The Penguins' Stanley Cup battle starts tomorrow in Detroit, but it will still be a hockey night at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins will open the arena for tomorrow's and Monday's final-round games, giving their zealous fans a super-sized game room, albeit one with ice, to cheer on Crosby, Fleury, Malkin and the rest.

The games will be shown on the arena's Jumbotron, which will be lowered closer to the ice for better viewing. There will be video highlights and the usual fan-pumping music during stoppages in play. The horn will sound when the Penguins score, followed by the "Hey" song. Concession stands will be open and souvenirs will be sold.

About the only thing missing will be the teams themselves.

"Our fans like to get together and watch the games. So this gives them a big forum to watch the games and feel like they're part of it," Penguins President David Morehouse said yesterday.

The cost of a ticket will be $5 and the seating will be general admission. All proceeds will go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation for cancer and neonatal research. Doors will open at 7 p.m., an hour before game time, and parking in the arena lots will be free after 6 p.m.

Mr. Morehouse said the team decided to open Mellon Arena based on the success of the outdoor venue at Gate 3, where as many as 4,000 fans have shown up to watch both home and away games on a big screen.

"What we found for the away games was that far more fans were showing up than we had space for. In order to accommodate more people, we decided to open the building," he said.

The Penguins aren't sure just how many people will show up at the arena tomorrow and Memorial Day to watch the games. At least several thousand could be possible, given the recent crowds outside the arena.

"It's never been done before, so we don't know," spokesman Tom McMillan noted. "It's uncharted water, but it's fun."

Tickets for the games are on sale online at www.ticketmaster.com and at the arena's Gate 1 box office.

The 12-foot by 16-foot LED screen won't be in operation outside the arena for the first two games, but will return for Games 3 and 4 when the Penguins will be at home.

Kevin Joyce, proprietor of The Carlton restaurant, Downtown, and immediate past president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, welcomed the news that the arena would be open.

He said that might help bring people Downtown on nights when they normally would stay at home to watch the Penguins. That, in turn, could generate more business for his restaurant and others.

While it also could draw some people away from bars and restaurants to watch the games at the arena, Mr. Joyce believes that impact will be negligible.

"I guess you can always find something wrong with something like that. From my perspective, I think it's great. I think there will be plenty of fans watching at the arena, plenty of fans watching at home and plenty of fans watching in bars and restaurants," he said.

"When the city gets caught up in a Stanley Cup run like this, it's the most exciting thing in the world."

One who will be going to Detroit rather than Mellon Arena to watch the first two games will be Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

After initially asking the city Law Department for a ruling on whether he could accept free tickets as part of the trip, Mr. Ravenstahl decided yesterday to pay for all expenses out of his own pocket, spokeswoman Joanna Doven said. Tickets to the first two games will cost him $350 each.

"He's pretty sure it's legal to pay for it himself so he preferred to go that route," Ms. Doven said.

The city code bars the mayor from taking anything of value from anybody with business before the city, with exceptions including official travel and sporting event tickets worth no more than $100.

Mr. Ravenstahl ended up in hot water last year after attending a high-dollar charity golf outing as a guest of the Penguins and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. As a result, he requested the Law Department ruling, but didn't wait for the answer before deciding to pay his own way.