.

"The first thing on my mind is that great players aren't judged on one play, one series or even one full season or career performance. It's all about lifting the Stanley Cup. That's all that I really wanted since I saw my first Stanley Cup Final when I was 13 or 14. When I saw the greatest players in the world celebrate winning by raising the Cup high into the air, I knew it was something I wanted to do," Zetterberg excitedly explained in front of a horde of reporters. "To me, this is a defining moment for anyone who strives to be the best. And doing it with this group of guys, battling through four series, has been real special."

"Henrik, he's a complete player," Red Wings GM Ken Holland said. "He's got great hands, great instincts, he's great in traffic and he really sees the ice well. Over the years I've seen a lot of great players who don't work hard enough to be better. I always tell our scouts, 'Tell me when a smaller guy shows you he can do it and when a bigger guy shows you he can't. It’s clear Henrik always plays bigger than his size."

Still, it was another side of this brilliant center's game that was just as important: For most of the six-game series, Zetterberg was playing head-up against Sidney Crosby, who was not nearly as productive as he had been earlier in the Playoffs. The exclamation point in the series for Zetterberg came during a tense 86-second span late in the third period of Game 4 with Detroit holding on to a 2-1 lead and the Penguins pressing to tie the game and the series.

In those important seconds, Zetterberg made three individual plays, the kind that don't show up on a score sheet – none more crucial than what looked like a sure goal by Crosby, who was waiting to push the puck into the net while stationed at the edge of the goal crease. Instead, Zetterberg first reached to get his stick on the cross-crease pass and then used some of his soccer upbringing to kick it out of harm's way. In that same brilliant sequence, Zetterberg blocked a shot and lugged the puck into the Pittsburgh zone, killing more than 15 seconds of valuable time.

"I knew the importance of that PK," Zetterberg said, with particular emphasis on that in retrospect after the series. "I knew who was out on the ice for them. It was our job to keep them from getting a good shot on goal. It was up to me to do my job."

He did it like a shutdown cornerback in the NFL or a great defensive catcher blocking the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring in the bottom of the ninth.

"The game was in the balance and Z went out there and single-handedly killed it off," gushed teammate Dan Cleary.

"It was interesting. I was thinking of lacrosse at that time," coach Mike Babcock said after that game. "I always hear my son's coach yelling when they're shorthanded 'get a hold of it and hang onto it.' That's what he was doing."
           
Just another part of the all-round game that makes Zetterberg so great, right coach?

"I've been telling people for three years how good Zetterberg is," Babcock continued. "And so this isn't a surprise to me. He's just a conscientious good two-way player."

"He's so good at reading plays, anticipating where the puck is going," Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "He makes it tough for them to find passing lanes and find someone open. He fills the lanes, blocks shots and then when he gets the puck he can hang onto it too, like he did for 10-15 seconds."

Not many NHL stars can play the two-way game that Zetterberg and linemate Pavel Datsyuk can.

"Before this series began, I looked at them and remembered that Zetterberg and Datsyuk were both up for the Selke Trophy (honoring the best defensive forward in the NHL)," said Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, expressing a little reluctance to praise their defensive talent. "But then to see them against guys like Sid (Crosby) and Geno (Malkin) and you can see just how good they are both ways.

"With Zetterberg, he's really patient and strong stick and protects the puck so well. He's the kind of hockey player you appreciate because of how hard he works for the team, offensively and defensively."

It's that kind of effort that makes Zetterberg special, even to his own teammates.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," Johan Franzen said. "He can play so well in his own end, he can play on a 3 on 5. You don't see other superstars do that, not a lot of them, anyway. That's what makes him so special."

To give you an idea of how Zetterberg dominated offensively before this series, consider that he had five goals and three assists in Detroit's four-game sweep of Colorado in the second round of the Playoffs. He followed that with four goals and four assists in six games against Dallas.

"He's got such a strong stick," Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis added. "You can't take the puck away from him."

One of the other things Zetterberg remembered in retrospect after the Cup victory was his first real battle on the world stage against NHL competition.

"I remember going on the ice for the first time to take a faceoff at the Olympics in Salt Lake City and when I looked up, there was Eric Lindros standing across from me," Zetterberg said. "I must have been giving him five inches and about 40 pounds in that matchup. That opened my eyes. It gave me something to work on before I played my first game in the NHL the next season. I knew I had to get bigger and stronger."

Also ...

"I just missed the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup run in 2002," he said, explaining how he and Niklas Kronwall were brought in to watch two games but did not play. "I had been hoping I could find a place right there at the top with the Olympics for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in victory. I've got that now ..."

He smiled for a second and then added wistfully, "The only thing left is for me to win a Swedish Elite League title. But that will come sometime after I'm finished winning a couple more of these, I hope."

When watching Zetterberg, you quickly notice the hands, the quick feet, the ability to create while at top speed, the instincts. But what stands out most is Zetterberg's consistency, strength and work ethic.

"You're never going to outwork Hank, that's for sure," Babcock said.

Not when Zetterberg had this little job of lifting the Stanley Cup that he dreamed of raising a long time ago back in Sweden.

Zetterberg Rises to Superstar Level

By Vartan Kupelian, Detroit News, June 6, 2008

As the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Henrik Zetterberg is front-and-center at today's victory parade in downtown Detroit. But there are a lot of people who made extraordinary efforts to bring the Red Wings back to the pinnacle of the NHL:

Kid (no, not Crosby) becomes a star
Left wing Henrik Zetterberg arrived in Detroit as a skinny kid who was easy to pick on, not only by opponents but by some of his teammates.

That's what happens when you're a European hockey player. If the country is Sweden, the examination is intensified.
Zetterberg had to prove himself with every stride. There would be no freebies.
Six years later, Zetterberg is at the pinnacle of his profession. He has become an elite player in the NHL, and now -- finally -- everybody knows it.

He has his name on the Stanley Cup. He has the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, the player most responsible for taking the Red Wings over the final hurdle.

When next season rolls around, Zetterberg will have evolved from a very nice player on a very good team to an NHL star of the highest order.

Zetterberg, along with teammate Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward. That says a lot about both Red Wings, mainly that they have captured the attention of their peers and others who follow hockey most closely.

It says Zetterberg and Datsyuk deserve to be recognized but fall into something of a gray area. They're great players, but because the Red Wings epitomize the team concept, individual accomplishments are often undervalued.

In that regard, how is it that Nicklas Lidstrom, the best defenseman in the NHL for a decade, has never won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player? Lidstrom isn't even a finalist this year despite leading his team to the Presidents' Trophy and best record during the regular season.

The reason is Lidstrom falls into a different niche. He's a defenseman and gets the Norris Trophy for his efforts.
Until now, Zetterberg's niche wasn't nearly so clearly defined. That's why he landed on the NHL awards ballot under "Selke" despite being every bit as valuable to the Red Wings this year as the Hart Trophy finalists -- Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who will be an overwhelming winner when the vote is announced; Evgeni Malkin of Cup finalist Pittsburgh and Calgary's Jarome Iginla.

Zetterberg is every inch as good as those three and more rounded in his game. He can light it up offensively, shut it down defensively and be a leader. This year that's good enough for the Selke. Another year like it, and he'll be among the finalists for the Hart Trophy.

Zetterberg has become a leader in the Steve Yzerman mold, and when Lidstrom is ready to give up the "C" some day, it will be a perfect fit on Zetterberg's jersey.

Zetterberg Captures Conn Smythe for Sparking Wings

Associated Press, ESPN.com, June 5, 2008

The Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup champions because they excel at both ends of the rink.

None of them does it better than Henrik Zetterberg, whose two-way play earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

The Swede's goal midway through the third period proved to be the series winner and he had an assist to lift Detroit to a 3-2 win Wednesday night over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6.

He became just the second European to win the award, joining fellow Swede and teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, who won it in 2002.

"It's special to be on there with so many great players -- especially Nick," Zetterberg said as he looked at the trophy during a news conference.

Zetterberg likely sealed the Conn Smythe with his two-point night.

"He certainly deserved it," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "There's no doubt he was an important player for that group."

Zetterberg finished the playoffs with a 27 points, matching Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the top spot.

Zetterberg had 13 goals, tying teammate Johan Franzen for the league lead.

Zetterberg's series-winning goal at 7:36 of the third was short on style, but long on substance.

The shot trickled through Marc-Andre Fleury's pads and after stalling in the crease, the puck went in off the goalie's backside. Zetterberg assisted on Brian Rafalski's goal that put Detroit ahead 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the game.

But Zetterberg's biggest contribution in the playoffs might've come at the defensive end when he locked down Crosby's stick at the side of the net to prevent him from scoring during Pittsburgh's critical 5-on-3 power play late in the 3-2 win in Game 4.

That win put Detroit ahead 3-1 in the series, a cushion it needed because it lost Game 5 in triple overtime.

Zetterberg also helped kill a 5-on-3 advantage the Penguins had in the series-ending game, keeping them scoreless in the first period.

"It was huge," he said.

Zetterberg was strong in his own end during the regular season, too, making him a finalist for the Selke Trophy that is awarded to the forward who performs the best on defense.

He reminds a lot of people of the player Steve Yzerman became when Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman helped the retired Red Wings great become a two-way player.

"Hank and Yzie are very similar in how they play at both ends," Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios said.

Hall of Famer Larry Murphy agreed, adding a comparison to fellow Hall of Famer Ron Francis.

"Yzerman and Francis are the first two names that come to mind, thinking of guys I ever saw play that remind me of Zetterberg," Murphy said. "When I played with those guys, they refused to sacrifice defense for offense. That's a trait Zetterberg has, too."

Yzerman, who now works in Detroit's front office, said the organization can't take credit for the all-around game Zetterberg has had since being drafted with the 210th overall pick in 1999.

"Hank's willingness to backcheck was there from the day we got him," Yzerman said. "The only thing that developed is, he shoots more and he's improved a lot offensively.

"His defense has always been there."

Bowman, who works for the Red Wings as a consultant, agreed.

"Usually it's the other way around, but his defense came first and his offense followed," Bowman said.

Teammate Johan Franzen said Zetterberg's style of play is contagious.

"It's huge to have your best defensive player be your best guy offensively, too," Franzen said. "He's such a smart player and is always in the right spot. He doesn't get too excited. He keep the noise down and just does his job."

"He's one of a kind."

Gold Medal Club

By Mike Wilkinson, Detnews.com, June 5th, 2008

A Swedish paper ran a list of all the players (Swedish first) who have won hockey's three biggest prizes: The Stanley Cup, the Olympic gold medal and the World Championships. The Wings' victory Monday night added three players to the list: Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson and Niklas Kronwall.

Here are the other Swedes:
Tomas Jonsson
Mats Näslund
Hakan Loob
Peter Forsberg
Nicklas Lidstrom

Fredrik Modin

Also in the club are a few other former Red Wings, including Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Brendan Shanahan and Jiri Slegr.

Non-Wings:
Valerie Kamenski
Alexej Gusarov
Alexander Mogilny
Vladimir Malachov
Rob Blake
Joe Sakic
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Jaromir Jagr

Zetterberg the Perfect Choice for Conn Smythe

By Phil Coffey, NHL.com, June 5th, 2008

At first glance, there seemed to be so many candidates for the 2008 Conn Smythe Trophy that you wondered who would win.
In the end, there really was only one choice.
Henrik Zetterberg’s tremendous two-way play, not only in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a whole, but in the Final in particular, made him the winner of the Conn Smythe for Most Valuable Player honors.
Zetterberg scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 to clinch the Stanley Cup in the 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and he also assisted on the opening goal of the game, a power-play tally by Brian Rafalski. But it was Zetterberg’s strong defensive play and penalty-killing expertise that really set his game apart.
“It feels pretty good,” Zetterberg said in typical understated fashion. “It's been a long way. And it's been a long season, especially the last few nights. (We) found a way to battle back. It’s just a great feeling right now.”
Zetterberg joined with defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall to kill off a pair of two-man disadvantages in the Final, helping pave the way to victory in the series. Those sometimes get lost in the shuffle in a long series, but Wings coach Mike Babcock was always front and center in extolling the virtues of his top players.
“Him and Pavel and Nick and Rafi and Kronwall, they're all the same in a way,” Babcock said, ticking off the names of some prominent Wings. “Franzen as well. Maybe (Valtteri) Filppula. They're all our best offensive people and our best defensive people as well.
“We're fortunate,” he said after Zetterberg’s PK skills helped the Wings to a Game 4 win. “I thought the five-on-three, we had to get a stop there. We did. Zetterberg did a great job. Came off the ice. Pavel went out and did a great job. And they called a timeout. So Z was allowed to go back out there again.
“I think intelligent players with good hockey sense, you have a structure on your team,” Babcock said. “But they take the structure to another level, because they know what's going on.  They read plays. They cut off lanes. They know how to be in the right spot. And the guys who think offensively, in my opinion, have a chance to be elite defensive players, because they know what they do. And so that gets them to a whole other level. And they're conscientious, and they work hard, because they're good defensively. They spend a lot of time on offense.”
It’s hard to get a rise out of Zetterberg. He is low-key to the extreme, but that may well be another of his top assets. Killing off a two-man disadvantage in the first period of Game 6, Zetterberg was typically nonplussed.
“Well, of course it was huge,” Zetterberg said. “It's not the first time they had a two-minute advantage. Of course, it was a great opportunity for them to score. But we battled through it. And we kept the puck outside the net.”
Well, he did use the word “huge,” so maybe he’s starting to get revved up like some of his teammates.
Zetterberg figures there isn’t much to get overly excited about. Detroit’s success, after all, is the product of hard work and experience (we won’t mention his outrageous skills). But the Wings were at a critical stage of the Final entering Game 6. A loss to the Pens would have wiped out what had been a 3-1 edge and set up a winner-take-all Game 7. But Zetterberg figured that it wouldn’t be a problem because of the Wings’ experience.
“We've been there before,” he said. “We knew that even if we lost Game 5, we play good on the road. And we just had a mindset, we're going to play a good game. And we had a great start, and we just kept going. Kind of what we did in Dallas (in the Western Conference Finals). It's great to have that behind us, and we know we could pull it off. And we did.”
Everything in life should be so simple. But Zetterberg was far from dismissive of his foes in the Final. He and his teammates had great respect for the Penguins and the strong play they brought to the Final.
“They battled really hard,” he said. “They were down 3-1 and came to our building, and, I think, their first period in our arena was unbelievable. They just came at us. We really didn't have anything to answer it. But overall, I think they played really good.  They had some really skilled players. It's a young team, and they're going to be a good team for many years to come.”
The Red Wings’ triumph marked a big achievement for European players such as Lidstrom, who became the first European captain to raise the Stanley Cup, and Zetterberg, who took home the Conn Smythe.
“It’s a great feeling,” Zetterberg said. “There's been a lot of talk about that throughout the years. It's great see him lifting the Cup and with the ‘C’ on his chest. It means so much for the team and the organization. He's bringing it every night. He's probably our best player every night. And I'm really happy for him. And as I say, it was a great feeling seeing him lift that Cup.”
"Henrik, he's a complete player," Red Wings GM Ken Holland said. "He's got great hands, great instincts, he's great in traffic and he really sees the ice well. Over the years I've seen a lot of great players who don't work hard enough to be better. I always tell our scouts, 'Tell me when a smaller guy shows you he can do it and when a bigger guy shows you he can't.' It's clear Henrik always plays bigger than his size."
"He can pass and he can shoot at an elite level,” Lidstrom said. “That's what makes him so difficult to stop, because you don't know what he's going to do. Seeing that kind of skill coming at you again and again makes defenders back off and creates openings for his teammates."
Perhaps Babcock put it best.
"You're never going to outwork Hank, that's for sure," he said.
And once again the winning coach had the right idea.

Red Wings' Zetterberg wins Conn Smythe Trophy

NHL.com, June 4^th, 2008

Red Wings left wing Henrik Zetterberg has won the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to "the most valuable player to his team in the playoffs." The winner is selected in a vote by a panel of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final.

Zetterberg, a 27-year-old native of Njurunda, Sweden, was the 210th player selected in the 1999 Entry Draft and played his fifth season with the Red Wings in 2007-08. He finished the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs at or near the top of several categories:

* ranked first in points (13-14--27 in 22 games, placed ahead of Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby's 6-21--27 on the basis of more goals)
* ranked first in goals (13, tied with Detroit's Johan Franzen)
* ranked second in game-winning goals (four)
* ranked third in assists (14, tied with two players)
* ranked first in shorthanded goals (two, tied with three players)
* ranked first in shorthanded assists (three)
* ranked first in shots on goal (116)
* ranked first in plus-minus (+16, tied with Detroit's Niklas Kronwall)

In addition, Zetterberg's work on the Red Wings' penalty-killing unit kept Pittsburgh from scoring during five-on-three power plays for 1:26 late in the third period of Game 4 and 1:33 in the first period of tonight's game.

During the regular season, Zetterberg helped the Red Wings record the best opening half-season in League history by setting a franchise record with points in 17 consecutive games to start the season (13-14--27). He went on to set career highs in goals (43), assists (49) and points (92) in 75 games. He led the club and ranked second in the League with 358 shots and posted a career-best +30 rating.

 

June 4, NHLMedia.com:  From Mlive.com Snapshots

Question: What were your thoughts on killing the two-man penalty early, the two man advantage. How key was that to this game?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, of course it was huge. It's not the first time they had a two-minute advantage. Of course, it was a great opportunity for them to score. But we battled through it.

And we kept the puck outside the net.

Question: What are your emotions winning that award next to you there?

Henrik Zetterberg: (Smiling) it feels pretty good. It's been a long way. And it's been a long season. Especially in the last few nights ago in Joe Louis was devastating. And found a way to battle back. And it's just a great feeling right now.

Question: Can you talk about the play of the Penguins. A lot of people didn't think they had a chance in the series. They made it an interesting one. What are your thoughts on how they played?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, they battled really hard. They were down 3-1 and came to our building, and I think their first period in our arena was unbelievable. They just came at us.

We really didn't have anything to answer it. But overall, I think they played really good. They had some really skilled players. It's a young team, and they're going to be a good team for many years to come.

Question: Your fellow Swede, Nicklas Lidstrom, became the first European captain to win a Cup. What does that mean to you for him to have that place in hockey history?

Henrik Zetterberg: It's a great feeling. There's been a lot of talk about that throughout the years. It's great to see him lifting the Cup and with the C on his chest. It means so much for the team and the organization. He's bringing it every night. He's probably our best player every night.

And I'm really happy for him. And as I say, it was a great feeling seeing him lift that Cup.

Question: What was it about your team that made you guys be able to bounce back from that last loss, as you did in previous series, disappointing losses to come back and closeout series?

Henrik Zetterberg: We've been there before. We knew that even if we lost Game 5, we play good on the road. And we just had a mind-set, we're going to play a good game. And we had a great start, and we just kept going. Kind of what we did in Dallas. It's great to have that behind us, and we know we could pull it off. And we did.

Question: Historic night obviously with Lidstrom becoming the first European captain to win the Cup, but it's also the second time that a European has won the trophy sitting beside you there. Nicklas is the only other one who has won this. Can you talk about sharing your name with his on that trophy, I think with other 40 other Canadian players?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, it's some great names on there. I didn't know Nicklas was the only European. Of course, it's special to be on there. And especially to be among such great players, and especially with Nick. It's great to have that with him.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about, I know you were brought in 2002 during the Cup run, during the Colorado series. Can you talk a little bit about seeing that group, and obviously this is your first time since then, and what that put in your mind at an early age?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, it was a great experience. It was me and Niklas Kronwall. They brought us over here. We saw two games against the Avalanche, and it was real high, high speed in the game. And both me and Nik didn't realize that we were able to play there next year. We were really...it was a little bit too fast for our game, but it was a great experience. We met all the guys.

And I remember I went down and met Steve and Nick and Draper and Homer and a few others. So it was a great experience. It was good for me to have when I came for training camp.

Question: There in the last minute and a half when Hossa scored, and then they had that real frantic ending there where they almost scored there at the last second, was there any time you guys were thinking: My God, here we go again. This is just like Game 5?

Henrik Zetterberg: Yeah, you know, we were happy we had the two-goal lead. But when they scored the second one, we knew it was going to be tight all the way to the end.

And when they had a chance, I don't know how many seconds was left, but when I saw the puck behind the net, and I looked up and it was 00:00 on the game clock, I was a pretty happy man.

Question: What a goal you scored. That was a Stanley Cup winning goal, thrill of a lifetime. Well done. How did you do it?

Henrik Zetterberg: Thank you. It's been unbelievable, the whole series. It's tough when we lost the last game. But we battled through that and came back today and played unbelievable.

Question: What do you remember, Henrik, about the game tonight, the pregame when you and Datsyuk met just in the room before the game, what kinds of things were you saying to yourself to get energy, to get faith?

Henrik Zetterberg: Well, just keep going, do the right things out there. And not try and do too much. Just go out and play our game and hopefully it was enough. And it was tonight.

Question: 210th draft choice. Is it true that Darren McCarty ran you ragged as you came to your first the training camp? Is that just a myth or did they really test you, and how did you establish yourself as the star you've become?

Henrik Zetterberg: Yeah, I had a tough first training camp. Ran me over a few times, but right after the camp he came and apologized and said Ken Holland told him to do it. So it was okay.

 

Zetterberg Tops Off Memorable Season, King of 5-on-3 Penalty Kill Awarded Conn Smythe.

By Dave Dye, The Detroit News, June 5^th, 2008

 

Years from now, when the Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup Championship is being relived, they'll still be talking about "The 5-on-3."

It was Game 4 with the Red Wings clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins and two men in the penalty box.

Henrik Zetterberg, the 210th player selected overall in the 1999 NHL draft, showed what a two-way superstar he has become by making some of the series' most memorable plays that led to him being voted the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the Finals' most valuable player.

Zetterberg nullified the stick of the Penguins' Sidney Crosby at the side of the crease on what otherwise might have been a tap-in to tie the score.

Not only that, but Zetterberg also personally killed off about 15 seconds by controlling the puck himself.

"I think that really summed up everything about Henrik," teammate Kirk Maltby said of Zetterberg's defensive heroics. "He was out there on a 5-on-3, blocking shots, killing the clock on the penalties.

It was a crucial sequence that helped put the Wings on the verge of the Stanley Cup. Zetterberg helped clinch the championship Wednesday night with a goal and assist in a 3-2 victory over the Penguins in Game 6, along with killing another 5-on-3.

Zetterberg said he didn't hear the announcement of him winning the Conn Smythe.

"The guys pushed me to it," Zetterberg said. "I wasn't sure what to do with it. I skated around a little bit first and then I took it back (to his teammates, who mobbed him). I guess that was the right way to go."

Zetterberg, 27, a forward from Sweden, led the Wings with 27 points in the playoffs. He also set career highs during the regular season with 43 goals and 92 points. He capped his memorable season Wednesday with The Stanley Cup.

"Unbelievable. It's a great feeling you have inside right now," he said of winning the Cup. "It's been a long way. It was a tough ending in Detroit a few nights ago. It was devastating, but we found a way to battle back."

Zetterberg showed in these playoffs he's an offensive superstar.

Then there's the defensive star. Zetterberg, along with Pavel Datsyuk, is a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league's top defensive forward.

Zetterberg takes great pride in his defensive ability.

"That's always been a part of my game," he said. "In Sweden, you learn to play defense first. And then you develop the offense later.

"I'm happy I still can play that game over here and I get an opportunity to play that way. I like to do that."

His teammates certainly appreciate his two-way skills.

"That's where he stands out from other superstars in this league," forward Johan Franzen said. "You don't see other superstars do that. Not a lot of them anyway. That makes him real special.

"When your best players are playing like that, you don't want to do anything different."

Crosby has been hyped as "the face of the game," but Zetterberg hounded him for much of the series.

Not bad for the quiet guy overlooked as a seventh-round pick nearly a decade ago.

"I was a real small guy," Zetterberg said, referring to why he wasn't drafted earlier. "I didn't have a lot of muscles on me. Not many scouts were looking for small, tiny players. They looked for big guys that could be big in front of the net and have a good shot. My shot was awful. It's still not very good.

"Letting me play in Sweden for a while helped (three more years after being drafted). I got a lot of experience there.

"When I came over here (he joined the Wings in 2002-03), I was ready to play. It helped to play with good players. My first year, I played with Pavel and Brett Hull most of my games. It makes it a lot easier."

Zetterberg is now known for his great vision on the ice and an uncanny anticipation of where the puck is going.

He's certainly more talkative than when he first joined the Wings, but he's still pretty quiet, according to teammates.

"Guys that are a little bit more quiet, they lead by example," teammate Darren McCarty said. "That's what he does."

And he's done it as well as anyone in the playoffs this year.

 

Red Wings' Zetterberg Wins Conn Smythe Trophy

By Graham Couch, Kalamazoo Gazette, June 4th, 2008

 

Henrik Zetterberg sat at the podium next to the Conn Smythe Trophy, grinning when asked about the emotions of the moment.

However, the comments from the Red Wings forward, it turned out, had almost nothing to do with being named playoff MVP.

Within minutes, the Conn Smythe sat alone on a bench in a corner of the Detroit locker room, surrounded by flying corks, boisterous players and folks soaked in champagne.

Zetterberg, like the rest of his teammates, had turned his attention to the Stanley Cup following Wednesday's 3-2 Game 6 victory over Pittsburgh.

"It's been a long way, and it's been a long season," Zetterberg had said moments earlier, ignoring the mammoth piece of hardware covering one side of his face. "Especially a few nights ago at Joe Louis Arena was devastating. ... It's just a great feeling right now."

Zetterberg's 22-game playoff run put him in the company of Red Wings greats such as Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov -- and, statistically, in a class above them both.

The 27-year-old Swede broke the club's mark for playoff points (24) previously shared by Fedorov (1995) and Yzerman (1998) with 27 this spring, adding two more Wednesday night with his 13th goal and 14th assist.

"He's been our best player, I think, on both ends of the ice," said his countryman and Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "You see him out there killing penalties 5-on-3, and you see him at the other end setting plays from the power play. He's just that impact player. ... He's really excelled and got better and better as the playoffs went along."

Wednesday, Zetterberg once again showed his versatility. His backhanded pass to Brian Rafalski set up the game's first score. And later, his shot that squeaked under Marc-Andre Fleury's legs -- and then got a push from Fleury's bottom -- turned out to be the decisive goal.

On the other end, just like the 5-on-3 power-play-killing effort in Game 4 that NBC's Mike Emerick called "a Conn Smythe shift," Zetterberg again helped derail Pittsburgh's only two-man advantage Wednesday.

"Someone said to me here earlier, 'You turned your best offensive players into checkers,'" Detroit coach Mike Babcock said when asked about Zetterberg. "I never did that. They're just very good both ways.

"Zetterberg and Pavel (Datsyuk) are two of the best players in the world."

Datsyuk is locked up long-term and, this summer, the Red Wings are expected to do the same with Zetterberg, who has one year left on his contract at $2.9 million. His new deal is reported to be anywhere from five to seven years for around $7 million per season.

That's the next step in a career that received a kick six years ago when Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were brought in to meet Yzerman and Co. on their way to a Stanley Cup.

"It was a little too fast for our game," Zetterberg said of the 2002 Red Wings.

Nobody's saying that anymore.

"He's a complete player," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said.

 

Z's Coronation Must Wait till Another Day

By Michael Rosenberg, Free Press, June 3^rd, 2008

 

For long, long stretches (hey, in this game, all stretches were long, long stretches), he was as good as anybody on the ice. This is a constant for the Red Wings now. Henrik Zetterberg is just that good.

Now he must be. The Wings need their best players to carry them after the devastating Game 5 loss, and Zetterberg has been their best player in these playoffs.

"We had a lot of chances to put it away," he said quietly Monday night. "Almost 60 shots. We weren't able to pull it off."

Zetterberg sure as heck tried. On Petr Sykora's game winning-goal in the 110th minute, Zetterberg dove to the ice to try to block the shot. Earlier, he fed Johan Franzen the puck in front of the crease. He crashed the net himself. And when the Wings looked like they would surely lose in regulation, Zetterberg gave them life.

He looked like he was going to fire the puck at the net. Instead he sent a gorgeous pass to Pavel Datsyuk's stick, the kind of pass you see when two special players have a connection on the ice. Datsyuk re-directed the pass -- it was half-shot, half-flinch -- past Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Wings scored less than three minutes later, on a Brian Rafalski goal, and guess what? Zetterberg got an assist on that one, too.

If it had ended right there, Zetterberg would have been the most obvious and worthy choice to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Unfortunately for the Wings, Pittsburgh poked a game-tying goal past Chris Osgood with 35 seconds left. Zetterberg will need one more win for his shot at the trophy.

We often say that Nicklas Lidstrom is the most indispensable Red Wing, and that's fine. He is. But Zetterberg is fast creeping up the charts.

Could this team be as complete as the alphabet if not for Z? Would the power play be as powerful? Would Datsyuk be as effective? Would the Wings be as disciplined, as strong, as relentless?

These are questions that Mike Babcock and Ken Holland don't have to ask -- and man, are they happy about it.

Zetterberg leads the Wings with 25 points in 21 games. But it's more than that. He is, like Lidstrom, so good at everything.

I'm not going to say Zetterberg is playing better than Steve Yzerman ever did, because I don't need you people taking a crowbar to my car. Also, it's not really fair.

Yzerman, for the first 10 years of his career, was one of the great offensive forces in the history of the game. In the second half of Yzerman's career, he was a great two-way player and one of the best leaders in any sport. That's how good the guy was: he had two Hall of Fame careers.

So I won't say that. But Zetterberg has played at a level that could put him in the Yzerman-Howe-Lindsay-Delvecchio-Lidstrom class before he is finished.

The amazing thing about Zetterberg is that, like this year's Wings, he has no real weaknesses. He can put the puck in the net, obviously. But he also has the playmaking skills from his days when he primarily played center; in Game 3 in Dallas, he and Datsyuk switched roles, almost like they were amusing themselves, and Zetterberg's passing led the Wings to the victory.

Zetterberg is also an exceptional defensive forward. In Game 4 in Pittsburgh, he killed a 5-on-3 power play almost by himself. He does this with ease and without complaint.

There has been a lot of talk around here over the years about how Yzerman changed his game in the 1990s, from all offense, all the time to a more complete game.

Zetterberg never had to make that change. And Yzerman is part of the reason: when Zetterberg arrived in Detroit, in the fall of 2002, the Wings had just won the Cup. The culture was well-established: You do not cheat your team when the other guys have the puck. If Zetterberg and Datsyuk ever had the inclination to be one-way players, the Yzerman Wings would not have allowed it to happen.

Before the Cup finals started, Dallas Drake explained why the Wings could match up with Pittsburgh and Sidney Crosby:

"Our best players are our best defensive players as well," Drake said. "They're going to play a lot against Crosby."

Zetterberg was not yet a Wing in 2002, the last time the team won the Cup. But if the Wings hoist the Cup Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, or Saturday at the Joe, he will be the biggest reason. And if you find yourself at a local tavern celebrating, tell 'em Hank sent you.

 

Zetterberg Playing His Best with Wings on Brink Of Cup

The Canadian Press, June 2nd, 2008

 

It's easy to forget just how far Henrik Zetterberg has come.

There were 209 players selected ahead of him in the 1999 NHL draft and there isn't a team in the league that wouldn't switch any of those picks for the Swedish winger now.

Zetterberg has arguably been the best player for the Detroit Red Wings during their current run to the Stanley Cup final and is favoured to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Whether he gets recognized with the award or not, it's been quite a ride. Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall first played with Zetterberg as a teenager in Sweden and never thought he'd see him blossom into the player he is now.

"Back then I didn't think too much about it," Kronwall said Monday before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup. "When I was 17 and he was 18, it was all about the Sedin twins.

"Hank was kind of the second-line winger on that team and didn't get a lot of attention."

There's no question in Kronwall's mind that Zetterberg is among the "top dogs" in Swedish hockey now.

The 27-year-old leads Detroit in scoring with 23 points during these playoffs but that only tells part of the story. Even without scoring a goal in the first four games of the Stanley Cup, Zetterberg's solid play was one of the main reasons the Red Wings built a 3-1 series lead over Pittsburgh heading into Monday's game.

The turning point in the series might very well be the 5-on-3 disadvantage that Detroit was able to weather in the third period of Game 4 and Zetterberg displayed all of his skill on that penalty kill. He tied up Sidney Crosby at the side of the net before carrying the puck and killing about 15 seconds on his own.

It didn't go unnoticed by his teammates.

"He's so determined," said Kronwall. "Anything he does, he does it full on.

"He's one of the hardest working guys on our team and other guys follow that. They look up to that. We're blessed to have him on our team."

The Penguins offence was pretty much unstoppable as they tore through the Eastern Conference with a 12-2 record in the opening three rounds of the playoffs. Since coming up against Zetterberg and the Wings in the final, Crosby's crew has had all kinds of problems finding open areas to create quality scoring chances.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has done his best to have Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk on the ice whenever Crosby's line is out. Both are finalists for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward and have done a good job containing the Penguins star so far.

"I've been telling people for three years how good Zetterberg is," said Babcock. "And so this isn't a surprise to me. He's just a conscientious good two-way player. So is Datsyuk."

While it's pretty rare to find offensive players that show such a commitment to defence, Babcock believes those type of guys actually have an advantage because of how they see the game. They know what the other team's attackers are thinking.

Teammates believe that Zetterberg's vision is one of the keys to his success.

"He's so good at anticipating plays, reading where the puck's going to go," said captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "It makes it tougher for them to find the passing lanes and find someone open."

Zetterberg is one of the few players in the Red Wings dressing room who is looking for his first Stanley Cup ring. Lidstrom, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, Darren McCarty and Tomas Holmstrom are all after their fourth.

Even without that same level of experience, Zetterberg has still managed to become one of the leaders on this team.

"He acts like you can count on him every day," said forward Mikael Samuelsson. "Just the way he carries himself in the dressing room. We look to him."

That's only fitting given how many teams looked past him as a teenager.

Hakan Andersson, Detroit's European super scout, can take credit for recognizing the immense talent Zetterberg had within. At the time he was drafted, the Red Wings were being criticized for trading away top draft choices but their strategy has clearly worked out.

It would be hard to imagine where this team would be without him. There doesn't seem to be much secret to Zetterberg's development beyond hard work.

"He's been growing every year," said Samuelsson. "He's always been a really good two-way player but now I think he's the best out there."

 

Zetterberg, Not Osgood, the Conn Smythe Favorite

By Helen St. James, Free Press, June 1st, 2008

 

The way Henrik Zetterberg plays with such dominance at both ends of the ice often has drawn comparisons to how former Wings captain Steve Yzerman played during his heyday.

 

Now, with the Wings nearing the completion of a Stanley Cup run, Zetterberg is likely to add to the reasons he so often is spoken of as a successor to Yzerman: A Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player.

The Wings take a commanding 3-1 lead into tonight’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins thanks to the stellar performances of a number of players. With the end of the playoffs at most three games away, it’s time to take a look at who, from Detroit, are the leading candidates to be named MVP as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Zetterberg’s name is at the top of the list, but he has strong competition for the award Conn Smythe. The dozens of small plays Nicklas Lidstrom makes every game to control an opponent cannot be overstated in value, and it is hard to overlook the fact the Wings’ playoff fortunes turned as soon as Chris Osgood took over in net in Game 5 of the first round.

Johan Franzen was the definitive front runner through the first two rounds, and still is worthy of strong consideration even though he missed six games bridging the third and fourth rounds because of concussion-like symptoms.

Zetterberg needs just one point to tie the single-season club playoff point record shared by Sergei Fedorov (1995) and Steve Yzerman (1998), which shows just how dominant Zetterberg has been in the offensive zone. But I think the reason Zetterberg will win the Conn Smythe is because of how he’s played, especially when the Wings have been short-handed. Zetterberg has 12 goals, but the two that stand out the most for me are the ones he scored in Games 3 and 6 against Dallas. In both cases, he got the puck away from Stars captain Brenden Morrow and then took off down the ice, scoring while the Stars were on power plays. In Game 3, Zetterberg scored early in the third period, while the Stars were only trailing by one goal. That sort of play is just a pure back-breaker.

Zetterberg showed his defensive prowess again in Game 4 against the Penguins, when he stayed out to kill 1:27 worth of two-man Pittsburgh power play.

“That’s where he stands out from other superstars in this league,” Franzen said. “He can play so well in his own end he can play on a three-on-five. You don’t see other superstars do that, not a lot of them, anyway. That’s what makes him real special.”

It is part of Red Wings lore that they didn’t start a new era of winning Cups until Yzerman transformed himself into a top notch two-way player, and it was Yzerman’s play at both ends of the ice that made him the 1998 Conn Smythe winner. A decade later, Zetterberg’s two-way play may well yield the same recognition.

  

Red Wings' Zetterberg Shines on Both Ends of Ice

By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, June 1st, 2008

 

Henrik Zetterberg can't earn any more votes for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward during these playoffs because those ballots were cast after the regular season.

But Zetterberg's two-way brilliance for the Detroit Red Wings is garnering him support for the Conn Smythe Trophy, even if the player he's most frustrating refuses to give him credit.

If the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup, they have several potential MVPs: goaltender Chris Osgood, forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen and defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall.

But Zetterberg's defensive performance in the finals, particularly against Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, might put him over the top.

"It's tough (to choose) because they're such a great team, but I'd probably say Zetterberg (for the Conn Smythe), with the goals (12, and 23 points) and his role, stopping Crosby's line,'' ESPN analyst Barry Melrose said.
Zetterberg was at his best defensively while helping kill a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:27 midway through the third period Saturday, in his team's 2-1 Game 4 victory.
"He's so good at reading plays, anticipating where the puck is going,'' Lidstrom said. "He makes it tough for them to find passing lanes and find someone open. We try not to get too spread out, otherwise there's going to be a lane open. He fills the lanes, blocks shots and then when he gets the puck he can hang onto it too like he did for 10-15 seconds.''
Intelligent players with good hockey sense -- you have a structure on your team, but they take the structure to another level, because they know what's going on,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "They read plays. They cut off lanes. They know how to be in the right spot. And the guys who think offensively have a chance to be elite defensive players, because they know what they do.''
Crosby, who was jawing with Zetterberg on the ice after the final horn, didn't seem too impressed, however.

"I don't think he did anything out of the ordinary, besides any other guy would do on a 5-on-3,'' Crosby said after the game.

 

Wings Advised to Sign Zee to Long-term Contract Stat

By Cam Cole, Canwest News Service, June 1st, 2008

 

The way the Detroit Red Wings take care of their core players, Henrik Zetterberg isn't going anywhere for a very long time.

If the Wings nail down the Stanley Cup Monday at Joe Louis Arena, as they well might, the very next order of business - right after the subtly spectacular Swedish forward hoists the Conn Smythe Trophy - will be for general manager Ken Holland to get Zetterberg's autograph on a long-term contract.

The breadth and depth of the 27-year-old Zetterberg's game was never more apparent than in Game 4 Saturday night in Pittsburgh, when he and Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall conferred in Swedish and then killed most of a third-period 5-on-3 Penguins power play - allowing the Red Wings to preserve a tight 2-1 victory and a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"Some people were saying the game before that (Pens defencemen Brooks) Orpik had one of the greatest shifts (four hits) they'd ever seen," Detroit defenceman Brett Lebda said Sunday. "But Zee's shift on the five-on-three - if there was a defensive hat trick, you could give it to Zee for that shift: he blocks a shot, takes one of the most dangerous forwards (Sidney Crosby), who's got a back-door tap-in, and ties up his stick and then he carries the puck down the ice and gets a shot 5-on-3 and kills the penalty basically by himself.

"He took it under control and said: they're not going to score. And he made sure of it. The thing about Zee is he may be the one guy in this league, besides Nick, who can probably play a 60-minute game and keep coming at you and wear you down."

An informal poll of writers taken by one of our brethren Sunday had the playoff MVP award going, by a lopsided margin, to Zetterberg over goalie Chris Osgood, who has been one very good player on a team full of them, but just hasn't faced the quality or quantity of shots needed to lift him above the pack.

 

Zetterberg Shows Cynical Scribes What He's Capable Of

Cam Cole, Canwest News Service, June 1st, 2008

 

Through three days and four news conferences, a chance comment by Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock was chewed up, swallowed, regurgitated and ground into dust by scribes and microphone jockeys alike.

It had to do with Henrik Zetterberg. Babcock said he hadn't done a good job as a coach, because he had overplayed the Swede and his Ukrainian-born linemate Pavel Datsyuk in Game 3 on Wednesday. They had overstayed some shifts, trying to do too much.

Somehow, by the time it had been through the mill a few times, given an extra off-day to kick it around, it came across as: "Zetterberg had a bad game."

That's one angle we can now safely put to rest.

Zetterberg, whether he was taken aback by the interpretation of his coach's comments, or simply fired up to redeem the Red Wings' 3-2 loss, put the full range of his skills and determination on display Saturday night and helped nail down a squeaky-tight 2-1 victory that returned control of the Stanley Cup final to Detroit - up 3-1 in games now, and in position to win it Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

The game should have turned midway through the third when the Penguins got a gift 86 seconds of 5-on-3 power play, courtesy of a very iffy interference call against Detroit defenceman Andreas Lilja on Sidney Crosby, while Detroit's Kirk Maltby was already doing time.

The Wings bent but refused to break, thanks in large part to one dogged backchecking job by Zetterberg, who took a goal away from Crosby by winning a stick-on-stick battle with half the net open.

"That [kill] was huge for us. They had a real opportunity to tie the game, but we battled through it," said Zetterberg, who might have been the best player on the ice. He also tied up the stick of Gary Roberts in the slot in the frenetic closing seconds, and then blocked the game's last shot, by Evgeni Malkin, with no more than a second left.

"I just put the best players out there, and Zetterberg was unbelievable," said Babcock, who has been at pains to point out, as the Zetterberg-Datsyuk saga grew legs over the days since Game 3, that all he meant to say was that he had left the two stars on the ice too long.

"Those guys are fantastic players, obviously, and they drive the bus for us. But they're like everybody else. All of us gotta be good. Zetterberg was fantastic, so was Datsyuk and Kronwall and Lidstrom on that 5-on-3," Babcock said.

 

Who Among These Red Wings is Truly the Most Valuable?

By Eric Duhatschek, The Globe and Mail, June 1st, 2008

 

Nothing will take the measure of this Red Wings' team better than when members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association cast their ballots for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. Every player covets the Stanley Cup; the Conn Smythe is icing on the cake. On the other hand, the award can be career-defining, has implications for Hall Of Fame candidacy, and is just plain fun to win.

Question: Who, among these Red Wings' players, is truly the most valuable?

In a race where there are half-a-dozen defensible choices, it will be difficult for voters to ignore Zetterberg as the eventual winner. About the only possible objection to his candidacy will be that he hasn't been lights-out great on offence thus far in the final, with just two points in four games.

Of course, winning awards is about more than just piling up points on the score sheet. It would be ridiculous to penalize Zetterberg just because his major contributions against the Penguins have been on the defensive side of the puck.

Zetterberg's overall game has been a common theme in coach Mike Babcock's press conferences throughout the playoffs. As a long-time coach, Babcock understands what a luxury it is when his best offensive player is also his best defensive player. Zetterberg played a memorable shift in Saturday's victory, helping to kill a two-man disadvantage that ultimately preserved the win for the Red Wings.

Teammate Daniel Cleary summed it up in one sentence: "The game was in the balance; Z went out there and single-handedly killed it off."

It was more of the same on Sunday, as the Red Wings prepared for what could be the final game of the year. Kronwall, his fellow Swede, was asked about Zetterberg's impact on the team. His tone suggested the question must be rhetorical; as if the answer should be self-evident to anyone watching.

"He's meant a deal to our team — I think everybody's starting to see that," said Kronwall. "He's our best defensive guy, but at the same time, he plays in all situations. We're lucky to have him. There are not a lot of guys like him in the league."

No, there may indeed only be one like him.

For Zetterberg, it will be his first (Stanley Cup), after Detroit selected him with the 210th pick of the 1999 entry draft and turned him pro as a 22-year-old. Nine years later, no better player emerged from that Patrik Stefan/Pavel Brendl draft class than the quiet Swede, with the celebrity girlfriend (model and television host, Emma Andersson) and the taste for Bob Dylan's music.

It is something the Red Wings have known for awhile. It just took the rest of the hockey world a little longer to figure it out.

 

Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy Candidate Zetterberg Shuts-down Penguins Superstars

during Crucial Moment in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Finals

By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, June 1st, 2008

 

The Detroit Red Wings won a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road last night at the Mellon Arena to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals series.

And while Henrik Zetterberg did not record any points for the second straight game away from home, he was undeniably critical to the team’s success, no more so than while playing shorthanded against a Penguin’s a 5-on-3 power play for 1:27, with a one-goal lead halfway through the third period.

During that long two-man advantage for Pittsburgh, Zetterberg showed why he is a Selke Trophy candidate as one of the very best defensive forwards in the NHL. He applied tremendous pressure keeping the puck out of the slot and blocked a shot by Penguin’s star defenseman Sergei Gonchar from the point. A few seconds later he tied up superstar Sidney Crosby near the crease as a pass came through the paint in front of Detroit’s goalie Chris Osgood. Using shear strength Henrik pinned Crosby’s stick and forced him down on the ice at the side of the net, not allowing him to get position in front. Next, while still two men down, he took a face-off against Crosby, deflected a pass by Evgeni Malkin, picked up the puck and carried it into Pittsburgh’s zone, and created a scoring opportunity with a backhanded shot off of a spin-move he put on Gonchar. Zetterberg finished the shift by racing back down the ice with the Penguin’s attackers and tipping Crosby’s pass intended for Gonchar, who was wide-open in the left face-off circle, into the corner. He knocked Sidney to the ice one more time before lying down in front of another shot to end the power-play. I have never seen a better shift by a player in my life. Of course, both Zetterberg and Crosby downplayed the Swede’s dominance on the shift.

“We played good and tried to keep them to the outside and tried to be in the shooting lanes,” said Zetterberg.

Crosby said, “He made a good play on me and got my stick. He just did a good job of trying to get a stick in the lane. I don’t think he did anything out of the ordinary besides any other guy would do on a 5-on-3.”

However, Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock had hefty praise for his primary penalty-killing forward. “I thought Zetterberg was fantastic. (Zetterberg and Datsyuk) are just gifted players and when they compete as hard as they did tonight they win a lot of battles. I’ve been telling people for three years how good Zetterberg is. So, this isn’t a surprise to me. He’s conscientious and a great two-way player,” said Babcock. 

Zetterberg is one point behind Crosby’s 24 points to lead all players in the Stanley Cup playoffs and

both are considered strong candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy (awarded to the MVP of the payoffs). Henrik has 12 goals and 11 assists and has a league-leading +16 (plus/minus) in 20 games played this post-season. “Sid the Kid” has just 6 goals but has 18 assists. But, Crosby is only a +6 in 18 games played.

Tonight was Zetterberg’s 60^th career playoff game in five post-seasons with Detroit. He currently has 27 goals and 21 assists for 48 career points. Hank ranks 15^th on the Red Wing’s All-time Playoff Scoring Leaders list, and is just two points behind Hall-of-Fame defenseman Paul Coffey and only three points behind line mate Pavel Datsyuk in 20 less career playoff games.