Playoff Preview: Mrazek, Red Wings face potent Lightning offense in Round I

Photo by Jen Hefner/MiHockey
Photo by Jen Hefner/MiHockey

 

By @SKubus

The familiarity between the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning runs deeper then simply being divisional rivals.

Fifteen players in the teams’ final meeting of the season on March 28 had participated in the 2013 AHL Calder Cup Finals, eight for the Grand Rapids Griffins and seven for Tampa Bay affiliate Syracuse Crunch. Valterri Filppula wore the winged wheel for the first eight seasons of his career, and don’t forget their managerial architect who goes by the name of Steve Yzerman. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is also no stranger to the area, as he formerly coached Lansing Catholic Central, the Jr. B Metro Jets and Honeybaked Midget Major.

The Red Wings and Lightning square off in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Thursday night, marking the first time the clubs have met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The fragile goaltending situation in Detroit is well-documented and is one of the biggest stories heading into the postseason.

Veteran Jimmy Howard and young Petr Mrazek split the season series with the Bolts, with Howard losing 4-3 in a shootout at Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 9 and 3-1 in Tampa March 20. Mrazek was shelled in the Jan. 29 meeting when the Bolts won 5-1, but in the teams’ last meeting of the regular season on March 28 at The Joe, Mrazek bounced back to shut out the league’s highest-scoring team with a 23-save performance. He wasn’t just the first goalie to shut out the Lightning all season, but the first to hold them scoreless in 126 games – future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur last did so on Dec. 14, 2013.

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

And with a 35-save shutout to end the season Saturday against Carolina, it was announced Monday that Mrazek earned the right to start Game 1 Thursday. It’ll be his job to lose and should he falter, it seems easier to turn to a more-experienced Howard.

Meanwhile, there’s no doubts about the goaltending in Tampa, as Ben Bishop will be the guy defending the goal for the Lightning, as he has been all season. The 6-foot-7 netminder compiled a 40-13-5 record this season with a .916 save percentage and 2.32 goals-against average. Like Mrazek, this will be Bishop’s first taste of NHL playoff experience, as he was hurt late last season for the Bolts.

The Lightning led the entire NHL with 262 goals this season. While it’s unquestionable that Steven Stamkos is the most dangerous individual on the Lightning roster, with four goals in four games against Detroit this season, it’s the Bolts’ second line that may pose the biggest threat.

The youthful trio of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat looked anything but youthful in 2014-15, having combined for 73 goals and 199 points this season, with Johnson tying Stamkos for the team lead in points (72). Their staggering offensive totals are undoubtedly impressive, but Kucherov (plus-38), Johnson (plus-33) and Palat (plus-31) finished second, third and fourth respectively in the NHL in plus-minus this season. That dominant two-way game could give Detroit fits as it did during the regular season.

In the three games Tampa Bay won in the season series, Palat recorded three assists and a plus-four rating; Johnson notched one goal, one assist and a plus-three rating and Kucherov was held pointless, but still compiled a plus-three rating.

For Detroit, captain Henrik Zetterberg finished with 66 points in 77 games to lead the team, with Pavel Datsyuk right behind with 65 in 63 games. That duo, one of the best defensive tandems in the game themselves, practiced on separate lines Monday, which indicates Babcock likely wants to have one match up against the Stamkos line and the other against the Johnson line. For the home games, where Detroit gets the last change, it’s likely Datsyuk and Zetterberg will reunite.

Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar finished with 54 and 56 points, respectively, and have both played 82 games. Outside of those two, the more defensive-minded Luke Glendening, Jonathan Ericsson and Drew Miller are the only ones to have played in every game this season. Marek Zidlicky actually played in 84 games this season, having come over from New Jersey, and helped boost the offense from the back-end with his first-pass ability and offensive touch.

The rest have stayed healthy for the most part, but the Red Wings can’t afford to lose anyone at this time of year, which goes without saying, but especially against the NHL’s highest-scoring offense and a team that had their number during the regular season.

Defensively, the Red Wings finished in the middle of the pack in goals allowed and in penalty killing, which was among the best in the league at one point. And when Babcock elects to use Glendening and Miller while killing a 5-on-3, it speaks to defensive abilities of both the forward duo and the defensemen themselves. However, at times, the Red Wings have shown they can keep potent teams at bay with sound defensive play.

Tampa Bay is hoping to get veteran Braydon Coburn back on the blue line in time for Game 1, which would provide an aggressive, defensive presence for the Bolts to complement an already-sound core that includes Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman. Despite the Lightning finishing 14th in power play conversion (compared to Detroit’s second-place finish), with the likes of Hedman, Stralman, Stamkos, Johnson and Ryan Callahan, the Bolts’ man-advantage could unsurprisingly prove deadly at any time.

Thursday’s series opener in Tampa Bay will speak volumes about where the series is headed and just how tightly the games will be contested. As Babcock often says, “catch-up hockey is losing hockey,” and Detroit cannot afford to fall behind to the Bolts, especially in the opening two road games.

Full schedule:

Thursday, April 16 7:30 p.m. Detroit at Tampa Bay CNBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Saturday, April 18 3 p.m. Detroit at Tampa Bay NBC, CBC, TVA Sports
Tuesday, April 21 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at Detroit NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Thursday, April 23 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at Detroit NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
*Saturday, April 25 TBD Detroit at Tampa Bay TBD
*Monday, April 27 TBD Tampa Bay at Detroit TBD
*Wednesday, April 29 TBD Detroit at Tampa Bay TBD


Here’s how the Red Wings vs. Lightning games in the regular season went:

  • Nov. 9 – Tampa Bay 4, Detroit 3 (shootout)
  • Jan. 29 – Tampa Bay 5, Detroit 1
  • March 20 – Tampa Bay 3, Detroit 1
  • March 28 – Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 0