A bitter end for Stuart's Cup run

DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart had the misfortune of being the goat on both of Pittsburgh's goals Friday in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. He accepted responsibility on the first one, but said he would do nothing differently on the second one. Stuart, trapped in the corner with nowhere to go, made a bad pass that deflected off Evgeni Malkin and led to Maxime Talbot's first goal at 1:13 of the second period. Stuart later pinched in and lost a battle for the puck, resulting in a two-on-one break that led to Talbot's second goal, the game-winner. "I just tried to make a play that I shouldn't have. It hit a shin pad and popped out in the middle," Stuart said of the first goal. "I should have just made the safe play. That's my bad. "The second one, we had our third guy (Jiri Hudler) in the middle (of the ice). Unfortunately, it got chipped by him. It was just one of those plays. I'd make that play again." It was a rough ending to a strong playoff performance by Stuart, one of the team's unsung heroes. The defenseman was among the team leaders with 55 hits and also contributed offensively with three goals (one more than his regular-season total) and six assists. He logged more minutes and stepped up his play when defensemen Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom missed time with injuries. "It was a little tough for this go-around with injuries," Stuart said. "We lost some of our top guys for a few games, but a lot of our guys stepped up and filled in. That's the reason we got as far as we did." Datsyuk mum on injury Pavel Datsyuk would not reveal how much his foot injury affected him the last three games or provide any details on the extent of the injury. He was injured when he blocked a shot in Game 2 of the last round against Chicago. He missed seven games. "It's too late about injuries, now especially," Datsyuk said. "My body doesn't feel anything now. I feel it's empty now. "It was a tough series definitely. It's hard to lose in a Game 7 at home with our fans. It is a little tough to talk about it now. It is what it is. We need to still live with this one now." Chelios' last hurrah Chris Chelios arrived in Detroit 10 years ago, expecting to play a few more seasons before retiring. He wound up spending parts of 10 seasons with the Red Wings , appearing in 578 games and winning three Stanley Cups. The club is not expected to re-sign him. But Chelios is not prepared to retire. He hopes to play next season for another club. "Until he gets up to that podium and announces that he's retired, I wouldn't count him out at all," teammate Brett Lebda said. "He wants to play as long as his body will let him and as long as this league will let him." Samuelsson, Hudler in limbo Forwards Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson might have played their final game with the Red Wings Friday. If the club re-signs Marian Hossa, as expected, it likely won't have the salary-cap space to re-sign Hudler, a restricted free agent, or Samuelsson, who is unrestricted. Defenseman Andreas Lilja, Samuelsson's close friend, sees the writing on the wall. "I try not to think about it," Lilja said. "Of course, I know it's there. Everybody in here isn't going to stay for next year." Lilja would be losing his driving buddy. He and Samuelsson live on the same street and drive to the arena together. "It's been great, we've been doing it for four years," Lilja said. "We know each other really good. ... I get sick of him all the time. We clear the air once a week."