Well, the Detroit Red Wings are soaring again in the NHL playoffs. They now lead the Stanley Cup Finals three games to love against the Washington Capitals. One more win and the Wings will be an amazing 8-0 in the final series over the past two years, the first sweep coming against the slower-than-mud Philadelphia Flyers.

However, it could very easily be 3-0 in favor of the Capitals. Each game has been decided by a single goal. In game 2, the Caps had a two-goal lead heading into the third period before losing the game in overtime 5-4.

Again, in game 3, they lost by only one goal at home. One goal games are determined by who wants it more — and Detroit seems to want it more.

Even if it was a 3-0 lead for the Caps, I wouldn’t like their chances to win because they lack the experience of having been there before. Detroit would prey on that and probably win it in six or seven. But they are going to win in four, (at the maximum, five) unless the Capitals decide they don’t want to be embarrassed. Game 4 is in Washington, and they need to pick up the intensity and get some momentum.

Now they could become the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the finals to win since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, but the odds are about as good as winning the Powerball jackpot.

Goalie Olaf Kolzig of the Caps has been good, but not the performer he was in the Eastern Conference playoffs. He needs to be above the greatness he reached against Boston, Ottawa and Buffalo to thwart the Red Wings.

In the other corner, Chris Osgood of Detroit has been so consistent that nothing seems to shake him. The only questionable goals he has allowed are the center-ice blasts by Al MacInnis in the St. Louis series and the game-winning blast by Jamie Langenbrunner in the Conference finals against the Dallas Stars.

As I said before, this year’s champion of the Eastern Conference is the weakest team since the Florida Panthers of 1996. After breezing by opponents this playoff year, the Caps look like deer in headlights against the Red Wings. Everything they have tried has been bettered by Detroit, and the Wings are so solid on both ends of the ice that they are nearly invincible now. How is this for defense: In game 2, Detroit outshot the Capitals 60-33. Of course, that included part of an overtime, but it’s still an astounding number.

Eventually, the Wings will become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champion since the 1991 and 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins — average teams who played average teams to win the Cup. The Red Wings, on the other hand, have had great teams who have played average teams to win the Cup. It is easy to see why they are geared for another sweep in the finals.

Detroit looks unshakable. All forwards on the team now have at least one goal as Kirk Maltby scored the winner in OT in game 2. This says that the team has so much depth and the scoring is coming from everyone. The system they play (the left-wing lock) makes it nearly impossible to advance the puck up the ice, and it makes for boring, yet winning, hockey. The only hope is to move the puck lightning-quick and without mistakes. If one of these isn’t satisfied, the Red Wings come back and get a scoring chance.

Washington isn’t exactly a stingy team defensively. They are driven more by finesse play and have only a couple of lines that can put the puck in the net. As mentioned before, Kolzig is good — but he would be better if he didn’t face 50 shots a game. The Caps have great speed but aren’t very physical, an asset required this time of year.

There is no way the Washington Capitals are coming back from this hole they are in. History doesn’t suggest it and four miracles are not going to happen in one playoff series, so it is all but over. Detroit can play average hockey and win because they are that much better than the Capitals. The only hope now for the Caps is to try to be more physical and believe that all the pressure is on the Red Wings to close out the series, which it is.

Still, not enough can happen because four games remain, two in Washington and two in Detroit, and the Caps must win all four. If they can’t win on home ice (as game 3 suggests), why should people think they can win in Detroit?

Only two questions remain: When will the Red Wings take the Cup on the traditional trip to the White House to show President Clinton, and when will Slava Fetisov take it back to Russia as he has promised?

Chad Drury is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Marshalltown.