Osgood blanks Pens again

DETROIT — Hockeytown is halfway to hoisting the Stanley Cup again.

With first-period goals from Brad Stuart and Tomas Holmstrom and another lockdown defensive effort, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night.

The puck-possessing Red Wings held onto it again all night and registered 34 shots. They put the clamps on the Penguins, who have yet to score in the finals. After a 19-save effort in a 4-0 series-opening win Saturday, Chris Osgood stopped 22 shots in a rocking-chair game and earned his third shutout of the playoffs — 13th in his career.

The often-overlooked Osgood owns the Red Wings record with 50 postseason victories, ahead of Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk, and is closing in on his third Cup with Detroit — two as the starting netminder.

Osgood is the first to post shutouts in the first two games of the finals since New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur in 2003 against Anaheim. Of the 31 teams to win the first two games of the finals at home, 30 have captured the Cup.

Game 3 is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins will have to win one of the next two to force a trip back to Motown.