Special Teams likely to play key role again Tomorrow night
If Detroit wants to head back home with a commanding 3-1 series lead, they are likely going to have to cut down on the number of penalties they take, improve their power play, or improve their penalty kill units. The first option is clearly the best one. As I mentioned in one of my series previews, Calgary and Detroit were even at JLA when it came to power play conversion rates.
In Detroit [regular season]
Calgary: 1-6 (16.7%)
Detroit: 2-12 (16.7%)
Calgary has improved their power play success rate while Detroit’s fell during the first two games in Detroit.
In Detroit [Games 1 and 2]
Calgary: 2-10 (20%)
Detroit: 2-15 (13.3%)
In Calgary, Detroit has fallen even further while Calgary has gotten better.
In Calgary [Game 3]
Calgary: 2-6 (33%)
Detroit: 0-4 (0%)
So for the Red Wings it is pretty obvious what they must do. They can make life a little easier for themselves if they can stay out of the penalty box. They have outscored Calgary while skating at even strength by a score of 7 to 1. Detroit has become even more dominant at even strength then they were during the regular season against the Flames.
Detroit has been one of the best teams in the NHL when it comes to outscoring their opponents when skating at even-strength. This was also the case in the four [regular season] games against the Flames this season.
Even-strength Goals in head-to-head competition
Detroit: 9 goals (2.25/game)
Calgary: 6 goals (1.5/game)
Here is how the even strength statistics look since the start of the playoff series.
Detroit: 7 goals (2.33/game)
Calgary: 1 goal (0.33/game)
Drawing penalties against Calgary is obviously a good thing although the Wings don’t appear capable of fully utilizing the extra attacker. It’s also worth pointing out that Calgary has generated at least one very high quality scoring chance while short-handed in every single game. Taking penalties appears to be the best way for Detroit to head back home with the series tied 2-2.
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[…] Special teams. They flat out have to be better here. They’re not getting the job done on the penalty kill or the power play and it’s time that changes. They need to make the Flames pay for the penalties they do take, and they need to kill off the penalties they take themselves. Ansar Khan reports that’s what they worked on in practice yesterday, which is good to hear. Still, I’m with Dave of Gorilla Crouch in saying that the best way for them to improve their defensive special teams is to stay out of the box. As for the offensive side, they have the tools and need to start using them. […]