Western Conference Showdown: Red Wings vs. Stars

Western Conference

1. Detroit Red Wings  vs.  5. Dallas Stars

Eastern Conference

2. Pittsburgh Penguins  vs.  6. Philadelphia Flyers

The Dallas Stars just keep on winning. It really is amazing how this team just won't go down. That said I think they are making a quick transition from shinning stars to falling stars. The Sharks figured them out late in the series and almost came back to take the series and let's not forget that the Sharks have underperformed all playoffs. The Red Wings on the other hand are playing really strong as of late behind the play of their goalie Chris Osgood. 

Speaking of goalies, let's take a look at each team's net minder. Both teams have veterans between the pipes who are not afraid to step up in the face of pressure. Osgood has the edge stats wise with a 1.52 GAA and a .937 save percentage in the playoffs. Turco on the other hand has similar playoff stats with a 1.73 GAA and a .929 save percentage. The difference could be the strength of opponents. Then again, once Detroit figures out that Turco struggles with high shots on his glove side, those stats won't matter.

For Detroit injuries shouldn't be too much of a concern. Forwards Valtteri Filppula and Kirk Maltby should be healthy enough to play in game one and veteran defense man Chris Chelios who missed Detroit's last game should be on the ice for the series opener.

Dallas also has very few injury concerns. With defenseman Sergei Zubov returning in their last series and Stu Barnes was a game-time decision in game six, which means he should be okay for this series.

Dallas had to pull out four overtime victories to beat the Sharks and that was while they were on a hot streak. The Stars almost let the Sharks steal the series after being up 3-0, which is proof enough that their hot streak is over. Dallas is a solid team, but the magic has left Dallas and soon their Stanley cup dreams will too.

Bottom Line: Detroit in 6