Obviously, if the Pittsburgh Penguins want to win the Stanley Cup in 2008, they will have to win a game in Detroit's barn. With only three possible chances remaining, how do they go about improving on their performance Saturday night?
Chip-in and chase:
This is something the Pens worked on considerably in practice Sunday. Something has to be done to disrupt the Wings defensemen when they get the puck in their own end and breakout of their own zone. For the first 10 minutes of Game 1, Pittsburgh was successful with their forecheck, creating turnovers and causing the Wings to take several penalties. Once the game became a 5 on 5 affair however, Pittsburgh went away from the aggressive forecheck and began to retreat. This allowed Detroit to easily get out of their own end, control the puck and in essence, control the game to their liking.
The Pens need to return to the soft chip-in to the corner, beat the Wings defensemen into the corner for the puck or at least hit them hard if the d-man gets to it first. Detroit is most vulnerable when their defensemen are under immense pressure in their own end. This can be created by Pittsburgh gaining entrance into the zone and staying in there for a large amount of time with the puck on THEIR sticks, instead of chasing the Red Wings around in their own end. Easier said than done I suppose.
The Wings are at their best when they get the opposition on their heels and reacting to what they are doing instead of trying to create their own offense against Detroit. This is what happened in the 2nd and 3rd periods Saturday night. I was amazed when I saw Pittsburgh playing a 1-2-2 forecheck with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period DOWN 2-0! By sitting back and allowing Detroit to decide what they will do, it plays right into Detroit's strength of possessing the puck.
At the end of the day, perhaps we are talking about a different result if Pittsburgh is able to score on one of their several first period power plays. What they have to focus on however, is what created those power plays. Aside from the Holmstrom interference call, they were all caused by Pens forwards creating havoc in the offensive zone.
If Pittsburgh emulates Detroit's mindset of "your best defense is a good offense", we should be in for a great game tonight at Joe Louis Arena. Trust me when I say, Detroit does not want to get into a situation where they are trading chances with Pittsburgh. For all of their offensive talent, the goal of the Red Wings each game is to avoid having pressure applied to their defense and goaltender.
The return of Gary Roberts should help, even if he is on the 4th line. His impact on the demeanor in the dressing room cannot be understated. Ryan Malone and Max Talbot need to use their size more and lean on the Detroit defense. Petr Sykora and Evgeni Malkin need to realize they missed their wakeup call for Game 1 of the Finals and show up for Game 2. Crosby's line (now flanked with Malone and Hossa) needs to be on par with the Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom line. If Pittsburgh continues to lose that battle, we could all be golfing by next week.
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I realize this is a Red Wing blog, but after watching Game 1, there isn't much they need to change after the win, leaving me with little to write about. Coach Babcock mentioned he wasn't happy with their penalty killing in Game 1, which he felt was only bailed out by Chris Osgood making some spectacular saves and, "being better than he needs to be".
Don't expect Chelios to return to the lineup if they continue winning. Just found out from Eklund at the Babcock presser that Franzen won't go tonight. ***EDIT*** Apparently Franzen is a go tonight now.
When he does return to the lineup, I would expect McCarty to be a healthy scratch and the following line combinations:
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Filppula-Franzen-Samuelsson
Cleary-Draper-Drake
Maltby-Helm-Hudler
Looking forward to meeting up with Eklund tonight at the Joe. I'll have a post-game blog up once I get back from the game. Also, listen in after the game to XM Ch. 204, Home ICE. I will be on from the Joe during their post-game show for a 10 minute recap of the game.
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