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Before the playoffs began, the Detroit Red Wings were looking forward to facing the Nashville Predators. They had gotten healthy after an injury and loss plagued March and seemed to be the better team going into the series between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
The Preds had something to say about that, taking three of the first four games and a 3-1 series lead, leaving the Wings hanging on to the edge of elimination for Game 5 of the series. Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber and others have stymied the Wings offensively so far while the Preds offense has been spread out and done enough to get by.
It could just take an offensive spark to boost the Wings up, as no team has scored more than three goals so far in this series and the first three games were all decided by a single goal. With a relatively healthy team all around now, their powerful offense that shone in the early months of 2012 needs to go into overdrive if the Wings want to stay alive.
They certainly have enough guys with playoff experience to rally the troops together for at least one more win. Last season against the San Jose Sharks, the Wings came back from a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game 7.
The game will be at Bridgestone Arena at 8 p.m. ET.
For more on the Detroit Red Wings, check out Winging It In Motown. For more on the Nashville Predators, head to On The Forecheck. More on the NHL in general can be found at SB Nation's dedicated NHL hub.