Line Matchups

[DetroitYZ19 0]

Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Datsyuk

Filppula - Hudler - Cleary

Samuelsson - Draper - Drake

Maltby - Helm - McCarty

Defence

Lidstrom - Rafalski

Stuart - Kronwall

Lebda - Chelios

Goaltender

Osgood

Dupuis - Crosby - Hossa

Malone - Malkin - Sykora

Ruutu - Staal - Kennedy

Roberts - Talbot - Laraque

Defence

Orpik - Gonchar

Gill - Scuderi

Letang - Whitney

Goaltender

Fleury

So the big question is who pairs up against who? I think the Draper line will be used against Crosby, and the Z line will be used against Malkin. What do you guys think?

Plus, as a Red Wings fan WHO LIVES IN PITTSBURGH, I think its funny how on the talk shows all they talk about is the Wings being a ONE LINE TEAM!! You dont win the west with a one line team. I think we're as deep as anyone in the league.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

I think that the Z-Dats-Homer line will go against the Crosby line because they are the best defensive line, and the Draper line will go against Malkin's line because they are the 2nd best defensive line. The Flip line will probably go against the 3rd line. And 4th lines duke it out together.

[rwfan007 18]

franzen is cleared to go, so those lines might be inaccurate. even more trouble for the pens to deal with

[ehorn3 2]

Who sits if Mule plays?

[Opie 308]

Who sits if Mule plays?

Maltby same as before.

Believe it or not Mac has outplayed Maltby, even with some bone headed penalties.

I don't think you mess with what got you here, Flip Mule Sammy, Huds Helm Mac!

[DYags 0]

Maltby same as before.

Believe it or not Mac has outplayed Maltby, even with some bone headed penalties.

I don't think you mess with what got you here, Flip Mule Sammy, Huds Helm Mac!

I completely disagree with that. Mac has been awful and I'm not just talking about the penalties.. he's Chelios slow and shoots it every time because he doesn't have the skill to spin and look for space and the pass. That fourth line would be much better off with Maltby than Mac IMO

[DYags 0]

double post

Edited May 22, 2008 by DYags

[babygorilla 1]

Maltby same as before.

Believe it or not Mac has outplayed Maltby, even with some bone headed penalties.

I don't think you mess with what got you here, Flip Mule Sammy, Huds Helm Mac!

Yeah. I agree, Helm has really been a great surprise. He has not played rookie role of over playing his position by trying to do to much. Fun kid to watch.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I don't know about up front but as a defenseman, my preference would be to pit

Lidstrom and Raf against the Crosby line

and

Stuart and Kronner against the Malkin line. They're bigger, more physical and better equipped to handle Malkin's size/strength.

Plus, I want to see what the Kid can do against the finest dman I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Somebody is going to be in for a long series and I have a feeling #5 isn't going to be the frustrated one.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

We're going to find out just how great our forwards are defensively in this series, because they must backcheck since we know Pittburgh plays a wide open game.

I like the OP's original lines, but if that 2nd line continues to suck, then no line combos will help us. Line combos only look good when the players on the ice produce. No coach can create magic with players who just aren't cutting it out there.

[Dabura 12,232]

There's an interview with Babs up on TSN. He says it'll probably be Kronwall and Stuart against Malkin. Then he says, "Lidstrom-Rafalski," but he doesn't finish his sentence.

As for the forwards, I say power against power: ZDH against Crosby's line. If/when Mule returns, Mac sits.

[Third Man In 2,091]

Honestly, I don't think Babs is gonna worry too much about matchups. All four lines backcheck well. Yes, he'll probably avoid having Cheli/Lebs/Lils out there against the Crosby or Malkin lines, but that might be about it. There have been times these playoffs (like game 6 of the Dallas series) where Babs has just decided to roll 4 lines, and those have been some of the Wings' best games. He'll matchup a bit more at home with the last change, but in Pittsburgh I don't think he'll worry about it.

[daniel1 32]

Honestly, I don't think Babs is gonna worry too much about matchups. All four lines backcheck well. Yes, he'll probably avoid having Cheli/Lebs/Lils out there against the Crosby or Malkin lines, but that might be about it. There have been times these playoffs (like game 6 of the Dallas series) where Babs has just decided to roll 4 lines, and those have been some of the Wings' best games. He'll matchup a bit more at home with the last change, but in Pittsburgh I don't think he'll worry about it.

Ya I agree with ya on the matchups; if I was Babs the only thing I would avoid is having our 4th line out against Pitt's top two lines and I wouldn't want Cheli/Lebs out against their top two lines either. Lids/Rafi seem to be a better fit to defend against Crybaby's line while Kronner/Stuart might be better suited to defending Malkin's line. With Mule back on the second line Pitt's better hope their D plays outta their minds cause on paper it looks like they have a top 1 and then some "B" grade defensmen at best. When Hal Gill is in your top 4 you might wanna pray for missed passes and stellar goaltending from bird-beek.

[eva unit zero 271]

Just because I already had a well thought out post on this subject in another thread...

Ok, I'll get into this comparison game. Except rather than 1st line vs 1st line, 2nd vs 2nd, etc, I'm going to play it a different way. I'm going to compare the likely matchups for the start of the series based on recently used lines. I'm going to lump the defensemen most likely to play with each line the most into the comparison.

Detroit's 1st line vs Pittsburgh's 1st line

Pavel Datsyuk/Henrik Zetterberg/Tomas Holmstrom/Nicklas Lidstrom/Brian Rafalski vs Pascal Dupuis/Sidney Crosby/Marian Hossa/Sergei Gonchar/Brooks Orpik

Detroit's top forward line has scored 28 even-strength points in 16 games to Pittsburgh's 26 in 14. Detroit's top line also has two Selke nominees, to Pittsburgh's zero. Detroit also has the two best defensemen at either end of the ice in this comparison. Don't expect to see this matchup as much in Games 3 and 4. Advantage: Detroit

Detroit's 2nd line vs Pittsburgh's 3rd line

Jiri Hudler/Valtteri Filppula/Dan Cleary/Brett Lebda/Chris Chelios vs Tyler Kennedy/Jordan Staal/Jarkko Ruutu/Hal Gill/Rob Scuderi

Detroit's second line features plenty of skill. Unfortunately, two thirds of this line has been underachieving in the offensive department for this run. Defensively sound, they should be able to handle the offensive contributions put forth by Pittsburgh's bunch, but unless one of Filppula or Cleary shows up, it will be fairly easy for the Staal line to contain Hudler if he's forced to do it alone. I expect the Lebda/Chelios pairing to be used here because Babcock will want to match Kronner with Malkin. I see Lebda playing because of his speed and the fact his pairing is likely to be used in an offensive situation. Advantage: Pittsburgh

Detroit's 3rd line vs Pittsburgh's 2nd line

Dallas Drake/Kris Draper/Mikael Samuelsson/Niklas Kronwall/Brad Stuart vs Petr Sykora/Evgeni Malkin/Ryan Malone/Ryan Whitney/Kris Letang

This is probably a key matchup in the series. Draper and Drake are the two best faceoff guys in the matchup that will actually end up in the circle; Malkin might be the worst. Detroit will try to exploit the difference between Draper and Malkin at the dot to control the puck as much as possible to neutralize Pittsburgh's potent second line. It should be an effective strategy; combine that with the fact that all three of DDS are defensively sound players who skate well and have decent puck skills, and I expect this to be a key matchup in the series. Kronwall's excellent performance at both ends and physically thus far is what will ultimately lead to Malkin being generally contained, and Stuart's solid defense is a bonus. Advantage: Detroit

Detroit's 4th line vs Pittsburgh's 4th line

Kirk Maltby/Darren Helm/Darren McCarty vs Georges Laraque/Max Talbot/Adam Hall

I don't expect to actually see this matchup; Detroit's fourth line is typically used to spell the first three more than it is used to match up against a specific line; Pittsburgh's is only the 4th line because they are the remaining three forwards and typically will be used as fill-ins on the first three lines; common is Talbot filling in on line 1 for Dupuis or line 3 for Ruutu. Both units have a generally useless veteran who is only around in case of what MIGHT happen, as well as a speedy winger who is primarily a defensive player who plays gritty and physical. Both units also have a young two-way center capable of offensive production if given the opportunity, but solid at the dot and in his own zone. Advantage: Even...like it even matters.

Goaltending

Chris Osgood vs Marc-Andre Fleury

Osgood and Fleury have similar numbers. Both have stolen games in this playoff run. Both have been doubted, and have silenced many critics. The Wings have a better team and win most of the matchups; importantly they win the matchups concerning Pittsburgh's top two lines. Osgood will have far less work to do than Fleury will; Fleury isn't so great, nor Osgood so terrible, that the Pens should end up on top in any of the games at the Joe. Advantage: Detroit

Now, for comparisons when the Pens have last change:

When the series shifts to Pittsburgh, I expect Lidstrom's unit to be split from DZH and put with Hudler/Flip/Cleary. Kronwall/Stuart will move to DZH, and Lebda/Chelios will play with Draper's line. Other than that, no significant changes are prognosticated. Pittsburgh will likely

Det 1 vs Pit 3

This is a more favorable matchup for the Pens than either of the first two lines; Detroit's top two defensive forwards are rendered near useless in terms of their impact on Crosby and Malkin. However, as the Detroit unit still features much more potent offense than Staal's line would have seen yet in the postseason, it's not a total loss. Advantage: Detroit

Det 2 vs Pit 1

Pittsburgh has to settle for Crosby/Hossa vs Lidstrom, hoping to capitalize on the weakest Wings forward line defensively. However, playing with Lidstrom and Rafalski against a line that is not as good as Staal's defensively will play into Detroit's 2nd unit's hands enough for some impact. Not enough though, as Pittsburgh has the top two forwards in this matchup. Advantage: Pittsburgh

Det 3 vs Pit 2

Malkin gets away from Kronwall/Stuart, instead facing Lebda/Chelios. This seems to be an upgrade for the pens, except Malkin still will be denied the puck by Draper's faceoff skills so he won't get many chances to take advantage of the defensive change. Expect Chelios to hound Malkin and try to get him irritated and off his game. Advantage: Detroit

Det 4 vs Pit 4

Here for completeness. Advantage: Detroit

Detroit still comes out ahead; Although with last change I expect Pittsburgh to shuffle around a bit, and if possible, we'll see Malkin/Crosby/Hossa or something similar thrown out as much as possible if they can find time when none of D, Z, or Lids is on the ice.

Pittsburgh's a good team, but the Wings match up very well against them so I expect this series to be more one-sided than many are expecting. Pittsburgh wins one game just on raw offensive talent, but they don't have enough depth going both ways to beat Detroit. I can see this series ending in four games, but I will give the Pens the benefit of the doubt and call it...

Wings in 5.