updated 11:00 p.m. ET June 5, 2009

PITTSBURGH - As Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin burst into their zone on a 2-on-1 rush that resulted in a Crosby goal, the Detroit Red Wings must have been thinking, "What did we get ourselves into?"

How about this predicament: A tied-up Stanley Cup finals with three games to go and Pittsburgh's showy young stars starting to take over as the series shifts back to Detroit for Game 5 on Saturday night.

The Red Wings, suddenly looking tired and vulnerable, have lost every advantage except home ice since winning the first two games in Detroit last weekend. They couldn't match the Penguins' speed and scoring surges during a pair of 4-2 losses in Pittsburgh, and now it's the defending champs who face a must-win game.

Advantage, Penguins?

"You don't want to think about the Cup right now," Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said Friday. "You want to think about playing the right way. Just try to carry the momentum over there and play the same way we did in Games 4 and 3."

What must concern the Red Wings is they're beginning to see how difficult it can be to control Crosby and Malkin during a lengthy series, something that wasn't a problem when they beat Pittsburgh in six games last year.

Detroit matched shutdown specialist Henrik Zetterberg repeatedly against Crosby in the first three games, limiting him to an assist, but Malkin scored a goal and set up four others — three in Game 3.

When Zetterberg shifted his attention to Malkin in Game 4, Crosby had a goal and an assist, but Malkin did, too, giving him seven points in four games.

"Oh yeah, I think he's a lot more comfortable," Crosby said of Malkin, who didn't have a point at this stage of last year's finals. "He looks pretty energized, he's physical. I think he's back on. He's flying out there. He looks great."

Malkin has 35 points in the playoffs, the most since Wayne Gretzky had 40 in 1993. Crosby (31 points) and Malkin are the first teammates to produce 30 or more points each since 1994.

"You can't have turnovers against them in the neutral zone because they're a quick transition team and with those two players, they're going full blast the other way," Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma can only imagine how Detroit's Jonathan Ericsson felt as he tried to defend against the Crosby and Malkin break on Thursday, which came during a 5 1/2-minute burst in which the Penguins scored three times in the second period.

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Bylsma, a former NHL player, once felt the same way when he saw Gretzky or Mario Lemieux headed his way.

"It's going through your mind, it was going through my mind, `That's Mario Lemieux.' "

The Red Wings never saw Crosby and Malkin on their games at the same time last year, but that's when they had NHL MVP finalist Pavel Datsyuk in their lineup. A foot injury has kept one of the league's best two-way players out of this series, but coach Mike Babcock said Friday he will play in Game 5.

Giving up eight goals in two games in Pittsburgh no doubt influenced Babcock's decision, especially now that a series the Red Wings once led 2-0 has become a best of three.

So is the worry that if the Penguins take advantage of yet another single-day break between games and gain a 3-2 lead against a Red Wings team that looks to be wearing down, Pittsburgh will be in position to win the Stanley Cup at home Tuesday.

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"You want to build shift after shift," Crosby said. "If we're able to put a team back on its heels and Geno's line goes out there and does the same thing, and (Jordan) Staal's, that's tough to play against."

However, if Datsyuk helps negate Pittsburgh's skill and speed and Detroit wins Game 5, the Red Wings will have two days to rest before Game 6. That might negate any advantage the Penguins' youth is giving them.

"We can't go feeling like, `Oh, yeah, we got the momentum' and go into their building and not be ready to play," Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko said. "They're going to come out harder, especially at home, and we need to be ready for that."

Now, both teams will find out whether Datsyuk is coming back just in time or, with Malkin and Crosby rolling, a little too late.

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