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Stanley Cup finals Check out the best images from the Pittsburgh Penguins' seven-game victory over the Detroit Red Wings. more photos

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OPINION

By Craig Custance

updated 12:43 p.m. ET June 1, 2009

DETROIT - The final seconds were ticking away in Detroit's 3-1 Game 2 win over Pittsburgh and the Red Wings had a meaningless two-man advantage, thanks to penalties against Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot.

The Red Wings easily could have run out the clock, passing the puck back and forth as time expired. But instead they shot it, one last chance at another goal on Marc-Andre Fleury.

They wanted to score.

Kind of like a quarterback who takes one more shot at the end zone instead of taking a knee against a heated rival.

That's what this has become. The Penguins and Red Wings, two teams that rarely play in the regular season and are only squaring off for the second time in the playoffs, are forming quite a rivalry.

"They obviously don't like us, we don't like them," Pittsburgh forward Pascal Dupuis said. "It's playoff time right now, so 20 seconds left in the game, what happened, happened."

What happened? With 19 seconds remaining, two of the biggest stars in the series, Henrik Zetterberg and Malkin, exchanged punches after Zetterberg took exception to the Penguins — mostly Talbot — whacking at goalie Chris Osgood.

Zetterberg ducked a big swing from Malkin and ended up on top of the Russian, although it's hard to say anyone won the fight between two players who seldom drop their gloves. Zetterberg guessed it was the first time he has ever received a five-minute major for fighting.

Detroit's big rookie, Jonathan Ericsson, one of the few Red Wings who actually does fight, liked what he saw from Zetterberg.

"Z's a strong man from Sweden and took care of him," Ericsson said, smiling.

Zetterberg wasn't gloating about the fight, and seemed more embarrassed than anything. Malkin didn't address the media.

"I think in the playoffs and finals like this, there is a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings," Zetterberg said. "When you get scrums, that's the way it is. It should be a lot of feelings and nothing more than that."

But it is. From the heated exchange between Sidney Crosby and Kirk Maltby in Game 1, to Johan Franzen shoving Chris Kunitz into the Red Wings bench, the bad blood between these two teams is becoming increasingly public.

The Red Wings seldom engage in post-whistle shoving and impressed the Blackhawks with their discipline. Chicago tried everything to fluster them, but never could.

"They're one of those rare teams that do everything right all the time," Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook said.

But the Penguins are bringing out an edginess in the Red Wings. When guys like Zetterberg start throwing punches, it's hard to ignore.

Part of it is frustration, at least from the Penguins' side. They struggle to beat Osgood and when they do, they hit the post.

But what do the Red Wings have to be frustrated about? As Crosby pointed out, Malkin wasn't fighting himself.

"Z threw punches too," Crosby said.

It's a mix of frustration and bad blood. Factor in the talent level of both teams and, if Pittsburgh ever finds a way to score, this could be a fascinating series.

And the Penguins certainly still think it's a series.

"They were strong at home," Crosby said. "Now we have to do our job."

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