Stanley Cup Playoff Preview - Detroit vs. Anaheim
DETROIT RED WINGS (2nd seed, West)
REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 51-21-10
2009 PLAYOFFS: Defeated Columbus 4-0 in conference quarterfinals
Detroit's quest for a second straight Stanley Cup crown got off to a roaring start in the opening round and the Red Wings would like to keep the pedal to the metal in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Red Wings, who claimed the 11th championship in club history last spring, made quick work of Columbus in this year's conference quarterfinals, disposing of the Blue Jackets in a four-game sweep. Not exactly what the Jackets were looking for in the franchise's first-ever trip to the postseason.
Detroit is trying to become the first NHL team to repeat as Cup champions since the Red Wings did it themselves back in 1997 and '98.
The Red Wings are about as deep as an NHL team can be on both offense and defense. Detroit led the league with 295 goals during the regular season, but the defense, despite the likes of six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom patrolling the blue line, did struggle at times and allowed 244 goals.
Detroit is led on offense by a trio of superstar forwards in Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa.
Datsyuk led the Red Wings with 97 points (32 goals, 65 assists) this year and is a finalist for three awards -- the Hart (MVP), Selke (top defensive forward) and Lady Byng (sportsmanship). Last year, the Russian won the Selke and Lady Byng and could become the first player in NHL history to win both awards in consecutive seasons.
Datsyuk had one goal and one assist for Detroit in the opening round.
Zetterberg, last year's Conn Smythe recipient as playoffs MVP, had a quiet regular season, posting 73 points (31 g, 42a) -- a 19-point drop-off from his career-high 92 points in 2007-08. The Swede led Detroit with three goals in the series against Columbus.
While Datsyuk and Zetterberg have spent their entire careers in Motown, Hossa decided to sign a one-year deal with the Red Wings in the offseason. The decision to join Detroit came just a few weeks after Hossa had watched the Red Wings dispose of his Pittsburgh Penguins in six games to claim Lord Stanley's Cup.
Hossa had a terrific first season with the Red Wings, as he led the club with 40 goals and finished third behind Datsyuk and Zetterberg with 71 points. The Slovakian sniper had two goals and two assists for Detroit in the conference quarterfinals.
With a group of forwards like Datsyuk, Hossa and Zetterberg in tow, it's easy to forget about Johan Franzen, who was second on the team to Hossa with 34 goals on the year. The Swedish winger paced Detroit with six points (2g, 4a) in the series against the Blue Jackets.
On the back end, the Red Wings have the most-decorated defenseman of his generation in Lidstrom, who may win his seventh Norris Trophy as the league's top blueliner this year.
Lidstrom, who became the first European captain to lead his club to a Stanley Cup title last year, is the most complete rearguard in the NHL, as he possesses an amazing array of skills on both the defensive and offensive ends of the ice. The steady Swede led all Detroit defensemen with 16 goals during the regular season. Lidstrom's 59 points tied him with Brian Rafalski for the club lead in points by a defenseman.
Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall each had four points in the opening round to lead Detroit defensemen in offense. Rafalski and veteran blueliner Brad Stuart added three points apiece against Columbus.
Detroit had the best power-play attack in the first round of the postseason, as it converted on nearly a third (7-of-22) of its chances with the man advantage. Conversely, the Red Wings struggled on the penalty kill as they allowed three goals on 13 Columbus power plays.
Chris Osgood had a rough regular season between the pipes for Detroit, but was excellent in the opening round against the Blue Jackets, going 4-0 with a 1.75 goals against average and .936 save percentage. In contrast, he struggled to a 3.09 GAA and .887 save percentage during the regular season.
Osgood won his third Stanley Cup title last season and his second as a starting goaltender.
ANAHEIM DUCKS (8th seed, West)
REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 42-33-7
2009 PLAYOFFS: Defeated San Jose 4-2 in conference quarterfinals
(Sports Network) - Don't let the No. 8 next to the Anaheim's name fool you, because the Ducks are playing their best hockey since preceding Detroit as the 2007 Stanley Cup champions.
Two years ago, the Ducks used a physical brand of play to win the franchise's first-ever championship and Anaheim used that style to pull off a major upset against top-seeded San Jose in this year's opening round.
By ousting the Sharks in six games, Anaheim became the eighth No. 8 team to knock off a top seed since 1994. Now the Ducks will try to land a spot in the conference finals for the fourth time this decade.
The most notable difference between this year's Ducks and the championship team is the starting goaltender. In 2007, Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned in an outstanding postseason between the pipes, going 13-4 with a 1.97 GAA in the playoffs that year. However, Giguere, who also won a Conn Smythe for Anaheim in 2003, struggled this year to a 19-18-6 record and 3.10 GAA in 46 games and it was 27-year-old Jonas Hiller (23-15-1, 2.39 GAA) who was instrumental in leading the Ducks to a 10-2-1 record down the stretch en route to a playoff spot.
Despite the fact that Hiller had never played in an NHL postseason game, the Ducks decided to start the second-year pro against the Sharks. Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle would not regret the decision, as the Swiss backstop recorded a pair of shutouts and finished the series with a 1.65 GAA and .957 save percentage.
The good news for the Ducks is that if Hiller does struggle against Detroit, they have Giguere, one of the best postseason goaltenders of this millennium, as the backup.
Making life easier for whomever is in net for Anaheim is the play of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, who make up the Ducks' outstanding top defensive pairing. Both players are former Norris Trophy winners and were the key ingredients to Anaheim's 2007 title run, which ended with Niedermayer claiming the Conn Smythe.
Niedermayer led the Anaheim blue line with five points (1g, 4a) in the opening round against San Jose, while Pronger had four points (1g, 3a) and a team-high plus-six rating.
Making Anaheim even more of a threat from the blue line is Ryan Whitney, who was acquired from Pittsburgh at this year's trade deadline. Whitney had 10 assists in 20 games with the Ducks in the regular season and added four more helpers in the first round of the playoffs.
On offense, the Ducks are led by the top unit of Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry, who combined for 17 goals and 21 assists in the team's last eight regular-season games. The line continued to dominate in the first round against the Sharks, accounting for exactly half of Anaheim's 18 goals in the series.
Ryan, a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie this year, led the Ducks with four goals in the opening round, while Getzlaf had a team- high eight points on two goals and six assists. Perry, meanwhile, had three goals and a helper over the six games.
The Ducks also have future Hall-of-Famer Teemu Selanne in tow. The 38-year-old Finnish star had 27 goals and 27 assists during the regular season and added a goal and a helper in the opening round. Selanne leads Anaheim with 32 career playoff goals.
Anaheim converted on 21.4 percent of its power-play opportunities against the Sharks, as it converted 5-of-14 chances with the man advantage. The Ducks also killed off 14-of-17 penalties (88.2 percent) in the opening round.
MATCHUP
This series is a battle between the last two Stanley Cup champions and both clubs feature an impressive array of NHL talent.
The Red Wings and Ducks have met on four occasions in the postseason, with each team winning two series. Anaheim, however, has won the last two playoff encounters, including a six-game triumph over Detroit two years ago in the conference finals.
All told, Anaheim has taken eight of the last 10 playoff encounters against the Red Wings.
Detroit won three out of four against the Ducks during the 2008-09 regular season and was held to fewer than four goals in just one of those matchups.
Datsyuk and Zetterberg had their way with Anaheim this year, posting seven and six points, respectively, in the season series. However, Getzlaf generated the most offense out of any player on either team, as he recorded nine points in four games against the Red Wings.
Hiller played in just one game against Detroit this year and took the loss despite stopping 19-of-20 shots.
The Ducks have the edge in goaltending in this series, but Detroit should dictate play in all other aspects. In the end, expect the Red Wings to win a few close games en route to a third straight trip to the West finals.
Predicted outcome: Red Wings in 6
DETROIT RED WINGS (2nd seed, West)
REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 51-21-10
2009 PLAYOFFS: Defeated Columbus 4-0 in conference quarterfinals
Detroit's quest for a second straight Stanley Cup crown got off to a roaring start in the opening round and the Red Wings would like to keep the pedal to the metal in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Red Wings, who claimed the 11th championship in club history last spring, made quick work of Columbus in this year's conference quarterfinals, disposing of the Blue Jackets in a four-game sweep. Not exactly what the Jackets were looking for in the franchise's first-ever trip to the postseason.
Detroit is trying to become the first NHL team to repeat as Cup champions since the Red Wings did it themselves back in 1997 and '98.
The Red Wings are about as deep as an NHL team can be on both offense and defense. Detroit led the league with 295 goals during the regular season, but the defense, despite the likes of six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom patrolling the blue line, did struggle at times and allowed 244 goals.
Detroit is led on offense by a trio of superstar forwards in Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Hossa.
Datsyuk led the Red Wings with 97 points (32 goals, 65 assists) this year and is a finalist for three awards -- the Hart (MVP), Selke (top defensive forward) and Lady Byng (sportsmanship). Last year, the Russian won the Selke and Lady Byng and could become the first player in NHL history to win both awards in consecutive seasons.
Datsyuk had one goal and one assist for Detroit in the opening round.
Zetterberg, last year's Conn Smythe recipient as playoffs MVP, had a quiet regular season, posting 73 points (31 g, 42a) -- a 19-point drop-off from his career-high 92 points in 2007-08. The Swede led Detroit with three goals in the series against Columbus.
While Datsyuk and Zetterberg have spent their entire careers in Motown, Hossa decided to sign a one-year deal with the Red Wings in the offseason. The decision to join Detroit came just a few weeks after Hossa had watched the Red Wings dispose of his Pittsburgh Penguins in six games to claim Lord Stanley's Cup.
Hossa had a terrific first season with the Red Wings, as he led the club with 40 goals and finished third behind Datsyuk and Zetterberg with 71 points. The Slovakian sniper had two goals and two assists for Detroit in the conference quarterfinals.
With a group of forwards like Datsyuk, Hossa and Zetterberg in tow, it's easy to forget about Johan Franzen, who was second on the team to Hossa with 34 goals on the year. The Swedish winger paced Detroit with six points (2g, 4a) in the series against the Blue Jackets.
On the back end, the Red Wings have the most-decorated defenseman of his generation in Lidstrom, who may win his seventh Norris Trophy as the league's top blueliner this year.
Lidstrom, who became the first European captain to lead his club to a Stanley Cup title last year, is the most complete rearguard in the NHL, as he possesses an amazing array of skills on both the defensive and offensive ends of the ice. The steady Swede led all Detroit defensemen with 16 goals during the regular season. Lidstrom's 59 points tied him with Brian Rafalski for the club lead in points by a defenseman.
Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall each had four points in the opening round to lead Detroit defensemen in offense. Rafalski and veteran blueliner Brad Stuart added three points apiece against Columbus.
Detroit had the best power-play attack in the first round of the postseason, as it converted on nearly a third (7-of-22) of its chances with the man advantage. Conversely, the Red Wings struggled on the penalty kill as they allowed three goals on 13 Columbus power plays.
Chris Osgood had a rough regular season between the pipes for Detroit, but was excellent in the opening round against the Blue Jackets, going 4-0 with a 1.75 goals against average and .936 save percentage. In contrast, he struggled to a 3.09 GAA and .887 save percentage during the regular season.
Osgood won his third Stanley Cup title last season and his second as a starting goaltender.
ANAHEIM DUCKS (8th seed, West)
REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 42-33-7
2009 PLAYOFFS: Defeated San Jose 4-2 in conference quarterfinals
(Sports Network) - Don't let the No. 8 next to the Anaheim's name fool you, because the Ducks are playing their best hockey since preceding Detroit as the 2007 Stanley Cup champions.
Two years ago, the Ducks used a physical brand of play to win the franchise's first-ever championship and Anaheim used that style to pull off a major upset against top-seeded San Jose in this year's opening round.
By ousting the Sharks in six games, Anaheim became the eighth No. 8 team to knock off a top seed since 1994. Now the Ducks will try to land a spot in the conference finals for the fourth time this decade.
The most notable difference between this year's Ducks and the championship team is the starting goaltender. In 2007, Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned in an outstanding postseason between the pipes, going 13-4 with a 1.97 GAA in the playoffs that year. However, Giguere, who also won a Conn Smythe for Anaheim in 2003, struggled this year to a 19-18-6 record and 3.10 GAA in 46 games and it was 27-year-old Jonas Hiller (23-15-1, 2.39 GAA) who was instrumental in leading the Ducks to a 10-2-1 record down the stretch en route to a playoff spot.
Despite the fact that Hiller had never played in an NHL postseason game, the Ducks decided to start the second-year pro against the Sharks. Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle would not regret the decision, as the Swiss backstop recorded a pair of shutouts and finished the series with a 1.65 GAA and .957 save percentage.
The good news for the Ducks is that if Hiller does struggle against Detroit, they have Giguere, one of the best postseason goaltenders of this millennium, as the backup.
Making life easier for whomever is in net for Anaheim is the play of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, who make up the Ducks' outstanding top defensive pairing. Both players are former Norris Trophy winners and were the key ingredients to Anaheim's 2007 title run, which ended with Niedermayer claiming the Conn Smythe.
Niedermayer led the Anaheim blue line with five points (1g, 4a) in the opening round against San Jose, while Pronger had four points (1g, 3a) and a team-high plus-six rating.
Making Anaheim even more of a threat from the blue line is Ryan Whitney, who was acquired from Pittsburgh at this year's trade deadline. Whitney had 10 assists in 20 games with the Ducks in the regular season and added four more helpers in the first round of the playoffs.
On offense, the Ducks are led by the top unit of Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry, who combined for 17 goals and 21 assists in the team's last eight regular-season games. The line continued to dominate in the first round against the Sharks, accounting for exactly half of Anaheim's 18 goals in the series.
Ryan, a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie this year, led the Ducks with four goals in the opening round, while Getzlaf had a team- high eight points on two goals and six assists. Perry, meanwhile, had three goals and a helper over the six games.
The Ducks also have future Hall-of-Famer Teemu Selanne in tow. The 38-year-old Finnish star had 27 goals and 27 assists during the regular season and added a goal and a helper in the opening round. Selanne leads Anaheim with 32 career playoff goals.
Anaheim converted on 21.4 percent of its power-play opportunities against the Sharks, as it converted 5-of-14 chances with the man advantage. The Ducks also killed off 14-of-17 penalties (88.2 percent) in the opening round.
MATCHUP
This series is a battle between the last two Stanley Cup champions and both clubs feature an impressive array of NHL talent.
The Red Wings and Ducks have met on four occasions in the postseason, with each team winning two series. Anaheim, however, has won the last two playoff encounters, including a six-game triumph over Detroit two years ago in the conference finals.
All told, Anaheim has taken eight of the last 10 playoff encounters against the Red Wings.
Detroit won three out of four against the Ducks during the 2008-09 regular season and was held to fewer than four goals in just one of those matchups.
Datsyuk and Zetterberg had their way with Anaheim this year, posting seven and six points, respectively, in the season series. However, Getzlaf generated the most offense out of any player on either team, as he recorded nine points in four games against the Red Wings.
Hiller played in just one game against Detroit this year and took the loss despite stopping 19-of-20 shots.
The Ducks have the edge in goaltending in this series, but Detroit should dictate play in all other aspects. In the end, expect the Red Wings to win a few close games en route to a third straight trip to the West finals.
Predicted outcome: Red Wings in 6
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