GDT: Wings vs. Stars [Game #6]

Tonight's game in Dallas is essentially a must-win game for either team despite Detroit being up 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals. If Dallas were to win tonight, it'd be their third consecutive win in the series and they would have all the momentum heading back to Detroit. Obviously, Detroit wants to finish up this series tonight and earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2002. The winner of this series will get to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Be sure to check out fellow SBN blog, PensBurgh, for a recap of the Pens 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

For Detroit, they need to play disciplined. No dumb penalties like Holmstrom's roughing penalty in the third. No dumb mental mistakes like Chelios' line change that resulted in a goal. They need to stay loose and play Detroit puck possession hockey. They cannot allow Dallas to dictate the style of play. In addition, the Wings need to score first. Not only do they need to take the home crowd of the game as soon as possible, but the team that has scored first has won each of the five games in this series.

Johan Franzen remains out for Detroit. He has started riding the stationary bike and his headaches have gone away, but they have not cleared him to play. Head coach Mike Babcock says that as soon as he is cleared to skate, he'll play in the game. IF Detroit makes it to the finals, we might see Franzen then. But he won't play in this series.

The game starts at 8pm and will be shown on Versus. Go Wings!

PS. WIM will be upgraded to the SBN 2.0 version, which is really exciting! The new design is certainly a big improvement and there are also other features that can increase reader interaction. For an idea of what WIM will look like tomorrow, you can check out Athletics Nation to view the new design!