The Red Wings, who took a 1-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, held the Penguins to 19 shots in the game, including just seven over the final two periods.

"I thought we were nervous early. I didn't think we executed early," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "I thought once we got the tempo up and got skating, that things went our way better."

The Penguins, who came into the series with a 12-2 record, fell behind in a series for the first time in these playoffs.

"I don't know if it was the nerves. But definitely that was the worst performance of the playoffs," said Penguins coach Michel Therrien. "We didn't compete like we were supposed to compete. And it's a good lesson."

Samuelsson scored the Red Wings' first two goals - at 13:01 of the second and then at 2:16 of the third - off Pittsburgh turnovers to give Detroit control on the scoreboard.

"I think we played good as a team tonight. I'm lucky to be the one who scored a couple of goals," said Samuelsson.

Daniel Cleary scored shorthanded and Henrik Zetterberg scored on the power late in the game to round out the scoring for the Penguins.

Chris Osgood stopped 19 shots, including some big saves in the first and a key stop on a Pascal Dupuis breakaway in the second period when the game was still 0-0.

Once the Red Wings got the lead they bottled up the Penguins, holding them to just four shots in the second period and just three in the third. Overall the Penguins got just 19 shots in the game, and nine of those came on the power play.

"I don't think we came here expecting an easy series," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "For sure they played a tight checking game. That's playoff hockey. You still have to find ways around that."

And the Penguins' power play, which came into the series hitting at almost 25 percent, missed on some big chance in the first period. Pittsburgh got three straight opportunities with the man-advantage in the first 20 minutes, but couldn't cash in thanks to sharp goaltending by Osgood.

"The one thing we continue to say when we have a good night killing penalties [is] 'Chris Osgood's our best penalty killer,' " said Detroit forward Kris Draper. "And that's exactly what he was again tonight. They had some great chances early on. Ozzie was able to get a good piece of some shots they were getting towards the net. He's been great for us."

The power plays were missed opportunities to get an early lead on the Red Wings and some confidence in the game.

"We took some quality shots on the blue line. Didn't get the bounce around the net," said Therrien. "It would have been nice to get confidence with our power play."

Osgood came up big again in the second period when he made the stop on Dupuis to keep it a scoreless game.

Samuelsson broke the 0-0 tie when he picked off a pass in the neutral zone, skated into the Pittsburgh zone and beat Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrap-around at 13:01 of the second period.

He didn't score here lately, but he got an assist his last game," said Babcock. "Sami's kind of a streak guy. When he scores he feels good about himself. I thought he played big and strong."

Samuelsson then extended Detroit's lead to 2-0 when a bad exchange in front of the Pittsburgh net led to Samuelsson getting the puck, and he beat Fleury 2:16 into the third to put Detroit in control of the game.

The Penguins had a power play chance with 4:33 left and an opportunity to cut the lead to 2-1, but Clearly scored a shorthanded goal when he won a race for a puck that rebounded off the end boards and beat Fleury with a backhand shot.

Zetterberg rounded out the scoring by tallying a power play goal with 13 seconds left to make it a 4-0 final. Game 2 is Monday night in Detroit.

• The Penguins get three straight power play chances in the first period, but Detroit goalie Chris Osgood comes up with some good stops to keep Pittsburgh off the board.
   
• The Red Wings appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a Nicklas Lidstrom shot with 4:40 left in the first, but the goal was waved off because of goalie interference on Tomas Holmstrom. That call seemed to ignite the Red Wings.
   
• With the game still scoreless in the second period, Osgood stops Pascal Dupuis on a breakaway to keep it 0-0.
   
• Mikael Samuelsson picks off a pass in the neutral zone, carries it into the Pittsburgh zone and scores on a wrap-around to put Detroit up 1-0 at 13:01 of the second.
   
• Samuelsson makes it a 2-0 Detroit lead off another Pittsburgh turnover, this one right in front of the Penguins net, at 2:16 of the third period.

Holmstrom wasn't in the crease, but he did appear to use his stick to interfere with the Pittsburgh goalie just before a shot by defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom went into the net.

Here's the transcript of Detroit coach Mike Babcock being questioned about the call after the game.

Q. Mike, you looked pretty animated on the disallowed goal. I had a sense you didn't agree with the call. Are they coming down a little too hard on him now?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: You're setting me up here. You throw me a softball you want me to respond. You watched the game. Was he in the crease?

Q. I thought maybe his stick might be in between the goal.

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: That's the rule, you can't put your stick in the crease now, is it? Did they change that when I wasn't watching?

Q. I thought it was between his leg. I could be wrong.

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Did he touch his pads in any way or interfere with him in any way?

Q. Regardless, are you concerned they're coming down too hard on Holmstrom now?
COACH MIKE BABCOCK: They gotta decide. I just coach the game. I don't get to referee it.

Detroit goalie Chris Osgood

"I think they're an excellent, excellent hockey club and I think they're scary. We had some puck luck on the first penalty kills. Ozzie made some real good saves. But the game can be totally different, and then we score first. And it seemed to be a big thing that got going. So to answer your question is maybe if they score first, maybe it's different that way for them."

Detroit coach Mike Babcock

"Obviously every time you go further in the playoffs you meet quality teams. And there's no doubt this is the best team we're facing right now. That's why we're here."

Pittsburgh coach Michel Therien

"They're a good hockey team. They play tight. I don't think we came here expecting an easy series. For sure they played a tight checking game. But that's playoff hockey. You still have to find ways around that. And for us, we all have more success when we moved our feet. In the second period we didn't do that a whole lot. So make sure we do a better job getting the puck forward and moving our feet a little more?"

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby