~Wings need Game 4 victory~
-By Mike Moore-
Ah yes, the playoff panic has already set in, and it took just three games, or, to be more exact, just nine quick seconds in the third game.
The Wings and the Predators resume their Western Conference playoff series later tonight in Nashville, and while the Wings hold a 2-1 series lead, and by all accounts are the much superior team, the nervousness in fans that seems to arrive every spring about this time, has, well, arrived.The poise of the Wings has been called into question, many are claming for Chris Osgood to replace Dominik Hasek in goal, but few seem to realize the guys with the winged wheel on the sweater really are in no trouble (yet).
Remember, as mentioned a moment ago, the Wings do in fact hold a 2-1 series lead. Should Nashville find a way to tie things up tonight, the Wings would still have home ice advantage, would still be favored (expected) to come out victorious. As a matter of fact, if Nashville somehow wins three straight and takes a 3-2 series lead, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the Wings to move on to the second round.
Now, with all that said, the Wings need to win tonight.
They need to put a strangle hold on this series, and then, come Friday at home, they need to drive the nail through the coffin.
It’s required some late night, and a tolerance for some questionable commentating on CBC (or the ability to locate Versus), but anyone who’s watched the other Western Conference series’ understands the favor Detroit would do itself by ending round one quickly, then simply waiting for round two to begin.
Consider, San Jose (second seed) and Calgary (7) have beaten each other up for four games now, and they will play two more at the least. The same can be said for Minnesota (3) and Colorado (6). Those team’s four games have already seen three overtime finishes and will also play at least six. Meanwhile, the Anaheim (4) and Dallas (5) series, one many expected to be a seven-game slugfest, is playing out exactly that way. (Dallas leads 2-1 with Game 4 tonight as well).
Chances are good, almost certain actually, if the Wings get out of round one, round two is going to require some serious miles in the air, whether that be to Calgary, Colorado, Dallas or Anaheim, all of which are potential conference semifinal match ups.
Many shrug off the notion of finishing first in the conference, especially when Detroit does it. But so far, in these playoffs, it has been and could be a huge advantage. The Wings drew the worst of the eight teams in the West, avoided serious travel in the first round, and, with two more wins, can sit back and relax while the rest of the conference beats itself up.
Playoff panic took just nine seconds to enter this series, it could be erased in one simple game, one needed win. Then you can bottle it up, tuck it safely away somewhere and just wait to bring it out in round two.
Send questions or comments to mjm12@albion.edu
