Quicker, more finesse entities have always been the underdog against bigger and stronger counterparts, but when the venue is in their natural environment, the advantage goes to the quick - they become more elusive and use their habitat and surroundings to their advantage.
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| If Detroit wants to beat the Bruins, they have to avoid scenes like this |
History is replete with tales of how the underdog, when given the opportunity, are able to get by with guile and speed - David vs. Goliath, cheetah vs. Lion, bear vs. salmon, the quicker of the combatants can and will get the upper hand, paw or fin on occasion, but in the end the fittest always survive...
...so when the Detroit Red Wings talk about wanting to get back to their speedy game that helped them win the first game of their quarterfinal series against the Boston Bruins, one has only to look at how easily the Bruins countered their speed in Sunday's Game Two to understand that the underdog Red Wings have their work cut out for them in Tuesday nights' Game Three.
“I thought they were way better than us in Game two," Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock said on Monday morning after the team's optional skate. “I didn’t think we were very good. They were engaged. They won the battles. They were quick. We were slow.”
Detroit blue liner Brendan Smith - he who narrowly avoided his own personal David vs. Goliath scenario with Bruins' hulking and physical defenseman Zdeno Chara on Sunday - believes his team can once again gain the advantage in their best of seven series just by playing their style of hockey. "We need to use our speed, play fast," Smith said. "I don't think they can keep up with us if we do that."
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| The Bruins' missed Kevan Miller's physical style in Game one |
Maybe not, but just like with the food chain in the wild, the plodding carnivore will almost always get what they need to satiate their hunger simply by being patient and attacking at just the precise moment - and that moment evolves from the Bruins' physical and heavy structure, turning defense into offense and bullying the opposition into making mistakes.
"I think we got to stay out of the nonsense out there and just play whistle to whistle, and not worry about getting into the scrums or anything like that and proving your manhood out there," Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard said. "Just skate, play our hockey, don't get into their mode and get into their scraps playing real physical. Just get back to playing our game."
And playing their game should be easier at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, not just because of the comfort and motivation of playing in front of their home fans, but also by having the second change allows them to counter what the Bruins put on the ice, particularly on the defensive end, where Boston's blue liners have had their way with the Red Wings.
Bruins' Projected Lineup
Forwards
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith
Justin Florek - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson
Jordan Caron - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Defensive pairings
Zdeno Chara -Johnny Boychuk
Andrej Mezsaros - Kevan Miller
Torey Krug - Dougie Hamilton
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson
When one looks at the Bruins' lineup, one sees talented skaters centering on all four lines with physical wingers playing the boards and defensive pairings that, when combined with the physicality of the rolling lines, suggest that the only way to truly get the best of them is to stand up to them and trade blow for blow...
...but if the Red Wings try to match the Bruins heavy play - well - Sunday's 4-1 loss to Boston is an example of what will happen more often than not - so they have no choice but to try and speed up the tempo of play.
Red Wings' Projected Lineup
Forwards
Johna Franzen - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader
Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar
Tomas Jurco - Darren Helm - Daniel Alfredsson
Drew Miller - David Legwand - Luke Glendening
Defensive Pairings
Niklas Kronwall - Brendan Smith
Kyle Quincey - Dan DeKeyser
Jakub Kindl - Brian Lashoff
Goaltenders
Jimmy Howard
Jonas Gustavsson
"I just think you've got to decide what you want to do," Babcock said after Sunday's loss. "Do you want to play like them or play like us?"
Game three will go a long way to deciding which of these teams will advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Bruins have lost four straight at The Joe, so recent history is not on their side - but the law of the jungle is - and that means that the fittest will survive.
"I think we understand what it takes to beat these guys," Bruins' defenseman Torey Krug offered. "and I think if we play like that we will have success this series."
