From what I can gather Datsyuk and Lidstrom are really not that hurt (I'm almost more concerned about them rushing Ericsson back from having his appendix removed), but I still think this'll be a lot closer than last year, where I thought it wasn't even as close as 4-2 indicated - my main complain of Sidney Crosby over the past few years is that he whines a lot, to the point where I feel like he expects things handed to him. This year he's mostly kept his mouth shut and he is absolutely playing like someone who is going to fucking take it if it isn't given to him, and while he hasn't been too pretty in the playoffs, he's leading in goals and point for a reason. I think his development alone will make this series a lot more interesting, and Malkin has improved, too. The Pens as a whole really seem to want it more than anyone else in the east did (as much as I hate to admit it, look at that Washington series for evidence - I've never seen such a massive shot blocking discrepancy)... this'll be a good series.
I feel pretty confident this one'll go seven but I'm going to somewhat hopefully pick to Detroit. I'm really hoping Babcock puts Stuart/Kronwall against Malkin to the extent he can and Lidstrom + Raf or Ericsson against Crosby just because Malkin has been known to take some stupid retaliatory penalties when you get in his face and getting him off his game will be crucial. I'm not sure I've seen anyone other than Ovechkin really get Crosby off his game and that is a special case, but Lidstrom shut down Crosby pretty well last year, so hopefully he can do so this year, too.
The Wings, for their part, have a pretty good offense, too - no one but Dallas Drake is out of the lineup from last season, although Draper isn't too likely to play either, and they added Hossa(who hasn't done anything anyway) and Ericsson(even though he was in the system last year). I think the story will probably be the development of players either way, though, since while Pittsburgh's stars have developed, a lot of Detroit's young guns, like Fillapula, Ericsson, Helm, and Lebda have really improved, and Cleary has looked better than I can remember him being, too.
Goaltending is where I'm really curious, though. Fleury has made some big saves, but his playoff stats have not been good and that high powered Pens offense has carried him on some level - I can't remember the last time I've seen a SCF goalie who was barely over .900. That'll almost certainly be higher against Detroit since they fire so many on net, but he's really going to have to step it up for the Pens.