By Bryan Mongeau-Eastmond, staff writer

PITTSBURGH (RPRN) 6/03/09- The Pittsburgh Penguins followed the game plan to the letter and left the igloo with a much needed 4-2 win in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals Tuesday night at Mellon Arena.

A decent, albeit losing effort by Detroit, who still lead the series 2-1, has opened the door to the Sidney Crosby and the Pens in their comeback efforts to make this an interesting finals. The best-of-seven-series is set to resume May 31, in Pittsburgh on June 4.

The Penguins haven’t played their best hockey, but the good news is that they have found a way to make plays when they needed them and get back on track.

“In the playoffs we’ve had a chance to get on that track, and when you can get two power-play goals in a key game like this, that was a great thing to have. A huge thing to have in addition to the way our goalie played tonight. We needed big performances from special teams and our goaltender and we certainly got them,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

They were able to obtain the desired results from a collection of big plays from their big time players. Evgeni Malkin bailed out his team with three assists, while Max Talbot scored twice and Sidney Crosby added another.

Coming off one of their best defensive performance in the postseason in Game 2, the Wings didn’t look much like that dominating team in the first two games.

Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen each scored a goal and assisted on another for the Red Wings.

Now the Pens have a good chance to tie this thing up with Game 4.

Red Wings lead series 2-1.

GAME 1: DET 3, PIT 1
GAME 2: DET 3, PIT 1
GAME 3: PIT 4, DET 2
GAME 4: June 4 @ PIT, 8pm
GAME 5: June 6 @ DET, 8pm
*GAME 6: June 9 @ PIT, 8pm
*GAME 7: June 12 @ DET, 8pm

*If necessary

Photo of Wings Dan Cleary in action courtesy of the National Hockey League.
Read all of Bryan’s stories here.