Early Game Today

The puck drops in less than two hours... and the Wings will advance to the second round with a win.  We've every reason to believe they'll do just that, too.  From the CBC:

Coyote ugly

Without a loss to give, historically, Phoenix hasn't faced up to such a scenario so well. In three previous series when down 3-2 after five games, the Coyotes as a franchise have been eliminated in Game 6 on each occasion, twice at the hands of the Red Wings. 

        

Detroit eliminated the Coyotes in Game 6 of the opening round in 1998, and beat the Coyotes in their previous life as the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 of the 1996 opening round.

That was the last NHL game ever played in Winnipeg. The Jets moved to Phoenix prior to the start of the 1996-97 season.

Advantage Wings

Detroit, on the other hand, has thrived in series when holding a 3-2 edge. Before last season, when the Wings lost the Stanley Cup final in seven to Pittsburgh and were forced to go seven to oust Anaheim in the second round, the Wings had closed out 14 straight series in Game 6 when entering the game ahead 3-2 in the set.

Prior to the loss to the Penguins last year, Detroit hadn't dropped a series when up 3-2 since falling in seven games to St. Louis in the opening round of the 1991 playoffs.

And then there's this...

Winging it

Detroit is the NHL's most prolific playoff team since 1991, playing in a Stanley Cup-high 250 games. It's also the most playoff games played over that span by a team in any of the four major sports. The NBA's Los Angeles Lakers (223) rank second, while the New Jersey Devils (202) are the second-best NHL team in that time frame.

In Stanley Cup history, only the Montreal Canadiens (688, 400, 88) have played more playoff games, and won more playoff games and series than the Red Wings (568, 303, 65).

GO WINGS!