If the third game of the likely seven-game series between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators was any indication, the battle between these two Central Division rivals will likely end on a fortunate circumstance for one side in overtime of Game 7.
It goes without saying after having watched 180 minutes of hockey between these two teams, there is not much to separate these two hockey clubs. Despite having varying levels of talent and hockey players that play the game of hockey in different ways, only the slimmest of margins have distinguished the difference in these two sides.
Nashville holds the 2-1 series lead having outscored Detroit 8-7 in the series, with all three contests ending in 3-2 regulation victories for the winning team. It seems as if in each and every contest, one or two "breaks" help propel the victors on that particular evening.
In Game 3, the Predators took advantage of a fast start to jump all over the Red Wings in the opening frame and used that to their advantage given Nashville's fantastic record when scoring first in hockey games this season. However, the Red Wings seemed re-energized by another successful
Pavel Datsyuk robbery midway through the 2nd period and carried the play for the remainder of the contest.
The Predators were lucky to escape the 2nd period with their lead intact following
Johan Franzen's goal being only a fraction too late. Once again, another sterling example of the slightest difference in these clubs and the good fortune the winning team will require.
In reality, Game 3 sort of mirrored Detroit's victory in Game 2. Both teams grabbed 2-0 leads during their respective victories and more or less sat back and absorbed the onslaught to hang on for victory.
The bottom line remains that unless Detroit "starts on time" (everyone's favourite Babcock phrase), they are going to have a very difficult time beating the Predators trying to play catch up hockey against them. This concern is relevant more now than ever given Detroit's apparent power outage offensively. The Red Wings have scored only 45 goals in their past 20 games dating back to the regular season. They have scored two or fewer goals in 15 of those 20 games.
When that information is combined with the fact Nashville has won 37 of 44 games (84%) this season in which they scored the first goal (including both wins in this playoff series), it becomes painfully obvious that Babcock's "start on time" mantra is a must.
Although some might find it surprising,
Barry Trotz is not remaining content with his lineup and appears to be shuffling the deck up front based on what was seen in practice. But let's also remember this is playoff hockey and coaches use all types of strategy to attempt and grab the upper hand. It's a chess match for these coaching staffs and deception typically is a tool most like to utilize to attempt to surprise their opponent.
Between the pipes, Detroit has fired 80 shots at
Pekka Rinne in both losses in this series but only scored 4 goals. Rinne has been solid, but he hasn't had to be spectacular because the quality of many of those shots are not high-end. A good chunk of them have been from the perimeter. The Red Wings need some greasy goals, as best described by their head coach:
“My players would tell you I think no one shoots the puck enough for my taste. The whole key this time of year is simple: If you’re on the outside, you’re not going to score; if you’re on the inside, you’re going to score. When you pass up a chance to shoot the puck, when are you getting your next chance to shoot the puck?" ---Mike Babcock
The question is does Detroit have enough guys willing to "get on the inside"?
“We showed our players today we weren’t at the net with the second guy enough, or we accepted box-outs. Everyone’s trying to box you out, we’re trying to box them out, too. Some guys accept it, some guys don’t accept it.
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Puck drops at 7:30 PM ET on CBC and NBC Sports Network and Fox Sports Detroit. The expected lines for tonight's contest:
Nashville Predators
S. Kostitsyn – Fisher – Erat
A. Kostitsyn – Spaling – Radulov
Bourque – Gaustad – Hornqvist
Halischuk – Legwand – Yip
Suter-Weber
Josi-Klein
Bouillon-Ellis
Trotz just announced that
Hal Gill will not be in the lineup tonight.
Detroit Red Wings
Daniel Cleary - Pavel Datsyuk - Johan Franzen
Valteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Jiri Hudler
Drew Miller - Justin Abdelkader - Todd Bertuzzi
Gustav Nyquist - Cory Emmerton - Tomas Holmstrom
Nicklas Lidstrom - Ian White
Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart
Kyle Quincey - Jonathan Ericsson
Jimmy Howard
Ty Conklin
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Join me with
Jamie Shalley on SiriusXM's NHL Home Ice today at 3:05 PM ET to further discuss tonight's Game 4 between the Red Wings and Predators.
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Stat of the day: The Detroit Red Wings past 10 postseason losses have each been by one goal.
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