Tonight is do or die time for the Wings, as they are down 3-2 in their Western Conference Finals series with the Anaheim Ducks. To get to this point, they lost the last two games, blowing a chance to go up both 3-1 and 3-2 in the series. The Ducks have taken advantage of Red Wings mistakes and have won games in which they were outplayed. Now, they have a stranglehold on the series.

For the Ducks, some keys for tonight:

• Stay out of the box. They can’t count on the Wings’ power play woes continuing and they best way to ensure they don’t score with the man-advantage is to not give them one.
• Opportunism. The Ducks are where they are now in the series because they pounced on Wings mistakes. They’ll have to do that again tonight.
• Don’t be outplayed. They’ve been able to find a way to win despite being outplayed, but tonight, they probably want to be the ones dictating the play.

For the Wings, some keys:

• Capitalize on the power play. The Ducks, in spite of my advice, are probably going to take a few penalties, and when they do, the Wings need to make them pay. Expecting them to score every time they’re on the power play may be a bit much, but they need to at least put it in the net the majority of the time.
• Finish chances. They have got to find a way to finish what they start. Too many great scoring chances were not seen through to the end in Game 5 and if they can get things going in that regard, the game may not even be close.
• Win. In the end, the above things don’t matter so much as this: the Wings need to find a way to win, whether by completely dominating the Ducks up and down the ice; by playing an even game, but having that slight edge; or by getting dominated themselves, and still getting the edge on the scoreboard. It has to happen or they’re done.

I have confidence going into the game tonight because I believe in this team and in its ability to stand up to adversity. These guys are not going to roll over and give in. I know they’ll play their best and will fight to stay alive. Will it be enough? That’s another question, because I fully expect the Ducks to do the same. I think it will be enough. The Wings at their best are better, I think, than the Ducks at their best. We’ll see tonight, but I believe we’ll have a Game 7.