Game 5 Stanley Cup Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings

Jun 02, 2008 | By Adam McLean | Picks Articles Archive

With the Detroit Red Wings winning Game 4, 2-1 in Pittsburgh, the Wings have three chances at raising the Cup, which will likely be tonight. The Wings host the Penguins tonight and their home crowd will expect nothing less than a win. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have the Wings as -240 moneyline favs over the Penguins +200 with the over/under listed at 5 goals. Get your Stanley Cup Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com

GAME: Pittsburgh Penguins (60-32-4-4) at Detroit Red Wings (69-26-2-5)
DATE/TIME: Monday, June 02 - 8:00 PM EST
LINE: SBGglobal.com TOTAL: 5
PICK: Detroit -240

The Wings won their most important game Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in the Finals, only one team in NHL history has come back from a 1-3 deficit. Detroit can raise the Cup tonight in front of their home crowd. They’ve been so good in the Finals, and playoffs, that there’s already talk about the candidates for the Con Smyth Trophy. Only problem is that there’s so many candidates. Goalie Chris Osgood has been outstanding going 13-3 with a 1.45 GAA, Henrik Zetterberg has 23 points in the playoffs and he has a NHL-high plus-16 rating thanks in part to his stellar defensive play. Pavel Datsyuk has 20 points with a plus-13 rating. Still, they need to win one more game. "We know we're up and need only one more win, but you can't allow yourself to think ahead," Lidstrom said. "You have to just think about the game." If they win tonight it will be the fourth Stanley Cup for Nickolas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, and Darren McCarty.

The Penguins are down but not out, after the horn sounded last game they were clearly frustrated as they tried to stir the Wings up. But they wouldn’t bite. The Pens don’t know what to do to beat the league’s best team. They put their best three players, Crosby, Malkin and Hossa on one line hoping to get some offense, but that only worked in Game 3. Malkin has been the biggest disappointment, he’s been held scoreless by Detroit after he had 19 points in 14 playoff games and 106 points in the regular season, second only to Washington's Alexander Ovechkin. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been great throughout the playoffs, but against Detroit’s high powered offense he doesn’t stand a chance. He’s allowed 11 goals in four games for a 2.75 GAA. The Pens have been outscored in Detroit 7-0. Their last win in Detroit was in 2003.

Recent Trends to Consider

Favorite is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
Home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
Penguins are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings.
Penguins are 0-4 in the last 4 meetings in Detroit.
Red Wings are 10-2 in their last 12 playoff games as a favorite.

The Bottom Line: I’m shocked that the Pens won a game against the Wings. There’s no chance in hell that the Wings aren’t going to raise the Cup on home ice. Get your Stanley Cup Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 30% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit.

Game 5 Stanley Cup Finals: Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings

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