Morning Papers: Conference Finals

First off, a REMINDER: The Wings/Stars Game 5 has an early start at 12:30 PM CST today.

Now, on to the papers:

Detroit v. Dallas (3-1 Wings)

Jennifer Engel of the Detroit Free Press wants everyone to remember that despite his record at the Joe, and despite his performance this series (with the exception of Game 4), and ALSO despite the great play of the Wings’ netminder, Marty Turco is STILL a better pure goalie than Chris Osgood.

Continuing a less than hyper-optimistic Saturday sports section, Michael Rosenberg of the DFP says the Wings need Johan “The Mule” Franzen back in their lineup in order to continue their march to the Cup.

Shifting to optimistic (or naive??) Dallas, Chuck Carlton points out that the Stars have a good day-game record during the tenure of head coach Dave Tippett (talk about reaching for statistics!!).

Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia (3-1 Pens)

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette jumps on the bandwagon of pundits and columnists calling out Evgeni Malkin for his poor Game 4 performance in Philly.

PPG columnist Dave Molinari isn’t pushing the panic button since, like every NBA team in this year’s playoffs, the Pens are dominant when playing on home ice.

Moving across the state, Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer (and from his name, presumably also a Sopranos character) brings us the news that, contrary to the early diagnosis, Flyers defensive leader Kimmo Timonen looks likely to play in Sunday’s Game 5.

Enjoy this weekend’s matinees!

For Illegal Curve, I’m Steve Werier.