Game 3 Answers
Here is a look at the questions I put forth at the start of the series - with updated answers!
5. Will Marty Turco alter the storyline of his career against the Red Wings?
Turco has done nothing to alter the label he’s been saddled with when it comes to playing the Detroit Red Wings. His performance in the last three playoff series dating back to last year provided plently of reason to think he’d fare better than he has in this series. Part of the reason he looked better in previous series could be that he was facing two offensively-challenged teams in Vancouver [in 2007] and Anaheim in the first round. But his performance against San Jose seemed to indicate he’d be up to the task against the Red Wings. Nothing could be further from the truth. Through the first three games he’s only stopped 75 of 86 shots for a .872 SV% and 3.67 goals against average.
4. Will the Wings be able to contain Brenden Morrow?
Morrow simply hasn’t been the force he was in the earlier part of the playoffs. Through three games he’s tallied one goal, two assists and is -1. He took a nasty tumble into the endboards last night but came back and soldiered on after a brief trip to the lockeroom. Jere Lehtinen being out of the lineup certainly doesn’t help matters for the Stars’ captain.
3. Will Detroit be able to contain the Stars’ Power Play?
Dallas had plenty of chances to get on the board with the man advantage. In all they had 6 power play opportunities but they couldn’t score. Not only did they fail to score, they gave up another short-handed goal. Patrick Marleau scored two shorties against the Stars and Henrik Zetterberg buried one last night. For the series the Stars have gone 1 for 15 for a dismal 7% success rate. So the Wings have scored as much with the Stars on the power play as Dallas.
2. Will Detroit be able to put up 3 goals per game against Dallas?
Dallas has been able to hold the Red Wings below the three goal mark in one game. For the series though Detroit is averaging 3.67 goals per game. That’s not far off the 3.80 average they had before they headed into the Western Conference Finals. The top line is scoring, the fourth line is generating offense, the only area where the Wings haven’t been an offensive threat has been the second line since Johan Franzen has been out of the lineup. He won’t play tomorrow night so it will be up to Dan Cleary - Valtteri Filppula - Mikael Samuelsson to generate offense. Filppula did score a goal in Game 1 though.
1. Will Detroit be able to maintain their win streak?
I changed this question since the previous question was already answered. The Red Wings have been able to win low-scoring games and they’ve been able to take advantage of special teams play with the man advantage [22.2% in this series]. The power play was a key factor in their Game 1 victory, but they didn’t score a single power play goal last night.
Detroit’s had plenty of success thus far locking down Dallas’ best offensive threats. That becomes easier to do with Jere Lehtinen out of the lineup. At the same time Detoit’s top line has accounted for 6 goals and 7 assists. Given the fact the Stars haven’t gotten anything out of their power play and Marty Turco hasn’t looked dominant the Wings are in good shape heading into Game 4 tomorrow night.
dallas stars NHL Playoffs Red WingsNo Comments
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
