Two 8-Ball Games Coming Up

After a Memorial Day holiday in the States on Monday, the NHL will resume it's Conference Finals schedule with an elimination game on Tuesday. The Hurricanes are now sitting behind the 8-ball in their series with the Penguins, down 3-0.

The Hurricanes, who had two tough series leading up to the Conference Finals, are not showing the same sort of fight that helped them past the Devils and Bruins in the first two rounds and are in a much tougher spot than they were at any point in the first two rounds. This 8-ball is looming large.

As for the Penguins, you can chalk up their success to their superstars in Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, who have both been playing with MVP-aspirations. In the pool, Malkin and Crosby are one-two in scoring, Malkin with 31 points and Crosby with 27. Malkin does have 11 points in the series against the Hurricanes, including a pair of GWG, which has been rather clutch.

It's hard to even give the Hurricanes a game in this series, but there should be some fight left in them, as they are a resilient bunch of players. It may be a game for Marc-Andre Fleury to steal for the Penguins, as he should be bombarded by all sorts of shots tonight.

On Wednesday, the Blackhawks will try and keep their hopes alive in Detroit in Game 5 of the series. The young Chicago team is currently down 3-1 in their series and are now behind the 8-ball, especially playing again in Joe Louis Arena.

The Blackhawks have not been intimidated by the Red Wings at all in this series, but you could argue that they have fallen victim to some bounces, possibly attributed to the Red Wings veteran savvy. The Blackhawks have managed to put 9 goals in the Detroit net in 4 games, but you know you are going to have to put in more to beat them.

The Red Wings have been able to flex some of their experienced muscles, especially in Game 4, which could easily have smashed any sort of confidence into virtually nothing. A 6-1 blowout in the opposition's building does look awfully terrible on the Blackhawks, especially when the two teams were involved in a close overtime finish in Game 3. Depth has been the Red Wings key to victory, especially with the injuries to Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom of late. Despite not having two defensive stalwarts available, the Wings have done a good job filling the gaps.

Game 5 on Wednesday will likely be one that Chicago runs & guns Detroit, but the Red Wings will weather the storm and use their awesome transitional game to capitalize on the young mistakes. It could be a bit of a shootout, by the looks of things.