On the Wings

Tonight is the sixth game of the Wings’ Western Conference Quarterfinal series with San Jose. They lead the series 3-2.

For the Sharks, this game is obviously huge, as a loss means the end of their season. They are a team that has underachieved in this series and that cannot continue tonight if they want to force a Game 7. Keys:

• Play a full 60 minutes. A problem for the Sharks all series has been consistency. When “on,” they control the play and are extremely dangerous. When not “on,” it’s the other way around. They need to be “on” a lot more tonight.
• Maintain composure. It looked like they were losing it a bit after the Wings went up 4-1 and if they do that tonight, they’ll be shooting themselves in the foot.
• Play with confidence. I’ve read that they’ve been struggling with confidence issues, but tonight is not the time for them to be unsure of their abilities.

For the Wings, this is a huge game because they haven’t been on the brink of going to the third round since 2002. They need a win for psychological reasons tonight, I think, and cannot afford to go to seven games. Keys:

• Consistency. Like the Sharks, a major problem for the Wings has been consistency. They had a great second and third period Saturday and need to extend that through the whole game tonight.
• Physicality. Although they’re smaller than the Sharks, the Wings have generally been more physical. They need to continue that tonight, but they also have to be smart about it so that they don’t get worn down.
• Team defense. With Mathieu Schneider out of the lineup and possibly two rookies in (if Brett Lebda isn’t ready to go), team defense becomes even more important than usual. That extends to puck security as well. They cannot turn over the puck as much as they have been in this series, or else there’s a greater chance they’ll be burned.

A huge game for both teams. Will the Sharks be emotionally defeated after their loss Saturday, or will they rebound and put up a strong fight? I’m counting on the latter. Will the Wings maintain their momentum and pull out another dominating performance, or will it be a tight game that is still contested down to the wire? Again, I’m counting on the latter. Can’t wait.