FanHouse Daniel Cleary

In The Face-Off Circle: A game-by-game look at the face-off matchups in the Stanley Cup Final

Tuesday's game 6 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings proved to be one of the most intense, exciting, and nail-biting games in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, as it literally came down to a matter of inches in the closing minutes of the third period. It was also the first game in the series where the two teams were even in the face-off circle, as both teams won 24-of-48 draws.

Which ones had an impact on the game? Find out after the jump.

Heading into Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, it was pretty much assumed that Marc-Andre Fleury was going to have to come up big in net for the Pittsburgh Penguins to force a seventh game. He not only stood up to the challenge in Pittsburgh's 2-1 win, he made what appeared to be one of the biggest saves of the season when he turned aside Daniel Cleary on a breakaway in the final minute of regulation.

As it turns out, that wasn't even the biggest save of the night. Video's after the jump.

During the Penguins' game 4 win on Thursday night, captain Sidney Crosby finally had his bust-out game of the Stanley Cup Final, recording a goal (the eventual game-winner) and an assist in Pittsburgh's 4-2 win to tie the series at two games apiece. The performance helped him eclipse the 30-point mark this postseason, joining his teammate, Evgeni Malkin, who is currently the leading scorer in the playoffs with 35 points, putting the duo in some elite, historic company.

In The Face-Off Circle: A game-by-game look at the face-off's in the Stanley Cup Final

The Detroit Red Wings had their best face-off man, Kris Draper, back in the lineup for Game 4, and as a team they had their best showing since Game 1, winning 34 of 60 draws. While Draper won six of his 11, the biggest factor in the margin on Thursday night wasn't what any one individual Red Wing did, but what one individual Penguin didn't do.

One of the key factors in Detroit's 3-1 win on Saturday was its dominant performance in the face-off circle, as the Wings won 39-of-55 draws. It's an impressive number on its own, but when you consider the Wings were playing without Pavel Datsyuk (winning 52 percent of his draws this postseason) and Kris Draper (64 percent) it's downright scary. And kind of ridiculous.

After the jump, a breakdown of which players did the damage, and who they did it against. Let's just say this: It's ugly for the Penguins, which begs the question: where the hell is Mike Zigomanis when you need him?

For Marc-Andre Fleury, this year's Stanley Cup final got off to a much better start than last year's seeing as how he didn't trip and fall when coming onto the ice. Unfortunately for him, that's where the good news ended. Two of Detroit's goals in its 3-1 win took odd bounces off of Fleury from bad angles on their way into net, as the Red Wings managed to take a 1-0 series lead on Saturday night.

Brad Stuart started it for the Wings midway through the first period when his slapshot took a bounce off the active Joe Louis Arena boards and deflected in off of Fleury's backside, reminiscent of the game-winning goal in last year's series-clinching win for Detroit. After Ruslan Fedotenko tied it later in the period, Johan Franzen was credited with his 11th of the postseason, and the eventual game-winning tally, when his shot from behind the net bounced in off of Fleury's leg.

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After some late-game fisticuffs on Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks are set to take part in a one-and-done Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena, in a contest that has to be more entertaining -- from a competitive standpoint -- than what we saw on Wednesday in Washington. Depending on who you ask, the line brawl in the closing minutes of Game 6 could be a rallying cry for the Red Wings.

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The Detroit Red Wings continued to keep their Stanley Cup core together on Saturday with news that the team has agreed to a contract extension with forward Johan Franzen, as reported by TSN. According to the Red Wings, it's an 11-year deal that will keep Franzen in the motor city through the 2019-20 season.

Flames 6, Red Wings 5: After the first period of Thursday's game, the Detroit Red Wings held a ridiculous, and somewhat dominating 28-4 edge over the Calgary Flames in the shot department, thanks in large part to a series of five-on-three power plays. Somehow, the Flames managed to keep themselves in the game and rally for a 6-5 shootout win, thanks to a three-goal performance late in the third period.

Trailing, 4-2, with less than four minutes to play in regulation, Calgary received goals from Jamie Lundmark (two) and Olli Jokinen to take a 5-4 lead. Just 38 seconds after Lundmark gave the Flames their first lead of the night, Detroit's Daniel Clearly picked up his 13th goal of the season, sending the game to overtime. Jokinen scored the game-winner in the shootout, helping Calgary snap its three-game losing streak.

Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.

We've already talked about the penalties and wrestling matches between Mikhail Grabovski and a linesman, so let's talk about the game itself. The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, thanks to goals from Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Jaroslav Halak, making his fourth straight start in goal for Montreal, turned aside 30 shots to pick up his eighth win of the season.

Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.