By Allan Muir, SI.com
Watching the Red Wings lock it down for the final two periods Saturday night against Dallas, you could tell they're feeling it. Two more wins and they're in the Stanley Cup finals.
The way Detroit is rolling, that may mean just two more games in the season for the feckless and frustrated Stars.
The 2-1 final score might suggest a hard fought playoff battle, but there was little tension as to the end result. Long before they'd sealed this business-like victory over the visitors, there was a certain sense of inevitability to the proceedings. Even absent the services of their hottest player, Johan Franzen, the Wings attacked the contest with a confidence rooted in 82 games of bedrock. This was classic Detroit hockey, a masterful display of puck control that flustered the Stars and left their confidence in tatters.
It's a testament to the depth of the Wings that their offense didn't miss a step despite losing Conn Smythe contender Franzen. Announced as a scratch 30 minutes prior to the opening faceoff due to "concussion-like symptoms," he's likely to miss Game 3 as well. No matter. Even without his league-leading 12 goals in the lineup, the remaining Wings still peppered Marty Turco with 34 shots, using their peerless transition game and crisp, cross-ice passing to test Turco's lateral mobility and his suddenly dodgy glove hand.
Both goals, in fact, came off those cross-ice dishes. The opener, scored by rookie Darren Helm, was set up by Jiri Hudler off a beautiful neutral zone steal. With Helm streaking down the boards, Turco overplayed the angle, allowing the rookie to beat him high on the glove side. The winner by Henrik Zetterberg came on a late-first period power play set up by another 60-foot pass, this time from Pavel Datsyuk. This one also went glove side. Going by how often they attacked that area, it's obvious the Wings recognized that's where the Sharks went for the final three goals of their series.
As with the series opener, the Wings spent the majority of the night with the puck, forcing the Stars to abandon their physical game and chase the biscuit. Faceoff control, no, domination, again was the key. After stunning Dallas in Game 1 by winning 63 percent of the draws, Detroit upped their success rate to an unheard of 71 percent in Game 2. The play that led to the game-winner started with a draw won by Zetterberg, and Dallas' final four power-play chances were whittled away by their inability to control the puck off the faceoff.
To be sure, this was a fair better showing for Dallas than its sluggish effort in Game 1. It started in net with Turco, who made 32 saves to keep his team within striking distance, and a reconfigured defense that prevented the Wings from setting up camp in his crease. But while he was making the big stops at one end, his 'mates missed chance after chance to light the lamp at the other.
He should sue them for non-support. There'll be much talk of Turco's 0-9-2 record in Detroit, but two goals in two games isn't enough to allow him, or any other goalie, to beat the Wings.
The announced plan was to blister Chris Osgood with shots. Eighteen, their total in Game 2, won't do the trick. It's a sign of their offensive struggles that six of 12 forwards dressed for the Stars failed to land a single shot on net. That group includes captain Brenden Morrow -- who earns a pass based on his previous efforts -- and Niklas Hagman, one of a group of disappointing players who need to make a significant contribution if the Stars are to stop the bleeding in Game 3.
Hagman, who flubbed a partial breakaway late in the first, was one of five players who missed the net completely on a high percentage scoring chance when the result was still in the air. In fact, missed opportunity was the theme of the game for the Stars, who as a group appear to be feeling the pressure of the semifinals. That was particularly evident on a four-on-one chance -- when was the last time you saw one of those in organized hockey? -- that concluded with triggerman Steve Ott brutally shanking one wide right from 10 feet out.
That they've managed just two goals is worry enough. But the Stars also have to be concerned that, with the game on the line in the third, they couldn't generate a single decent scoring chance. Although they simplified their transition game -- and reduced the turnovers that killed them in Game 1 -- they still struggled to maintain control of the puck in the Detroit end in the final frame. Time after time they were beaten to loose pucks or, when they did arrive in time, were muscled off, allowing Detroit a clean breakout. There's plenty of talent on that roster, but nowhere near enough to compete with the Wings without a better effort.
Each of their previous series saw the Stars returning home with a 2-0 series lead in their pocket, and each time there was concern that a return to the American Airlines Center might not exactly bring out their best.
This time, the benefits of home cooking are all they can hope for. Last change should help. They should gain back a bit of edge on faceoffs as well. But without considerably more spring in their step, and finish in their sticks, they won't be more than a speed bump on Detroit's road to the Cup.
Allan Muir is the senior editor of Beckett Hockey magazine and serves as the NHL's official scorer for Dallas Stars home games.
Faces at the U.S. Open
Comments (13)
Guess its time for Stars fans to again bemoan "biased" columns.
TheDeity | 05/11/08, 02:02 AM
Report Offensive CommentI always love to see teams like these lose, whose fans only show up during moments of success. The Stars should go back to Minnesota where they have real fans. LOL.
Parrothead34 | 05/11/08, 02:49 AM
Report Offensive CommentDallas Vs. Detroit........... it seems every year... As a small market hockey fan, this crap makes me unhappy. I am so sick of seeing these two at it again and again and again. I miss the Edmontons, Calgary's, Tampa Bay's. Of course Im a hypocrite too. I am a Red Sox fan, and they are anything but small market. Maybe I am wrong here but doesnt a struggling League trying to win over TV viewers need some more disparity? Or is simply having the large market teams in the playoffs year after year after year a good thing? Regardless, it bores me stiff.
Phinfan13 | 05/11/08, 08:28 AM
Report Offensive CommentIt seems every year? Dallas and Detroit haven't played each other in the playoffs since 2002. Good job, buddy.
And really? In an effort to gain more viewers you think the NHL should NOT want the bigger TV markets? Logic...Born: Beginning of Time/Died: With that last post. R.I.P. Logic
adusman | 05/11/08, 10:39 AM
Report Offensive CommentFour comments, four way off base remarks. Dallas and Detroit haven't met in the playoffs since 1998 when the Wings beat the Stars in six games. The Stars didn't make the playoffs in 2002. So, it can't seem like every year. And what about Anaheim winning the Cup last year? That's small market.
As for fans who only show up in moments of success, why are their patches of empty seats in Joe Louis Arena? This is the Conference Finals. Besides, Dallas is a notoriously fair weather sports town whose main artery of attendance is the Cowboys. I live in Dallas and go to games all the time, I go early and stay late. And I didn't think this was a biased article, I thought it was right on. Detroit is the best team in the NHL and the Stars will have to go to a level we haven't seen from them yet to have a chance. But winning four out of the next five seems a little extreme to me, especially against a team they historically struggle against. But, as a Stars fan, I can't be disappointed. This is a team several publications picked to miss the playoffs at the beginning of the year and we have a very strong, solid core of young players. Plus, we have four rookies on the blue line who are getting insane playoff experience. It's great for the future.
McMatt | 05/11/08, 10:58 AM
Report Offensive CommentNow how do you feel about picking the Stars in six? (For the record, I think the series might go that many games, but with the opposite result.)
The encouraging thing (to a Red Wings fan) is that the Stars are playing like they're rattled. They miss chances, they retaliate (and get caught), and they're just not playing smart hockey. The Wings, on the other hand, seem to be able to insert any 5 onto the ice at any time and get good chances and lockdown D.
steveg103 | 05/11/08, 11:16 AM
Report Offensive CommentI don't know why I put 2002...I knew it was 1998, but just mixed up the dates (was thinking of years that the Wings won the Cup. Wings beat St. Louis in the semis in 2002, not the Stars.)
adusman | 05/11/08, 01:58 PM
Report Offensive CommentMcMatt, at $90 for standing room only tix, it should come as no surprise to anyone that there are empty seats at the Joe. The auto industry's struggles are putting a pinch on Detroiters' spending money these days. Ilitch won't lower tix prices because he has to pay for his MLB team's second highest payroll. Life's rough for many up here now.
BeerBonger | 05/11/08, 07:00 PM
Report Offensive CommentMuir, you are a d-bag. Didn't you passionately predict Stars in six just a few days ago? And now, after two losses, total about face? I would hate you have you as a fan, you are the definition of fair weather.
Spkill | 05/11/08, 09:49 PM
Report Offensive CommentMcMatt, could not agree more that the Stars look to be on the rise. I am a long-time Oilers fan and so hated the Stars for years and I am enjoying watching them these playoffs. The Red Wings look amazing but we shall see if it lasts long enough to truly win something meaningful.
jurgenk | 05/11/08, 09:56 PM
Report Offensive CommentMuir's on the money. Unless Dallas gets the sand out of their skates and start to control the puck, it'll be a short series. They may still win one, but there's a very big skate on the Dallas neck. (In case you don't get it, that's all meant figuratively..no violence is condoned..plz don't fine me Mrs. Betterman)
hockeyrules | 05/11/08, 10:38 PM
Report Offensive CommentAnyone watch the Pitt-Philly game? Talk about sloppy hockey. It was dump-and-chase the whole game. It was pee-wee soccer. The Wings are going to toy with whomever comes through, and Crosby can finally see what elite hockey is.
Spkill | 05/11/08, 10:59 PM
Report Offensive CommentFirst, I keep hearing the topic of Osgood not having to see many shots, and he just has to be there when he sees them. And that he's making the good saves when he needs to, and that he's not that good, it's just that he doesn't have to work much. Why don't we ever here about how good defensively the Red Wings all around? It's not just the back-stops, but the forwards on this team work extremely hard on defense. This is a prime example of two-way players.
Secondly, parity is here in the NHL. Like other sports, you're going to see the big guys representing in the playoffs. But with how things are, you are seeing the likes of Washington (yes, ten years ago, but still), Carolina, Edmonton (once big time, but small market nonetheless), Tampa, and Anaheim. And a couple of those won the whole thing.
santapig | 05/12/08, 11:07 AM
Report Offensive CommentAdd a comment
Remember to keep it clean. Bad words will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed. More Guidelines