He was limited to two shifts, totaling 2 minutes, 39 seconds of ice time in the frame, but his teammates doubled the lead while he was gone. Crosby made it back to the ice midway through the third period for the one shift.

“It was so painful, being a captain and seeing what the guys are doing out there blocking shots,” Crosby said of the third period. “You get to the point where you’ve got to ask yourself whether you’re going to be hurting your team by being out there. I knew I had everything I could to numb it or try to play through it.

“At the same time, I’m playing against (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg. One misstep and I could cost the guys a lot of hard work. I didn’t want to be the guy who did that.”

Uncharacteristic mistakes by the experience-laden Red Wings led to both Pittsburgh goals.

Malkin, the NHL’s leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, forced defenseman Brad Stuart into making a bad pass. Talbot intercepted the puck in front and fired it between Osgood’s pads at 1:13.

“Max came up with some big goals there,” Crosby said. “We don’t get to this point without everyone contributing. I knew the guys were going to find a way to pull it off.”

Talbot snapped a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle on a 2-on-1 that sneaked in under the crossbar to make it 2-0 at 10:07.

Fleury took care of the rest. He wasn’t fazed by Red Wings crashing the net or screening him or any funky bounces off the end boards that tortured him in earlier games in Detroit.

Rookie coach Dan Bylsma became the second to win the Stanley Cup with a team he took over midseason. Bylsma helped rescue the Penguins from a near-playoff miss by leading them to a 18-3-4 mark after replacing Michel Therrien on Feb. 15.

Slideshow   Going the distance Take a look back at all the Stanley Cup finals Game 7s. more photos

Bylsma was on the losing side as a player in 2003 with Anaheim in the last series in which the home team won all seven games. Those Mighty Ducks were coached by current Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock.

“It definitely does fill the void,” Bylsma said. “I haven’t won a lot of things since high school. It elevates your career to a different level.

“When you lift that Cup, Stanley Cup champion will go by your name forever.”

The Red Wings were the overwhelming favorite coming in with four players on the verge of their fifth Stanley Cup rings. Detroit had been 11-1 at home in the playoffs.

Notes: Bylsma is the 14th rookie coach to win the Cup. ... The last road team to win Game 7 of the championship round in any major league was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

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