The Detroit Red Wings' schedule was all topsy-turvy yesterday.

Something ordinary might have been team meetings, followed by practice, travel, dinner and rest.

Something extraordinary might have been a daylong date with the Stanley Cup, celebrating with the people of Detroit and planning a parade.

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In this case, what often is first was last -- and perhaps most important. In the early evening, after arriving in Pittsburgh, the team gathered to discuss the Stanley Cup final, which was extended to Game 6 tonight after the Penguins won Game 5, 4-3, in three overtimes to keep Detroit from clinching the series.

"Things will be said, things we have to do better," defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said just before the little summit.

"And me, as the captain, I'll say a few things as well -- that we still have a great opportunity to win, and even though we lost [Game 5], we didn't play a bad game."

The Red Wings lead the series, 3-2, but had hoped to spend yesterday kicking back, not starting the day with an optional practice before flying here and getting ready for their next crack at lifting the Cup.

That doesn't mean they are on their heels.

"I think the mood of the team was fairly good coming over here on the flight," Lidstrom said.

The issue wasn't just that Detroit failed to close out the series in its' first opportunity, and to do so at home.

It was also the way it happened, with the Red Wings overcoming a 2-0 deficit and their fans ready to see the Cup brought onto the ice -- only to see the Penguins' Max Talbot tie the score, 3-3, with 34.3 seconds remaining.

And then to have Petr Sykora give the Penguins another chance with the winning goal at 9:57 of the sixth period of the night.

"You think about it for a second, yeah, but that was it really," Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood said. "You just move on and you take a deep breath and you feel confident that we're still in a good position. We knew it was going to be tough."

A few of the Red Wings said it wasn't until afterward that they thought about how close they came to claiming the Cup.

"It's nice to be close to it," coach Mike Babcock said. "Be nicer to have it.

"I think the disappointment phase ends about 15 minutes [after] you're out of the room. For me, it was when I got home, talked to my wife for a second. She was disappointed, too."

Disappointment is different from defeat, and Detroit is determined to make the most of its next chance. If the Red Wings can't win tonight, the series would come down to a winner-take-all Game 7 Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

"Being your first opportunity [Monday], you're still in a great situation, so you don't want to look past that," defenseman Brian Rafalski said. "So it's not hard to move forward because you still have an opportunity here. To say we were down or anything like that, that wasn't the case."

Although there was talk of a sweep or at least a smooth road to the Cup after the Red Wings shut out the Penguins by a combined 7-0 in Games 1 and 2, they didn't fall into the trap of believing that.

"You never expect it to be easy," Babcock said. "You knew it was going to be a battle, and it is. We've got a new day here, and let's get prepared for it."

Being on the road in this situation is hardly daunting for the Red Wings.

They clinched their first-round series at Nashville in Game 6, their second-round series at Colorado in a sweep, and the Western Conference final at Dallas in Game 6.

"We're a confident team. We're a confident group," center Kris Draper said. "We feel that we can come into another team's building and be successful. So here we go again."

They're also aware that giving themselves new life and playing at home will make the Penguins formidable.

"We know that coming off a win, they're going to be a confident team," Lidstrom said. "We were feeling the same way after a win. On the losing end, when you come back for the next one, we know we have to be even more prepared."