Helm's OT goal puts Red Wings back in Cup finals

DETROIT -- Darren Helm scored 3:~ Detroit will face Pittsburgh in a Cup finals rematch.

58 into overtime to give the defending champion Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, setting up a Stanley Cup finals rematch with Pittsburgh.

Detroit won the Western Conference finals 4-1. The Red Wings and Penguins, coming off a four-game sweep over Carolina in the East, will open the championship series Saturday night in Detroit.

Helm sent off a celebration after fanning with a shot attempt from the edge of the crease and having the puck go in off his skate.

"We squeaked one by him," Helm said.

Detroit's Marian Hossa, left, shakes hands with Chicago's Jonathan Toews after Wednesday's game in Detroit. (CARLOS OSORIO ~ Associated Press)

Detroit's Dan Cleary opened the scoring 6:08 into the third period, and Chicago's Patrick Kane tied it with 7:07 left in regulation with his first goal of the series.

Cristobal Huet, playing for the injured Nikolai Khabibulin, made 44 saves for the Blackhawks. He forced overtime with a spectacular stop from his stomach, lifting his right leg to knock away Johan Franzen's shot in the closing seconds.

Detroit's Chris Osgood stopped 30 shots.

The Red Wings will face Pittsburgh in what is the NHL's first Stanley Cup rematch since the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders in 1984 after losing to them during the previous year.

The Red Wings, the first defending champion to get back to the finals since New Jersey in 2001, are trying to become the first team to repeat since winning the Cup in 1997 and '98.

In the Western Conference finale, both teams were missing key players.

Detroit was without six-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom; his replacement, Jonathan Ericsson; MVP finalist Pavel Datsyuk; and four-time Cup-winning forward Kris Draper. In addition to Khabibulin, Chicago faced elimination without star forward Martin Havlat.