Sidney Crosby and the Penguins hope home-ice advantage trumps all for just one more night. (Harry How/Getty Images)

When the puck drops for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET), the Detroit Red Wings will be hoping history repeats itself. In another sense, so will the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was almost exactly a year ago that the Red Wings hoisted the best-looking trophy in sports in front of a dejected crowd at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh after edging the Penguins 3-2 in Game 6 of the 2008 final.

If Tuesday produces a similar result, the Cup will be going back to Detroit for the fifth time in 11 seasons and the 12th time overall. Only the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs franchises have won more.

"You get excited because you see the light down the tunnel," said Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood, whose stellar 2.00 goals-against-average and .927 save percentage make him one of the favourites for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

"It's such a grind and battle for so long sometimes — it seems like it's going to take forever to get there. So, when you're finally here, you get excited."

The Penguins hope to keep the champagne on ice by copying more recent history. The home team has won all five games in this year's final, including the 5-0 beating Detroit administered in Game 5 on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Converting a 9-2 advantage in power-play opportunities into three goals, the Wings ran their home scoring margin to an eye-popping 11-2 for the series. In the two contests in Pittsburgh, the Pens have outscored Detroit 8-4.

Dats is back

But coming off Saturday's laugher, the Wings must feel confident they can notch the first road win of the series. Detroit got a big lift from the return of MVP finalist Pavel Datsyuk, who gritted his way through a suspected broken foot that sidelined him for the previous seven games to collect a pair of assists and log a healthy 18 minutes of ice time.

Datsyuk traditionally plays centre, but he moved to a less-demanding wing position for Game 5. Head coach Mike Babcock indicated after Monday's practice that Datsyuk and Dan Cleary would continue to flank Henrik Zetterberg —normally a left-winger — to begin Game 6.

"I liked the way they worked together," Babcock said. "[Datsyuk is] starting that way, and we'll see what happens."

Another Detroit winger in the spotlight for Game 6 is Marian Hossa. The high-scoring Slovak made headlines last summer by turning down a lucrative multi-year offer to stay in Pittsburgh in favour of a one-year, $7.45 million contract with the Wings — the team he figured offered the best shot at his first championship. The deal came less than a month after Hossa barely missed poking in the rebound off a Sidney Crosby backhand in the final seconds of last year's Game 6, giving the Cup to Detroit.

Hossa, who hears boos every time he touches the puck in Pittsburgh, said he's not bothered by the risk of looking like a fool should the Penguins bounce back to win the Cup and spoil his master plan.

"Everybody can say anything they want," he said. "That's something I cannot control.

"I made this decision. Whatever happens, I know I feel good."

End of the road?

While Tuesday night could be the last time Hossa appears in a Detroit uniform, it could also mark the end of the road for Chris Chelios. The contract of the 47-year-old Wings defenceman expires after this season, his 25th in the NHL. And if his ice time in the playoffs is any indication, there may not be a 26th.

Chelios, who began his pro career in 1984 — three years before the birth of teammates Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader — has appeared in just four post-season games. Because he hasn't played in the final and he suited up for less than half of the regular season, Chelios falls short of the guidelines required to get his name on the Cup for a fourth time.

The Wings, though, can petition the NHL to make an exception.

"If we win it, I'm not too worried about it," said Chelios, who won a ring with Montreal in 1986 and two more with Detroit. "My name is already on the Cup."

It takes two

For the Penguins to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Friday night in Detroit, they'll need the post-season's top two scorers to return to form. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for eight points in the two games in Pittsburgh, but just two — both by Malkin — in the three games in Detroit.

"I've got to be my best just like everyone else has to," said Crosby. "These are the games where we all need to find a way to find that extra level. I'm not any different."

Marc-André Fleury will also need to rebound after failing to survive the Game 5 shooting gallery, getting the hook for allowing five goals on 21 shots.

If the Penguins become the first team since the 1978 Boston Bruins to lose consecutive Cup finals, some of the blame may fall on their up-and-down goalie.

"We're lucky that we've made it here twice in a row," said Fleury, whose .902 save percentage is 10 points below his regular-season mark. "All the work it takes in a year to get here, we realize how much it takes.

"We can't quit now."