After a week-long layoff in action, Pittsburgh and Detroit will face off for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals tomorrow night at Joe Louis Arena. The teams haven’t met since October 7, 2006 - making this the third straight Stanley Cup Final between two teams that didn’t play each other during the regular season. Gotta love that unbalanced schedule — but that’s a rant for another day.

A breakdown of the match-up:

Offense

These two teams are arguably the two best offensive powerhouses in the league. On Detroit, you’ve got Datsyuk, Zetterburg, Franzen, and a group of second-tier scorers (guys like Tomas Holmstrom and Kris Draper) that crowd the net and find ways to score better than anybody. They move the puck amazingly well and their transition game is unbelievable. If the opposition isn’t picture-perfect, they’re going to find a way make you pay. Over in Pittsburgh, the list of scorers is intimidating. Crosby, Malkin, Hossa, Sykora, Malone — all have been extremely effective in the playoffs. They move the puck about as well as Detroit and have an amazing amount of speed. The styles of play of these two teams are extremely similar, and I expect we’ll see a LOT of scoring, particularly in the early games of the series.

Defense

Detroit’s defense is the best in the NHL. Captained by Niklas Lidstrom, from top to bottom their defensive pairings are more than capable of not only preventing the opposition from gaining opportunities, but creating offense for the Red Wings. The Penguins will be at a disadvantage here, there’s no way around it. However, I think their defense has not been given enough credit for how well they have played throughout the playoffs. Sergei Gonchar, Hal Gill, and the rest of the Penguins defense corps have done a great job of shutting down the opposition when necessary — and I’m sure the Rangers and the Flyers would agree. They’re going to have to bring their A game to get it done against the Red Wings offense, but I wouldn’t count them out yet.

Power Play

Both of these teams have had an amazing amount of success with special teams thus far in the playoffs. Pittsburgh has an impressive 24.6% success rate on the power play, and Detroit’s not far behind at 21%. Their penalty kill numbers are identical, with both teams at an 87.3% success rate. A key to this series is going to be playing smart. Neither team is going to be able to afford giving up countless power play opportunities to the other - we’ve seen both teams repeatedly cash in on those kind of opportunities throughout the playoffs. I have a feeling that the team that can keep themselves out of the box and make the most of the man advantages they do get will be the team hoisting the Cup in 2 weeks.

Goaltending

Chris Osgood and Marc-Andre Fleury have both been unbelievable thus far. Osgood is the more experienced goalie, but coming into the finals on nearly identical records, Fleury’s youth feels much less relevant than it did at the start of the playoffs. Fleury is going to have to come up big in Game 1, and stand up to the same crease crashing treatment from the Red Wings that bested Marty Turco in the last round. If he can find a way to stop them, it will be a huge boost of for the Pens.

Injuries

For the most part, these teams are fairly healthy (as healthy as a team ever is this far into the playoffs). Johan Franzen will miss Game 1, but is expected to return later in the series. His absence didn’t appear to set the Wings back against the Stars, but the Penguins are a much higher scoring team than Dallas, and his firepower would certainly be helpful for the match-up. The sooner he’s back, the better. Gary Roberts missed the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals with pneumonia, and has been out with other injuries at various points during the playoffs. I have not heard either way whether he will return for this series, but the veteran presence would certainly be a welcome addition to the Pens lineup for this series.

Youth vs. Experience

The series has been touted as the “Young Pens vs. the Old Wings” on many NHL sites. The core of the Penguins is around 20 years old, a large number of the Red Wings are over 30. Along with age comes experience — many of the Red Wings have been here before, they know how to get it done and are eager to repeat. But on the flip side of that, the youth on the Penguins are eager for their first taste from the Cup. And their young legs are going to be feeling the effects of the grueling 2 months of playoff hockey a lot less than, say, 46-year-old Chris Chelios. The Penguins have already proven themselves to be for real and I think they’re going to have the edge.

As such, my prediction is Pens in 6. Every time they’ve been beaten they’ve turned around the next game, fixed whatever wasn’t working, and been 10 times better than they were the night before. I think their youth is going to prove difficult for Detroit to keep up with, and I think their defense doesn’t get enough credit. It’s not going to be easy for them, but look for Sid to be hoisting the Cup when the series is done.

I’m leaving for Germany on Sunday, and will not be around to blog about the series. I’ll be back the week of June 10th with my thoughts on the outcome and the impending free agency rush. Enjoy the Finals!

The Red Wings came out flying in Dallas last night, led 3-0 after the first period, and never looked back. It seemed the team finally found the killer instinct they lacked in games 4 and 5, and they put away the Stars 4-1. They now move on to face the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Here are the highlights:

Detroit simply outworked the Stars from the first drop of the puck last night. They came out fighting hard in the first two periods and Dallas didn’t have an answer until it was too late — much like the first 2 games of the series. Zetterburg and Datsyuk got back on the scoreboard and some of their second tier scorers got back on the board by getting themselves planted in front of Turco to create scoring opportunites. Kris Draper scored a goal off his chin — now THAT’S playoff hockey at its finest.

Keys to the series:

Sloppy Defense

Dallas was sloppy on defense early on in the series, tightened up in the games they won, and crumbled a bit again early in game 6. Detroit’s offense is too explosive to allow for any mistakes. One sloppy pass and Zetterburg, Datysuk, or any number of other talented forwards is burying one at the other end. There were a TON of bad defensive plays, sloppy passes, and turnovers in the neutral zone in games 1, 2, &, 3 before Dallas really got themselves together — and by that point, it was too late.

Power Play

Philly went through this with Pittsburgh, and it was no different in this series. Dallas’ power play had more than enough opportunities to rescue them when games were still within reach, and they just couldn’t convert. Last night, Detroit spent the majority of the second period down a man, and Dallas barely registered a shot on the man advantage. You aren’t going to win games this way. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dallas took way too many penalties against a potent power play. In game 1, they were down 3 goals very quickly because of bad penalties — a deficit they never overcame.

Zetterburg and Datysuk

Possibly the most dynamic pair in the league, this duo of Selke finalists had a fantastic series, and gave Marty Turco fits. Zetterburg had two shorthanded goals and Datsyuk had a hat trick in game 3. Both were nearly invisible in games 4 and 5 when Detroit lost — coincidence? Not likely. When these guys are on their game, Detroit wins. The key to beating the Red Wings is shutting them down, and Dallas didn’t do it nearly well enough.

Goaltending

It pains me to say it because he’s one of my favorites, but Marty Turco struggled in the early stages of this series. Detroit’s net crashing got under his skin, and I think he had a bit of a mental struggle due to his personal record against Detroit being so poor. That being said, he also had some spectacular moments — he played amazingly in Game 5 and some of the earlier games could have been a lot worse for Dallas were it not for him. But he admitted himself that he felt he wasn’t at his best, and teams don’t win championships without consistently reliable goaltending. Osgood, on the other hand, has been just that - consistent. He lost his first game of the playoffs in Game 4, and preserved leads for the Wings more than a few times in this series. I’ve been repeatedly impressed with his play, and he’s quietly putting on one of the best performances of his career.

Overtime Hangover?

The Stars took 2 games to find their legs and really start playing strong hockey. After an exhausting 4OT victory to eliminate the Sharks in the previous round, they only had 2 days off before the Conference Finals. The Wings had a full week between series. Was the exhaustion a factor? With an extra few days (or two fewer overtimes), does Dallas come out stronger sooner? The Stars certainly proved in games 4 and 5 that they could compete with Detroit. Had they brought that intensity from the start of the series, this could have been an entirely different beast.

Bring on the Finals!

After an impressive 6-0 hometown showing against the Flyers yesterday, the Penguins are the first team to head to the Stanley Cup Finals. I’m sure Gary Bettman & Co. threw a party afterwards. Here are the highlights — Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa are particularly impressive.

Pittsburgh showed the true intensity of their offensive firepower all throughout this game, and the Flyers just couldn’t keep up. You have to wonder if Michel Therrien drew some inspiration from watching Detroit falter on Saturday — the Penguins came out playing for the kill. They never looked nervous, never once looked like they doubted themselves. For a group of very young players, they are showing a great deal of maturity. Marc-Andre Fleury continues to impress — early in the game when it was still close he made a couple of unbelievable saves that turned the momentum in favor of the Penguins. These kids are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the finals.

The keys to this series:

Kimmo Timmonen/Braydon Coburn

The Flyers were a different team in Game 1 without Timmonen. Their power play suffered, and some mistakes were made that may not have been with him in the lineup. When Coburn went down early in Game 2, leaving them with only 5 defensemen for the majority of the game, the complexion of the series changed dramatically. Losing their top defensive pairing against a team with the firepower of Crosby, Hossa, and Malkin (and Malone, and Sykora, and…) was a huge blow to this team. Watching their power play yesterday, you could see how much better the puck movement was with Timmonen in the lineup. This was the number 2 power play in the league during the regular season. Having that attack all series has the potential to make a huge difference. The injuries were a factor.

Transition Game

This Penguins team is FAST. There is little to no room for error in the neutral zone, or they will be on the attack before you have time to blink. They move the puck unbelievably well and have an uncanny ability to just…find each other…up ice. This is part of what makes this team so scary. The Flyers just didn’t have an answer for them, and the lack of their defensive core hurt as the series wore on.

Power Play

The Flyers (read: Derian Hatcher) take stupid penalties. They are a tough team, which benefits them at times, but also bites them in the ass. Being in the box a lot against a team full of snipers is not going to benefit your cause. The Pens power play was lethal during this series, and the Flyers weren’t able to fight back, even though they had plenty of opportunities as this thing got a little ugly. They had a couple of chances when the game was still salvageable yesterday and couldn’t put one home. This is as much a credit to the Pens penalty kill, but you have to take advantage of the power play when you get one — and you can’t take stupid penalties in the playoffs, or you aren’t going to move on. Just ask Ryan Hollweg.

Danny Briere/Vinny Prospal

Has anyone seen them? Danny Briere played a great Game 4 to send this thing back to Pittsburgh, but I’d be hard pressed to find any great moments from Prospal all series. The duo carried the team through the end of the regular season after Prospal was acquired at the trade deadline, and they were phenomenal against Washington and Montreal. Where’d they go? If you’re going to win in the playoffs, your big guys need to step up

Pittsburgh awaits the winner of Dallas/Detroit. Game 6 is tonight in Dallas, after Marty Turco stood on his head on Saturday to grab his first-ever victory at Joe Louis Arena and help his team live to see another day. Dallas has some new life, and Detroit is looking a little tense. I think Dallas might be able to push this another game — all the momentum is in their favor right now. The pressure is on Detroit to prove that they can close out the series and not let things linger any longer. I called Dallas in 7 from the start of the series — will we see a miracle comeback?

Pardon the appearance around here….I’m doing some overhauls, as my blogging focus will be undergoing a bit of a shift. I should be up and running soon!