No. 2 Red Wings Vs. No.7 Bluejackets: Breaking Down The First Round Matchup

Two of the NHL's better defensive teams will face off in the opening round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings come in on a 112 point season, their fourth season in a row with at least 50 wins. They are the Central Division champs, and have earned the number two seed.

The Columbus Bluejackets have made the playoffs for the first time in their young history with a 92 point season, finishing third in the Central Division for the number seven seed.

Forwards

Detroit boasts four forwards with at least 30 goals, and five with at least 20. Hossa finished in a tie for fifth in the NHL with 40 goals in 74 games played, while Pavel Datsyuk finished fourth in the NHL in points with 97.

Johan Franzen has developed into one of the top power forwards in the NHL and went on an unprecedented tear in last year's playoffs until a head injury slowed him down.

Henrik Zetterberg has come on his game in the second half of the year after a slow first half, and Jiri Hudler rounds out the top 5 with a career high 57 points.

Datsyuk and Zetterberg especially are superb defensive forwards. Datsyuk is coming off a Selke trophy season and should be nominated to win again this year.

Columbus is led by Rick Nash who has obviously bought into Ken Hitchock's system. His offensive numbers have dropped over the past couple seasons considerably, however his defense has improved immensely. He finished in a tie for fifth in the NHL with 40 goals, and 79 points.

Former Flame, Kristian Huselius has enjoyed a solid season, finishing second on the team with 56 points. RJ Umburger rounds out the Bluejackets trio of 20-goal scorers.

Antoine Vermette, acquired from the Ottawa Senators gives the Bluejackets another quick, skilled player. He's notched 13 points in his 17 games with Columbus.

Michael Peca is the veteran presence on this team and though his scoring has declined over the years, he makes up for that with leadership.

Rookie, Jakub Voracek is defensively responsible but sporadic with his stick.

Edge: Detroit

The Bluejackets can't pretend to match Detroit's offensive firepower, however that's not to say they're firing blanks. They have a bushel of young offensive talent that are all skilled skaters. Detroit's talent is just far more refined.

Defense

Detroit has a top pairing that features the ageless Nick Lidstrom and the always solid Brian Rafalski. Both finished with 59 points to put them tied at third in the NHL among defensemen. Either one can quarterback a powerplay effectively. Lidstrom also finished third in the NHL in +/- and should be nominated for yet another Norris trophy.

The second pairing features Nik Kronwall who has enjoyed a breakout season with 51 points, although he has been prone to defensive breakdowns at times this season. His +/- has tanked from a +25 in 2008 to +3 this season.

Brad Stuart, Derek Meech, and Brett Lebda will round out the Wings defense to start this series, while Andreas Lilja heals from a concussion.

Columbus has a solid defensive corps from top to bottom. Fedor Tyutin and Mike Commodore aren't going to wow you with their offensive skill, but they are a tough matchup to play against. Commodore in particular will have personal motivation in this series as he has had harsh words for Wings coach Mike Babcock, who Commodore used to play for in Anaheim.Tyutin is a big man at 6'3" and 210 pounds and has become more of a physical presence this season.

Jan Hejda has enjoyed a season of career highs in points and +/- in which he leads the Bluejackets

Edge: Detroit

Detroit's defense scores more than some team's forwards do, including Columbus. Not only that, but they can dominate defensively as well. Columbus arguably can play defense top to bottom as well as Detroit can, but Detroit gets the edge for the multi-dimensionality of their guys.

Goaltending

Detroit will start the playoffs with Chris Osgood in net. Osgood is coming off the worst season in his career, finishing near the bottom of the NHL in goals against and save percentage. Yet, he still sports a 26-8-8 record. Last year Osgood was outstanding during the Wings cup run. This year he will be on a short leash. While he will be trusted to open the playoffs, if he falters, Detroit will turn to Ty Conklin who has enjoyed the best season of his career, yet has never started a playoff game.

Columbus turns to the outstanding rookie, Steve Mason. Mason has been nothing short of brilliant for Columbus, racking up an NHL leading 10 shutouts and finishing second in the NHL with a 2.29 GAA. A hot goalie in the playoffs is invaluable. The question is if Mason can summon the intensity needed for playoff hockey. It can be especially tough on a rookie, but if Mason plays as well as he did during the regular season, the Bluejackets will be a tough out to be sure.

Edge: Columbus

Detroit faces some ifs on their side with Osgood who has been great in the past but not so much this season. Columbus might just have a Vezina winning rookie goalie. It's pretty much no contest here.

Intangibles

Detroit has been here before, and has seen it all. While Columbus could just be happy to be here. They carry the swagger of defending champs.

Columbus matches up well against Detroit, splitting the series 3-3 against them, including an 8-2 blowout win in March. They won't be intimidated against the defending Cup champs.

Edge: Even

Coaching

Detroit possesses arguably the game's top coach in Mike Babcock. Since coming to Detroit, the Wings have won at least 50 games every season and finished with over 100 points and tops in the division. He's led them to the Cup last season and to the conference finals two seasons ago, and has modeled his style after the great Scotty Bowman.

Columbus also has one of the NHL's great minds in Ken Hitchcock. Hitchcock has enjoyed success for nearly his entire career and has successfully morphed the Bluejackets from perennial doormat to a defensively minded playoff team. His greatest triumph might be turning Rick Nash from a high scoring forward into a very good two-way player. It conjures up memories of Scotty Bowman and Steve Yzerman many years ago.

Edge: Even

While Babcock has enjoyed more success, Hitchcock has done a lot with a little and should be a Jack Adams nominee this season.

Prediction

Detroit was going to have a hard task in the first round no matter who they played. They drew the team with the hottest goaltender in the NHL. The Wings will have to be patient to win and keep the intensity level high. If Mason can hold off the Wings barrage, he could hope to frustrate Detroit, the same way Roloson and Giguere did to Detroit in playoffs past. That will be Columbus's best shot for an upset. The Wings do have a way of upping their game come playoff time though.

Detroit in six.