POST Season Team Stats (rank):

NOTE: I usually get these team stats from NHL.com, and their site is NOT current, I’ve cobbled together some numbers I think are fairly accurate, the rankings are not. Thanks Gary, Ass.

UPDATE: NHL.com have updated the stats, the numbers below are current.

DET: 5-1 (w-l), .833 point% ( tied 1), 4.00 g/g (1), 2.17 ga/g (5), 1.86 5-5 f/a (3), 32.3 pp (1), 70.0 pk (15), 39.8 s/g (1), 30.0 sa/g (6), 54.4 fo% (1).

ANA: 5-3 (w-l), 0.625 point% (tied 5th), 3.00 g/g (5), 2.00 ga/g (3), 1.88 5-5 f/a (tied 1), 26.7 pp (2), 78.8 pk (10), 28.2 s/g (12), 41.1 sa/g (16), 45.4 fo% (15).

PLAYOFF Player Stats:
DET Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/-
RW Johan Franzen 6 4 4 8 6
D Nicklas Lidstrom 6 3 5 8 5
RW Daniel Cleary 6 2 5 7 8
C Henrik Zetterberg 6 3 3 6 5 2
RW Jiri Hudler 6 2 3 5 2
D Brad Stuart 6 1 4 5 0
C Valtteri Filppula 6 0 4 4 4
RW Tomas Holmstrom 6 2 2 4 0
RW Marian Hossa 6 2 2 4 0
D Niklas Kronwall 6 1 3 4 -2
C Pavel Datsyuk 6 1 2 3 0
D Brian Rafalski 4 1 2 3 5
RW Mikael Samuelsson 6 1 2 3 2
D Jonathan Ericsson 6 1 0 1 4
RW Tomas Kopecky 6 0 1 1 -1
D Brett Lebda 6 0 1 1 2
D Chris Chelios 2 0 0 0 0
C Darren Helm 6 0 0 0 -2
LW Kirk Maltby 6 0 0 0 -3

DET Goalies:
Player GPI W L GAA PCT
Chris Osgood 6 5 1 1.95 .928

ANA Skaters:
POS Player GP G A PTS +/-
C Ryan Getzlaf 8 3 10 13 5
RW Corey Perry 8 4 3 7 4
D Chris Pronger 8 2 5 7 5
D Scott Niedermayer 8 1 5 6
RW Bobby Ryan 8 4 1 5 3
D Ryan Whitney 8 0 4 4 0
C Ryan Carter 5 2 1 3 0
LW Drew Miller 8 2 1 3 5
C Rob Niedermayer 8 0 3 3 5
RW Teemu Selanne 8 2 1 3 -1
D James Wisniewski 8 1 2 3 4
RW Mike Brown 8 0 2 2 0
C Andrew Ebbett 8 1 1 2 -1
C Todd Marchant 8 1 1 2 3
D Francois Beauchemin 8 1 0 1 2
C Erik Christensen 7 0 1 1 -1
D Sheldon Brookbank 8 0 0 0 -1
C Josh Green 1 0 0 0 0
C Petteri Nokelainen 4 0 0 0 0
RW George Parros 7 0 0 0 0

ANA Goalies:
Player GPI W L GAA PCT
Jonas Hiller 8 5 3 1.83 .951

Average TOI:
DET Skaters:
GPI TOI
D Nicklas Lidstrom 6 27:32
D Niklas Kronwall 6 25:15
D Brad Stuart 6 24:57
L Henrik Zetterberg 6 22:39
D Brian Rafalski 4 21:54
C Johan Franzen 6 20:14
C Pavel Datsyuk 6 20:17
D Jonathan Ericsson 6 20:36
R Marian Hossa 6 19:10
R Daniel Cleary 6 18:08
C Valtteri Filppula 6 17:20
R Mikael Samuelsson 6 17:57
L Tomas Holmstrom 6 16:34
C Jiri Hudler 6 15:34
D Brett Lebda 6 15:13
R Tomas Kopecky 6 10:22
L Kirk Maltby 6 10:14
C Darren Helm 6 9:10
D Chris Chelios 2 6:53

ANA Skaters:
GPI TOI
D Chris Pronger 8 27:40
D Scott Niedermayer 8 27:17
C Ryan Getzlaf 8 25:51
R Corey Perry 8 4 22:55
D Ryan Whitney 8 22:55
D James Wisniewski 8 21:03
D Francois Beauchemin 8 21:51
R Bobby Ryan 8 20:44
C Todd Marchant 8 20:29
L Drew Miller 8 16:49
C Rob Niedermayer 8 16:36
R Teemu Selanne 8 15:05
C Andrew Ebbett 8 13:46
C Ryan Carter 5 12:01
D Sheldon Brookbank 8 11:20
C Josh Green 1 11:18
C Erik Christensen 7 10:38
C Petteri Nokelainen 4 9:34
R Mike Brown 8 8:43
R George Parros 7 5:32

Injury Report:
DET:
Andreas Lilja (D) Concussion (Sidelined indefinitely)
Kris Draper (C) Upper body (Day to day)
Brian Rafalski (D) Upper body (Day to day)

ANA:
Bret Hedican (D) Back injury (Sidelined indefinitely)
Brad Larsen (LW/RW) Hernia (Sidelined indefinitely)

HOT and NOT:

DET Hot:
Nicklas Lidstrom (D) 6 pts in last 3 GP
Brad Stuart (D) 4 pts in last 3 GP
Dan Cleary (LW/RW) 6 pts in last 4 GP
Johan Franzen (LW/C) 8 pts in last 6 GP
Henrik Zetterberg (C) 6 pts in last 6 GP
Jiri Hudler (RW/LW) 5 pts in last 6 GP

DET Not Hot:
Mikael Samuelsson (RW) 1 pts in last 5 GP

ANA Hot:

Scott Niedermayer (D) 4 pts in last 4 GP

Corey Perry (RW) 3 pts in last 2 GP
Ryan Carter (C/LW) 3 pts in last 4 GP

ANA not hot:
Ryan Whitney (D) 0 pts in last 4 GP
Erik Christensen (C/W) 0 pts in last 5 GP
Andrew Ebbett (C/LW) 0 pts in last 3 GP
Bobby Ryan (RW/LW) 1 pts in last 4 GP

Jeff Sagarin NHL Ratings, from USAToday.com:

To make predictions for upcoming games, simply compare the RATINGS of
the teams in question and allow an ADDITIONAL .25 goals for the home
team. Thus, for example, a HOME team with a rating of 4.43 would be
favored by .57 goals over a VISITING team having a rating of 4.11.
Or a VISITING team with a rating of 4.56 would be favored by .42 goals
over a HOME team having a rating of 3.89

NOTE: Use whatever home advantage is listed in the output below.
In the example just above, a home edge of .25 was shown for
illustrative purposes. The home edge will vary during the season.

NHL 2008-2009 through 2009 May 4, Monday - conference semifinals
HOME ADVANTAGE= 0.35 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 16 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR
2 Detroit Red Wings = 4.79 56 32 3.99( 22) 15 11 | 25 14 | 4.77 2 | 4.82 2
8 Anaheim Ducks = 4.33 47 43 4.06( 4) 13 19 | 20 26 | 4.29 9 | 4.39 7

From the CBC.ca DET/ANA Blog:

Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk is a finalist for the Hart, Lady Byng and Selke Trophies. He also has registered one goal through six playoff games and that’s what matters at the moment.

Likewise, right-winger Marian Hossa, a 40-goal scorer during regular-season play, has tallied only twice, both in Game 4 in the opening round against Columbus and he turned the puck over Sunday on Anaheim’s OT winner.

“There’s no question that your best players have to be your best players,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “The good thing about those guys is they know what’s taking place thus far in the playoffs and this series and they know they have to be better.”

Wings lineup unlikely to change

The status of the upper-body injury to Detroit Red Wings defenceman Brian Rafalski is to be re-evaluated again Tuesday, but the Wings have already ruled Rafalski out for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series later in the evening against the Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit also indicated Monday that centre Kris Draper, out the entire playoffs with an upper-body injury, had not been given clearance to return by team doctors following his latest check-up Sunday.

The Wings intend to stick with the same lineup and line combinations that were utilized in Games 1 and 2 with the Ducks, meaning defenceman Chris Chelios will remain in the lineup. Wings coach Mike Babcock had indicated after Sunday’s 4-3 triple-overtime loss that he might opt to bring in Derek Meech to supplant the 47-year-old legs of Chelios.

Rafalski was the only Wing who didn’t skate in a brief, 30-minute workout Monday at the Honda Center. Only about half the Ducks bothered to take the ice for an optional practice Monday following the cross-country flight and the triple-overtime game Sunday at Joe Louis Arena. . . .

After being overwhelmed 35-16 in the faceoff circle during Game 1, the Ducks inserted Petteri Nokelainen, hoping he’d help matters.

“He can take faceoffs and we can put him out on the penalty kill to give us a second centre,” Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. By upgrading the skill level on his fourth line with Nokelainen and Green in and slow-footed tough guy George Parros out, Carlyle was also able to reduce the minutes of No. 1 centre Ryan Getzlaf.

Getzlaf, who played 29 minutes in Game 1, clocked 22 minutes through regulation time of Game 2.

Despite Nokelainen’s addition, Anaheim still suffered a 56-38 deficit at the dot. Carlyle indicated he believes Detroit’s success on faceoffs stems from the fact that the Wings are outnumbering the Ducks in the post-draw pursuit of the puck.

Dave Waddell, Windsor Star, notes two trends disturbing trends for DET:

With the scene shifting to Anaheim for Game 3 tonight of the Western Conference semifinals (10:30 p.m., TSN), a few key trends are already emerging in the series between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings.

The Ducks were superior in two of those areas in Game 2, controlling the front of the net and Pavel Datsyuk’s line, and consequently survived with a marathon 4-3 triple overtime win Sunday that evened the series at 1-1.

The trio of Datsyuk, Marian Hossa and Tomas Holmstrom has combined for one assist and is a collective minus-6 with 25 shots through two games.

They are matched up against the line of Todd Marchant, who scored the Game-2 winner, Rob Niedermayer and Drew Miller.

“There’s no question about it, your best players have to be your best players,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “The good thing about those guys, they know they have to be better.

“When this playoff series started, we knew it would be hard. I don’t think there’s a surprise.”

Well, it might have been a surprise to say the Ducks’ trio would have one game-winning goal and be a combined plus-four against Datsyuk’s group, which was on the ice when Marchant scored in overtime.

More impressively, the Ducks have taken the zip out the Detroit unit.

“They’re doing a great job right now, we’re not going with the speed,” Hossa said. “We had a few good chances off the rush, but we have to do a better job in their zone cycling the puck.”

While Holmstrom has been generally effective at setting up shop in front of the net, Datsyuk and Hossa haven’t been able to find the space to work their intricate maneuverings in the offensive zone.

It really wasn’t until overtime of Game 2 that they started to become noticeable.

“It’s a battle out there,” Hossa said.” A battle for every inch.

“We have to keep grinding. We have to keep playing in their end and keep throwing pucks at their goalie.

“We have to crash the net.”

In that area, Wings coach Mike Babcock gave his club a failing grade in Game 2. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller faced 62 shots, but there weren’t many second shots.

“Hiller was good, but we didn’t make it hard enough on Hiller,” Babcock said.

Marchant said the Ducks know they’re going to surrender shots to the Wings. It’s the type of shots Anaheim is trying to control.

“We were trying to make sure if we were going to give up a shot not to give up a second and third shot,” Marchant said.

The lack of performance from the Datsyuk line sticks out in comparison to how the Wings are getting at least the saw-off they desired against the Ducks top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry in five-on-five play.

Henrik Zetterberg, Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen have a combined five points and a plus-five versus Getzlaf’s trio, which has five points and is minus-one at even strength.

However, the Anaheim line, which was broken up Sunday because of Ryan’s ineffective play, has another four points on the power play.

While Getzlaf has been easily the best forward in the series, the Ducks have used him for an average of 33:07 through two games.

The extended usage highlights the other key trend in the series, Anaheim’s lack of depth.

It was apparent again Sunday as coach Randy Carlyle shortened his bench again in Game 2 with the Ducks struggling down the stretch for the second straight game.

“We’re hoping that the more they play Getzy that eventually he’ll run out of gas,” said Babcock, who has seen his team outshoot the Ducks 62-24 from the third period on in the two games.

And a few words from the Duck MSM, Chris foster, LA Times, including some quotes from Babcock and Datsyuk:

This just in . . .

The Detroit Red Wings have decided not to roll over and play dead following a 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the Ducks on Sunday, which left the Stanley Cup playoff series tied, 1-1.

Defenseman Chris Chelios was chipper, not chippy, on Monday. Center Pavel Datsyuk offered a single-minded stump speech. And Coach Mike Babcock was tossing out “What, me worry?” comments.

That the Red Wings, seeded second in the Western Conference, had lost the home-ice advantage to the eighth-seeded Ducks appeared to cause little consternation.

“We had a five-hour flight, which gave us the opportunity for consideration,” Babcock said. “We went through the tape and decided we were fine.”

Babcock, a bottom-line guy, said, “They could be up 2-0 and we could be up 2-0.”

Still, that wasn’t to say the Red Wings have been on top of their game.

They flung 62 shots at Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller and only three went into the net and onto the scoreboard.

“We have to be much harder on him,” Babcock said. “I don’t think lobbing shots into his glove is making it hard.”

Enter Datsyuk, who centers a line that combined for 86 goals this season—Datsyuk (32), Marian Hossa (40) and Tomas Holmstrom (14). That the trio has been shut out thus far, with Ducks center Todd Marchant leading the resistance, didn’t seem to bother Datsyuk.

“We had chances. We need to score,” Datsyuk said.

Asked whether the Ducks were doing anything different, he said, “It’s similar to other teams, but they do better. But we had chances. We need to score.”

And, asked about Marchant’s shadowing of him, Datsyuk said, “Uh, we need to score. We had chances. We need to score.”

A key player who might have helped in that area, defenseman Brian Rafalski, will not be available because of an unspecified “upper-body injury,” Babcock said. Rafalski had 10 goals and 59 points during the regular season.

That will leave the 47-year-old Chelios in the lineup. He played only 6 minutes 50 seconds Sunday, and didn’t get off the bench in overtime.

“It has nothing to do with that now,” Chelios said when asked about his performance Sunday. “I’m just filling in for Raffy for the time being and doing my best not to get noticed and fit in.”