The Pav is IN against the Penguins ...

The biggest advantage the Red Wings have at this point in the Stanley Cup Final just happens to be the one thing that played against Detroit at the start: the schedule.

After tonight, there will be a 2-day break so the Wings can rest their tired, old bones. Same thing happens between Games 6-7 - if there is a Game 7. That really works to Detroit's favor.

I'm guessing we will see Pavel Datsyuk up against Evgeni Malkin in Game 5.

“I wouldn't go with him at 50%,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said at the morning skate. “But, two things, in the morning skate or in the practice. You never know what adrenaline's going to do. He seems to be that he's tolerating it now.

“I watched him in the skate, I mean, he doesn't look like Pavel. And yet in saying that, when the puck's dropped, tonight I've seen a lot of that over the years.

“So, we're excited that he's excited. We thought he was going. I've said this to a number of people, I thought he was going [in Game 4] even after the trainer at 3 p.m. told me he probably wasn't.”

**

Game 5 forecasters: Teams that have won Game 5 of the Final with the series tied 2-2, have gone on to win the Cup 14 times (57.6), so this not really a conclusive stat to hang your betting dollars on even though we're talking 19 times overall when the series was tied.

The most recent team to lose Game 5 and win the Cup was Tampa Bay in 2004 against Calgary.

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