Caples: Five things to watch in the Red Wings vs. Bruins series

Loui Eriksson is one of the many forwards on the Boston roster capable of making things difficult for Gustav Nyquist and the Red Wings. (Photo by Jen Hefner/MiHockey)

 

By Michael Caples –

The Red Wings managed to stretch their consecutive playoff-appearance streak to 23 seasons with an impressive run through the final two months of the regular season.

Their reward? A date with the Presidents’ Trophy winners.

Detroit will be taking on the top team in the entire National Hockey League tonight when the puck drops at 7:30 p.m. to start their opening-round series with the Boston Bruins.

But, like we all know, the regular season doesn’t mean too much when the playoffs start (other than home-ice advantage).

Here are five things to watch – keys to the series, if you will – for this first-round showdown between the Wings and B’s.

 

Handling the forecheck

Boston isn’t shy about being a big, physical, attacking team. The Bruins’ forwards will apply plenty of pressure to the Wings’ defensive corps as they attempt to move the puck out of harm’s way. If you’ve watched even a few Red Wings games this season, you know that breakouts haven’t been the smoothest of plays for the guys manning the blue line.

 

Jimmy Howard

In a No. 1 vs. No 8 match-up, the underdog goaltender’s gotta bring his A-game. Boston finished third in the league in goals per game this year (3.15), and all four lines know how to put the puck in the net (we’ll get to that more, later). Part of their success in racking up the goals was that they were also racking up the shots – 31.9 per game. With big bodies in front (and Zdeno Chara’s even bigger body in front on the power play), Howard will face a lot of shots with not a lot of visibility, and plenty of deflections. The Wings’ leader in the crease recorded his worst save percentage (91.0 percent) and goals-against average (2.66) since 2010-11 during the regular season. How he fares in the postseason will be a big factor for the Wings.

 

Young guns

Which two Red Wings scored more goals in the regular season than any of their other teammates? Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar. The Wings’ young guns – aslo joined in this category by Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco – will be counted on far more than any other of the 22 previous playoff appearances for Hockeytown. After scoring at will in March, Nyquist only has three points in his last seven games. Will the playoff intensity hold him and his young forward peers back in the playoffs?

 

Pavel Datsyuk

Few players in hockey can take over a game (or a series) like Pavel Datsyuk. But how healthy will the Red Wings superstar be in the first round? No. 13 returned on April 4 from a lengthy knee injury, and has recorded four points in his first six games back. I’m assuming the Red Wings weren’t arguing when they saw how long of a break they would have before the start of the first round – hopefully Datsyuk’s break time will have him that much closer to 100 percent by the time the puck drops. After all, 103 points and a career +34 in the postseason tell you all you need to know about what a healthy Datsyuk means to the Wings.

 

Dealing with a balanced attack

It will be all-hands-on-deck for Detroit in this series, as the Bruins boast as deep a roster as any NHL club. The Bruins feature five 20-goal scorers, and 10 players who have scored at least 10 goals (including two defensemen). Boston’s top 10 scorers have accounted for 205 goals, compared to the Wings’ 154.