Tuesday May 19 7:30pm
After staving off elimination on Sunday, the St. Louis Blues will have to do it again tonight as they host the Detroit Red Wings in Game Six of their Western Conference semifinal series.
The Red Wings had a chance to finish off the Blues at home on Sunday afternoon, but Grant Fuhr stopped 29 shots and Geoff Courtnall and Mike Eastwood scored 74 seconds apart early in a three-goal second period in St. Louis' 3-1 victory.
The Blues are trying to become just the 15th team in history -- and second this year -- to rally from a three games to one deficit to win a playoff series. The Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche in the West quarterfinals.
Detroit should feel very comfortable in St. Louis' Kiel Center. The Wings won both games played here last week and have won four straight on the road since losing Game Three at Phoenix in the first round.
After going 7-for-35 on the power play in the six-game series against the Coyotes, the Red Wings are 3-for-35 against St. Louis. The Blues have not been much better with the man advantage, going 4-for-36 against Detroit.
A win today would give Detroit center Sergei Fedorov a sizeable bonus in his next paycheck. Fedorov, who played just 21 games in the regular season after holding out as a Group II free agent, will receive a $12 million bonus if the Red Wings make the conference finals.
Blues star right wing Brett Hull scored in the first game of the series but has been held without a point in the last four games. Hull was booed each time he touched the puck late in the third period of Game Four.
Should the Blues win tonight, Game Seven would be Thursday in Detroit.
The winner of the series plays the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.
