Injuries Highlight Game Six in Detroit

I really wish I've had the chance to use the 8-ball for the Red Wings earlier, but now that I'm getting into Game Six, there is some news to pass along, so why not use it now?

Sure, the Red Wings are behind the 8-ball, but much like the Blackhawks versus the Canucks in the first round, the Red Wings are finding ways to climb back into their series against the Sharks, after being down 3-0 already.

The biggest difference, I'm thinking, between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks is that the opposition has been much different in the series, as the Sharks have actually been trying to close out the series for a couple games, where the Canucks didn't put up much of a fight in the lead up to Game Seven.

The real story going into Game Six will be the injury situation for either team.

The Red Wings are not expecting to have Johan Franzen in their line-up on Tuesday night, as his ankle injury seems to be more serious now than it was earlier in the series. There is a very good chance that he aggravated the injury in Game Five, since he left that game in the 2nd period and didn't return.

In somewhat of a surprise turn of events, Ryane Clowe did not fly with the Sharks to Detroit for Game Six and will not be in the line-up to try and close out this series on Tuesday night.  No details have surfaced as to why Clowe didn't make the trip, but this could be a huge swing in the manpower of this series.

The Red Wings have been amazing in these playoffs with all of the injuries and the players that are playing hurt, their playoff prowess is off the charts this year.  This has to discount the effect that the loss of Franzen will bring to the team going into Game Six at home, especially since they pretty well missed him for half of Game Five and still pulled it out.  The loss of Clowe will definitely hurt the Sharks, likely much more so than the loss of Franzen, which makes me believe we'll be seeing this series head back to the shark tank for Game Seven.