Pens and Red Wings set for tonight

May 30, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Tonight, the rematch begins. A year in the making as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin along with the rest of the Pens try to do what they couldn’t last Spring and take down Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and the rest of the Red Wings, who are aiming to become the first repeat winner since the Original Six franchise did it in 1997 and 98.

Is it Sid The Kid and Geno’s time like it was for The Great One and Messier when they finally ended the Islander dynasty? Or can the very deep and talented Wings reign supreme once again, continuing one of the great runs? It all gets going later tonight in prime time on NBC with a huge Game Two the next day, making it the first time in 54 years the first pair of Cup games are back-to-back. Will it favor the younger and healthier Pens or can defending champs show their playoff mettle?

We already know Lidstrom will be back tonight as will rookie Jonathan Ericsson which should give Detroit a nice boost. However, Pavel Datsyuk remains a huge question mark. Can the Wings win this series without their top point getter? Can they repeat without the Hart candidate doing much these playoffs? It’s pretty amazing that they are where they are despite that. Does the battle tested faceoff and PK specialist Kris Draper finally return? These are all good questions which won’t get answered until the weekend concludes.

Can the Pens exact revenge on Marian Hossa or will he comeback to burn his former ‘mates? It’s what makes this series intriguing. How will key pickups Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz perform under the spotlight? They’ve sure been good so far. Hell. Even Islander castoffs Ruslan Fedotenko and Miro Satan have shown up. Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy along with Matt Cooke will draw some checking duty. Figure them along with Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill to see a lot of Zetterberg and Franzen.

Does that open the door for overlooked forwards Dan Cleary, Mikael Samuelsson along with kids Jiri Hudler and Game 5 hero Darren Helm? Will Tomas Holmstrom drive Marc-Andre Fleury batty? That’s the thing about these Wings. They boast so much depth that it borders on scary. Can the Pens’ talent get to Chris Osgood?

You can’t forget to mention how good Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart have been as a pair and Brian Rafalski has looked great since returning to help them oust Anaheim.

How will Sergei Gonchar hold up for the Pens? Might Detroit look to pound him in the corners? And figure Brooks Orpik to work over a few Wings. Kris Letang has also come up big for the Pens which makes for a very good blueline battle.

Who will win out? Detroit’s experience or Pittsburgh’s hunger to hang a third championship banner at Mellon Arena?

It all starts in less than six hours! Question is how will the NHL do going up against the NBA with Orlando looking to close out LeBron James’ Cavs? We’ll see.