Pregame: Red Wings @ Bruins – Game 5 – 4/26

The Red Wings’ season could end this afternoon, as they face a 3-1 series deficit heading into Game Five in Boston.

Jonas Gustavsson will get the start in net for Detroit, as Jimmy Howard still has the flu, though rumors abound that he may have actually been concussed from a knee to the head in Game Three. Howard won’t even be available to serve as backup as he nominally did in Game Four, so Jake Paterson has been called up from the Grand Rapids Griffins.

In another lineup change, Daniel Alfredsson is expected to return after missing two games due to a back injury. There’s no word on who he would replace.

If the Red Wings were to lose Game Five, it would just be the second series in their history that they lost in five after winning Game One.

Stupid stat of the day: In the nineteen previous times Detroit has gone down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series, the Red Wings are 7-12 in Game Five.

Game time is 3:00 PM on NBC.