Paul Kukla is the man behind the excellent Kukla’s Korner blog site. The longtime NHL fan and devoted Red Wings’ supporter is joining NHL.com as a regular contributor this season. His blogs are a must read for hockey fans.


Fans of the Red Wings, Penguins and Stars are laying low, hoping the apple cart is not disturbed and their team continues their winning ways.


Well, I am here to tell you to expect a bump in the road, and maybe, just maybe, a complete turnaround from your opposition. Both Detroit and Pittsburgh are on the road now. The Wings will be dealing with an unhappy group of players in Denver, players who have too much pride not to fight back with all they have. Expect the Avalanche to play their best game tonight, expect Joe Sakic to come alive, expect them to come out with guns blasting and the key for the Wings is to play a perfect road game. Keep the game close going into the third period and may the best team win.


The Avalanche know they have to win this game, and the feeling here is the home team wins and will be one win away from tying up this series.


The Penguins march into Madison Square Garden knowing they have to play a perfect game. The Penguins have proven they can play any style and come out with a victory, but tonight the New York Rangers are playing with their backs against the wall. They are in a must-win situation and have the experience and type of players who can bounce back from the past two losses and get on a winning streak. Expect Drury, Gomez and Jagr to lead the Rangers tonight and come out with a victory.


The Dallas Stars are back home with an unexpected 2-0 series advantage. The San Jose Sharks must find a way to beat Stars goaltender Marty Turco and must have a great game from Evgeni Nabokov. The key tonight for the Sharks is get an early lead and keep on pressing in the offensive zone. On the other hand, the Stars must play a road type game at home. If they get into a shootout with the Sharks, well, the Sharks just may have more loaded guns for them tonight.


All three of the teams that are down 0-2 are in a must win situation, far too early into their series than they would like. A win tonight is expected, and to put it bluntly, they need to win in order to have a decent shot at extending their series past five games.


Too close to call


Lately, I have been beating the drum to put an end to the whining about the calls and no-calls from the referees. I have been watching three out of the four semi-conference matchups as a neutral observer and have felt the games have been called fairly. On the other hand, all I read from the mainstream media, bloggers and fans leaving comments is how bad the officiating has been.


Sure there have been calls that have been borderline, sure they will continue, but do you really feel the refs, on orders from the NHL, are trying to influence the outcome of a game? If you do, maybe you should be watching two guys throwing chairs around a ring, with fake elbows and drop-kicks flying left and right. Then and only then, can you start questioning the referee!


Watch the other series that are going on, one that doesn’t involve the team you are a fan of, all looks good there. Maybe you are too close to the action to have an honest opinion of the way the games are being called, or maybe you want to influence the outcome of the game yourself. Whatever it is, put on those “neutral” glasses and you just may see a different game.