Bring On The Red Wings: How To Slow Datsyuk and Zetterberg

As expected, it will be the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final.

Detroit made certain of that by jumping on the Dallas Stars early last night in much the same fashion as the Penguins got on the Flyers early and never looked back in game 5. The Red Wings prevailed on the road, 4-1, in game 6, winning their series against the Stars 4 games to 2.

Although I'll post a more detailed series breakdown later in the week, it's not too early to start talking a little bit about the Red Wings and what they bring to the table. Specifically, I want to focus on their two marquee players, center Pavel Datsyuk and winger Henrik Zetterberg.

These two are going to be a handful for the Penguins. Like most teams who deal with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, it's more a matter of containing them than stopping them. However, the difference between coaches game-planning for Sid and Geno are that both play on separate lines. Datsyuk and Zetterberg play together, which means it's easier to focus on trying to limit them. If the Penguins can do that in this series, their chances of bringing the Cup home will increase dramatically.

So how do they do that?

I'm anxious to see what Penguins coach Michael Therrein does in this series defensively. The fact that both Datsyuk and Zetterberg play together make it easier for him to try and match up one particular line against them, if that's what he prefers to do. The Penguins third line centered by Jordan Staal together with wingers Tyler Kennedy and Jarkko Ruutu has the potential to do a good job on them if Therrein employs that strategy. Staal can skate well and is a defensive monster. Kennedy has the speed to keep up and is tenacious. Ruutu also is good defensively and brings an edge to the line.

More than likely, however, Therrein will probably stick to his defensive system and count on everyone to play it as a team, regardless of who is out there against Datsyuk and Zetterberg. He's had such great success with it so far and he and the team both know that if they stick to it, they'll have the results. This may be especially true in this series against Detroit's top guns because both Datsyuk and Zetterberg tend to be east-west players, and the Penguins' defensive system is designed to clog the middle and force players to the outside down the wall. If Datsyuk and Zetterberg try to stick with what they do best, the Penguins could capitalize on their mistakes in the neutral zone and at the blueline when they try to go side-to-side.

As it is, I expect Crosby's line to probably match up against the Datsyuk line. Because both Datsyuk and Zetterberg are both so good defensively themselves, I suspect Red Wings coach Mike Babcock will count on them to try and shut down Sid as well as generate offense. What I'm excited to see in that matchup, if it comes to pass, is Crosby's defensive work. His line, with wingers Marion Hossa and Pascal Dupuis is really good defensively. Everyone talks about how god-like Datsyuk and Zetterberg are because both were nominated for the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive player. Well, the Crosby line is accomplished in that area, too. Everyone knows how solid Dupuis is defensively, but Crosby and Hossa don't get enough credit for how good they are backchecking and in their own zone. If the Red Wings think that Datsyuk and Zetterberg are just going to stop Sid's line and then romp all the way into our end to score easily once they do, they're in for a big surprise.

If Sidney locks down, he could bring back memories of Mario Lemieux from the '91 and '92 Stanley Cup runs. Penguin followers then know that Lemeiux was one of the best defensive players in the game when he wanted to be. And in those Cup runs, he wanted to be. He was like a hunter in his own zone, stalking the player with the puck. Lemieux was a defensive force then. If Crosby's line ends up matched up against Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and he raises his game defensively, it could shift this series in the Penguins' favor.

All in all, it should be a great series.

More tomorrow.