Crymson
Fire Holland
- May 23, 2010
- 3,667
- 0
All of you have heard me endlessly grouse about Babcock's new line combinations. I'm going to shoot for a rational, non-angry analysis of their performance since being put together six games ago. I'll do this game by game.
The new lines were implemented on April 8th, following the April 5th loss against Montreal.
For reference, the new lines are as follows:
93 - 13 - 8
21 - 15 -14
26 - 43 - 11
20 - 41 -17
On to the games. Note that this will only examine even-strength goals, thus excepting goals scored on the power play; these are irrelevant to the topic at hand, for the obvious reason that the lines are different there. It is worth noting, however, that the power play line of Jurco, Sheahan, and Tatar (the very successful Kid Line) has done fairly well.
April 8th vs. Buffalo
1) Brendan Smith from Johan Franzen and Daniel Alfredsson. Datsyuk was also on the ice for this one; it took place during a line change that, for a transient period, put Franzen, Alfredsson, and Datsyuk together, with Alfredsson briefly replacing Abdelkader. Needless to say, this goal was not scored by one of the new forward lines.
2) Darren Helm from Kyle Quincey. This came shortly after an unsuccessful Red Wings power play. As has become usual in this event, Helm was temporarily on the ice for Glendening and Miller, a combination that has generally been successful. Again, not one of the new forward lines.
3) David Legwand from Drew Miller. Legwand got an easy entry into the zone and scored a five-hole goal that the goalie saw the whole way. This was an extremely soft goal that was not the product of much teamwork. It was scored by one of the new line combinations, but was solely an individual effort and as such does not really apply.
4) Pavel Datsyuk. This was an empty-net goal, as Datsyuk stole the puck from an opponent before lifting it into the empty net. Not applicable.
Tally: zero.
April 9th vs. Pittsburgh
1) Jurco from Alfredsson and Helm. This goal was scored by one of the new lines, needless to say. It was a garbage goal, but we'll count it anyhow.
2) Kindl from Tatar and Nyquist. Again the product of one of the new lines, though this was more the product of a perfect shot by Kindl and Sheahan being "pushed" (i.e. falling) into Fleury.
3) Sheahan from Kronwall. Sheahan was on the ice with the briefly reunited Kid Line (i.e. Tatar and Jurco). This line was put on the ice by Babcock near the end of the game and scored almost immediately. It's worth noting that Babcock only did this so that he could put Nyquist on for the extra skater if necessary. Great.
Tally: 2.
April 11th vs. Carolina.
No even-strength goals were scored. The single Red Wings goal was scored on the power play by Sheahan and assisted by (you guessed it!) Tatar and Jurco.
Tally: 0.
April 13th vs St. Louis
1) Abdelkader from Datsyuk and Lashoff. Datsyuk did all of the work here, threading a slick pass to Lashoff who bounced the puck off of Abdelkader and in. I guess we'll give a half-goal to this line, as this was a combination of Datsyuk's individual effort and a lucky bounce.
2) Sheahan from Tatar. Individual effort by Sheahan, who took the puck in and shot it through a screen and by Miller. Inapplicable.
2) Abdelkader from Kindl and Datsyuk. Another individual effort from Datsyuk, who took the puck up ice and fed Abdelkader for a deflection. Abdelkader did nothing beyond skating toward the net and keeping his stick on the ice. We'll give another half-goal for it.
Tally: 1.
April 18th vs. Boston.
1) Datsyuk from Franzen. Datsyuk skilfully managed to control a Franzen pass that otherwise would have been turned over to the Bruins, then took the puck sideways across the offensive zone and shot the puck in through a screen. Abdelkader did nothing beyond skating to the net; this was a thorough individual effort by Datsyuk.
Tally: 0.
April 20th vs. Boston.
1) Glendening from Helm and Miller. Once again this line ended up together after an unsuccessful Red Wings power play and scored. Needless to say, this wasn't one of the new line combos.
Tally: 0.
Total Tally from the new linesover six games: Three. If we include the individual efforts, that number becomes seven.
Total tally from transient, different line combinations during that period: Six.
Total changes by Babcock over that time: Zero.
It's worth noting two more things:
1) The quality of the Wings' even-strength chances has generally been poor. This has been especially true against Boston thus far. They were also outshot by an injury-devastated Blues team.
2) The single power play goal scored over the past six games came from the Kid Line power play unit.
3) This team would very likely be playing Pittsburgh rather than Boston had Babcock stuck with line combinations that worked rather than intransigently pushing line combinations that have proven totally ineffective.
As we speak, Babcock has made no line changes after a totally anemic offensive showing over the first seven periods against the Bruins, including a thoroughly brutal first period tonight. He began the period with the line of Miller, Glendening, and Legwand, which has been thoroughly ineffective on both offense and defense in its six-plus games. By contrast, Helm did excellently with Glendening and Miller, and Legwand performed well with Nyquist and Franzen.
Discuss.
The new lines were implemented on April 8th, following the April 5th loss against Montreal.
For reference, the new lines are as follows:
93 - 13 - 8
21 - 15 -14
26 - 43 - 11
20 - 41 -17
On to the games. Note that this will only examine even-strength goals, thus excepting goals scored on the power play; these are irrelevant to the topic at hand, for the obvious reason that the lines are different there. It is worth noting, however, that the power play line of Jurco, Sheahan, and Tatar (the very successful Kid Line) has done fairly well.
April 8th vs. Buffalo
1) Brendan Smith from Johan Franzen and Daniel Alfredsson. Datsyuk was also on the ice for this one; it took place during a line change that, for a transient period, put Franzen, Alfredsson, and Datsyuk together, with Alfredsson briefly replacing Abdelkader. Needless to say, this goal was not scored by one of the new forward lines.
2) Darren Helm from Kyle Quincey. This came shortly after an unsuccessful Red Wings power play. As has become usual in this event, Helm was temporarily on the ice for Glendening and Miller, a combination that has generally been successful. Again, not one of the new forward lines.
3) David Legwand from Drew Miller. Legwand got an easy entry into the zone and scored a five-hole goal that the goalie saw the whole way. This was an extremely soft goal that was not the product of much teamwork. It was scored by one of the new line combinations, but was solely an individual effort and as such does not really apply.
4) Pavel Datsyuk. This was an empty-net goal, as Datsyuk stole the puck from an opponent before lifting it into the empty net. Not applicable.
Tally: zero.
April 9th vs. Pittsburgh
1) Jurco from Alfredsson and Helm. This goal was scored by one of the new lines, needless to say. It was a garbage goal, but we'll count it anyhow.
2) Kindl from Tatar and Nyquist. Again the product of one of the new lines, though this was more the product of a perfect shot by Kindl and Sheahan being "pushed" (i.e. falling) into Fleury.
3) Sheahan from Kronwall. Sheahan was on the ice with the briefly reunited Kid Line (i.e. Tatar and Jurco). This line was put on the ice by Babcock near the end of the game and scored almost immediately. It's worth noting that Babcock only did this so that he could put Nyquist on for the extra skater if necessary. Great.
Tally: 2.
April 11th vs. Carolina.
No even-strength goals were scored. The single Red Wings goal was scored on the power play by Sheahan and assisted by (you guessed it!) Tatar and Jurco.
Tally: 0.
April 13th vs St. Louis
1) Abdelkader from Datsyuk and Lashoff. Datsyuk did all of the work here, threading a slick pass to Lashoff who bounced the puck off of Abdelkader and in. I guess we'll give a half-goal to this line, as this was a combination of Datsyuk's individual effort and a lucky bounce.
2) Sheahan from Tatar. Individual effort by Sheahan, who took the puck in and shot it through a screen and by Miller. Inapplicable.
2) Abdelkader from Kindl and Datsyuk. Another individual effort from Datsyuk, who took the puck up ice and fed Abdelkader for a deflection. Abdelkader did nothing beyond skating toward the net and keeping his stick on the ice. We'll give another half-goal for it.
Tally: 1.
April 18th vs. Boston.
1) Datsyuk from Franzen. Datsyuk skilfully managed to control a Franzen pass that otherwise would have been turned over to the Bruins, then took the puck sideways across the offensive zone and shot the puck in through a screen. Abdelkader did nothing beyond skating to the net; this was a thorough individual effort by Datsyuk.
Tally: 0.
April 20th vs. Boston.
1) Glendening from Helm and Miller. Once again this line ended up together after an unsuccessful Red Wings power play and scored. Needless to say, this wasn't one of the new line combos.
Tally: 0.
Total Tally from the new linesover six games: Three. If we include the individual efforts, that number becomes seven.
Total tally from transient, different line combinations during that period: Six.
Total changes by Babcock over that time: Zero.
It's worth noting two more things:
1) The quality of the Wings' even-strength chances has generally been poor. This has been especially true against Boston thus far. They were also outshot by an injury-devastated Blues team.
2) The single power play goal scored over the past six games came from the Kid Line power play unit.
3) This team would very likely be playing Pittsburgh rather than Boston had Babcock stuck with line combinations that worked rather than intransigently pushing line combinations that have proven totally ineffective.
As we speak, Babcock has made no line changes after a totally anemic offensive showing over the first seven periods against the Bruins, including a thoroughly brutal first period tonight. He began the period with the line of Miller, Glendening, and Legwand, which has been thoroughly ineffective on both offense and defense in its six-plus games. By contrast, Helm did excellently with Glendening and Miller, and Legwand performed well with Nyquist and Franzen.
Discuss.
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