DET vs PIT

It's not like winning three straight games is the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest with only a pair of sandals, a T-shirt and a bag of Elk jerky. But looking at the statistics of teams having overcome two-game deficits to win a Stanley Cup Final sure makes it seem that way.

Only one team in NHL history has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win. That team, of course, was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were actually down 3-0 to the Red Wings.

Coming back from big finals deficits is tough in any sport, but it just seems impossible in hockey. Although Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said earlier in the series he is not a big believer in "momentum," legendary former coach Scott Bowman is.

"It's tough to convince your team you can get out of a big hole, especially in the Finals," Bowman said. "It's tough to feel excited about the task in front of you. It's a challenge."

Series feels familiar

Bowman coached nine teams to Stanley Cups, and won another as a Pittsburgh management executive. He also coached four teams that were swept in the Finals - 1968-70 with St. Louis and 1995 with Detroit.

This series between Detroit and Pittsburgh, so hyped beforehand, looks a lot like last year's between Ottawa and Anaheim. The Senators won Game 3 at home to seemingly get back in it, only to lose a tough Game 4.

The Sens said all the right things about taking it one game and one shift at a time, just like the Penguins are now, but everybody knew it was over heading back to Anaheim.

That's the way it feels entering tonight's Game 5. The Wings did lose a potentially series-closing game at home in the last round, however.

Mountain can be climbed: Therrien

That would seem to give the Penguins some hope. On the other hand, it might make it harder, because the Wings are a smart, veteran team that learns from mistakes.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien is trying to convince his players the mountain can be scaled. But he knows it'll be just short of a miracle if it happens.

"Obviously I'm not here to lie. It's an important game. But for us, all our focus has to be on tonight's game," Therrien said Monday morning at Joe Louis Arena. "We can't look at what's going to happen tomorrow.

"It's a Game 7 for us. And we've got to make sure we're going to leave everything on the ice. But the most important thing is their focus. I know we've got to make sure we play in our structure. Even if the result was not there last game, I really and truly believe that we played a solid defensive game. We didn't give those guys a lot of
scoring chances.

"You can't judge on shots all the time, because they take a lot of shots from everywhere. They're not quality scoring chances. I thought we played pretty well. Our structure was there. And our focus is going to be crucial tonight."

Goligoski up

The Penguins recalled defenceman Alex Goligoski to take the roster spot of Kris Letang, who left the team to attend the funeral of Luc Bourdon, who was killed Thursday in a motorcycle accident. Letang was close with Bourdon.

"I think it's the right thing to do, even though it's the Stanley Cup Final," Therrien said. "And we called up Goligoski just in case something happened. Letang is supposed to arrive this afternoon. We didn't want to take the risk. If something happened at the morning skate or this afternoon, we didn't want to get caught with six defencemen only.

"In the meantime, Goligoski is playing really well. He's a great young prospect, and to get the feel for the Stanley Cup
Final is great for him."

U.S. ratings up, but ...

In the U.S., the ratings for the Finals games continue to be monitored closely by the league and hte network poo-bahs.

Game 4 drew a 2.6 overall rating in the States on NBC, up 13 per cent from last year's fourth game between the Sens and Ducks. Any increase is welcomed by Gary Bettman, but the number probably was a bit of a disapointment to the league.

Game 3 actually did a better rating (2.8). And, ABC actually did a better number (2.9) in the 2004 Flames-Lightning Game 5.