Red Wings - Stars: Highlights from Game 1 and a Detroit/Dallas Series Preview

Well, the verdict is in: the Detroit Red Wings are the real deal.  Not that I had any doubts before their Game 1 matchup with the Dallas Stars, but Detroit's dominating performance should have the sporting press up in arms with how good they really are. 

Johan "the Mule" Franzen is still scoring goals (he has 12 in this post-season).  Along with Tomas Holmstrom, they provide a devastating one-two punch in front of any opposing goaltender.  Both Franzen and Holmstrom were keyed in on by Dallas coach Dave Tippett.  Dallas D-men needed to be able to control these two and clear them from in front of goalie Marty Turco.  Nobody from the Dallas squad was able to do this last night.

Franzen and Holmstrom played a large part in Detroit's first three goals, all on the power-play.  Defenseman Brian Rafalski was able to bury the puck off of a Nick Lidstrom shot off of the post. 

Turco did not see either shots because Holmstrom was at his normal spot, about one inch from the top of Turco's crease.  Holmstrom later scored the third goal of the game from about one foot inside Turco's crease.

The Mule, who has learned a lot from the NHL's top goalie annoyer (no, not you Avery), deflected in a puck off of a Niklas Kronwall's shot for the game's second goal and his 12th of the post-season.   

Kronwall (not Kronvall) is another surprising story for the Red Wings.  Playing his first post-season at 100 percent healthy, Kronwall is putting fear in any opposing player that wishes to cross through the neutral zone.  Figuring in two of Detroit's goals, Kronwall also kept up his hitting as he provided a Scott Stevens-type of open ice hit on Dallas' Antti Miettinen.  He even had an adjective created for his style of play by Versus play-by-play guy "Doc" Emrick - Kronwallian. 

Valtteri Filppula capped the Red Wings' scoring midway through the second period after some tic-tac-toe passing that started near Chris Osgood and ended up behind Marty Turco.  Dallas captain Brendan Morrow scored the Stars' lone goal with one minute left in the second period.

I think that it is safe to say that many believe the way to defeat the mighty Red Attack is to hit them until they wear down.  If these believers watched last night's game, I'd say "case closed." 

The Wings were by far a more dominating team than the Stars in not only score and puck control, but they also out-hit the Stars in the game.  No hit was better than Kronwall's hit on Miettinen. 

Detroit goalie Chris Osgood also proved how good he was in turning away 20 Dallas shots.  Ozzie stole the show early in the second period with Detroit leading 2-0.  After a big save by Turco on a Henrik Zetterberg wrap-around, Dallas responded by getting a Niklas Hagman breakaway.  Osgood stopped him and kept the lead at two. 

How many more wins is it going to take to convince people that Osgood is not going anywhere?  Almost every article and series preview out there feels the need to mention how Detroit needs to be willing to pull the trigger and replace Osgood with Hasek if he gets shaky.  Ozzie is here to stay for the rest of the playoffs.  He never got the recognition that he deserved after winning the Cup in '98.  He is the man for the Wings, and after winning seven games in a row and posting league-best numbers, why would anybody think otherwise?

Like others, Dallas needs to key in on certain elements in order to win against the Wings.  They first need to control Franzen and Holmstrom in front of Turco.  They were unable to do this in game one and it cost them.  Franzen and Homer each had a goal and Homer provided the screen in front for another goal.

Second, Dallas needs to find a way to crack Detroit's seemingly impenetrable defensive corp.  Other than a fluke goal (in my opinion), Dallas could not move the puck through the neutral zone with any flow whatsoever.  Detroit's D-men were able to congest the zone and blue line so well that Dallas could hardly even dump the puck behind Ozzie to set up a play.

The Wings are a puck possession team first, but have perfected the dump-and-chase style as well.  With two dangerous options to get to Turco, the Stars must be able to control the tempo of the game with puck possesion.  Letting the Wings do as they will means the Stars lose.

Finally, Dallas needed to have their goalie out-duel Detroit's goalie.  Turco, after having a tremendous amount of success at The Joe as a University of Michigan player, has not won at the Joe Louis in his professional career.  Sure, he made some big saves and his team seemed to let him down, but a goalie needs to steal the show in the playoffs in order to win.  Turco did not do this in game one.

I need to note that I am a Wings fan, rain or shine.  I talk of the keys to a Dallas success only because I believe that knowing what your opponent needs to do in order to win can only help you.  With the Wings, they just need to do what they have been doing: control the game, get consistent goaltending, and keep their scorers doing what they do best.

As biased as I am, I still don't see any scenario that would favor the Stars against the Red Wings.  The Wings' power-play was by far superior to Dallas' in game one as was their goaltending.  The Wings were even able to generate several great scoring chances shorthanded! If this series continues in this fashion I could easily see another collapse like the Avalanche had.