On the Wings

Tonight is the fourth game of the 2008 Western Conference Finals. Detroit leads the series 3-0 with wins Thursday (4-1), Saturday (2-1), and Monday (5-2).

Dallas is on the brink of elimination and must win this game to prolong their season. To do that, they will need to elevate their play beyond any level they’ve reached thus far in this series. Some keys to the game for the Stars:

Maintain composure. If the Wings do happen to score first, the Stars need to be composed. If they lose their heads, they lose the game for sure.

Marty Turco. I’ve listed Turco as a key in every game since Game 2 and thus far, his impact on this series has largely been negative. He has not played his best in this round, but the Stars will need him to be stellar tonight. No goals scored while he’s poorly positioned.

Play like the season is on the line. Because it is. The Stars have lacked urgency in this series and if they don’t show any tonight, they’ll be embarrassed.

It’s probable that Jere Lehtinen (knee) will not play tonight. Philippe Boucher and Stu Barnes remain out.

Detroit would prefer this series be over as quickly as possible so that they can rest up for the Finals. To wrap things up tonight, they’ll likely have to play their best game of the series as Dallas is not going to lay down. Some keys to the game for Detroit:

Score first. The Stars are fragile at the moment, as IwoCPO has pointed out. An early lead could take them out of the game.

Stay out of the box. The last thing they need is to give the Stars anything that could lead to momentum.

Hold on to the puck. If they play their puck possession game to the best of their ability tonight, Dallas has no chance.

The Wings will be without Johan Franzen once again. It looks like he won’t be back until the Finals no matter what happen in this series.

With Dallas against the wall, I expect them to put on the kind of effort required in the Conference Finals. If the Wings show up to play as well, however, I don’t think it will be enough.