Tomas Holmstrom did not play for the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final. He has a hamstring injury but hoped to be able to play.
However, by game time, Holmstrom was still not comfortable enough to play and he was replaced on the roster by forward Darren McCarty. Danny Cleary got Holmstrom's spot at right wing on the top line with centre Henrik Zetterberg and left winger Pavel Datsyuk.
Holmstrom was the last player out of the Detroit Red Wings' dressing room on Saturday afternoon. The rest of his teammates had gone back to their hotel for a pre-game meal and then a nap in preparation for Saturday's fourth game of the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Holmstrom stayed behind for treatment on his injured hamstring, which looked as if it might keep him out of the game. However, Holmstrom struck an optimistic tone. Officially, the team listed him as a game-time decision — in a three-minute interview, Holmstrom used the term "game-time decision" six times. However, his body language suggested that unless there was a setback in the pre-game skate, or the team doctors step in and prevent him from playing, he would be in the Red Wings' line-up.
"It felt pretty good actually," said Holmstrom. "Maybe they can wrap it a little different, stuff like that. But it looks good."
The two days between games — Pittsburgh won Wednesday night to cut Detroit's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series — helped Holmstrom's recovery. He was injured when Penguins' defenceman Hal Gill threw him into the net in the third period.
"When I got hurt, I couldn't go out there, I couldn't skate really, so it's been a big improvement. That's why we'll see for game time how it is. This was just the morning skated. You don't do that much. There's no body contact out there, it's a totally different thing than when you're doing one-on-one battles."
Holmstrom indicated he didn't want to watch the game from the sidelines.
"It's terrible," he said, of the timing of his injury. "This is the best time of year. You want to be out there."
With or without Holmstrom, the Red Wings' goal tonight is to demystify the Mellon Arena, where Pittsburgh is 9-0 at home in the playoffs; 17-0 at home overall; and where goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury — mostly because he missed two months in the middle part of the season recovering from a high ankle sprain — hasn't lost at the Igloo since November. November — think about that. John Ferguson Jr. was still GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs; Mats Sundin was happy as their captain; and they were even entertaining some vague thoughts about actually qualifying for the playoffs. November was a long time ago.
The Red Wings understand — if they can end the Penguins' monster home-ice winning streak and get up 3-1 in the series, then the Stanley Cup is as good as theirs. They won't put it quite that equivocally, but they all understand the stats and the history — if they can improve upon their 5-4 road record with a win tonight, they'll have the Penguins squarely on the ropes.
"This whole playoff run, the thing we take a lot of pride in is being able to close series out on the road," said centre Kris Draper. "That's what we've done in all three playoffs series so far. It's important, at this time of year, to win on the road, if you're going to be successful.
