As the Detroit Red Wings bring their Stanley Cup opening-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning back home for Game 3 Tuesday at Joe Louis Arena, on paper, things look good.
The Wings garnered a split of the first two games at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, so in essence, home-ice advantage is now theirs.
Or is it?
That’s the real question today, whether home ice means as much in the Stanley Cup playoffs as it once did.
“Maybe it’s not as big as it used to be, but still, it’s a big deal,… reasoned Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader, who will make his first appearance of the series after missing the first two games due to a hand injury.
“Anytime you start a series on the road, you’re goal is to try and get one. We did a good job of that. We didn’t play the way we wanted to play, at the same time, coming back home we can come out and get that first 10 minutes and start like they had in their building and get our crowd going and into it.…
Sounds rational enough in theory, but in practice, it hasn’t been perfect.
Through 23 games of post-season play this spring, the home team holds a razor-thin 12-11 edge. Not exactly what you’d describe as dominance.
“I think teams are so evenly matched these days, where before there was more discrepancy between a home seed and an away seed,… Abdelkader explained. “Now any team can win one through eight, whether you’re on home ice or not.…
In Detroit’s case, the Wings are winless in three playoff games at home and are 10-10 at the JLA over the past five playoffs. Only 10 players who will be in the lineup for the Wings Tuesday played the last time Detroit won a playoff game on home ice, a 2-0 verdict over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of their 2013 second-round set.
The goal scorers that night were Daniel Cleary and Jakub Kindl, both slated to be healthy scratches Tuesday. Carlo Colaiacovo, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula drew assists.
Of that group, only Filppula will take the ice Tuesday and he will do so in a Lightning uniform.
Last spring, the Wings dropped both of their playoff home dates to the Boston Bruins as they were eliminated in five games.
“To be honest, I kind of forgot about last year,… Detroit left-winger Tomas Tatar said. “I’m not trying to look in the past. “It’s a new series, different team, different match-up.
Considering Detroit’s recent home-ice struggles, perhaps that’s the best approach to take.
Scoring Change Pavel Datsyuk no longer has two goals in this spring’s playoffs. He also lost his place in the Detroit record book.
His second goal in Game 1 against the Lightning, a power-play marker eight seconds into the second period, has now been given to Tomas Jurco, who was parked in front of Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop on the edge of Bishop’s goal crease.
“It hit my pants,… Jurco said. “I just find out actually. I knew that I touched it, but I didn’t know if they were going to change it. So I just find out that they changed it.…
Certainly it’s a weird way to score a first playoff goal.
“Yeah, obviously it’s different to score like this, but every goal counts and it’s important in the playoffs, so I’ll take it,… Jurco said. “I would say it was a great play by Pav. He shoot it and it just hit my pants a little bit and went in. It doesn’t really matter who scores, but they changed it so good for me I guess.…
Jurco also takes possession of the Red Wings record for the fastest goal from the start of a period in a playoff game. Gordie Howe held the previous mark of nine seconds.
While pleased to see Jurco get on the board with his first playoff tally, Detroit coach Mike Babcock wants to see more from his second-year right-winger.
“Anyway you look at it, it’s Jurco’s goal,… Babcock said. “He went to the net hard, he skates good.…
It’s a step in the right direction for Jurco, but there’s many more he needs to take before he’ll be viewed as a valuable playoff performer.
“He’s got to learn to take care of the puck,… Babcock said. “He’s got to realize you are what you are in the National Hockey League until you become what you want to be.
“What I mean by that is you have this fantasy when you arrive that you’re this high-end skill guy who’s going to be able to beat people one-on-one and score. Unless you’re a superstar that just doesn’t happen. So you’ve got to get to work.
“So guys that he should be watching are guys like Glenny (Luke Glendening) and Helmer (Darren Helm) and Abby (Abdelkader) and he’s got to put his work boots on and be a physical forechecker and play with pace.
“They’re a quick team, the harder you get on their D the better opportunities you’re going to have, so that’s what he’s go to provide for us.…
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