The Stanley Cup final starts Saturday night but not for Pavel Datsyuk. The Hart finalist isn't going to play in Game 1. "I've feeling fine... never felt better" joked Datsyuk about the status of his ailing foot. He already missed the last three games of the Detroit-Chicago series and will be in a similar situation Saturday.
The Wings have been able to weather the issues of bodies being battered throughout these playoffs as witnessed by losing mainstays like Kris Draper, who also won't play in Game 1, Nicklas Lidstrom and, earlier in the playoffs, Brian Rafalski. "We just put a uniform on them and expect them to play", said head coach Mike Babcock. "We just move ahead [and] plug the hole until they get back."
The Penguins health isn't an issue but the health of their offence was in the post season last year against Detroit. They lost Games 1 and 2 and never scored a goal. "We don't want to think about it too much. We kind of came in here and it was like "wham" we're down 2-0 and that's just the way it was," said Max Talbot.
Rookie head coach Dan Bylsma wasn't a part of that '[08 final but he knows the challengers have to respect the champions, to a point. "We can't be intimidated by them. We know they are a great team but showing them too much respect isn't the best way to go about it," said Bylsma.
That might also be the best way to describe the Wings when dealing with the one-two punch of Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin. Both have 28 points and are tied for the NHL playoff scoring lead. "We want to focus on limiting their chances which should hurt production and especially we have to focus on the Penguins top two guys," said Detroit's Brett Lebda.
The NHL is doing something in this final they haven't done since 1955, that's the last time the championship series had back to back games like they will have Saturday and Sunday for Games 1 and 2 in Detroit. "It's a little wierd but the thing is, is that it's not any advantage to either team we both have to do it," explained the Wings' Kirk Maltby.
The Penguins have won five straight coming into Saturday night's opener but will be in tough against a Wings team that has five consecutive victories at Joe Louis Arena.
