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Wings need more from Zetterberg and Datsyuk if they are to survive

April 21, 2016, 1:50 PM ET [16 Comments]
Bob Duff
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
If the Detroit Red Wings are to survive Thursday’s Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and continue on in the opening-round Stanley Cup series between the two teams, they’ll need more from the big stars. And at this stage of their careers, that may be asking too much.

Henrik Zetterberg has one goal through four games, a puck that bounced in off his leg. Pavel Datsyuk is still in search of his first point.

For both men, this is the worst playoff performance in terms of productivity since Detroit’s 2003 first round sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. That spring, Zetterberg, in his first Stanley Cup series, produced 1-0-1 numbers and Datsyuk was pointless in the four games.

“I have to do better,” Zetterberg said. “I’ve got to produce more. I’m not happy with the way it’s been so far.

“I’ve got a chance here to improve that.”

At this stage of their careers, with as many miles as they have on their bodies, it may be asking Zetterberg and Datsyuk too much to continue to be the heart and soul of this team, although Detroit coach Jeff Blashill insists that they still are just that.

“We keep track of scoring chances plus-minus and Datsyuk is leading us and Zetterberg is second,” Blashill said. “From a process standpoint, Pavel has done a good job.

“I think we’d like a little more production throughout our lineup, we’d like to score more than two goals tonight. We need multiple guys to have lots of chances to be able to do it, and he’s one of them.”

Just Win A Game
It’s a cliché to say that the Wings need to take things one game at a time but in reality, that’s what they have to do. If they fail to take care of business tonight, there won’t be a tomorrow, so there’s no sense in worrying about tomorrow at this juncture.

“It’s simple, really,” Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist said. “I mean, you lose you’re out. So you’ve just got to win a game and bring it back home to Detroit.

“That’s all you can do at this point, so it starts with a big game tonight.”

That could be easier said than done. The Wings haven’t won a series in which they’ve trailed 3-1 since the opening round of the 1992 playoffs against the Minnesota North Stars.

And the Wings have never rallied from 3-1 down when needing to win two of the three games away from home.

Overall, Detroit is 2-18 in series in which the team has fallen behind 3-1, also coming back to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 1987 playoffs. Thirteen of those series setbacks have ended in five games.

In Stanley Cup history, only 28 of 277 teams that trailed 3-1 in a series came back to win, meaning 89.8 per cent of the time, the team that was down ended up out.

Last season, when he was coaching AHL Grand Rapids, Blashill rallied the Griffins to three straight wins after falling behind 2-0 to the Toronto Marlies in a best-of-five series.

“The process was focusing on the little ways we can get better and making sure that we can be better in these little ways,” Blashill said. “That was the process last year and also focusing on winning a hockey game.

“That's all we’ve got to worry about is winning a game, period.”

Ericsson Assessment
Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson has been a lightning rod for criticism during this series, as he often is when things go south for the Wings, and Blashill for one thinks that is patently unfair.

“I think first in accessing his play he’s had moments of good, moments of where he’s got to be better, probably like a lot of our team,” Blashill said of Ericsson. “We all strive for perfection, we understand you’re not going to be perfect.

“I think sometimes . . . like the other night, I think he sometimes he gets blamed for things that aren’t necessarily his fault. That was a breakdown that actually another player lost his coverage and he had to make up for. So I think sometimes when you’re just sitting in the stands you might not understand which guys are whose and so he gets blamed for some of that.

“Johnnie Ericsson when he is playing his best he’s using his big, huge frame and his skating ability to close gaps to not give too much space. He does a real good job when he’s playing his best and managing the puck . . . and he’s a big, hard, physical presence that keeps guys away from our net. So that’s what we need out of him.”

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