Wings get the Power of Pavel in Game Five

Is Red Wings coach Mike Babcock nervous? Maybe So. Would he love to have his best puck moving forward back, even if it wasn’t in the middle of the ice? Of Course. The Red Wings will have last year’s Selke Trophy winner on the ice of Joe Louis Arena for tonight’s pivotal game five against the best player face of the NHL and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Babcock says that Pavel Datsuyk will not start at center right away, but that could ultimately be where he ends up when the the final bell rings in game five, if he can stay effective.

"“We’re going to see how he does,” Babcock said. “If he looks like himself, he’ll be in the middle.”"

However Dan Cleary will be a game time decision tonight, due to lower back strain. Cleary didn’t skate in the morning free skate, and said he would see how warm ups go before the game. Cleary has been a big part of this playoff run, scoring 14 points in 20 games played this post-season. If the Wings go without Cleary, Michigan native and Michigan State star Justin Abdelkader could be the man called up for duty.

It seems that the Wings will put Datsyuk right back where he belongs alongside Zetterberg and Franzen. Here are this mornings pairings for practice:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Franzen

Holmstrom-Filppula-Hossa
Hudler-Helm-Samuelsson
Leino-Draper-Maltby

Brian Rafalksi, who struggled a bit in game four (mainly on the short handed goal) did not skate this morning, but he will play tonight. The Defense has been loud and clear about what went wrong in game four, including Brad Stuart, who knows it is key to keep composure all night long if the Wings want to play to the ability they know they can. An Ability that the Wings haven’t reached all series:

"“We had an 8-, or 9- or 10-minute stretch where we just lost our composure a little bit. We gave up a lot of chances and we gave up three-on-twos, four-on-twos, and two-on-ones, and stuff that we don’t normally do. That was the difference in the game. They took advantage of our mistakes. We have no one to blame but ourselves for giving up those opportunities.“Sometimes if you lose a game like that and there are a lot of things that are very obvious that you did wrong, you’re more aware of it. Maybe if it was a tight game where there was one mistake. … But we know what we have to do. We’ve got to be more focused, keep our composure for the whole game.”"

Keys to the Game–

Though it is obvious that the Wings have to cut down on turnovers and simple mistakes, the play of Pavel Datsyuk on the opposing end will be key. Evgeni Malkin has had seven points so far in four games of this series. Datsyuk and Zetterberg allow the Wings now to shut down the top two ‘threats’ for the Penguins.

When it comes to the net, Chris Osgood has been doing everything you can ask for in my opinion. He has stopped breakaways, and made the big saves when called upon. Sure, he has been a bit shaky with people in front of him, but the defense hasn’t been helping him out nearly enough. If the defense continues to play at the level it is, it will be hard for Ozzy to keep the pens in the game, but it seems that they have made the adjustments possible.

Offensively, the Wings need to get back to their style of play. In games three and four, the offensive pressure has lacked, and the big playmakers have dissapeared. Having Datsuyk will help, but where has some of these offensive threats dissapeared to? Thomas Holmstrom hasn’t scored in sixteen games. Marian Hossa has yet to light the lamp against the team he left to win a Stanley Cup. Little Juri Hudler has only put four shots on goal this series. The Wings will need the continued solid play from Johan Franzen, Darren Helm and company if they want to win tonight. The goal has to be to not make this game a shootout,by cutting down the chances for Pittsburgh. If it does open up to goal scoring mayhem though, Detroit’s big guns have to be alive and keep them in the game.

If Dan Cleary starts like ewxpected, It would mean that Holmstrom will shift to the fourth line with Maltby and Draper.  Here is how the lines would look most likely:

Offensive:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Franzen
Cleary-Filppula-Hossa
Hudler-Helm-Samuelsson
Holmstrom-Draper-Maltby
Leino-Abdelkader (scratched)

Defensive:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lebda
Chelios-Lilja-Meech (scratches)

I would not be surpised if Mike Babcock mixes things up to get Holmstrom oppurtunities. Having Draper and Maltby on the ice with him doesn’t give him a good chance to mix the puck around and get it up front. Possibly moving him up with Helm and Sammuelsson could help him bury one in the net. Especially if Hudler continues to struggle on the offensive side.