How The Penguins Can Win Game 3

Is tonight a must-win for the Penguins?

I'm not a believer in "must-wins" until you face an elimination game. That said, the Penguins task to win their third Stanley Cup will increase twenty-fold if they lose tonight and go into a 3-0 series deficit that only 2 teams in the history of hockey have ever overcome.

Penguins coach Michel Therrein has taken some criticism over the last few days for perceived "whining" about the Red Wings obstruction and about diving from Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood, but anyone who knows the game realizes that Therrein's comments are well-placed. If they take pressure off his team and plant a seed with the referrees -- what Therrein was obviously trying to do -- then he was successful. For the most part, you don't hear the same complaints from the Penguin players, which shows that those remarks are a coaches tactic. It's nothing Therrein hasn't done before.

But that aside, what can Therrien do on the ice to try and change his team's fortunes, aside from the obvious things like trying to take advantage of having the last line-change at home? There's talk that Darryl Sydor may join the lineup tonight for his first action in this post-season. I don't know that putting Sydor in may make a lot of difference, but here's five things I think would:

1) Play Malkin with Crosby and Hossa the whole game. Sid is playing fairly well, so maybe he can get Geno going a little. At the very least -- and it's hard for me to say this -- Malkin isn't dragging down our 2nd line that way.

2) Because we still need a productive second line to compete with Detroit, move Staal up to more of an offensive role and have him center the 2nd line with Malone and Sykora. Staal has been great defensively, but the priority right now has to be scoring goals. Sykora has to play with someone who can get him the puck. Staal can. That leaves you with Talbot to center the 3rd line with Roberts, and I would play Ruutu there too. I'd have Hall center the 4th line with Dupuis and Kennedy.

3) Change some of the defensive pairings again, moving Scuderi back with Whitney and putting Gill back with Letang -- the way things were in round 1. Gill and Scuderi haven't had the greatest series out there. They were on the ice for 3 of Detroit's first 5 goals and both could probably benefit from playing with a faster partner. It also would give the team an offensive defenseman on the ice at all times, something they need against a team they've failed to score on in 2 games in this final thusfar.

4) Start double shifting Crosby. We need our best player on the ice more than just 20 minutes a game. That total has to be up to 23 or 24 minutes.

5) Stop sending the first guy in on our forecheck and instead keep him back to clog the neutral zone with the other 2 forwards in an effort to generate more turnovers we can use to counter-attack.

Sure, these things may not bring the ultimate end-result for the Penguins, but they have to pull out all the stops to get a win tonight. If they do prevail and make it a 2-1 series, they'll be right back in it. Let's hope the home crowd in the local barn tonight brings them extra energy. The Penguins haven't lost at home in more than 3 months and there's nothing more I'd like to see than them keep the winning streak going.

LET'S GO PENS!