Between now and until a winner is determined in Tuesday's Game Four, we'll hear the following stat when talking about Carolina's chances of coming back in the series:

"Only three teams in professional sports have ever come back to win a series after being down 3-0: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders and the 2004 Boston Red Sox."

The odds are stacked against the Hurricanes going to their third Stanley Cup finals in the past seven years and unless they're able to find a way to stop Evgeni Malkin(notes), Sidney Crosby(notes) and the Pittsburgh offense, the end could come on Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh's two goals in 31 seconds at the end of the first period were the backbreaker. Carolina had been applying pressure throughout the opening frame, but the Hurricanes defense left Cam Ward(notes) out to dry all night and the Penguins capitalized on the mistakes. Ward saved the Canes blue liners bacon on numerous occasions and if not for some superb saves, this game might have

Here are your Evening Puck Headlines and Previews: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

Preview: Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins (7:30 p.m. EST; TV: VS., CBC). Penguins lead series, 2-0.

Keys for the Hurricanes: Tuomo Ruutu(notes) participated in the morning skate at RBC Center and will be a game-time decision ...When Eric Staal(notes) scores, the Canes are 7-0. When he doesn't? They're 1-8. If Carolina is to get back into this series, he needs to lead the way ... The power play passed up a huge 4-on-3 opportunity, literally, in Game Two. Carolina was only able to muster one shot with the man advantage ... Finding a way to slow down Sidney Crosby(notes) and Evgeni Malkin(notes) would be a good start.

Keys for the Penguins: They should be very educated on the fact that being up 2-0 in a series doesn't mean it's over. Pittsburgh knows a loss tonight could be the tonic

Yesterday, the National Hockey League announced the two potential start dates for the Stanley Cup Finals:

"If both Conference Final series have been decided by Tuesday, May 26, the Western Conference winner would host Game 1 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final on Thursday, May 28. Otherwise, Game 1 will be played on Friday, June 5."

The first option would have come to fruition had both Conference Finals ended in sweeps, which was heading that way when Detroit came back to tie the game last night against Chicago. Then, Patrick Sharp(notes) put home the overtime winner and now there's the potential for a ten-day layoff between the Conference Finals and Game One of the Stanley Cup.

Yes, there's the potential for a ten-day break between series. That's almost as long as Barry Melrose's tenure in Tampa Bay. And you thought having no hockey this past Wednesday night was bad?

One of the many, many, many fans who are rather upset by the NHL's poor scheduling is Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun, who

Before he got into broadcasting and blogging, Daryl Reaugh was known as one of two goaltenders (along with Craig Billington) to be selected ahead of Patrick Roy, Luc Robitaille, and Brett Hull in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. He also has a championship ring with the 1988 Edmonton Oilers, but his name isn't etched on the Stanley Cup.

For the past thirteen seasons, Reaugh has been part of the "Ralph and Razor" duo along with Dallas Stars play-by-play man Ralph Strangis. The duo is so popular that the Stars simulcast their television audio for their local radio broadcasts.

While stars like Evgeni Malkin(notes), Sidney Crosby(notes), Eric Staal(notes), and Henrik Zetterberg(notes) are doing their normal postseason thing, the breakout star of these playoffs has certainly been Reaugh, who been serving as color analyst to Joe Beninati on Versus. Not only does he break down the game in a way that any viewer can understand, Reaugh doesn't get bogged down into the hockey minutiae that other analysts

It was in the post-hat-trick celebration, as headgear was raining down from the Mellon Arena stands, that the Versus cameras caught Natalia and Vladimir Malkin celebrating their son Evgeni's feat -- with dad giving mom a joyful kiss on the cheek, keeping one eye on the Jumbotron.

They've been in Pittsburgh for some time now following their superstar son, but it hasn't taken long for the Malkins to become rock stars themselves. The television cameras pan to them whenever Evgeni Malkin(notes) of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores a goal. Vladimir's overjoyed reaction after hearing that his son had been credited with the overtime winner in Game 5 against the Washington Capitals was priceless.

The Malkins have become a lucky rabbit's foot for their son. Whenever they are in attendance, it seems that Evgeni is prominent on the score sheet.

Proving this is difficult: While the National Hockey League keeps stats on everything from plus-minus on the road against a division foe to home faceoffs

The inaugural Kontinental Hockey League awards took place recently and if you're one of those fans who think that the current set of National Hockey League awards needs to be modernized, then what the KHL has cooked up might be right up your alley.

Like the NHL Awards to be held next month in Las Vegas (...baby, Vegas!), there's your standard top coach, defenseman, rookie and scorer awards; but the KHL also recognizes some interesting other categories -- led by "Best Referee."

Is it possible to have this category in the NHL? Who would vote? Stephen Walkom?

What about the award for the earliest/latest goal in a game? Hey! Here's a watch for being so fast at scoring or notching an overtime winner. Enjoy the post-show borscht.

How 'bout the "Ironman" award, given to the player who's played the most games over three seasons? No, this isn't a consecutive-games streak we're talking about. Just being healthy over three seasons is enough. Somewhere, Doug Jarvis is scoffing at this award.

But

Please recall last September in the NHL 09 review where we described the game as "video game crack rock." With the addition of the "Be-A-Pro" mode and improved game play and controls, NHL 09 brought the fun back to the legendary EA Sports series.

As we creep closer to the release date of NHL 10 in September, EA Sports has revealed that one part of the game that has been disappointing in the past just got a major upgrade.

In an interview with ESPN Videogames, EA Sports NHL 10 producer and Hockey News blogger David Littman explained how the goal for the coming edition is to bring the physicality back to the game. One of the highly debated aspects of the NHL series in the past has been the fighting engine. It was either completely useless or relatively easy to win a fight; basically a part of the game that should be fun, but instead made you want to turn your fighting sliders down.

In NHL 10, the fighting engine has been revamped. So please let's welcome the most glorious innovation for

Not even the sounds of new age music could have mellowed Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis after learning that his team and the Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to play Games 4 and 5 on back-to-back nights, in different cities, thanks to a Yanni concert that was scheduled at Mellon Arena:

"It is a shame that both teams will have to play back to back games later in the series because the Pittsburgh building - against NHL rules - booked a series of concerts and forced the league to alter the playoff schedule. This is bad for the league, both fan bases and for the players.

"The playoffs are very intense and physical and players need time to recoup. No one is advantaged by playing back to back games so no one can complain but it is unfortunate that the Yanni concert takes precedence over high quality NHL playoff hockey."

The Penguins wound up winning Games 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. In the midst of the controversy, Yanni spoke out and pulled the "I was a former athlete" card