DETROIT (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers "won one for the thumb," at Ford Field in 2006, when they beat Seattle for the franchise's fifth Super Bowl.

If the Detroit Red Wings beat Pittsburgh Friday night about a mile away at Joe Louis Arena, a quartet of players will become the first to win five Stanley Cup rings with the team.

Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby helped Detroit beat the Penguins in the finals last year and also hoisted the Cup in 2002, 1998 and 1997.

Draper, though, couldn't bring himself to share his thoughts on what it would mean to carve out his own spot in Red Wings lore.

"To really talk about something that hasn't happened yet, is not easy to do that," Draper said Wednesday, a day after Pittsburgh's 2-1 win forced a Game 7 in Detroit. "For now, there's a lot of work to be done."

Oh, the memories

Game 7 is necessary in the Stanley Cup finals for the fifth time this decade, and participants in the latest one surely have mixed emotions about previous experiences.

Pittsburgh forward Ruslan Fedotenko scored both of Tampa Bay's goals in the 2004 finals to beat Calgary for the championship.

The year before, the New Jersey Devils got past Anaheim in Game 7 when Mike Babcock was its coach and Dan Bylsma was one of his players.

"When you don't get it (the Stanley Cup), it's painful," Bylsma said. "And when you get it, it's glorious."

Game 6 ratings dip

The Stanley Cup finals are going to a Game 7 for the first time since 2006, giving the series a chance to build on strong television ratings.

NBC said Wednesday that the Pittsburgh Penguins' 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6 on Tuesday night earned a 4.1 overnight rating and 7 share. That's down 7 percent from the 4.4 for last year's Game 6, when the Red Wings clinched the title. Unlike in 2008, this season's game went up against the NBA finals.