Karma Runs Wild in Game 7

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings have combined to play 209 games this season, and at 8 PM ET Friday, not one of those games will matter, as everything these two teams have accomplished this season will come down to 60 minutes. Perhaps the biggest 60 minutes any of these guys will ever play in their careers.

If you like the historical perspective of a Game 7, and if you're the superstitious type (and who among us isn't?) there's plenty of odd facts and dates that will make fans for both teams feel good about their chances in this winner take all game. From the department of stats that sound cool but don't really mean anything, consider the following.

If you're a Detroit fan...

-- As Bruce Ciskie pointed out on Wednesday, home teams are 12-2 in game 7's in the Stanley Cup Final, including a six-game winning streak dating back to 1971. To go even further, no road team in any North American sport has won a game 7 since 1979 (more on this in a bit).

-- The previous four times the Red Wings knocked out a Joel Quenneville coached team in the playoffs, they went on to win the cup. Detroit defeated the Quenneville-led Blackhawks in the Western Conference final this season in five games.

-- The Red Wings are 11-1 at home this postseason, including 3-0 against the Penguins. Detroit also won a game 7, at home, this season against Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Semifinal.

If you're a Pittsburgh fan...

-- Remember that stat about no North American team winning a road game 7 since 1979? Yeah, that team was a Pittsburgh team, as the '79 Pirates knocked off the Baltimore Orioles.

-- Both Stanley Cups that the Penguins won were clinched on the road. 1991 in Minnesota and 1992 in Chicago.

-- The Steelers and Pirates have both clinched championships in the city of Detroit. The Pirates defeated the Tigers in the 1909 World Series (in Game 7) while the Steelers won Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in 2005.

-- On this day in 1990, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Bob Johnson as their head coach. Johnson ultimately coached the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup championship in 1991, while the team has used his famous "It's a great day for hockey" quote as its marketing campaign this season. Not only was that the year the Penguins won their first championship, it was also the year they won their first ever division title, a title that was clinched with a 7-4 win ... in Detroit.

It's all for fun, of course, as none of this has any impact on the outcome of the game (unless the ghosts of Bob Johnson and Ty Cobb are actually throwing punches in the bowels of Joe Louis Arena, and wouldn't that be a sight to see). No, what matters in this game will be whether or not the Red Wings can continue their home-ice dominance, or if the Penguins can figure out a way to solve their troubles in Motown. In the three games in Detroit this final, the Wings have outscored the Penguins by an 11-2 margin, while they hold a commanding 21-6 edge over the past six finals games, including three shutouts.

We've already talked about all of that in this series. Endlessly. The keys from Game 1 haven't changed for game 7. We know it's going to come down to Marc-Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood, and Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg, and not taking penalties, and taking advantage of whatever opportunities each team comes across.