Pick your poison: MTL, TBL, or NYR?

[SpikeDDS]

OK, Wings fans, I was going to make this a poll question, but I've never done that before, and I couldn't figure out how to do it from my iPad, so I'll just make it a discussion question: who would you prefer as out first-round playoff opponent--the Montreal Canadiens, the Tampa Bay Lightning, or the New York Rangers?

I actually think we match up better with NYR than the other two. I may be crazy as well as the Rangers have played, but I think we have our best chance against them, although The King wasn't playing in some of the games we played against them. He was still injured.

TBL is my second choice. Even though their record isn't as good as New York's, we just don't seem to play well against this team. And if we don't play well, we can't beat anybody.

I DO NOT want to see MTL. We have played well against them, and they STILL beat us. Price plus their defense still seems to be more than we can handle.

What say ye? Am I crazy for thinking NYR?

[WingNut722]

Not at all.  Having the Rags for a first-round opponent is probably the best option for the Wings.  

 

I guess that means that I'm crazy too, right?

[yave1964]

@WingNut722@SpikeDDS

No to the Rangers or the Habs, an elite goalie covers up for a lot of problems. Price is the landslide winner for the Vezina and maybe even the Hart. If the King had not gotten hurt he was one of only a few who could have given them a run for their money.

I might be crazy (and there are plenty who would say so) but I am not sold on Bishop in net as of yet. I know that Tampa had our number much of the time this year but I think come postseason they are beatable by a club who fore checks and plays a physical game against the Bolts skilled forwards. Say what you might about our defense, but Smith, Ericsson and Quincey will all wind up with over 70 PIMs and Zidlicky has been hitting on the back end as well. Our defense, Kronwall and the boys, can knock a guy off the puck and the Bolts are a team that plays best when not pressured. I think we match up very well in that regard. And their best defenseman, Hedman who is elite and a star is banged up. Beyond him on the back end, they are overrated and ordinary.

So the Bolts. Don't get me wrong, if we allow the Lightning to dictate the pace and Bishop gets hot and Hedman gets healthy they could slice us up pretty quick, but my opinion is they are soft and built for the regular season and not the grueling postseason and we could take them.

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

I think the Lightning have better success in scoring, and since our goaltending has been wishy-washy of late, the Lightning would have a very good chance at besting Detroit simply by scoring more goals.  Nevermind the balance of forechecking and pace.  The Lightning appear to be a team built around getting the puck in the net as many times as possible.  Bishop has been a solid goaltender, who has consistently made sure he let in fewer than his team scored on the other end.  

 

On the flip-side of that, Montreal has the best goaltending in Price, no doubt about that.  I agree that he's probably a shoe-in for the Vezina.  In fact, if you look at the stats, the Habs have a relatively low number of Goals For all season, a number more befitting a team in the middle of the pack.  Since they spent the better part of the season in first place in the Division, it's a true testament to Price's efforts.

 

The Rangers seem to be "good" all around, but I don't think there is any aspect to their game that is "elite" per se.  They match up well with the Wings who, up until recently, are structured the same way.  If the Blueshirts are "good" the Redshirts just have to be "better."  I would say that's a more realistic achievement than trying to shore up one aspect to counter the the Bolts or the Habs.  If the Wings play the way they did in February, they should be able to handle the Rangers.  At the very least, it would be a long series.

[jammer2]

  From where you guys are at ranking wise, you will always have to play tough teams without home ice advantage. To win the Cup, you basically have to win 4 series without home ice advantage....in other words, I would want the NYR first...if your gonna pull this off, you will have to beat all the top teams in the East....so you might as well knock off the king of the hill to send a message.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

I'll give you validity on a few things regarding the Bolts--our big problem with them has been defending them. They've scored early and often on us, and with the tighter checking in the playoffs, that probably wouldn't be as big a deficiency. I'll give you that. That, of course, depends on US. Our defense hasn't exactly been great, nor has our goaltending.

 

I'll also grant you that Bishop doesn't have history of stealing playoff games, so it can't repeat itself. It doesn't mean he can't, just that he really hasn't yet. Is it possible that he doesn't have it in him? Yeah. But is it possible that he DOES? Yeah.

 

I'll also say that the NYR game is more set up for the playoffs that that of the Bolts, with their stay-at-home, shot-blocking defense. Despite that, and even thought they pretty much play the same system in the regular season as they do in the playoffs, we still had some success with them.

 

That said, we just seem to match up well with them in comparison with TBL.

 

One thing we both seem to agree on: the LAT place we want to start of in is MTL. Perhaps tomorrow's game will show me something, but so far, I've seen them play pretty well against the Habs, and they've still lost.

 

There are the Habs and the Hab-nots. I'd prefer the Hab-nots.

[WingNut722]

 

 

There are the Habs and the Hab-nots. I'd prefer the Hab-nots.

 

   When does it end.......?

 

Tomorrow's game against the Habs will certainly be a fresh test.  They haven't seen each other for a while, but if anything, the game would come with an asterisk.  Max Pacioretti is out, and since Montreal has already long since clinched, they may be resting guys.  I don't know Price's schedule, but I wouldn't want to rest him completely.  That said, we may see a different team than we would in the playoffs.

[WingNut722]

  From where you guys are at ranking wise, you will always have to play tough teams without home ice advantage. To win the Cup, you basically have to win 4 series without home ice advantage....in other words, I would want the NYR first...if your gonna pull this off, you will have to beat all the top teams in the East....so you might as well knock off the king of the hill to send a message.

 

With the way the Wings have been playing recently, and where they are in the standings, I think that message could be sent by defeating any of these teams.  If it be the Rangers, that message would actually be sent to the management and fanbase that the President's Trophy team was knocked off in the first round by the 8th seed, putting a black mark on the whole season.  The League already knows who the Red Wings are and they realize they haven't been playing well lately, but I think they are also well aware that it could snap back into place at any time without warning.  

[SpikeDDS]

   When does it end.......?

 

Tomorrow's game against the Habs will certainly be a fresh test.  They haven't seen each other for a while, but if anything, the game would come with an asterisk.  Max Pacioretti is out, and since Montreal has already long since clinched, they may be resting guys.  I don't know Price's schedule, but I wouldn't want to rest him completely.  That said, we may see a different team than we would in the playoffs.

 

True enough. But it's also the TYPE of game that matters. I think back to one of the MTL games, I can't recall which one, but we played them play for play for most of the game, both teams not giving up hardly anything, and then toward the end of the 3rd, MTL scored, and the game was lost. The game really boiled down to which team would make the first mistake, and it was unfortunately the Wings, but still an excellent hockey game. I think I recall discussing how much I enjoyed that game in a thread about whether people liked that kind of game or the scorefests better.

 

I think it would make a statement to play a mistake-free game defensively and come out with a win against MTL, even if they don't have all of their stars skating. If nothing else, maybe a statement to OURSELVES that we can still play that way!

[jammer2]

@SpikeDDS  If the Wings are having trouble scoring goals....they may make the bold move of throwing Anthony Mantha into the top 6 should his QMJHL team get knocked out of the playoffs. It would be a bold move for sure, and not really something that is "Hollandesqe"....but it could happen, never know.

[WingNut722]

@SpikeDDS

 

I would have to agree with you there, and you make a good point.  I remember that game too.  I think it was the lasts time the teams met.  GREAT GAME!  I wouldn't mind another game like that.  A win, obviously, but even if it's another 1-0 loss, the Wings could draw a lot of positives from it (if you, of course, remove the Ottawa/playoff implications).  

 

@jammer2

 

Bringing up Mantha, I think is a long shot, and would probably be a function of injuries.  Still waiting to hear when Abby and Cole will be available, but I cringed when I heard Cole was out for concussion-like symptoms.  Bringing those two back would get a lot more of these guys on their feet any more than Mantha wood.  While Dan Cleary has been playing poorly, he has extensive playoff experience, and a Cup to boot, so I think, warts and all, he would be inserted into the lineup first.

[jammer2]

@WingNut722  Despite slowing down due to basically being left with knee on knee...Cleary is a great playoff performer...the kind of guy you want to go to war with. Ditto for Zetterberg, who is just so damn gritty and tough as nails...I have a TON of respect for Zetts.

[SpikeDDS]

@jammer2

 

There is slow, and then there is SLOOOW! Cleary is the latter, too slow for today's game anymore. When he was more able, he was an asset for playoff hockey. Now, he has little to contribute and can be a liability. 

 

Zetterberg, OTOH, although a step slower than he used to be, still has pretty amazing puck possession skills. That dude keeps more pucks using one hand on his stick than many do using two hands. That was certainly on display just prior to his feed to Datsyuk for the winning goal. He's a grinder for sure, and a very good playmaker. THAT is what makes him highly valuable in playoff hockey.

 

Cleary WAS. Z still IS. Tense matters.

 

And as for Mantha, VERY unlikely to see him at this point. Next year he will get a very good look, but I think our best bet is to try our best to make the guys we already have and know work.