Pens' Staal highlights Game 6 Three Stars

1. Jordan Staal, Penguins: Centering probably the best line of the night for Pittsburgh, Staal broke the scoreless game with a goal in the first minute of the second period. And when it became pretty clear that Pittsburgh was going to win on defense, he is one of the guys they call to shut the other team down. He played 19:31, more than he's played all series and more time than star Sidney Crosby saw on the ice. "Jordan Staal can, with his skating ability and his size, he can be a force in the defensive zone, he can be a force with his speed through the neutral zone. He can be a force in the offensive zone," head coach Dan Bylsma said. "He was a force in whatever zone he was in [tonight]."

2. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins: After letting in five goals and getting yanked from Game 5 in Detroit, the Pittsburgh goalie rebounded nicely Tuesday. He wasn't quite as busy as Detroit goalie Chris Osgood in the first half of the game ? Pittsburgh allowed the Red Wings just three shots on goal ? but when his team needed him most, he showed up. In the third when the Red Wings awoke from their doldrums and started playing with some conviction, Fleury made the saves, like the pad save he made on Dan Cleary's breakaway shot with 1:38 left in the game. And when he didn't, somebody else did.

a. Rob Scuderi earns a shoutout for his goalie duty, making a couple kick saves in front of Fleury with just 13 seconds left in the game. If not for his impromptu butterfly, this game would have certainly moved to overtime.

3. Tyler Kennedy, Penguins: He has a knack for getting into the right places. With a seemingly endless supply of feistiness, he goes after pucks and seems to make chances materialize before him. After assisting Staal's goal early in the second, he knocked in the game winner, his fifth goal of the postseason. Three of those have been game-winners, and there was of course, the insurance goal he scored in Game 4. He's got some serious wheels but even more will.

"Tyler Kennedy made pretty much a goal out of nothing. Just in the offensive zone, and he takes it to the net and stuffs it home," Bylsma said. "When your team plays well enough long enough and you put yourself in those positions, different guys are going to be the heroes."