DETROIT, MICH – With the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins being the last two NHL teams standing for a second straight spring, it would probably be tempting for the casual observer to conclude that the first Stanley Cup Final rematch since 1984 is simply the result of both teams recreating last year’s winning formula.
That observation, however, would be wrong.
Start with the current Cup holders, the Red Wings. A quick glance at the final standings of the past two regular seasons reveals the champs garnered 51 wins this season, just three fewer than last. But while the results at the macro level are similar, the route to the Western Conference’s number two playoff seed was at times overshadowed by Detroit’s uncharacteristically less-than-tight team defense, a troubling trait spelled out by the 244 goals they surrendered – good for 19th in the 30-team NHL.
Of course, when a team scores a league-best 295 goals, many a defensive lapse can ordinarily be swept under the dressing room carpet. However, that wasn’t quite the case this time around in Hockeytown as the Wings have built a reputation on stifling work in their own zone.
No, Marian Hossa’s 40 goals and an MVP-caliber season from Pavel Datsyuk couldn’t obscure the fact that on many nights the Wings were merely outscoring their opponents instead of outplaying them. A sampling of final scores from this winter’s campaign – 6-5, 7-6, 6-4, 6-5, 6-5 – resembles the result of a French Open tennis match.
A significant part of why Detroit became the new home of fire wagon hockey was the worst season in the career of goaltender Chris Osgood. Despite racking up a record of 26-9-8, “Ozzie” turned in a 3.09 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage, numbers that would get a less-credentialed goalkeeper a seat on the end of the bench at Joe Louis Arena for good.
After an unfathomable 8-2 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets late in the season, Osgood insisted he would have his game tuned up for the playoffs, a common refrain from the Alberta native throughout the year. To his immense credit, Osgood, a two-time Cup winner as a starting goalie, has indeed recaptured last spring’s impressive form, reducing his goals against by more than a full goal per game while boosting his save percentage almost 40 points to .925.
As the Wings have marched through the western side of the playoff bracket with series triumphs over Columbus (four games), Anaheim (seven) and I-94 rival Chicago (five), they have built the kind of momentum that has many envisioning a fifth title in 12 seasons for the “Winged Wheel”.
If Detroit’s return path to the sport’s biggest stage was riddled with speed bumps, the Penguins’ journey was the equivalent of a midnight drive through a minefield with broken headlights.
When Hossa surprisingly signed a one-year free-agent deal with the ‘Wings in the off season, Pittsburgh’s effort to earn a second crack at the Stanley Cup Final faced a significant obstacle before the puck was even dropped on the 2008-09 season.
Once the luster of a franchise-best start wore off and coach Michel Therrien’s tactics (both on and off the ice) withered, the defending Eastern Conference champs found themselves five points out of a playoff spot following a demoralizing 6-2 Valentine’s Day drubbing administered by the lottery-bound Toronto Maple Leafs.
That “Hockey Night in Canada” embarrassment was the impetus for general manager Ray Shero to take an active role in reshaping his club. The first and most dramatic move was replacing Therrien with Dan Bylsma, former NHL journeyman and coach of Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Bylsma instituted an aggressive new style of play that emphasized forechecking and offensive-zone puck possession, a system at least partially borrowed from Red Wings coach Mike Babcock’s book – no coincidence considering Bylsma was an alternate captain for Babcock’s 2003 Cup runners-up in Anaheim.
Shero also added wingers Chris Kunitz (acquired in a trade for Ryan Whitney), Bill Guerin (for a conditional draft pick) and Craig Adams (acquired on waivers) in the week leading up to the trade deadline. The moves added grit and balance to a lineup that appeared to lack in substance beyond the two-headed monster of centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
A torrid run to finish the season boosted the Penguins all the way into the East’s number four seed, and after hard-fought eliminations of dangerous rivals Philadelphia and Washington in six and seven games respectively, Pittsburgh blitzed the overmatched Carolina Hurricanes in four straight to claim the Prince of Wales Trophy.
The otherworldly production of Crosby and Malkin (28 points apiece) and key contributions from wingers Ruslan Fedotenko (six goals, 11 points), Guerin (seven goals, 14 points) and Kunitz (11 assists) has kept the Pittsburgh offensive machine humming at nearly four goals per postseason game.
Will this clash of powerful and deep clubs result in the run-and-gun flow displayed in the Penguins 7-6 overtime win in Detroit Nov. 11? Or will a deliberate pace rule the final round, as shown in the Red Wings’ 3-0 outclassing of Pittsburgh in mid-February?
Whatever the aesthetics, the players that get to skate with Lord Stanley’s cup will be certain that their springtime success was built on a foundation of season-long perseverance.
Contact the author at matt.gajtka@prohockeynews.com
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