The only hope that Kane and Toews have to keep their playoff beards going in tonight's Game 5 in Detroit is the return of Nikolai Khabibulin after the dismal performance put in by Cristobal Huet in Game 4. The reappearance of Martin Havlat, knocked out of the last two games, the first time quite literally, is also something the Chicago faithful should be pulling for. If he can make it back onto the ice, one has to wonder at what sort of effectiveness level he will be operating at.
The Red Wings seemingly have the ability to answer any Chicago goal at will and will no doubt be looking to end the series as quickly as possible to get some rest and recuperation for Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Draper before the finals.
As for the Penguins game versus the Hurricanes last night, we don't think that an experienced team like the Hurricanes are going to pack it in, but the fluky, fluttering goal that eluded Cam Ward for Pittsburgh's second goal is exactly the kind of thing to make you believe it's not going to be your night.
Pittsburgh really looks like a team on a mission and we will fully admit that the last thing we expected was a four game sweep. We really expected this one to go six, if not seven. As mentioned on the broadcast last night, the Penguins have become a team that will severely punish mistakes similar to the Red Wings, although we believe the Red Wings punish more than just mistakes. It's like they are on an even higher level, and will punish poor execution, that ordinarily wouldn't even result in a turnover, like a semi-whiffed pass that would usually find it's mark against most teams.
Finally, it was certainly sad to hear of the passing of Peter Zezel at age 44.
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