A well-rested Chris Osgood is all smiles at Monday's practice. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)The Detroit Red Wings returned to the ice Monday for an intense practice, with Chris Osgood having caught up on his sleep and Brad Stuart having caught up on his laundry.
The Red Wings were rewarded Sunday with a rare day off following Saturday's 5-0 pounding of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, which Detroit leads 3-2.
And while Stuart worked on his spin cycle, Osgood, Detroit's starting goaltender in all 21 playoff games and a legitimate Conn Smythe Trophy candidate as top playoff performer, enjoyed a lengthy nap.
"I'm banking some sleep here," Osgood told reporters Monday at Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings practised prior to travelling to Pittsburgh for Game 6 on Tuesday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET).
No snooze buttons were pushed at practice, though, not with Detroit poised to clinch the Stanley Cup for the second straight season and fifth in the past 12.
"We haven't had a lot of practices like that the last couple months," Stuart said of the brisk pace set at Monday's practice. "It's good to get out there to make sure your body is working."
Pavel Datsyuk showed no lingering effects from a sore foot вЂ" reports hinted it was broken вЂ" in his first full practice since returning to the lineup Saturday night.
"He looked really good," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said.
Datsyuk, Detroit's leading point-getter and a Hart Trophy finalist, was terrific in Game 5, posting two assists and providing a much-needed spark following a seven-game absence.
"I was really impressed with Pavel out there," Babcock said. "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 is pretty apparent now."
Also apparent is that if the Red Wings win Game 6, they will hoist the Stanley Cup on the road and in the same building вЂ" Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena вЂ" for the second time in as many years, something unseen since the Montreal Canadiens at the Boston Garden in 1977 and 1978.
"We're comfortable on the road," Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby said. "A lot of times, we say we wish we could bring our road game home because a lot of times we play better on the road."
Perhaps. But the home team has prevailed in each of the first five games.
The Red Wings won both Games 1 and 2 at Detroit by a score of 3-1 and lost both Games 3 and 4 at Pittsburgh by a score of 4-2 before halting the trend with a convincing 5-0 pounding of the Penguins in Game 5 at Detroit.
"It is up to us to respond to play the kind of hockey we know we can play," Red Wings forward Kris Draper said of hostile reception expected at Mellon Arena.
"It is going to be a great atmosphere. We have to make sure we have a great start to settle down quickly."
Detroit faced a somewhat similar situation in the Western Conference semifinal, but lost 2-1 in Game 6 at Anaheim before eliminating the Ducks on home ice in Game 7.
"It is tough always [when] you have another team on the other side of the ice who are just as desperate as you are and throwing everything they have at you," Red Wings defenceman Niklas Kronwall said. "Sometimes, I think we just haven't played well enough and haven't stayed focused enough.
"We have been a little nervous at times. Hopefully, we learn from that."
With files from The Associated Press