Detroit rested, ready
Confident Wings have eyes on title
Chris Osgood lounged on his day off, watching the Detroit Tigers, Tiger Woods, and basketball Sunday when he wasn't taking a 2 1/2-hour nap.
"I was banking some sleep," Detroit's goaltender said yesterday.
Osgood and the Red Wings hope the much-needed break - after playing eight times in 16 days - gives them a boost to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.
Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart took advantage of Sunday, a rare day away from a rink, to catch up on laundry.
It didn't take Stuart long to get back into the swing of things yesterday, shoving teammates such as Jiri Hudler away from Osgood and skating hard during a relatively intense workout at Joe Louis Arena.
"We haven't had a lot of practices like that the last couple months," Stuart said before the Red Wings traveled to Pittsburgh. "It was good to get out there to make sure your body is working."
Detroit coach Mike Babcock was pleased with what he saw from Pavel Datsyuk in his first practice since making his debut in the Stanley Cup finals after missing seven games because of a foot injury.
The MVP finalist shot a puck over Osgood's glove and into the net, finishing a 2-on-1 rush after Henrik Zetterberg set him up with a crisp pass.
"I like the way they looked together," Babcock said. "I was really impressed with Pavel out there. The other day when he was practicing and he was going to play, I didn't think he looked great. As the game went on I thought he got more confident, and it's pretty apparent now."
