Stanley Cup final: Penguins wins a game for the ages.

Yesterday, game five of the Stanley Cup final was presented at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Up 3-1 in the series, the Detroit Red Wings had the opportunity to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins one more time and win the championship in front of their fans.

The first period was dominated by the Penguins who played with desperation. Marian Hossa opened the score halfway into the period with his 11th goal of the playoffs. Then, Adam Hall doubled Pittsburgh's lead before the end of the first frame.

But the Red Wings shifted gears and started to play better as the game went on. Early into the second period, Darren Helm put one past goaltender Marc-André Fleury making it a 2-1 game.

Into the third period, Pavel Datsuk tied the game at 2 with his 10th goal of the playoffs during a man-advantage. Only three minutes later, Brian Rafalski sent the Wings ahead for the first time of the contest. The crowd was loud, screaming ''we want the Cup''. The Stanley Cup was out of it's case and ready to make it's appearance on the ice.

The Penguins looked down and out as time was ticking away. They pulled Fleury out of his net to benefit of a sixth skater, it was all or nothing. The strategy paid off as Maxime Talbot jumped on a rebound given by goaltender Chris Osgood to score the biggest goal of his career. The game was tied at 3 and both teams headed to overtime.

Both teams battled during two entire overtime periods, Marc-André Fleury was keeping his team alive with every save he made, hoping for someone among his team to score the winning goal. The Penguins goaltender never flinched as the pressure was on him to make a fatal mistake.

Then during the third overtime period, a double minor penalty awarded to Jiri Hudler opened the door to the Penguins who took advantage of it. Petr Sykora scored the game-winner and extended the series to a sixth game.

Final score: Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Detroit Red Wings 3 (3rd overtime) (Detroit leads the series by 3-2)

(Picture: Pittsburgh bench, Canadian Press.)