How can the Pens beat the Wings?

[Barrie 900]

I think the thing that gives a team the best chance to beat the Wings, is to either outshoot 'em, or match 'em shot for shot.

Considering our faceoff percentage is excellent, and more often then not we control the play, it's a tough task. Add to that, Ozzie is fine with under 25 shots a night, so it's not like a team will catch him napping.

[Datsyerberger 279]

One name:

O'Halloran.

[ThreeRiversFan 0]

Key for the Pens in the series:

1) get the lead. Detroit usually plays very well with the lead, less so without it.

2) avoid turnovers at all costs

3) clog Detroit's passing lanes, Detroit's style depends on always having an open man and finding him with the pass.

4) pressure the puck carrier so that he has less time to make a good pass

5) force Detroit to take low percentage shots from bad angles

6) limit rebound opportunities

7) Stay out of the box

If Pens can do all of these they have a good chance of beating the Wings, if not Fleury will spend a lot of time picking the puck out the back of his net.

1) Same for us...although the Pens never panic when behind

2) absolutely...goes for both sides

3) This is actually something we've been extremely good at

4) matchups are key...home team will have the advantage (last change)

5) Another cornerstone of our defensive game...so far

6) Although much better of late...Fleury can give up rebounds

7) Both ways again...our PK has been great..as has yours...but both PP's are lethal

[CrossoverThrash 0]

Pens fan here.

I've seen the Redwings play some awesome hockey; I have this vision of the Redwings completely swarming the Pens, pushing them around, and overwhelming them in game 1.

I know as a team the Redwings are better, but what are their weaknesses, in your opinion? Is their anything about their game that worries you? I read that they don't have much offensive depth, is that true? I thought they did.

For the Pens, the defensemen worry me.

- Gill - Very smart and pretty good, but slower than hell

- Whitney - Was horrible 95% of the season, and is just OK in the playoffs.

- Oprik - Big hitter, but just OK defensively.

Also, the Pens tend to fall asleep once in a while for a whole period or two.

On the other hand, every offensive player comes back and plays great defense, so that's good.

I'd be extremely worried about gill if i were you, don't worry as much about the others but expect a few cringes while Gill is on the ice

[PaVel DaTsYuK fan13 0]

The Pens have to get inside of Chris Osgood's head to have a chance at winning this series. Ozzie has been solid as a rock, but he hasn't faced scorers like Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. If they score a lot in game 1&2, and Ozzie's confidence problems of old return, the wings could be in trouble. With that being said, I don't think they're gonna be able to shake Osgood, who I expect big things from and possibly a Conn Smythe.

[ThreeRiversFan 0]

I'd be extremely worried about gill if i were you, don't worry as much about the others but expect a few cringes while Gill is on the ice

Not sure if you've seen Gill with us...or this is based on his Toronto days...

Since coming to us...he has blended very efficiently in our defensive scheme and has been very very solid

[ILWingsFan1 0]

They can't.

Our 4 loses?

1. Hasek

2. Hasek

3. Officials

4. We were off

1. Bulls***.

2. Bulls***.

3. Officials sucked, but can't be blamed for the loss.

4. At least you got 1 out of 4.

[Graybeard 0]

Pressure Sammy at either blue line and he's likely to cough it up to you.

Piss Chelios off and he'll take a shot at someone and give you a PP.

Win your share of face-offs so that the Wings don't control the puck and dominate shots on goal. (good luck with that)

Your goalie needs to put his leg between Homers than fall over backwards to draw the interference penalty (worked well for Turco)

After every goal your netminder must jump up and down and call interference, eventually they'll call one of our goals back for you (worked for Turco as well)

No risky passes. Especially when Hand and Dats are on the ice. They have a 6th sense for them and will be headed down the ice with the puck before you know what happened.

Crosscheck Homer when he's in the crease to stop his screen. Happens constantly and because of his reputation almost never gets called.

Time your checks well, especially with Dats. More often than not he just sidesteps them and you guy will end up plowing one of his own or go facefirst into the boards and injure himself.

Play as physcial as you can without throwing yourself out of postion. We struggle more with physical teams than we do wht skilled ones.

But honesly, your only real chance of beating the Wings is to find yourself a Stinger missile and shoot down their plane.

[Third Man In 2,091]

Play as a team. If the Penguins young guns lose game 1, and come out and try and do too much individually (which can happen with a youthful bunch), the Wings will pick them apart. This Wings team feeds off the opposition's mistakes and incorrect positioning. If the Pens stop playing the team game due to being behind, the Wings will capitalize.

Let me add to this. What has impressed me most about the Pens so far these playoffs has been their ability to do precisely this. They got leads against the Rags and Flyers and then completely frustrated their ability to come back. Detroit has more experience than those two teams so should be more resilient if behind, but the Pens need to keep doing what they've been doing.

Stay patient, try to get the lead, and as NFM says, don't change too much and start pressing if the Wings get a lead.

[OsGOD 3]

Not that I'm validating this response in regards to the Pens chances, but the Wings weren't off in Game 5.....Turco was "on".

Wait... what game 5 did you watch? The wings didn't show put at all... Game 5 was the one game this playoffs that looked like they were from the 80's... Turco was on only because we didn't attempt to give him any hard shots. What did we have like 3 quality scoring chances out of the 39 shots. I respectfully disagree game 5 was a piss poor effort by the wings and disappoint to have to spend money on to see it live.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Your goalie needs to put his leg between Homers than fall over backwards to draw the interference penalty (worked well for Turco)

After every goal your netminder must jump up and down and call interference, eventually they'll call one of our goals back for you (worked for Turco as well)

True. How are Fleury's acting skills? Can he surreptitiously trip somebody skating past the crease while the refs aren't watching? Maybe he can finish the concussion that Turco started on the back of Homer's head. Turco was a master of these things. What Turco did not do well, except for Game 5, was stop the bloody puck. Here's Dallas Drake in Game 6, in front of the net, hacking away at the puck, and Turco stands up. Naturally, the puck goes in while Turco is busy extricating himself from that uncomfortable ice. Mind you, the Wings will continue to crash the net. So if Fleury focuses on stopping the puck rather than tripping, slashing, cross-checking, punching, and arguing, he might find the success that Turco did not.

[CrossoverThrash 0]

Not sure if you've seen Gill with us...or this is based on his Toronto days...

Since coming to us...he has blended very efficiently in our defensive scheme and has been very very solid

judging by his entire career if he has aided your D in any way thats usually not a good sign, maybe somehow crosby taught him something, i did see him a few times as a pen and saw him give the puck away alot of times and i know he was on the ice for alot of important goals the opposition scored. He did seem to have a slight presence in the NY series.

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

The only way possible is to score more than our team... if not... YOU LOSE

False

you win more games not score more goals.

Last year we scored more goals than anaheim.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

i think that the wings have had trouble coming back, if they dont tie the game within 10 mins or score first i always feel like they are gonna f*** it up and lose

looking forward to a great series

[Guest LivingtheDream]

1. Bulls***.

2. Bulls***.

3. Officials sucked, but can't be blamed for the loss.

4. At least you got 1 out of 4.

Are you on crack? On 1 and 2, then why is Hasek on the bench now? Face it, he was a great goalie, but it is OVER and he nearly killed us.

[Nev 1,085]

Yay! A Hasek/Osgood fight in a "how can the Pens beat the Wings?" thread!

Only on LGW......

[webwing91 4]

Personally I could see games becoming one sided. (not all for the same team). I think people underestimate the Pens, they have a ton of young skill/energy and if the top two lines can create havoc, I think the whole team catch that momentum and would just pour it on and have the possibility of ravaging the Wings for a game or two. At the same time, if the top two lines are contained and frustrated, I could see the whole team falling apart and the Wings would dismantle them, just like they did the Stars and the Avs. To me it mostly comes down to stopping the top two lines.

Edited May 22, 2008 by webwing91

[OsGOD 3]

False

you win more games not score more goals.

Last year we scored more goals than anaheim.

Actually its nots false... i was taking it one game at a time... You score more goals than us in 4 games you win...

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Actually its nots false... i was taking it one game at a time... You score more goals than us in 4 games you win...

i was joking....

[Wingman 0]

Imagine for a moment that your were the Penguins coach and your mission was to defeat the Wings in the SCF. How would you do it? Is it reasonable to believe that the current Penguins staff are thinking the same thing?

Then, returning to the Wings bench; how do we best defend these tactics?

I wish I could give my shot at this but I haven't seen any games at all with the Pens, however after seeing the

Wings through the palyoffs I'd try one thing:

The Wings are very rational, like a well oiled machine just dispatching everything coming at it. However, it seem from the games we lost to Nashville and Dallas that an opponent CAN trap us in an emotional momentum where we somehow become lost and uncreative. I'd try to achieve this somehow. Perhaps by "shocking" us with aggressive/sacrificing play early in the game/periods, or focus-diverting play á la Ducks like bullying or borderline-cheapshots, especially toward Ozzy/Dats/Hank.

The cure for the Wings, I guess, is not to sleepwalk through segments of the game (especially the openings). That is, never to lose the sense of urgency -- the edge -- and become too predictable, and thereby invite the opponent to gain initiative.

Granted, the Pens might not even be built for this type of game. What would you do as their coach?

Edited May 22, 2008 by Wingman

[P. Marlowe 748]

The Wings are very rational, like a well oiled machine just dispatching everything coming at it. However, it seem from the games we lost to Nashville and Dallas that an opponent CAN trap us in an emotional momentum where we somehow become lost and uncreative. I'd try to achieve this somehow. Perhaps by "shocking" us with aggressive/sacrificing play early in the game/periods, or focus-diverting play á la Ducks like bullying or borderline-cheapshots, especially toward Ozzy/Dats/Hank.

If was the coach of Penguins I would gather my team and tell them to run.

Seriously, just like you wrote, I think they should play their own game in an aggressive and energiziced way and use their offensive speed. I think they have less chances to win if they let Red Wings make their fisrt move. On the other hand Red Wings might have an advantage if they let Penguins strong offense run into their strong defense and then strike back.

I'm writing this with my tongue in my cheek, as I haven't followed Penguins much and even if I've followed Red Wings I understand that tactics aren't that simple things.

As I've written before, I can't wait for saturday when the games actually start.

[Echolalia 2,961]

"Fellas, its been a good run, but those losers over in Dallas couldn't get the job done. The only thing I ask when you guys take the ice is to remember all the good times we had. Well, I'll see ya in the Fall."

[CAredwingsfan91 28]

i know this is way off topic but the penguins coach who i dont want to bother spelling his name looks like he would back stab somebody just to get ahead in life that guy looks so damn sketchy.

[Dabura 12,232]

You want to get the Wings off their game. You do that by getting under their skin, roughing them up, rushing them whenever they have the puck, etc.

[Third Man In 2,091]

Pound the Red Wings. The Wings are an older team, and they're soft. Hit them every chance you get: on the forecheck, in your defensive zone, and in the neutral zone. Their older players won't stand up to it over the grind of a seven game series, and the rest of the team is comprised of soft, European players that will completely capitulate under the physical pressure. Did I mention that they're old and soft? Oh yeah, and don't worry about Osgood. Remember that puck he let in from center ice in overtime of game 5 against Dallas in 1998? Clearly, he's the worst goalie every to play in two Cup Finals.