Datsyuks play in round two, in retrospect.

[DangleD13 0]

Alot was made of Datsyuk not getting any points in the second round (untill tonight of course), but I think a lot of people forget how good of a defensive forward he is. He made some big defensive plays tonight, one in particular starting from his own end, coming in late behind the play to take away a possible scoring chance from Anaheim. He had to wear out the Ducks players on the offensive end, even though he never scored a goal, he had guys chasing him all night, every night.

I guess I'm not saying these things "made-up" for him only getting one point, but I think the series would be different without him.

[catbox_9 1]

Certainly it wasn't the best round a player has ever had, but we won so I won't complain much. He had a few good moments that don't score up in the score sheet, but not as many as I'd expect in the next round.

The good news is I don't think he'll have a series that bad in the next round which helps our chances of winning.

[ComradeWasabi 109]

He drew one of the toughest assignments in having to break through one of the better checking tandems in Niedermayer and Marchant. Also, none of the players he played with were particularly hot offensively (didn't play with Franzen at all for one thing) so he was taking a lot of the offensive work on his back.

That said, he has to score in the next round. He simply has to, and with Chicago's high-flying style of play I think that'll be a little easier for him.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Datsyuk was clelarlysnake-bitten this series on offense.

But he poked the puck out tonight at 19:57 of the third when it looked like one of the albatrosses from Anaheim would get a shot on goal. Also, he made a great play, and took a monster hit, to set up Sammy's goal. Also, he was a big part of the early 5-3 kill.

That's enough for me.

[Cern 0]

If anything, the fact that we won this series (even with game 3 all but handed to the Ducks) without Datsyuk showing up in the boxscore speaks volumes about the Wings depth. Think about it, if Crosby went silent against in the playoffs the Penguins would probably have been toast.

In any case, Pavel didn't 'vanish' the way Joe Thorton or Malkin have in the playoffs. He clearly still had a good head about him, he was playing well at both ends of the ice, he just didn't quite get the bounces that translated into goals.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Cern

[DangleD13 0]

Hopefully he breaks out against the 'Hawks.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Alot was made of Datsyuk not getting any points in the second round (untill tonight of course), but I think a lot of people forget how good of a defensive forward he is. He made some big defensive plays tonight, one in particular starting from his own end, coming in late behind the play to take away a possible scoring chance from Anaheim. He had to wear out the Ducks players on the offensive end, even though he never scored a goal, he had guys chasing him all night, every night.

I guess I'm not saying these things "made-up" for him only getting one point, but I think the series would be different without him.

People also seem to ignore the fact that Pavel had Scott Neidavacation draped on his back all game, every game. You can criticize Dats for not putting up impressive numbers, but you can't ignore that his shadow is one of the best defensive players in the league... It's like calling out Nash without mentioning that Lidstrom dogged him every game.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I'm disappointed in his scoring, even with the Ducks' stifling defense.

With that said, he was very good defensively. The PKing he did tonight was practically worth $7M.

[TheOwl 77]

He was a monster tonight on the penalty kill. He's being too fancy though, I think it's more of his matchup with Anaheim. Chicago's game will completment Datysuk's, more open ice, more run and gun etc.

[jollymania 162]

he was still a force, thats why hes the best, hiller had his number, luckily historically he has had bulins #

[mjlegend 155]

I'm disappointed in his scoring, even with the Ducks' stifling defense.

With that said, he was very good defensively. The PKing he did tonight was practically worth $7M.

[Jedi 1,865]

I think that when you see how closely he was defended throughout the series, it's not too surprising that he had low numbers offensively.

The only time he had any free space at his back all series was when he took a faceoff when a linemate was kicked out of the circle.

[Systemfel 33]

Hopefully he breaks out against the 'Hawks.

He does tend to own Khabibulin, so here's hoping.

[Echolalia 2,961]

He was definitely having a hard time offensively, but as others have already noted, his playmaking and goal scoring abilities only account for half of his game, and defensively I don't think anyone could've asked for anything more. The good news is he doesn't have to worry about the best defense in the league anymore, and hopefully has a little more room to work against the Hawks.

[frederick9125 0]

series would have been completely different with out Dats, he opened up the ice for whom ever else was out on the ice with him, and if scotty wasnt all over him pronger was

[T.Low 1,011]

Heard Ray Ferraro on the Team 1040 today. He said Datsyuk has been awesome. He has had some shifts where he just dominated the defense. He's winning the races to the puck, he's going into the corner battles, muckin it up, and coming out with the puck. He is playing keep away with the puck. He's hitting guys. He's takin hits and not getting knocked off the puck. He's standing toe to toe with Chris Pronger. He is not getting shutdown by Marchant or Neidermeyer.

The one who is shutting down Pavel Datsyuk is Jonas Hiller.

And he gets paid to put pucks in the net and he's not doing it.

I'm thinking he feals really, really fortunate that the Red Wings won that series, and he can now redeem himself (point wise) in the next two series.

This is going to be fun.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

He is not getting shutdown by Marchant or Neidermeyer.

The one who is shutting down Pavel Datsyuk is Jonas Hiller.

I think we watched different series... 'cause Neidavacation, while he didn't completely shut down Pav, definitely shut him down at times.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Drake_Marcus

[Theophany 110]

I had this discussion with my brother and my dad tonight.

My dad was disappointed with Datsyuk's lack of production by way of points, and my reply was, "would you rather have Dats scoring 1 goal a game and playing awful defense, or would you rather have him practically killing penalties by himself and only getting an assist?"

It's pretty clear that with how deep our team is, we can afford to have Dats tied up with a Neidermayer, because of our scoring depth. Teams then have a choice; shut down Dats and have other people score when Neidermayer isn't on the ice, or don't match Neidermayer on Dats and have him walk all over you.

It's obvious that Dats did his job this series, and Chicago is a lot looser of a team defensively, so Dats should have a good time.

Regardless, Dats still creates opportunities for his line-mates (and even gets some himself), even guarded as close as he is. That he also plays such good D shows why he's got a Selke (and will potentially get another).

[T.Low 1,011]

I think we watched different series... 'cause Neidavacation, while he didn't completely shut down Pav, definitely shut him down at times.

I shudda used quotation marks while paraphrasing everything Ferraro said. What you quoted was included. (Not that its gospel, I'm just clarifying)

Feeraro's fun to listen to, but you can tell that he sometimes feals like he's got to have an answer for every question he's aksed wether he actually has one or not.

WHile I haven't seen Pavel's shot count, i feal he was indeed blanketed by the Ducks but managed pretty well. I guess for the most part, i agree with Ferraro.

Of course, I watched at least half the series on my F'ing laptop, and its hard to tell exactly who's who half the time with some of the crappy internet feeds.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Datsyuk personally killed 30 seconds worth of a 5-on-3 last night. And he made the play on the Sammy goal. He had twice as many assists as goals this year so why shouldn't he be considered valuable if he's picking up assists?

Everything will be fine. The Ducks keyed in on Datsyuk and Zetterberg, hard. And they have the personnel to do it. Chicago has no Marchant, no Niederwhiner, no Pronger, none of that. Look up and down their roster, does anyone scare you defensively? Keith, maybe. Whether we like the Ducks or not, they had the horses to stop our best players but not the depth to deal with ours. Chicago doesn't have the top-notch defensive talent you need to stop our top three consistently over seven games.

[Rivalred 630]

Pavel, Hossa, and Hank were busy the entire series killing off Penalties, back checking, and playing defense. You will see a different team come the series against the Hawks. Like others have said in various threads, we won without out top guys scoring buckets of goals and the other players contributed. That alone speaks volumes of this teams ability.

[Kira 451]

I'm not worried about Pasha. When you have two and three guys draped over you constantly like fleas on a dog, you can't expect even someone as talented as Pasha to have that good of luck. And you have to admit, he was constantly dogged by two and three guys at a time. But he still went into the corners for the battles, he still played with the puck as much as he could to get his linemates open, and he still made some plays that other teams would die for.

Pasha has always had pretty good luck against Chicago and Khabibulin. If anyone is going to expose the frailties of the Hawks, it's Pasha. I have a good feeling about this.

[norrisnick 1]

Datsyuk personally killed 30 seconds worth of a 5-on-3 last night. And he made the play on the Sammy goal. He had twice as many assists as goals this year so why shouldn't he be considered valuable if he's picking up assists?

Everything will be fine. The Ducks keyed in on Datsyuk and Zetterberg, hard. And they have the personnel to do it. Chicago has no Marchant, no Niederwhiner, no Pronger, none of that. Look up and down their roster, does anyone scare you defensively? Keith, maybe. Whether we like the Ducks or not, they had the horses to stop our best players but not the depth to deal with ours. Chicago doesn't have the top-notch defensive talent you need to stop our top three consistently over seven games.

Sami Pahlsson. He should have won the Conn Smythe in '07 for doing precisely what the Ducks did to Pavel this go round.

[Broken 16 381]

The Ducks are a very good defensive team built for the playoffs... and arguably, they are built to beat the Wings. They did what they had to do. Shut down Datsyuk, Hossa and Zetterberg offensively. Barring a couple hiccups, they did just that. This is why secondary scoring is so important.

Edited May 15, 2009 by Broken 16

[DatsMyWings13 4]

People also seem to ignore the fact that Pavel had Scott Neidavacation draped on his back all game, every game. You can criticize Dats for not putting up impressive numbers, but you can't ignore that his shadow is one of the best defensive players in the league... It's like calling out Nash without mentioning that Lidstrom dogged him every game.

I'm disappointed in his scoring, even with the Ducks' stifling defense.

With that said, he was very good defensively. The PKing he did tonight was practically worth $7M.

I agree with both of these.