Trouble in Penguin Country today as Pittsburgh finds itself in a 3-1 hole. Lee Diekemper provides the recap of Game 4 – Without so much as a single mention of a mullet.

Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1: Get the cubed ice ready Detroit. Order the champagne. Buy your polish. Secure your fire extinguishers. Make sure your insurance policies are intact.

The Stanley Cup is heading back to Hockeytown.

Unless the Pens make a historic rally, which seems highly unlikely, the lone question remaining is when the Wings end the finals.

By handing the Pens their first home playoff loss of the 2008 postseason, the Wings have a stranglehold on Lord Stanley’s Cup. They only need to win one of the (potential) next three games, two of which are at Joe Louis Arena where the Wings have abused the Pens.

Once again it was the Wings’ defense that bottled up the offensive-minded Pens, holding the Pens to 22 shots. Outside of an early power play goal by Marian Hossa, Wings goalie Chris Osgood was perfect. Not even a 5-on-3 Pens power play in the third could even the game. That defensive stand by the Wings may have clinched the Cup.

The Wings’s defense has been playing so good, they’ve made Evgeni Malkin disappear. He has yet to collect a point in the finals which, prior to the finals, was unthinkable.

Jiri Hudler’s goal early in the third was the difference. Hudler’s goal was set up by Brad Stuart’s heads-up play of stopping a Pens clearing attempt, keeping the puck in the Pens’ zone.

So here’s the mountain the Pens have to climb: They must win the next three. Two of those wins have to come at The Joe. Additionally, they have to score a goal in the city of Detroit, which the Pens have been unable to do yet in the finals.
(Positive message for Steel City residents: The Steelers first preseason game is slightly more than two months away.)
Detroit leads finals 3-1.