Detroit Red Wings look to defend home ice in Game 5
After taking the early 2-0 series lead, the Detroit Red Wings appeared to be in command. But the Pittsburgh Penguins refused to go down without a fight, tieing up the series on their home ice. Now Detroit returns home for Game 5, and this one is tough to call; will the home crowd carry the Red Wings to victory, or will the Penguins carry the momentum of two straight wins into tonight and steal one in Hockeytown?
If this series has taught us anything, it is that home ice just might be important.
Detroit took both Game 1 and Game 2 in convincing defensive fashion, stifling the high powered Penguins offense and limiting them to only one goal a game in two final scores of 3-1 each.
The Penguins left their offensive woes in Detroit as they had no trouble lighting the lamp back at home in Pittsburgh, not only outscoring the Red Wings but doing a little defensive stifling of their own, winning both games by finals of 4-2.
So now we find ourselves at a pivotal Game 5, and it’s a virtually impossible game to cap. There are strong arguments for both sides.
The Pittsburgh side: All the reasons that Pittsburgh was considered improved from last year and a real threat to Detroit this year have become apparent in the last two games. Their ability to create offense, especially with Malkin and Crosby on the ice, is incredible; but their improved defense and goaltending have been even more impressive, as Detroit hasn’t even scored more than three goals in a game in this series. With all the momentum and a world of confidence, Pittsburgh has Detroit on their heels, and will go into Detroit and steal the road game they need.
The Detroit side: Detroit has been there and done that. They are a veteran team that knows how to win, especially on their home ice, and they are not the type of team to just roll over. They can overcome adversity and have before. It can also be argued that not only are they the better team on paper, but they haven’t really even put their best effort together in this series yet. Back at home, they can not only take comfort in the fact that they beat Pittsburgh in Game 1 and Game 2, but they can also feed off of the energy of the home fans to get their legs back under them.
So which side are you taking? Your guess is as good as mine. Personally, I’ll be taking the Penguins for two reasons. First of all, I took the Penguins to win the series in 6 and knew they’d have to steal one in Detroit eventually; tonight seems like a good a time as any. But more importantly, in a game that could very easily go either way between two teams that should now be accepted as fairly evenly matched, Pittsburgh +135 makes a lot more sense to me than Detroit -155.
The Pick: Pittsburgh +135
Detroit Red Wings look to defend home ice in Game 5 (Article)
