Wings in Six

Sometimes work gets in the way. Unfortunately, I was not able to post late last week as promised with my predictions for the finals, and now that everyone has seen the first game, some of the predictions may ring hollow. However, it is with best intentions that I will now come up with the goods as I would have reported them Friday before the game one beatdown that Detroit put on the young bucks from Pittsburgh.

As I alluded to in my previous post, I think that there are two real difference makers in this series. The first is the depth of Detroit's defense. When Lidstrom and Rafalski play half the game and then the Wings can roll out guys like Kronwall, Stuart, and Chelios (even though he didn't dress for game one), the Pens are going to have a difficult time penetrating deep enough to create chances. The bigger question mark I had was whether or not Osgood was going to be able to step up and be the best goalie in the series. Clearly in game one he was phenomenal, but the Wings are going to have to be better than they were in the first period at limiting opportunities for Sid and company because Osgood can't be expected to hold down the fort alone.

My prediction before it began was for Detroit in six. I think that the opportunity to take advantage of home ice and their depth on defense will allow them to get a lead in the series and their experience will allow them to finish what they've started. After watching the first game there's a part of me that would like to shorten that prediction to five games, but I'm going to stick with six. I think that Pittsburgh is going to learn several lessons from that first game and they're going to come back with a better effort for a full 60 minutes tonight rather than coming out hard in the first and then losing their grip after intermission.

Detroit looked great Saturday night, but this one is a long way from over yet. Let's just hope that the boys can keep rolling and take a more commanding lead tonight!