GDT: Game #20 | Washington Capitals @ Detroit Red Wings | 7:30 PM EST | FS-D

[The Zetterberg Era]

So Tatar on the 4th line?

Tatar-Gator-Miller

I'll take it. Better than playing with DFC.

That is better than the projected third line, so I hope it is deployed as the third line tonight.

 

[HIFE]

Since the line juggling on this team seems to make little difference, I'd like to see a "Son" line.

Samuelsson-Andersson-Alfredsson

 

[detredWINgs]

Yeah I don't care how they get it done and that is an interesting idea on how to get Nyquist up.

I just think Tatar was a scratch Babcock basically told the media that yesterday. Would be curious if they had an open dialogue or Holland just basically pulled a Billy Beane and sent Glendening down and said play Tatar.

Or, in the alternate, Babcock knew Luke would be sent down and Tatar would play but told the media Tatar would be in the press box in order to get Tatar thinking about the specifics of what he needs to do better.

But lets be real.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock insisted he's not going to break up his top line by making star forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg his top two centers, something he's done in recent seasons.

"Yeah, [I did it] for about seven minutes," Babcock said Friday after an optional morning skate. "I'm not doing it."

"I know the guys. I talk to them personally," Babcock said of why he doesn't split up Zetterberg and Datsyuk. "I think it helps them and I think they’ve been good. I like what’s going on with that group. So we've got to find someone else to share some of the scoring workload."

"Helmer’s the best third-line center in the League," Babcock said. "We can play him in the second hole. He’s going to be fine but he’s the best third-line center in the League. So if you want to win every night he’s the three."

With Weiss out, Babcock will keep mixing and matching to see if anything sticks beyond the trio of Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Bertuzzi.

"You want to play [the same lines] together every day, but you also want to get on a roll, so you can't," Babcock said. "It's like the chicken or the egg. Which comes first?"

"My job is to evaluate the people and put them in and out [of the lineup]," Babcock said. "Now we have less forwards so that should help guys be in more constant spots. When a guy gets injured you have to make a change, whether you want to or not, because he's not there to play. That leads to change."

The Red Wings still are without defenseman Brendan Smith (shoulder), but will get defenseman Jonathan Ericsson back into his role on the top defense pairing Friday after a 10-game absence to heal a shoulder issue.

"It gives us one more high-end guy to get the puck going and be a better team," Babcock said. "The forwards need the puck and he can do that, plus play against real good players.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=691717&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Babcock has done a lot of things that I don't really agree with recently, but I love the fact that he has indeed kept 13 and 40 together. I know not everyone agrees with this, but it still gives us the best chance to win IMO. Plus it's at least good knowing that we have 1 line that's worth watching.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Babcock has done a lot of things that I don't really agree with recently, but I love the fact that he has indeed kept 13 and 40 together. I know not everyone agrees with this, but it still gives us the best chance to win IMO. Plus it's at least good knowing that we have 1 line that's worth watching.

I also think it is going to keep an older Z and D better at the end of the season and that is a large part of the plan. They need to find other people, I agree with that, now he needs to stop playing favorites behind them a bunch and actually hold an open competition.

 

[Winger98]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=691717&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

That quote sounds a helluva lot like, "They sent Glendening down, so now Tatar's in the lineup."

It's going to be interesting to see what he does with that second line tonight, and who all gets shifted into that center spot. I know someone mentioned it earlier as a joke, but seeing Cleary there wouldn't surprise me.

 

[detredWINgs]

Babcock has done a lot of things that I don't really agree with recently, but I love the fact that he has indeed kept 13 and 40 together. I know not everyone agrees with this, but it still gives us the best chance to win IMO. Plus it's at least good knowing that we have 1 line that's worth watching.

Meh. They look great and are exciting to watch, but its not like they're blowing away last year's numbers, when they were separated. They're basically both producing at the same rate as they were last year, except now, everyone else is underperforming. The only big difference is that they're scoring goals at a higher rate than in recent years.

That said, with the current supporting cast we have, separating Hank and Datsyuk would probably just mean no one was scoring at all.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

That quote sounds a helluva lot like, "They sent Glendening down, so now Tatar's in the lineup."

It's going to be interesting to see what he does with that second line tonight, and who all gets shifted into that center spot. I know someone mentioned it earlier as a joke, but seeing Cleary there wouldn't surprise me.

Dan Cleary as the second line center.... Yeah that will go over well.

 

[fimoknete]

dunno, we are playing a mediocre one man show team out of a weak conference.
no clue why some ppl here are thinking about a loss vs washington. i would agree if we would play the middle seeded teams of the west but the middle seeded teams in the east? i assume we are underastimating the wings by far. if we cant beat washington with datsyuk and zetta then we could stop playing hockey at all.

 

[Brick Top]

I'm hoping we build off the last game, complete passes expected to complete, shut Washington to the outside in the O zone, and capitalize on a few chances of our own. I'm not expecting anything flashy and exciting, but I'll be content with another game resembling competency at basics.

You know, I don't want to come out and say that Wings fans have really lowered their hopes and expectations since the glory of the Cup years... but I'm glad you did

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

You know, I don't want to come out and say that Wings fans have really lowered their hopes and expectations since the glory of the Cup years... but I'm glad you did

You play with the cards you're dealt, if you're old enough you can actually remember a time when this team was flat out pretty bad, or a group of huge underachievers. Right now we just need to find some answers, then we can start dreaming a little bigger.

 

[detredWINgs]

dunno, we are playing a mediocre one man show team out of a weak conference.
no clue why some ppl here are thinking about a loss vs washington. i would agree if we would play the middle seeded teams of the west but the middle seeded teams in the east? i assume we are underastimating the wings by far. if we cant beat washington with datsyuk and zetta then we could stop playing hockey at all.

Wait. A one man show?

Ovechkin has as many points at Zetterberg.
Backstrom has as many points as Datsyuk.
Grabovski has 17 points to Alfredsson's 14.
Johansson has 16 points to Bertuzzi's 9.
Mike Green has as many points as Kronwall.
Joel Ward has 9 goals to Franzen's 2.
Jason Chimera has 13 points to [Insert name of any of our ****** secondary scorers]'s 6 points.

And that doesn't even touch on Washington's underperforming fowards - Laich, Erat, and Brouwer.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

No Mike Green tonight, so good news for us.

 

[fimoknete]

Wait. A one man show?

Ovechkin has as many points at Zetterberg.
Backstrom has as many points as Datsyuk.
Grabovski has 17 points to Alfredsson's 14.
Johansson has 16 points to Bertuzzi's 9.
Mike Green has as many points as Kronwall.
Joel Ward has 9 goals to Franzen's 2.
Jason Chimera has 13 points to [Insert name of any of our ****** secondary scorers]'s 6 points.

And that doesn't even touch on Washington's underperforming fowards - Laich, Erat, and Brouwer.

yea... but in the real world they are way behind us performance wise.

detroit tied for 3rd
washinton 5th

Alex Ovechkin -10
Nicklas Backstrom -3
Mikhail Grabovski 4
Marcus Johansson -4
Joel Ward -1
Jason Chimera 1
Mike Green -6
John Carlson -3
Troy Brouwer -3
Brooks Laich -10

any more questions?

loosing to this team would be disappointing. brickwalling and stay out of the penalty box is a auto win.

 

[Brick Top]

loosing to this team would be disappointing. brickwalling and stay out of the penalty box is a auto win.

Hmmm, that whole brickwalling thing MAY prove to be a bit of an issue for us

 

[fimoknete]

Hmmm, that whole brickwalling thing MAY prove to be a bit of an issue for us

we are in 3rd place right? so 13 teams have bigger issues then we do.

 

[Brick Top]

we are in 3rd place right? so 13 teams have bigger issues then we do.

Well then, if you think this team has been trending up lately then I'll have what you're having, my friend... you spell it bier over there, right?

 

[detredWINgs]

yea... but in the real world they are way behind us performance wise.

detroit tied for 3rd
washinton 5th

Alex Ovechkin -10
Nicklas Backstrom -3
Mikhail Grabovski 4
Marcus Johansson -4
Joel Ward -1
Jason Chimera 1
Mike Green -6
John Carlson -3
Troy Brouwer -3
Brooks Laich -10

any more questions?

loosing to this team would be disappointing. brickwalling and stay out of the penalty box is a auto win.

So basically what you're saying is they're not as sharp defensively. And? We're also half the team they are offensively. And if you look in net, that's a wash.

You're calling Washington a mediocre team as though that's not what we are.

Also, you do realize if they beat us in regulation tonight, that they will rank higher than us in the standings, correct?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

So basically what you're saying is they're not as sharp defensively. And? We're also half the team they are offensively. And if you look in net, that's a wash.

You're calling Washington a mediocre team as though that's not what we are.

Also, you do realize if they beat us in regulation tonight, that they will rank higher than us in the standings, correct?

His point is Washington isn't a team to be "feared" as if they are an indomitable force in the league. Which they aren't. This game is very winnable.

 

[Brick Top]

You play with the cards you're dealt, if you're old enough you can actually remember a time when this team was flat out pretty bad, or a group of huge underachievers. Right now we just need to find some answers, then we can start dreaming a little bigger.

No, I know it's nowhere near approaching the Dead Wings era, and I don't see it sinking that far down.

But I would like to combine the ideas from you and Winger into a slogan/t-shirt:

13/14 Red Wings- come out for the underachievement, stay for the competency with the basics (fingers crossed)!

 

[fimoknete]

So basically what you're saying is they're not as sharp defensively. And? We're also half the team they are offensively. And if you look in net, that's a wash.

You're calling Washington a mediocre team as though that's not what we are.

Also, you do realize if they beat us in regulation tonight, that they will rank higher than us in the standings, correct?

i know but thats not going to happen.

and compared to the western teams washington is mediocre at best. just have a look what place they would have in the stats in the west. they would be 12th in the west or so? not that we would do much better but the western teams are way better then the eastern teams. so beeing 5th in the east put it into a new perspective.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Meh. They look great and are exciting to watch, but its not like they're blowing away last year's numbers, when they were separated. They're basically both producing at the same rate as they were last year, except now, everyone else is underperforming. The only big difference is that they're scoring goals at a higher rate than in recent years.

That said, with the current supporting cast we have, separating Hank and Datsyuk would probably just mean no one was scoring at all.

Their point totals came back to life at the end of last season when they were reunited. What'd they have like 17-18 points combined the last few games to push us into the playoffs?

 

[detredWINgs]

His point is Washington isn't a team to be "feared" as if they are an indomitable force in the league. Which they aren't. This game is very winnable.

My bigger issue is that he said Washington was a "one man show," when they have a ton of scoring depth (and this in spite of the fact that they're carrying 3 underperforming veterans to boot).

And I don't think anyone said Washington is a team to be "feared" or that its an "indomitable force." All it takes is Washington not being one of the bottom feeders for them to have a solid chance against us.

What's interesting is that 2/3 of our wins have come from below-average squads (CBJ, Buffalo, Carolina, Philly, Edmonton, Calgary) and the other 3 wins have come from strong teams (Van, Boston, Colorado). In fact, it seems the very games we should be worried about are those against middle-of-the-pack teams.

 

[detredWINgs]

Their point totals came back to life at the end of last season when they were reunited. What'd they have like 17-18 points combined the last few games to push us into the playoffs?

Did they? I honestly don't remember.