ADSF: (2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings (Series 3-2 DET)

[dtones520]

Out coached. Lol.

Babcock doesn't even know what to do with his team anymore. He can't even pick a starting goalie to stick with more than two games.

Tampa needs to win the first game. Once they do that and the kids get a taste, there's no turning back.

Because every time he tries to give a guy the opportunity to run with the starting goalie title, they choke and give up goals that my men's league goalie would save. Not really sure what he should be doing different when no one seems to want the job?

This should be a better series than people are giving credit for. I don't see Detroit playing as bad as they have lately. It will, certainly, come down to goaltending. If whoever Detroit puts in steps up, this could get really interesting. I think, sadly, Tampa will win it in 6 or 7, but the one thing Detroit has going for it is than at this is a freshs start and based on how they've been playing of late, that is exactly what they need.

 

[Syckle78]

Out coached. Lol.

Babcock doesn't even know what to do with his team anymore. He can't even pick a starting goalie to stick with more than two games.

Tampa needs to win the first game. Once they do that and the kids get a taste, there's no turning back.

That's what's you choose to call Babcock out on?

 

[Crymson]

There's nothing to stop this team from bringing it together again. It's been tough since the trade deadline, but that can go away as quickly as it came on.

I'll say Wings in six.

 

[MAHJ71]

Grew up rooting for the Lightning until the Blue Jackets came along.

With that being said .. Bolts in 7!

 

[GollyG]

Bolts in 6! (crosses fingers)

 

[Sami]

Wings in 6. Mrazek (if he starts) goes to "Hasek Mode."

 

[JustOneB4IDie]

Bolts in 6 man.

 

[These Are The Days]

Tampa is a good team, but they are unbalanced. The Wings can take this series IF the right Wings team shows up.

If last month's Wings team shows up, it's a four or five game series loss. If the team that showed up in the first 90% of the season, Wings win this series.

These teams are very similar. Good forward corps, weak defense, questionable goaltending. Detroit's defense will be better if Marchenko stays in instead of Smith, and Detroit has better team defense. Tampa scores a lot, but if Howard or Mrazek play well I don't think Tampa has an answer if their offense gets stifled.

EDIT: And the whole "Wings have playoff experience" narrative is outdated. Aside from Babcock, Kronwall, Datsyuk and Zetterberg, there aren't many other guys who have played in the playoffs a lot. If they have, they haven't excelled in the games.

No offense brother but Bishop has had about 2 or 3 bad games all year long and Vasilevski is a fantastic backup. And I think "often injured" is a better way to describe the defense than weak. Coburn and Garrison make for as formidable of a 2nd pairing as you're going to find in the East. Problem is that either has been hurt since the trade deadline and in the time they played together it looked like our defense issues were for the most part fixed.

 

[Yzlamic Preacher*]

Detroit in 5

 

[alexpj]

Wings in game 6. Magicman and Z turns on playoff-mode.

 

[KingWantsCup]

Tampa Bay in 6 but strongly rooting for the Redwings.

 

[Dotter]

Wings are beat up and slumping. But if Howard comes up big and Wings secondary scoring shows up, anything can happen.

Take all the regular season stats and throw them out the window... the real season begins on Wednesday

 

[Trottier]

Two teams with somewhat similar styles.

TB plays it better.

Lightning in six.

 

[The Red Line]

Seems everyone is taking the wings lightly, and they are indeed the underdogs but a few factors that can come into play:

Healthy Datsyuk - when he's been in the lineup, he's been fantastic this season. If he's healthy and ready to go, then that is a huge boost for Detroit. He was quietly one of the only players this season who put up over a PPG pace, and scored at a higher rate than anyone on Tampa.

Zetterberg - one of the best playoff performers since the first lockout. While he's been slumping the past month along with the rest of the team, he had a great last game of the season and he always brings it come playoff time.

Babcock - Wings fans might tell you otherwise, but this is still one of, if not THE, best coaches in the league and knows how to get the most of the team.

We all know about the question marks in goal, but if they can get some relatively competent goaltending, Abdelkader back in the lineup, and the above mentioned factors, this could be a much closer series than most are predicting.

 

[Leonardo87]

Hoping to see Filppula step it up he has been a little off towards the end of this season and needs some kind of motivation. Hopefully playing his former team helps.

 

[PromNite]

IMO, only 2 or 3 teams can beat the Bolts in a 7 game series this year.

Unfortunately for Detroit, they are not one of them. Bolts in 5

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Hoping to see Filppula step it up he has been a little off towards the end of this season and needs some kind of motivation. Hopefully playing his former team helps.

Maybe playing the Wings will help, I know one of the reasons we were not too sad to see Filppula move on was his playoff performances. So I would be surprised if he steps it up, if the Wings can get the Sheahan matchup on him, it is one I could see him struggling mightily with.

No offense brother but Bishop has had about 2 or 3 bad games all year long and Vasilevski is a fantastic backup. And I think "often injured" is a better way to describe the defense than weak. Coburn and Garrison make for as formidable of a 2nd pairing as you're going to find in the East. Problem is that either has been hurt since the trade deadline and in the time they played together it looked like our defense issues were for the most part fixed.

They are not real healthy though so it is a bit of a problem. Luckily for Tampa, no Cole and a dinged up Abdelkader as those were two guys you could count on stapling guys on the forecheck and making them miserable. So that seems a positive if you're a Lightning fan. Also lose a lot of the net-front ability out of both guys.

Still I don't really trust Bishop in big moments. He hasn't had a lot of them in his career, but he failed his biggest one to date in the World Championships in spectacular fashion. Would be interesting if mid-series both teams are starting their future #1's.

 

[landy92mack29]

bolts in 7

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Honestly don't see this series going too long. TB in 5. Abdelkader better skate with his head up and grab some eyes for the back of his head. He's going to get mashed at some point in this series.

That is pretty much Abdelkader's job, so if the Bolts are gung-ho about paying him back on a hit their own coach thought was in-bounds it isn't a brilliant plan. That means he has already impacted how some guys are approaching the series. With his hand issue he probably won't fight if he plays at all, but he isn't a guy that is bullied out of playing his brand of hockey. Also really solidly put together, target him at your own peril, it isn't a great plan in my opinion. More likely if it is a malicious hit he just dials up the way he targets a Hedman or Stralman and starts looking for a nastier hit on them.

The last team to really target him because they didn't like him and he was hitting the score sheet a lot on them were the Ducks. It didn't work out for them, it seemed to only fire Abdelkader up in probably his best series as a Red Wing. He is a pretty engaged guy anyway in terms of play style, but he really ups his game when things get nasty, he likes it that way.

 

[Brie]

This could be a fun serious and I’m hoping for the best result for my team though it won’t be easy since Detroit isn’t a bad team but I’m confident that if our team play the way they have during the season and everyone give 100% then things will go our way.

 

[DetBigWangs]

Team Yzerman North vs Team Yzerman South

 

[HomersWorld]

Hoping to see Filppula step it up he has been a little off towards the end of this season and needs some kind of motivation. Hopefully playing his former team helps.

We don't want to see Fil fired up. He'll be curling back along the boards and passing up shots harder than ever

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

It stinks that Erik Cole is injured.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

How is TB unbalanced? And weak defense? It's one of the better cores in the east, if not the league, when everyone is healthy.

I think people still believe that we have guys like Sami Salo and Brett Clark on defense. Some stereotypes stay beyond their expiration date.

 

[Iceman]

Of what I've seen of Detroit as of late, this will be a short series.

Tampa in 5.