That the Detroit Red Wings are even in a Game 6 on Monday night against the Dallas Stars would have been unfathomable a few games ago when the Stars had even yet to lead in the series and were down 3-0.
But now the pressure is on the Wings after dropping the past two games. In fact, Wings coach Mike Babcock said he might make lineup changes for Game 6, in which Detroit is a -135 money line betting favorite (over/under: 5) on WagerWeb.com.
"Right at game time, you're going to know," Babcock said.
One change Babcock would like to make is to get forward Johan Franzen back in the lineup. Detroit won its first two games in this series without the "Mule," who has been sidelined with concussion-like symptoms, to extend its playoff winning streak to a franchise-record nine games.
But not having Franzen, the playoffs' top goal scorer, finally may be taking a toll as Detroit has only managed a goal in each of the past two games.
In addition, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, the Red Wings' two leading scorers during the regular season, were shut down in Games 4 and 5.
Datsyuk has not scored since his hat trick in the Red Wings' 5-2 victory in Game 3, and Zetterberg had a three-game goal streak snapped Saturday.
Detroit likely will again have to find a way to win without Franzen. Babcock said Sunday that Franzen no longer has persistent headaches, but has not been cleared to practice.
That still leaves Daniel Cleary, Valtteri Filppula and Mikael Samuelsson to man the second line. But from Game 2 on, the three have produced just one assist."This game can't be won with just Pav and Hank," center Kris Draper said. "Everyone has to realize that. We need everybody going. We need some other guys to step up. Put pressure on myself to score, Kirk Maltby to score, Dan Cleary, Filppula. Guys like that have to step up and take a little bit of pressure off Pav and Hank. Those guys are playing unbelievable, they're creating a lot of opportunities and it didn't go in."
And now the Stars are confident they can finish what would be a historic comeback.
"I think that's crept into all of us a little bit," Dallas captain Brenden Morrow said. "It's building. We're getting a little more of that feeling. None of us will be content just to make a series out of it. We want to win this thing."
Detroit, however, has lost four straight games only once all season.
"We still have to stay loose as a group," Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "I think the experience really helps when you're in a situation like this."
Dallas is the 13th team out of 153 to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 3-2 series. Only five have forced a deciding game, and only two have come all the way back to win the series. Toronto did it in 1942. The New York Islanders did it 33 years later, in 1975.
The Stars are the fifth team in the past 20 years to force a Game 6 after being three games down. All four previous teams (San Jose this year, Colorado in 2004, Carolina in 2001 and Hartford in 1988) have each been eliminated in Game 6.
Dallas will be without Jere Lehtinen (groin injury), Stu Barnes (concussion-like symptoms), Mark Fistric (mono) and Philippe Boucher (hip strain) for Game 6.
Betting trends: Red Wings are 7-1 in their last 8 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game. ... Stars are 1-4 in their last 5 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game. ... Over is 5-1-1 in Red Wings' ½ last 7 road games. ... Under is 6-1-2 in Stars� last 9 overall. ... Under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Dallas. ... Red Wings are 12-4-3 in the last 19 meetings in Dallas.
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