Saturday Night Special
- Saturday March 15/03
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Detroit Red Wings (40-18-9-3 92pts) vs. Colorado Avalanche (35-16-12-7 89pts)
by Rink Rat
These two teams are meeting for the fourth time this season. Colorado has two wins, Detroit one. The Avs have outscored the Wings 8-7. Colorado is 7-1-1-1 overall recently and 4-1-0-0 in the past five road games. They had a strong outing against Columbus on Thursday night. They are the second best team in the conference on the road with 48 points from 35 games. Vancouver is better by one point. They've scored 101 goals ( 2.97, 2nd) while allowing 78 goals ( 2.29, 2nd). Five-on-five they are 69-47 and their power play is fourth best in the conference on the road (30/151, 20%). Colorado's penalty killing is poor, ranked only eleventh on the road (133/161, 82.6%) and the odd-man differential for the road is only +1. The Avalanche aren't winning with special teams, they do it at even strength. Seemingly defying the odds, the Avalanche have been flying with inexperienced coach Tony Granato in charge. They've come from nowhere and are breathing down the necks of the Canucks for the Northwest Division title and an automatic seed in the post-season. The trading deadline brought forward Bates Battaglia from Carolina where he was having an awful season, no doubt partly because standout centre Rod Brind'Amour has been hurt. Deadly Bryan Marchment, a defenseman who has a history of maiming opponents, is also now in Colorado. However the dominant player by far has been Peter Forsberg. He's producing Hart Trophy performances practically every night. And he's doing it on less than 20 minutes per game. This game will be the sixth of a seven games out of eight on the road sequence and could very easily be a preview of the Conference finals.
With five closely matched teams in the Western Conference every game between the Big Five will have great intensity and important implications.
Detroit has won nine of their past ten games and are undefeated at home over their past five games. They are 23-6-5-2 overall at home which is second to Dallas' home record. Recent home games have seen the Wings hammer both Toronto and St. Louis by 7-2 scores. This club is beginning to look once again like Stanley Cup champions. Goaltender Joseph is improving, his save percentage inching up. They added a mobile defenseman from Buffalo in Jason Woolley then brought in L.A.'s Mathieu Schneider at the trade deadline. He is an even better skater and will only increase the potency of the NHL's number one power play on home ice (37/155, 24%). One of the few weaknesses on this team is their penalty killing which is ranked 12th (131/158, 83%). Even so, with that potent power play their odd-man differential is a healthy +12. Detroit is another good team at even strength, with a goal-scoring record of 87-61. The team is buoyed by the careful return of captain Steve Yzerman who has had seven games now. Brett Hull is on the verge of yet another 30 goal campaign. The Wings think centre Henrik Zetterberg is a legitimate Calder trophy candidate (rookie of the year).
This should be a terrific game - fast paced, lots of skill, lots of commitment. When Av thug Marchment is on the ice, as he likely will be for about 15 minutes, then everyone will be keeping their heads up. Both teams are rolling right now but the Rat thinks Detroit is cranking up the RPMs for a big stretch run. Neither team kills penalties well and if the game turns nasty then those power play units will be crucial, and Detroit has the advantage. Should be fun and an empty netter could clinch it. Detroit wins.
DETROIT on the MONEYLINE !!!
the Rat can be reached via email @ rsbookiekiller@hotmail.com
- Saturday March 15/03
-
Detroit Red Wings (40-18-9-3 92pts) vs. Colorado Avalanche (35-16-12-7 89pts)
by Rink Rat
These two teams are meeting for the fourth time this season. Colorado has two wins, Detroit one. The Avs have outscored the Wings 8-7. Colorado is 7-1-1-1 overall recently and 4-1-0-0 in the past five road games. They had a strong outing against Columbus on Thursday night. They are the second best team in the conference on the road with 48 points from 35 games. Vancouver is better by one point. They've scored 101 goals ( 2.97, 2nd) while allowing 78 goals ( 2.29, 2nd). Five-on-five they are 69-47 and their power play is fourth best in the conference on the road (30/151, 20%). Colorado's penalty killing is poor, ranked only eleventh on the road (133/161, 82.6%) and the odd-man differential for the road is only +1. The Avalanche aren't winning with special teams, they do it at even strength. Seemingly defying the odds, the Avalanche have been flying with inexperienced coach Tony Granato in charge. They've come from nowhere and are breathing down the necks of the Canucks for the Northwest Division title and an automatic seed in the post-season. The trading deadline brought forward Bates Battaglia from Carolina where he was having an awful season, no doubt partly because standout centre Rod Brind'Amour has been hurt. Deadly Bryan Marchment, a defenseman who has a history of maiming opponents, is also now in Colorado. However the dominant player by far has been Peter Forsberg. He's producing Hart Trophy performances practically every night. And he's doing it on less than 20 minutes per game. This game will be the sixth of a seven games out of eight on the road sequence and could very easily be a preview of the Conference finals.
With five closely matched teams in the Western Conference every game between the Big Five will have great intensity and important implications.
Detroit has won nine of their past ten games and are undefeated at home over their past five games. They are 23-6-5-2 overall at home which is second to Dallas' home record. Recent home games have seen the Wings hammer both Toronto and St. Louis by 7-2 scores. This club is beginning to look once again like Stanley Cup champions. Goaltender Joseph is improving, his save percentage inching up. They added a mobile defenseman from Buffalo in Jason Woolley then brought in L.A.'s Mathieu Schneider at the trade deadline. He is an even better skater and will only increase the potency of the NHL's number one power play on home ice (37/155, 24%). One of the few weaknesses on this team is their penalty killing which is ranked 12th (131/158, 83%). Even so, with that potent power play their odd-man differential is a healthy +12. Detroit is another good team at even strength, with a goal-scoring record of 87-61. The team is buoyed by the careful return of captain Steve Yzerman who has had seven games now. Brett Hull is on the verge of yet another 30 goal campaign. The Wings think centre Henrik Zetterberg is a legitimate Calder trophy candidate (rookie of the year).
This should be a terrific game - fast paced, lots of skill, lots of commitment. When Av thug Marchment is on the ice, as he likely will be for about 15 minutes, then everyone will be keeping their heads up. Both teams are rolling right now but the Rat thinks Detroit is cranking up the RPMs for a big stretch run. Neither team kills penalties well and if the game turns nasty then those power play units will be crucial, and Detroit has the advantage. Should be fun and an empty netter could clinch it. Detroit wins.
DETROIT on the MONEYLINE !!!
the Rat can be reached via email @ rsbookiekiller@hotmail.com
