A couple keys to Game 5
With an extra day between games I’m going to spotlight a couple things I think will be important for the Red Wings to win on Saturday.
1. The refs don’t “make stuff up”. These were Mike Babcock’s words and they weren’t as loaded as that short clip of his comments would indicate. Here is a longer excerpt posted over at Kuklas Korner.
“What do you want me to say? The guy’s not in the paint? The guy’s out of the paint…But I guess the way I look at it is this: in the League there’s lots that goes on on the ice. Sometimes a guy gets tripped and you miss it. Some things go wrong and you miss it. Just don’t make stuff up, that’s all.
“These men are doing their very best, just like us. They want to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. Kelly is a good referee. He just blew the call. That’s life.”
While it’s true that Tomas Holmstrom scored a goal in Game 1 which could have very easily been waived off that’s a case of a referee simply missing something. In the case of the goal being waived off in Game 4 the interference that supposedly took place was made up out of thin air. I really like the way Babcock dealt with this issue. He doesn’t try to embarrass the official. He gives an honest assessment of what happened and he moved on. Let’s hope that’s the end of this issue.
2. Good ice. Detroit relies on a game that involves lots of crisp passing and a fast-paced tempo. That’s more difficult to do on the ice surface at American Airlines Center. With temperatures in the 80s the ice probably wasn’t conducive to that type of game. With cooler temperatures and a better sheet of ice at the Joe the Red Wings should be better able to implement their style of play.
3. Specialty Teams play. Dallas was better on special teams in Game 4, converting 25% of their chances while holding the Red Wings scoreless on 6 power play opportunities. Detroit had dominated special teams up to that point and if they can make the necessary adjustments to regain the upper hand they will be in good shape in Game 5.
4. Get an early lead. The Wings get the last line changes and the Stars have to commit themselves first in the faceoff dot. Make the most of those chances and get out to 1 or 2 goal lead. They led this entire series until Game 4. Get an early lead and the Stars will be forced to press. And when they press the Wings have been able to get behind their d-men or point on the power play for breakaway chances.
5. The ZDH line needs to continue to be the best line in hockey. They are probably the only line that can make 5v5 look like they are on the power play. With no Johan Franzen for Game 5 it will be up to the top line to score like they have for the first three games of the series - two goals and two assists per game.
UPDATE: Tom Benjamin has a good take on the idea it was a “make-up” call that disallowed Pavel Datsyuk’s goal in Game 4.
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