POST Season Team Stats (rank):

DET: 10-4 (w-l), .714 point% (1), 3.64 g/g (2), 2.29 ga/g (2), 1.72 5-5 f/a (1), 25.4 pp (3), 72.0 pk (14), 39.5 s/g (1), 28.6 sa/g (2), 53.1 fo% (2).

CHI: 9-6 (w-l), .600 point% (4), 3.47 g/g (3), 3.07 ga/g (13), 1.00 5-5 f/a (6), 29.5 pp (1), 79.6 pk (10), 29.9 s/g (9), 28.7 sa/g (3), 49.3 fo% (9).

PLAYOFF Player Stats:
DET Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/- ATOI
C Johan Franzen 14 9 9 18 9 19:37
L Henrik Zetterberg 14 7 9 16 11 22:11
R Daniel Cleary 14 7 6 13 15 17:10
D Nicklas Lidstrom 14 4 9 13 7 25:55
C Valtteri Filppula 14 0 10 10 6 16:51
C Jiri Hudler 14 4 5 9 3 13:51
R Marian Hossa 14 4 5 9 2 18:40
R Mikael Samuelsson 14 5 4 9 5 15:42
C Pavel Datsyuk 13 1 6 7 4 20:22
D Brad Stuart 14 1 6 7 6 24:41
D Brian Rafalski 9 2 3 5 8 2 22:07
D Niklas Kronwall 14 1 4 5 2 23:43
L Tomas Holmstrom 14 2 2 4 -2 14:22
D Jonathan Ericsson 14 2 2 4 7 19:44
D Brett Lebda 14 0 3 3 5 13:25
C Darren Helm 14 2 0 2 0 10:32
R Tomas Kopecky 8 0 1 1 0 9:31
L Kirk Maltby 11 0 1 1 -2 9:04
L Justin Abdelkader 5 0 1 1 0 6:36
D Chris Chelios 4 0 0 0 -1 7:16
C Kris Draper 4 0 0 0 0 10:14
L Ville Leino 1 0 0 0 0 9:42
D Derek Meech 1 0 0 0 0 3:19

Minus players for DET

:
Homer
Maltby
Cheli

DET Goalies:
Player GPI W L GAA PCT
Chris Osgood 14 10 4 2.17 .920

CHI Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/-
R Martin Havlat 15 5 10 15 1 16:04
R Kris Versteeg 15 4 8 12 -3 16:42
C Jonathan Toews 15 6 6 12 0 15:59
R Patrick Kane 14 8 4 12 -8 16:25
C Dave Bolland 15 4 7 11 0 18:48
D Brent Seabrook 15 1 10 11 0 25:56
R Patrick Sharp 15 7 4 11 0 16:26
D Brian Campbell 15 2 8 10 3 20:26
R Dustin Byfuglien 15 3 6 9 0 17:07
D Cameron Barker 15 3 5 8 0 16:43
D Duncan Keith 15 0 6 6 2 24:27
C Samuel Pahlsson 15 2 3 5 -3 16:34
R Adam Burish 15 3 2 5 4 10:50
L Andrew Ladd 15 3 1 4 4 12:52
R Troy Brouwer 15 0 2 2 -1 11:28
L Ben Eager 15 1 1 2 -1 8:51
D Matt Walker 15 0 2 2 -3 15:13
D Niklas Hjalmarsson 15 0 1 1 -2 16:33
C Colin Fraser 1 0 0 0 0 7:53

Minus players for CHI

:
Versteeg
Kane
Pahlsson
Brouwer
Walker
Eager
Hjalmarsson

CHI Goalies:
Player GPI W L GAA PCT
Nikolai Khabibulin 14 8 6 2.93 0.898
Christobal Huet (Regular Season) 15 4 3 2.53 .909

Injury Report:
DET:
Andreas Lilja (D) Concussion (Sidelined indefinitely)
Tomas Kopecky (W/C) Eye injury (Sidelined indefinitely)
Kris Draper (C) Lower Body (Day to day)
Pavel Datsyuk (C) Lower Body (Day to day)

CHI:
Brent Sopel (D) Undisclosed (Sidelined indefinitely)
Martin Havlat (R) Undisclosed (Day to day)
Nikolai Khabibulin (G) Lower body (Day to day)

HOT and NOT:

DET Hot:
Brian Rafalski (D) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Nicklas Lidstrom (D) 13 pts in last 13 GP
Dan Cleary (LW/RW) 4 pts in last 3 GP
Mikael Samuelsson (RW) 4 pts in last 4 GP
Marian Hossa (RW) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Valtteri Filppula (C/W) 4 pts in last 4 GP
Chris Osgood (G) 10-4-0, 2.17, .920 in last 14 GPI

DET Not Hot:
Niklas Kronwall (D) 0 pts in last 6 GP
Brad Stuart (D) 1 pts in last 6 GP
Tomas Holmstrom (RW/LW) 0 pts in last 10 GP

CHI Hot:
Jonathan Toews (C) 5 pts in last 4 GP
Martin Havlat (RW) 7 pts in last 6 GP
Kris Versteeg (RW/LW) 12 pts in last 12 GP
David Bolland (C) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Dustin Byfuglien (W/D) 5 pts in last 5 GP
Samuel Pahlsson (C) 2 pts in last 2 GP
Patrick Sharp (W/C) 2 pts in last 2 GP

CHI Not hot:
Cam Barker (D) 2 pts in last 10 GP
Duncan Keith (D) 1 pts in last 4 GP
Patrick Kane (RW) 0 pts in last 3 GP
Andrew Ladd (LW) 1 pts in last 5 GP
Nikolai Khabibulin (G) 0-2-0, 3.66, .904 in last 3 GPI

Jeff Sagarin NHL Ratings, from USAToday.com:

To make predictions for upcoming games, simply compare the RATINGS of
the teams in question and allow an ADDITIONAL .25 goals for the home
team. Thus, for example, a HOME team with a rating of 4.43 would be
favored by .57 goals over a VISITING team having a rating of 4.11.
Or a VISITING team with a rating of 4.56 would be favored by .42 goals
over a HOME team having a rating of 3.89

NOTE: Use whatever home advantage is listed in the output below.
In the example just above, a home edge of .25 was shown for
illustrative purposes. The home edge will vary during the season.

NHL 2008-2009 through 2009 May 23, Saturday - conference finals
HOME ADVANTAGE= 0.36 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 16 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR
1 Detroit Red Wings = 4.85 61 35 4.03( 13) 20 14 | 30 17 | 4.82 1 | 4.88 1
3 Chicago Blackhawks = 4.58 55 42 4.09( 4) 16 18 | 28 25 | 4.52 4 | 4.65 3

Khan(!) had the Good News (maybe)/Bad News (definitely) report from Wings practice yesterday:

Update from Wings practice Saturday at the United Center: Coach Mike Babcock said Pavel Datsyuk (bruised foot) will again be a game-time decision for Game 4 Sunday afternoon, but that Kris Draper (groin) will not play. Justin Abdelkader will replace Draper, unless Datsyuk returns. Neither Datsyuk nor Draper practiced Saturday.

“I noticed (Datsyuk’s equipment) was hanging up,’’ Babcock said. “They’re hoping they can get him in his boot and get him going.’‘

For the Blackhawks, coach Joel Quenneville said right wing Martin Havlat feels better but that that staus for him and goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin will be determined tomorrow. Don’t expect Khabibulin (lower-body injury) to play, however, as Cristobal Huet indicated he is preparing to start the game. Niether Havlat nor Khabibulin practiced.

The Wings tinkered with their lines a bit, switching Cleary and Hudler.

Franzen-Zetterberg-Hudler
Holmstrom-Filppula-Hossa
Cleary-Helm-Samuelsson
Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby (Meech practiced at forward)
McCarty-Downey

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lebda
Lilja-Chelios-Kindl (scratches)

Osgood
Conklin
Howard

The CBC.ca DET/CHI blog offers their take on the Wings and ‘Hawks injuries as well as the CONTINUED Hossa and Homer drought:

Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin and right-winger Martin Havlat, the two Chicago Blackhawks players who left Friday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 3 of the Western Conference final due to injury, did not practice with the team Saturday at the United Center.

However, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville did not rule out either player for Game 4, which goes Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

Quenneville indicated Khabibulin, who gave way to Cristobal Huet to start the third period after suffering an upper-body injury, would be re-evaluated before Sunday’s game.

“Khabi is doing better today,” Quenneville said. “We’ll see how he presents himself (Sunday), but there’s been good progress.”

Quenneville was non-committal when queried as to whether he’d go back to Khabibulin as his starter.

“We’ll see,” Quenneville said. “We’ll make that determination (Sunday).”

Huet seemed to think he knew the answer already, indicating after practice he expected to start Game 4.

“We’re still optimistic that Khabi could play,” Quenneville said. “It’s nice having the decision that we will have to face as we go along here. Hopefully, Khabi is part of the mix.”

Meanwhile, Quenneville indicated he was optimistic that Havlat, left dazed after he was crunched by a Niklas Kronwall check 13:08 into the opening frame, would be able to go in Game 4. Kronwall received a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play.

“I thought Marty really looked good,” Quenneville said. “Hopefully, he progresses in the same fashion and there’s a chance he could play.”

Both are listed as day to day. If Havlat is a scratch, either Colin Fraser or Jack Skille would likely come in to fill his spot in the lineup.

“Frase will be the next candidate to join the lineup up front,” Quenneville said. . . .

Neither Detroit centre Pavel Datsyuk, who missed Game 3 with a foot injury, or centre Kris Draper, who left Game 3 with a groin injury, skated during Saturday’s practice at the United Center. Wings coach Mike Babcock confirmed that Draper would be out for Game 4, but that Datsyuk would be a game-time decision.

Draper can’t play,” Babcock said. “Abbie (Justin Abdelkader) is going to go in his spot (as fourth-line centre). It will be good for him, playing his natural position.

“Datsyuk is going to be the same thing as it was the day before. We’ll see. I noticed his stuff was hanging up. They’re hoping they can get him in his boot and get him going.”

The Wings went with the following lines during practice: Jiri Hudler-Henrik Zetterberg-Johan Franzen; Tomas Holmstrom-Valtteri Filppula-Marian Hossa; Dan Cleary-Darren Helm-Mikael Samuelsson; Ville Leino-Abdelkader-Kirk Maltby. Defence pairings remained the same as they’ve been all series: Nicklas Lidstrom-Brian Rafalski; Kronwall-Brad Stuart; Jonathan Ericsson-Brett Lebda.

While Datsyuk, who’s gone 11 games without a goal, remains a question mark due to his health, he’ll at least temporarily be spared from the type of scrutiny faced by his slumping linemates Hossa and Holmstrom. Hossa had two assists in Game 3, but hasn’t scored in seven games. Holmstrom has gone 10 games without a point, though he did provide the screen on Jonathan Ericsson’s second-period goal that tied the game at 3-3.

The Wings maintain it’s just a matter of time until they break out of their funk.

“They’re getting their opportunities,” Babcock said. “They’re proud guys and they want to score.

“I’m really a believer in that if you do good things, good things will happen. You don’t score like they do all year long, every playoff and then suddenly you don’t. They didn’t just lose their hands or their skill. So keep on keeping on.” . . .

Though they haven’t been lighting the lamp, Babcock believes Hossa and Holmstrom are not liabilities on the ice.

“When you don’t score, you’ve got to make sure you’re a plus and you’re doing good things to help the team,” Babcock said. “They’ve been doing that, whether it be on the penalty kill, whether it be on the power play. Tommy is doing what he can and I’ve been impressed with the work of Hossa.”

Wings captain Lidstrom feels they help simply by the zone time they create in Chicago’s end of the rink.

“They are making some of the other team’s best players play defence instead of just going on the offensive side,” Lidstrom said. “That helps out a lot.”

Sunday could be Hossa’s time to shine, if recent history is any indication. He’s netted four goals in the playoffs: two in Game 4 of the second round against Anaheim and two in Game 4 of the opening round against Columbus.

“You just have to keep pushing yourself in practice,” Hossa said of his scoring slump. “The puck’s going in in the practices, you just have to transfer them to the games. You just have to keep shooting the puck, keep creating chances and go to the net hard.’’

As much as he says that, Hossa admits the skid is gnawing at him psychologically.

“It’s human nature,” he said. “You don’t put the puck in and then you try to do it harder and harder. You start squeezing the stick. Sometimes it’s better to not think about it, to just play. When you don’t think, you just have fun and play.’’