One of the Detroit Red Wings’ young stars – goalie Petr Mrazek – was the difference maker as the Wings captured Game 1 of their Stanley Cup series with the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 3-2 count Thursday behind the rookie netminder’s 44 saves and that seemed to set an appropriate trend, because the winner of this set may very well be the team whose youngsters impact the series with the most significance.
While Mrazek came through, many other Detroit youngsters were missing in action, including top-scoring forwards such as Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist, who failed to score, just as they both did throughout Detroit’s five-game loss to the Boston Bruins last spring.
“I think generally in the playoffs everything is tighter,… Nyquist said “You’ve got to fight for every inch on the ice. All the goals are going to be scored on the inside, in front of the net. You’ve got to pay the price to get in there. “That’s why playoffs are so much fun. This is when it all matters. It’s a new season and we’re excited.… Tatar expects more from himself this spring.
“Well obviously you have more experience, you have more games in the NHL played,… Tatar said. “I felt way better the whole season than last year.…
Tatar felt confidence played a role in that different feeling.
“I was kind of insecure what was going to happen at the start of (last) year,… Tatar said. “You have to battle through but I think the big reason was we were chasing the playoffs since January. We lost lots of energy, we had many injuries so this playoffs heading into it we are more prepared, more ready and hopefully we’ll battle through.…
Center Riley Sheahan, another Wing who failed to register a goal last spring his first Stanley Cup debut, thinks all of Detroit’s kids are better prepared to respond this spring.
“Definitely it was a little bit of an eye-opener,… Sheahan acknowledged. “We definitely didn’t play the way we wanted to. It’s behind us now. It’s not an excuse anymore that we’ve got low experience. I think we’re coming in there with some excitement.…
The biggest thing the younger guys had to learn about payoffs was that there is no such thing as down time, no easy path to success.
“Every game is worth so much so you can’t really take any shifts off,… Sheahan said. “We sort of press the idea of being an every-dayer in here, so that’s going to come into effect even more.
“You’ve got to come to the rink every day and be ready to play.…
It’s not just the Wings whose talented youngsters need to take that next step. Several of the Lightning, including key forwards Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat and goalie Ben Bishop remain in search of their first win in Stanley Cup play after being swept last season by Montreal.
While battling through tighter checking is one challenge all playoff newcomers must overcome, Detroit coach Mike Babcock thinks there’s much more to becoming a reliable playoff producer than that.
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