The Blackhawks haven’t converted on a man advantage since winning the opening game of the second-round series. "I think we’ve been able to do some good things, disrupt them up ice and make it hard for them," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We know that they’re so talented, all they need is once chance and the puck’s in. We’ve been able to do a good job there, I think." The hot streak on penalty kills coincided with the return of left winger Drew Miller (broken thumb). He entered the series for Game 2, giving the Wings three options on the fourth line to use as penalty killers, in Miller, Patrick Eaves and Cory Emmerton. As Kronwall put it, "Millsie getting back in the lineup’s been huge for us."

It’s largely why the Blackhawks are looking up at a 3-1 deficit in these Western Conference semifinals, and largely why they're on the verge of being eliminated tonight. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, however, has a plan. He's asking his players to create more traffic in front of Howard. "We’ve had some quality shots. We’d like more quality with traffic," Quenneville said following Friday’s team meeting and optional practice. "He’s been challenging. We’re getting decent looks, but more traffic would make it more challenging." The Blackhawks have had their shots and they’ve hit their posts and crossbars. Those iron shots have been especially frustrating, since they represent the few they’ve actually gotten past Howard. They need those to go in, obviously. They also need more shots that Howard doesn’t see. "I think we have a lot of shots in these games, but maybe we have to go in and try to have a good screen on him and make sure he doesn’t see the puck," C

"Our best players need to be our best," the Chicago captain said. "We need to lead, grab the rope and start pulling for the rest of the guys, and that starts with me." The odds don’t favor the Blackhawks here. Teams have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series about eight percent of the time. The Blackhawks almost came back from a 3-0 deficit against the Vancouver Canucks two springs ago, losing to them in a Game 7 overtime. They’ll keep that memory in the front of their minds when the puck drops tonight. "It just goes to show that things like that are possible," Toews said. "We were very close to winning that series. I’m sure Detroit knows and we know this series is long from being over. (Tonight’s) going to be the toughest game for both. We’ll keep that (thought) in our hip pocket."

Anderson, just like his teammates, found the Penguins' high-flying attack too difficult to contain, giving up 20 goals -- 12 over the last two games -- in the series. A far from ideal playoffs should not take away from the brilliant season he had, though 21-year-old Robin Lehner is lurking and more than capable of handling the full-time load. Starting with coach Paul MacLean, there's a lot to like about the Senators moving forward and the goaltending situation is certainly one of them.