Remembering the Red Wings Stanley Cup victory in Game 6 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals—just as the Oilers face the Panthers in Tuesday night’s Game 6 showdown.

The biggest game of the 2024-25 NHL season could be tonight as the hockey world turns to Sunrise, where the Florida Panthers will get home ice advantage with a chance to win their second straight Stanley Cup.

The Edmonton Oilers will look to stave off elimination after a dominant performance by the Panthers in Game 5 to secure a 5-2 win on the road. 

 The chance to bring home the Cup in six games is a familiar sight for hockey fans, particularly those in Detroit, who remember another high-stakes Game 6 in which they won their last Stanley Cup to date. 

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That night, June 4, 2008, at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, the Red Wings arrived with the fatigue of a double-overtime loss in Game 5 still on their minds. They had been seconds away from winning the franchise's 11th Stanley Cup on home ice before Penguins forward Max Talbot stunned Joe Louis Arena with a game-tying goal, followed by a Petr Sykora overtime winner. 

This group of Red Wings veterans like Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood and Kris Draper among others remembered the Cup victory in 2002 and knew what the team needed to do to win. 

Led by winger Henrik Zetterberg, the playoff MVP, who scored what proved to be the game-winning goal midway through the third period, on a quick shot that squeaked under Penguins goalie Marc-André Fleury.

It was a defining moment in the Swede’s dominant playoff run and solidified Zetterberg as a household name after his 92-point regular season.

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Pittsburgh made it interesting with a last-minute goal but as the horn sounded, the Red Wings leapt from their bench in celebration with Lidstrom being one of the happiest on the ice as he became the first European-born captain to lift the Cup. 

That team, built by Ken Holland and coached by Mike Babcock, had elite levels of skill but also discipline that was all put together with veteran leadership that led the way and helped players buy into the the Detroit style of playoff toughness. 

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The elite roster included Hall of Famers Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, and Dominik Hasek as well as future candidates for the Hall in Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. 

Tonight, Florida finds itself at that same crossroad. They've built their team on a similar combination led by Aleksander Barkov and a battle-tested team that finds themselves late in a Stanley Cup Final for the third season in a row and knows exactly what to do, to secure the win on Tuesday. 

If history is any guide, Game 6 has a way of shaping legacies. For Detroit, it was the culmination of a six-year long build back to the Finals and the crowning moment of one of the most complete rosters in NHL history.

For Florida, tonight could be the final chapter of something just as special as they put their team in the conversation as one of the great dynasties the league has seen. 

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