DETROIT - As this Stanley Cup series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings switched locales to Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, team staff busily prepared the media workroom for the on-rush of playoff coverage that lay ahead.
Testing the sound system, they played a recording that said, “Welcome to the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs.”
If only.
The Wings sure could use a heaping helping of the 2008 version of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg right about now.
The current editions of both are running low on fuel.
A 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 Tuesday left the Wings down to their last breath, behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, and may have been the last game Datsyuk will ever play in Detroit.