The Penguins earned it — the game and the expected-goals battle both.
The Penguins demolished the Red Wings 4-1, and the underlying numbers backed the margin — except for one detail. Pittsburgh controlled 67% of expected goals at 5v5 (3.91–1.95), a gap that typically demands a wider scoreline. J. Gibson saved 1.91 goals above expected, a stark overperformance that made an overwhelming advantage look merely decisive.
Detroit's collapse started with volume. The Red Wings managed just 12 shot attempts to Pittsburgh's 31, generating 1.95 xG — and then underperformed even that. High-danger chances went 3–6 to Pittsburgh. The Penguins' shot quality was superior: 0.069 xG per shot versus Detroit's 0.047. Every opportunity cut deeper.
Pittsburgh was efficient in transition, scoring three goals on 29 rush chances. Two came from low-danger areas, the sort of margins that emerge when a team controls the game this thoroughly. S. Skinner stopped 11 of 12 with a 0.917 save percentage and a +0.95 differential, solid work against manageable volume.
The stat that matters most is Gibson's. He saved 1.91 goals beyond expectation and lost by three. That's the measure of Pittsburgh's dominance.