The biggest difference in the Nashville series

[Guest Johnz96]

Goaltending

I am not saying Howard was bad but he wasn't nearly as good as Rinne.

I can just imagine the s*** people here would be saying about Holland if we didn't replace Hasek with Osgood in 08 and lost in the first round and went more than a decade without a Cup (most teams go a lot longer than that)

[Ekmanc 586]

I agree, Howard is good but he hasn't been good enough to give us an advantage in really right playoff series.

[chrisdetroit 189]

I agree, Howard is good but he hasn't been good enough to give us an advantage in really right playoff series.

I disagree. Many of the goals that Nashville scored were the result of defensive lapses in which Howard was hung out to dry. He wasn't great but we did not lose because of him. Howard has only been in the playoffs for 3 years. The first year he wasn't very good but you can give him as pass because it was his first time. The second year he was awesome - 0.923 save %. Last year he was hung out to dry.

[GSBrooks13 204]

I think Rinne is a great goalie, but I am more inclined to think the difference in the series was defense. The odd time the Wings managed to break through the defense Rinne was able to be beat, the problem was the Nashville D wasn't allowing that to happen very often.. Most of the Wings shots ended up being blocked or taken from places that didn't have much of a chance at scoring. While on the other hand the defensive lapses that troubled the Wings all season ended up being their undoing as Nashville was able to expose them.

[puckloo39 5,686]

I never thought of Jimmy as being the reason we bowed out, it was a team fail, especially the defense. Coupled with the Wings' inability to score a timely goal when needed, well.. there you have it. That actually defines a large part of the season, actually, not just the playoff round.

I will say I was happy when we got Monster. It will be nice to put OUR giant goalie in against other teams' giant goalies. Jimmy can sit on the bench and enjoy the show instead of being run over and shelled. It will be fun, you'll see!

[Guest irishock]

We scored 1.8 goals per game. 1.8.

Back in the days Ozzie had some lapses like Howard had, but the Wings were able to score 4 or 5 to make up for it. The league has figured out how stop the Wings: shut down Datsyuk and Zetterberg and force Franzen/Bertuzzi to beat you by themselves.

Edited July 15, 2012 by irishock

[Red Crazy 201]

There is no goalie in the NHL or anywhere that can win a series if you can't score them a few goals. If you want to hang our first round exit on somebody then you need to look at the forwards first. Was Jimmy lights out? nope. But he was good enough.

[CrimsonFlame 424]

Howard is an average goalie. While you can certainly win a cup with an average goalie it takes a little more to do so. Namely a high powered offense to win games 5 to 4 or a solid defense to make up for the goalie's short comings.

During the Nashville series Detroit had neither.

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

I've said this a million times, but other than beating Bryzgalov, Howard hasn't won a playoff series yet. And we know how bad Bryzgalov is in the playoffs.

At the same time, the difference in the Nashville series was "mistakes". Most of the goals Nashville got were because of turnovers the Wings defense made behind the net, and the puck was quickly thrown out front to an open man for a goal. We didn't have any chances like that on the other side of the ice. The laziness of Brad Stuart was especially bad in the series.

[Jesusberg 1,256]

I think Rinne is a great goalie, but I am more inclined to think the difference in the series was defense. The odd time the Wings managed to break through the defense Rinne was able to be beat, the problem was the Nashville D wasn't allowing that to happen very often.. Most of the Wings shots ended up being blocked or taken from places that didn't have much of a chance at scoring. While on the other hand the defensive lapses that troubled the Wings all season ended up being their undoing as Nashville was able to expose them.

This is exactly how I remember it. The quality of chances the Red Wings had offensively were very limited. Nashville was very good at keeping Detroit to the perimeter and blocking shots. And yes, the team then had a bunch of defensive lapses themselves. Howard definitely wasn't the reason Detroit lost the series.

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

Anyone remember the Osgood blunder in the 94 playoffs game 7 vs San Jose? Haunts me to this day. People said then Ozzie was awful Detroit needed a real goaltender Ozzie wouldn't win anything blah blah blah. Give it time folks and back off Jimmy. Jimmy will be fine and I'm confident he is only going to get better...

[Guest Crymson]

I agree, Howard is good but he hasn't been good enough to give us an advantage in really right playoff series.

Howard played an excellent series.

Howard is an average goalie. While you can certainly win a cup with an average goalie it takes a little more to do so. Namely a high powered offense to win games 5 to 4 or a solid defense to make up for the goalie's short comings.

During the Nashville series Detroit had neither.

I don't see how Howard's performance in the last two playoffs can be called average. In 2011 he played very well against the Coyotes and then gave the Wings every chance to win the series against the Sharks. Against the Predators, he was constantly hung out to dry. No goalie can stop impossible-to-stop shots; being unable to do so does not mean that a goalie is inadequate.

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

Detroit seemed uninterested at times to be there, looked lazy and just went through the motions.

[13dangledangle 968]

This is complete Bulls***. NO WAY Howard cost us the series or was "the biggest difference maker" in loosing, that is ridiculous. Howard has shown he can compete with the top goalies in the league, but this little problem we had was obviously a "TEAM" thing. The team didn't work together at all thus looked like a team that was leaving early and didn't even seem to care. Howards fault? Ok lol...

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

This is complete Bulls***. NO WAY Howard cost us the series or was "the biggest difference maker" in loosing, that is ridiculous. Howard has shown he can compete with the top goalies in the league, but this little problem we had was obviously a "TEAM" thing. The team didn't work together at all thus looked like a team that was leaving early and didn't even seem to care. Howards fault? Ok lol...

Exactly. How is it Howard's fault that none of the Wings aside from Z took the puck to the middle of the ice instead of taking every shot from the side boards?

[Danielsm 244]

I just thought we didn't make the most of our chances. All our shots seemed to be directed right at Rinne's pads.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Jimmy definitely wasn't the biggest difference in the series. Nashville shut down the Red Wings offensively and made the most of their limited scoring chances, often a result of the Red Wings making mistakes. The pathetic goal the Red Wings gave up in Game 4 right after Kronwall had scored was basically a testament to the entire series. The Red Wings controlled most of the play, took a ton of effort to score a single goal and gave it right back by being careless defensively.

I wouldn't say Howard was anything special in the series, though. He didn't get enough work to really stand out and his team hung him out to dry for a majority of the goals against. The goaltending matchup looked more lobsided than it really was. The shot totals were deceiving because Rinne faced 40, but the Red Wings made most of them easy saves from the perimeter.

I guess ultimately the only part of the team I feel "content" with going into next season is the goaltending. Although, both Jimmy and Monster are going to be relied on a little more to maybe steal some games with so much uncertainty on defense. That safety valve of #5 is gone.

[TexasWingsFan 5]

How quickly we forget about that Kevin Klein goal. Game 4, tied 1-1 and jimmay decides to go for a stroll into the corner (albeit with half the red jerseys on the ice) and ices the series. I still like jimmy, but that play made my freaking head explode on so many levels

[Guest Crymson]

How quickly we forget about that Kevin Klein goal. Game 4, tied 1-1 and jimmay decides to go for a stroll into the corner (albeit with half the red jerseys on the ice) and ices the series. I still like jimmy, but that play made my freaking head explode on so many levels

How quickly we forget that, eh? One mistake doesn't define an entire series; and had the Wings been able to score any decent number of goals, that blunder wouldn't have been a big deal. That said, Lidstrom and White shared fault on that goal also.

[Dabura 12,232]

Our F and D S*** the B.

The really sad/funny/painful thing is, shooting from the perimeter was not an altogether terrible strategy, since Rinne gift-wrapped about 4,000 glorious rebound opportunities for us. Somehow, though, we failed to get to any and all of them (give or take a couple). Absolutely ludicrous.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Our F and D S*** the B.

The really sad/funny/painful thing is, shooting from the perimeter was not an altogether terrible strategy, since Rinne gift-wrapped about 4,000 glorious rebound opportunities for us. Somehow, though, we failed to get to any and all of them (give or take a couple). Absolutely ludicrous.

He definitely left a lot of juicy rebounds. His defense did a great job covering for him and the Wings were unwilling or unable to crash the net to get a stick on them.

[Guest Johnz96]

I agree, Howard is good but he hasn't been good enough to give us an advantage in really right playoff series.

He was great in the 2011 playoffs. But that's what happens with goalies they get hot, they got cold and most of the time they play as well they usually do. Howard was a little less than his usual and Rinne was hot

[StormJH1 231]

Our F and D S*** the B.

The really sad/funny/painful thing is, shooting from the perimeter was not an altogether terrible strategy, since Rinne gift-wrapped about 4,000 glorious rebound opportunities for us. Somehow, though, we failed to get to any and all of them (give or take a couple). Absolutely ludicrous.

I think that our perimeter offense has been the problem in the playoffs for years. Yes, puck control and a shot advantage are useful in the aggregate in generating success. But the biggest difference now versus even in 1997 is the increase in blocked shots. It isnt even the same game anymore. The Wings set everything up from the point, and in the Playoffs, teams are more organized and motivated to shut down those shots. Maybe the loss of Lidstrom will have force us to scheme around getting to the net instead of setting us up for failure.

Sent on iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest Johnz96]

I've said this a million times, but other than beating Bryzgalov, Howard hasn't won a playoff series yet. And we know how bad Bryzgalov is in the playoffs.

At the same time, the difference in the Nashville series was "mistakes". Most of the goals Nashville got were because of turnovers the Wings defense made behind the net, and the puck was quickly thrown out front to an open man for a goal. We didn't have any chances like that on the other side of the ice. The laziness of Brad Stuart was especially bad in the series.

They had a few lucky bounces too and we didn't but if Howard was as good as Rinne and Rinne as good as Howard we probably would have swept the series

[Dabura 12,232]

They had a few lucky bounces too and we didn't but if Howard was as good as Rinne and Rinne as good as Howard we probably would have swept the series

No.

Rinne's not even all that much better than Howard. He's the size of an elephant, and we were shooting from the perimeter.