They have to, unless they want to get their asses swept in front of their home fans in the next two games.

The 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals continue on Tuesday in Pittsburgh where the Red Wings will try to take the commanding 3-0 lead over a Penguins team clearly struggling.

The Detroit Red Wings are halfway there people. They are only two games away from saving Detroit from what has been a tumultuous year and from winning their 12th Stanley Cup.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got beat after failing to come up with anything after the first period for the second time in this series. And while they managed to draw first blood this time in Game 2, thanks to a power play goal by Evgeni Malkin, the Red Wings just took over the rest of the game, scoring twice in the second period before sealing the game with another in the third.

Perhaps it’s fate that the Red Wings, once again, are going to Pittsburgh up 2-0, needing only two more wins to capture the Stanley Cup. Sure, they’re tired, beat-up and exhausted but the fact of the matter is, they are two more wins away from their 12th Stanley Cup and with the kind of year Detroit had, I reckon the Red Wings won’t…

In case you didn’t get that, we’re referring to the Eastern Conference Finals on ice.

You read it, the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue and if you’ve been following the action on ice the last few days, you already know that the Conference Finals are here.

And while the Detroit Red Wings have already taught the Chicago Blackhawks a valuable lesson in the West to kick of that best of seven series, things are only getting started on the other side as the 2009 NHL Eastern Conference Finals kick off this Monday in Pittsburgh.

That’s right, the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for a best of seven series that will determine who will be representing the Eastern Conference to play for the Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes are really looking primed to play for the Cup this year, having defeated the no.1 seed Boston Bruins to reach their third appearance in the Conference Finals. And if you’re a Penguin fan counting on the home-ice advantage to fend-off these Hurricanes, think again.

You see, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the postseason’s road warriors. It simply doesn’t matter…

That’s all you really need to know. But will you watch it? I won’t, but I know some of the Canadians will.

Like an irritating rash, the 2009 NHL Playoffs are still here and on Wednesday, these postseason wars on ice will be having a huge Game 7 between two teams some of us probably never even heard of.

In case you’re still interested with this, it’s Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals and in case you’re following the NHL playoffs, you’re probably going ga-ga over this one, especially if you’re a Capital fan from the nation’s capital.

On the brink of elimination, the Washington Capitals were able to come up with a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime to bring the series back home for a pivotal Game 7.

It was the first overtime win Washington had in these playoffs and it couldn’t have come at a better time. You see, before winning Game 6 in Pittsburgh, the Capitals were losers of their last SEVEN OVERTIME GAMES. Yep, they were that bad in these extra sessions.

Thankfully, with a spot in the 2009 NHL Eastern Conference Finals at stake…

At least Detroit now has a world championship this year eh?

Detroit has always been all about hockey, hence the term, ”Hockey Town” and on Wednesday night, they finally won their 11th title, winning the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals series 4-2 after beating the Penguins, 3-2 in Game 6 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh.

After the Pittsburgh Penguins managed to stop the Red Wings’ victory parade in Detroit after Petr Sykora scored a power-play goal in the third extra session to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory in Game 5, the Red Wings knew dropping another game to the Penguins will just be too risky.

After all, after beating the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 to stay alive in this championship series, the Penguins all of a sudden had the momentum coming into Game 6. And momentum in these playoff wars, is a HUGE factor, no matter how good a team’s players are.

”We have a great thing going right now. We just wanted to win this game,” Pittsburgh Penguins player Petr Sykora said after winning Game 5. ”We didn’t really look ahead. Now we’re going back home. We’ve got nothing to lose. We know what we have to do and hopefully we can bring it back here to…”

At least this OTHER team from Detroit has the chance to win a world title eh?

While I’m still reeling from the Pistons’ Game 6 loss to the Celtics last Friday, I can’t help but be happy for Detroit of having the opportunity to win the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this Monday with their Red Wings against Pittsburgh.

And although I really don’t watch hockey that much, the chance of seeing the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in Game 5 should be reason enough for Piston fans like myself to smile a little bit. Yep, and I’m not even entertaining the idea of seeing this Red Wings team, with a commanding 3-1 series lead, to lose three straight games and miss out on the NHL world title.

After the Red Wings smashed the Pittsburgh Penguins on their home ice the same day when the Pistons had their season ended by Boston, the Red Wings gave themselves a shot of winning the trophy back in Hockeytown.

Game 5 of this best-of-seven series goes back to the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, setting the stage for this Red Wings team to celebrate with that big-ass trophy in front of their fans at home.

If the Red Wings win Game 5 and wins the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup title, they will skate around the ice WITH the title for the 11th time in the history of their franchise.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking for…

Tying this series.

That’s the mindset the Penguins should be in coming to Game 4 of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals this Saturday. They are down in this best-of-seven affair, 2-1, against the Red Wings but with Game 4 to be played in Pittsburgh, the Penguins have a good chance of bringing it back to square one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins should be confident too. After all, they did win their first game of the Stanley Cup finals at home, winning Game 3 to improve to a perfect 9-0 at the Mellon Arena in the postseason. Their 3-2 win over Detroit last Wednesday was also their 17th straight win on their home ice, making Pittsburgh a one nasty place to play hockey if you are a visiting team.

After the Detroit Red Wings simply dominated Pittsburgh during the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals, the Penguins fought back in Game 3, fueled by the support of their fans at the Mellon Arena.

The Penguins scored their first goal of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in the very first quarter of Game 3 after suffering shutout losses in games 1 and 2. The Red Wings were playing catch-up all game long since, as Pittsburgh were already in a comfortable 2-0 lead before Detroit got their first goal of the game.

”Whether it was me or anybody else, we just wanted to get the first one,” Sidney Crosby said. ”We wanted to get a goal, find a way. That was the mind-set going in, and it was nice to…”

I guess homecourt DOES mean something in sports eh?

While home teams in the NBA playoffs, more often than not, win everything, the same can now be said of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals after Pittsburgh finally won one, beating Detroit 3-2, to cut the Red Wings’ series lead to 2-1.

After two empty games in Detroit Red Wings territory, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to their home turf Tuesday facing a 0-2 hole, trying to find answers for the stifling defense of Detroit.

”We need to find a way to hate that team,” Pittsburgh Penguins star Gary Roberts said after losing Game 2. ”We haven’t played any hockey against them the last few years. They play a game that they’re not really in your face. They just play a puck-control game. They don’t really make you that mad at them.”

The Red Wings outscored the Penguins 7-0 in taking the first two games of the series on home ice. The Red Wings knew things will be a lot different in Pittsburgh since the Penguins are 8-0 at the Igloo in the playoffs and have won 16 straight on that very ice since February 24.

”This is a big one,” Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said before…

Domination. That’s exactly what the Penguins have showed in the postseason.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made it look easy all through out the 2008 NHL playoffs, earning a 12-2 record in the postseason on their way to the best-of-seven 2008 Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit.

These Pittsburgh Penguins showcased their talent right of the bat, needing just 68 seconds in Game 1 of the very first round to deliver the message that this year’s Stanley Cup is rightfully theirs. That’s when veteran Gary Roberts scored the first of his two goals during a 4-0 shellacking of the Ottawa Senators during a game in which he led his team throughout.

The Penguins, led by Sidney Crosby, were unquestionably the most prepared, most determined, most talented team in the Eastern Conference. They are where they are today because their best players really were the best players in hockey this year.

It’s as simple as that.

The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled through the 2008 Eastern Conference playoffs, winning the first three games of each series, losing only Game 4 in New York and again in Philadelphia before bouncing back with clutch series-clinching performances against the Rangers…

It’s official people, the returning Red Wings will take on this year’s hockey kings when Detroit takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the title.

Yes, the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals have all the makings of a classic match up as two powerhouse teams, the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, play for hockey’s biggest prize.

The Detroit Red Wings are trying to win their fourth Stanley Cup since 1997. Led by Captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the Red Wings are trying to make Detroit, ”hockey town” once again.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, on the other hand, are led by the finest 1-2 punch in the NHL in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh is in the finals for the first time since 1992, when owner Mario Lemieux was leading the club to the second of back-to-back Cup wins.

Ironically, Detroit and Pittsburgh are the only teams to successfully defend a Cup championship since that era. (Detroit won in 1997 and 1998…)

A key match up between two goalies could be the very thing to watch in this series. Detroit’s Chris Osgood have the top goals-against average (1.65) and third-best save percentage (.927) heading into a…

Alright, let’s take a brief timeout from the NBA playoffs and check what’s happening on the ice lately.

In case you don’t know it yet, the 2008 NHL playoffs are still on. On that note, we’ll try to get you what are the latest in NHL’s postseason wars, hopefully, this won’t bore you the way the Derby did us mercilessly.

From the Eastern Conference, No.2 seed Pittsburgh Penguins continue their run in the 2008 NHL Playoffs. Thanks mainly to their team captain Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby’s leadership has been the main factor, doing his part in scoring which is tied for second with 15 points in the postseason.

”He never takes a shift off,” forward Max Talbot said. ”That’s the thing about him. He’s the best player in the world and the best worker on the team. It’s impossible for that not to make an impression.”

Taking game one of the best of seven series against the Philadelphia Flyers was big for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins are 6-0 at home in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and they have a good chance of making it all the way to the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup finals.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings took game 1 of…