There is always something awkward about the day before Game 4 in any NHL playoff series when one team is ahead 3-0. For one thing, there is no way to avoid questions about the all-too-familiar history; that only two teams, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders have ever come back from that sort of deficit to win a playoff series. The Dallas Morning News must have figured it would come to this - on the same day as their report on the Stars' 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, which put them in this deep hold, they had a graphic prepared, outlining just how those two clubs managed their against-all-odds comebacks.
Secondly, the team that's down on their last chance is obliged to mouth all the obligatory words of optimism - and what makes it all so delicious is that two weeks ago, the Stars were in the exact opposite situation, up 3-0 against the San Jose Sharks and knowing they couldn't possibly let that sort of lead slip away. This time, they were down but trying hard to convince everybody that they're not quite out. From the Stars' Mike Modano: "We just have to focus on tomorrow. You can't get three games back in one. And we have to do everything that we can to put up a great effort."
On Tuesday, the teams practiced at opposite ends of the city. The Stars went on the ice at high noon at their practice facility, the Dr. Pepper Star Center. The Red Wings followed 90 minutes later at the American Airlines Center. Apart from all their other issues, the Stars are running into injury problems - Jere Lehtinen and Stu Barnes both missed Monday's game; Modano and Brenden Morrow looked as if they were banged up a bit, but Modano said he was fine and Morrow isn't going to be out now, not with the Stars season on the line. Modano is usually one of their more forthright players; today, he suggested: "It's just like any other day. You win or lose, you can't get too high or too low, you just have to stay on an even keel and just keep pushing forward."
Coach Dave Tippett did his best to light a fire under his team; he doesn't want to see them meekly surrender Wednesday night: "If you live, you gotta act like you want to live. That's what it is. If you think this thing is over and you act like that way, it's going to be over. Come out there with energy today. Do what you gotta do to get prepared for Game 4. Simple as that. Don't hang your head. Get up, let's go, got some work to do, and get at it."
Over on the Red Wings' side, they too were careful not to take too much for granted. Last round, they had the Colorado Avalanche on the ropes in similar fashion and crushed them 8-2 in the deciding game. But the Avalanche scored first and it took a pair of late first-period goals before the Red Wings put them away. Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock said there was nothing new on the status of forward Johan Franzen, currently out with concussion-like symptoms and that the Red Wings would push ahead without him in the fourth game. Asked if the message stayed the same as it did two weeks before the deciding game of the Avalanche series, Babcock said:
"It's hard to say that. It worked out well last time. I think part of the reason it did was we were mature, stayed focused and played a really good game. And I think that's what we have to do here, is we've got to be really focused …. They're going to have a huge push, we understand that totally. In saying that, we have to push them as hard as we've pushed them all series, and harder. And we're optimistic. We're capable of doing that. So we're going to prepare hard, and then try to play real well."
In short, it was about what you'd expect. The Red Wings look destined to close this out, if not tonight, then at home on Saturday, and just about everybody on the periphery of the series wouldn't mind seeing them and the Pittsburgh Penguins push their opponents aside, and get to the final ASAP. Who knows? If they end in four, or even in five, the Stanley Cup final could start early and perhaps be completed before June 1. And wouldn't that be a treat for everyone, outside of Dallas and Philadelphia, who thinks the NHL playoffs drag on far too long as it is.