Tonight the Dallas Stars will return home where they will face the Detroit Red Wings in game 6 of the Western Conference Finals.  Dallas managed to avoid being eliminated last game when they defeated the Wings at home by a score of 2-1.  They will have to play with grit and determination again tonight as their backs are up against the wall again. 

Last game Dallas goaltender Marty Turco played phenomenal.  He picked the perfect time to get his first NHL victory at Joe Louis Arena.  He has 38 saves and kept the slim playoff hopes of the Stars alive.  Turco was 0-9-2 in his career at Joe Louis until he managed to get the monkey of his back last game.  Turco just seemed to build more and more confidence as they game went on.  Detroit fired a flurry of shots at him but he stayed strong and turned all but 1 aside.  He is going to need another dominate performance tonight.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbetting.com have the Stars as +125 underdogs heading into tonight’s game.

Detroit was 7-0 on home ice during the playoffs and has outscored opponents 24-10.  Dallas snapped this steak last game, but look for Detroit to get back on pace tonight.  Last game the Red Wings were without key center Johan Franzen.  He missed his fourth straight game because of a concussion type of injury.  He has been cleared for light off ice workouts but doesn’t look to be back for game 6 tonight.  He leads the playoffs with 12 goals.  This is going to hurt Detroit, so they will have to compensate with some of their other offensive threats.  Even with his absence I still think that Detroit is going to be too much for the Stars to handle tonight.  I think the Red Wings will win and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals where the Pittsburg Penguins await them.

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On Saturday afternoon the Detroit Red Wings will return home for game 5 of the NHL playoffs to play the Dallas Stars.  Detroit has a 3-1 game stranglehold on the series.  Dallas stayed alive last game, when they beat Detroit by a score of 3-1.  There was a couple questionable calls in this game, as Detroit had a couple goals called back that were under review.  They can’t let this bother then and they must put this behind them heading into game 5 on Saturday.

The big question is going to be can Marty Turco finally win a game at Jo Louis Arena? Turco now has a horrible record of 0-9-2 when playing in Detroit.  He just can’t seem to get that first win under his belt.  If you put this stat aside and look at his total performance in this years playoffs he was done quite well.  He ranks 4th in save percentage with 0.921 and has 1 shutout in the playoffs.  In game 4 of this series he played phenomenal.  He stopped 33 out of 34 shots and lead Dallas to its first win against the Wings.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbetting.com have Detroit as a huge -260 favorite to win Saturday’s game.

Detroit’s 10 game winning streak was snapped on Wednesday.  This should not slow down these juggernauts at all.  They will come into this game focused and ready to eliminate the Stars and head to the Stanley Cup Finals.  Henrick Zetterberg was Detroit's lone bright spot last game as he scored Detroit’s only goal.  He leads the entire league with 10 goals and 9 assists for 19 points in this years playoffs.  Expect him to come out firing on Saturday.  Look for Detroit to take this game and advance.

Tonight the Philadelphia Flyers will try to avoid being swept and eliminated from the NHL playoffs as they face the Pittsburg Penguins.  The Penguins are on fire in this year’s NHL playoffs.  They have a 3-0 series lead over the Flyers and are 11-1 in the entire playoffs.  Tonight they can wrap up the Eastern Conference finals with a win.

The Flyers home arena, the Wachovia Center has not been kind to Pittsburg.  They lost 4 times during the regular season here.  Although they did break this streak on Tuesday, when they defeated the Flyers by a score of 4-1.  The win was made possible because they played excellent defense and matched it with high powered offense.  With superstars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa, nobody would have expected the Penguins to focus on defense so much.  Pittsburg plays a system where they concentrate on forcing the other team to make mistakes while they protect their own end.  In 12 postseason games this year, the Penguins have only allowed 22 goals.  Marc-Andre Fluery has been a big party of this.  His goals against average of 1.75, has been astonishing in this years playoffs.  Last game he only faced 8 shots from Philadelphia in 2 periods.  The Penguins use the motto ‘defense wins championships”.  Many times they Penguins forwards have chased their opponents from behind and forced turnover with hard work and perseverance.  They backcheck, forecheck and do almost everything relentlessly.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Penguins as -180 favorites heading into tonight’s game.

The Flyers as going to have to do what only 2 teams have done in the entire history of the NHL.  That is, win a series while being down 3-0.  Only the 1942 Maple Leafs and 1975 Islanders have done this.  Philadelphia is going to try to switch up their lines for tonight.  They will try to maximize their offence has Mike Richards will play with Daniel Briere and Vaclav Prospal on the top line.  I think that the Penguins are just too good of an overall team and they will win tonight and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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The Pittsburg Penguins will travel to the city of brotherly love tonight to face off again their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in game 3 of their NHL playoff series.  Pittsburg has played well so far, winning the first two games of the series, both by scores of 4-2.  This will be the first time that Philadelphia is returning home down 2-0 for a game 3.  In their earlier NHL playoff picks series, against both Montreal and Washington they shook off opening game losses and went out to 3-1 edges.

Pittsburg is excellent in this years NHL playoffs picks, as they look like they will advance to the Stanley Cup finals with ease.  They have a total record of 10-1 in the playoffs.  In game 2, the Penguins took full advantage of their power plays by going 2 for 6.  One of the penalties was a questionable hooking call and critics are saying that they are getting all the calls.  Irregardless of this, they are capitalizing on their opportunities and punishing the Flyers.  Sidney Crosby continued to produce last game, by scoring a goal and adding 2 assists.  He has 17 points in the playoffs and is only 1 behind leader, Henrick Zetterberg.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Flyers listed as even money heading into tonight’s contest.

Philadelphia is going to have to keep up its physical play if they want to be successful in the NHL Playoff betting series.  They have to do so without getting into penalty trouble.  The Flyers are hopping to make a series of this and claw their way back so they can advance to the finals for the first time since 1997.  Their big players are getting shut down by the Penguins.  Their best line of Briere, Prospal and Hartnell is being held to limited production.  They are pointless in the series and are minus 7.  They will need to get out of this slump or the Flyers slim hopes will be completely gone. 

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