Matchups not favoring the Stars

Tuesday May 13, 2008 @ 10:42 AM EDT

Paul Kukla is the man behind the excellent Kukla’s Korner blog site. The longtime NHL fan and devoted Red Wings’ supporter is joining NHL.com as a regular contributor this season. His blogs are a must read for hockey fans.


At one time, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were known as regular-season performers, meaning they could play out the season but come playoff time, well, they were a different story.


Datsyuk’s postseason stats line once read like this: 42 games, 3 goals, 12 assists and minus-1. Zetterberg’s were similar: 16 games, 3 goals, 2 assists and minus-4. To be fair with Datsyuk, many of those early games saw him on the fourth line and on the second power play unit, so his ice time was very low as compared to the amount of ice he sees now.


Both Datsyuk and Zetterberg were labeled as players who could not get it done during the playoffs. Well, that label is now gone, forever.


In Pavel’s next 31 playoff games, he has 16 goals, 17 assists and is plus-13. Zetterberg has joined the party too. In his last 37 playoff games, he has 21 goals, 17 assists and is plus-12.


It is a simple fact. As Datsyuk and Zetterberg go, so go the Detroit Red Wings. You can talk as much as you want about “secondary scoring,” but the primary scoring from these two has put the Wings one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.


Oh, but there is more, not only are these two looked upon to lead the Wings’ offense, they are also needed on the defensive side too. More often than not, especially on the road, the duo of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, along with Tomas Holmstrom, go head-to-head with the opposition’s top offensive line and usually come out on top. When the playoffs started, Wings fans thought Datsyuk and Zetterberg would, on occasion, be split up to spread their offense and defensive abilities around. Except for a few occasions in the first round against Nashville, that has not happened. They are working to well together and are dominating play whenever they are on the ice.


All of the above points to one topic—The Matchup. How well do teams match up when they face each other. The Dallas Stars were on a roll heading into the Western Conference Finals and their confidence was at an all-time high. They felt they could not be beaten, they could play their game and come out victorious. I am sure they still feel the same way, but the matchups just are not in their favor. The Stars just can’t find the right combination to stop the Wings’ offensive game and the Wings have been able to limit the offensive chances the Stars need to be successful.


You don’t want to dismiss a team until the final horn sounds, but unless the Stars can find the right matchups quickly, it just may be match over for them.


Optimist or Pessimist


Tom Benjamin, one of the forefathers of hockey bloggers and very well respected within the community, posted this in his latest blog: The optimist in me remembers the Ducks last year and offers up the hope that the Red Wing style does not come to dominate the league. The pessimist in me is seeing nothing but advantage in dispassionate discipline. Is there really any value in grit? In making the big hit? Instead of pasting an opponent, isn’t it better just to give him a bump and recover the puck? Isn’t it better to maintain position and control the passing lanes than nailing someone? Isn’t a poke check better than a body check? Isn’t it much better to have more power plays and fewer injuries?


Tom knows most Wings fans will not appreciate his views, and I am interested in what fans of the NHL game think of his post?

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