Red Wings vs Predators Game 1 Pregame Thoughts and Concerns

Submitted by WingsNWolverines on

Tonight the Wings will take to the ice in Bridgestone Arena to take on the Nashville Predators in game 1 of the Western Conference Quarter Finals. I'm not going to lie here when I say I'm honestly very scared about this match up. The Preds have been damn hot at the end of the year and you better believe that arena will be electric with noise coming down from every where. The biggest concern I have right now is knowing Helm is still not 100% with his MCL injury. We need him to be 100% in the lineup. This team seems to just click when he's in there along with Cleary too. The good news is it looks like Helm will be in tonight according to http://www.sportsoverdose.com/nhl-players/darren-helm  but Cleary however is still not 100% sure he'll play all game either. I know you need to win every game in the playoffs but tonight in my opinion is a must win. We need to send both Nashville and the West a message saying "we might be beat up but damn it we're still deadly." Not a lot of people out there are saying we'll get to the 2nd round. Need to make a strong stand tonight and get the early series lead! I'm sick of hearing "Renne" this "Raduolov" that. Time to put these bastards in their place! GO WINGS!

rbgoblue

April 11th, 2012 at 5:04 PM ^

The wings should take this series in 5 or 6. They have so much veteran playoff experience, they have the ability to elevate their game come playoff-time. Unlike previous years, they should be getting healthy in time for a deep run too. I'm planning on another 2 months of hockey.

Red_Lee

April 11th, 2012 at 7:57 PM ^

Good thing he's in the lineup so we've got at least one guy giving it his all.

 

I'm not terribly confident in this series, unless the Wings get back to their early season "we actually care" style of motivation.

 

Either way, I've got a pint of Kessler to celebrate or cry with.

UofM Die Hard …

April 11th, 2012 at 5:23 PM ^

Helm or Cleary is still pretty effin fast of a skater.  They will bust their ass if they are out there, I am not worried about that.  If they think, or Babs thinks they wont help the team they wont play, the young guys will have to step up and learn from the mass amounts of veterans on this team on how to win a playoff game.

d.

April 11th, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^

If we (Wings) had home ice, I'd be a lot less concerned, but Nashville has been insane at home this year and we have not been so great on the road.  That being said its the playoffs and Helm will be back, so hopefully, that will give us a jump.

My biggest areas of concern are two-fold: scoring early, and powerplay.  If we can get those clicking, I think we can win this series pretty handily. 

Go Wings!

Wenham Wolverine

April 11th, 2012 at 5:30 PM ^

nobody's 100% this time of year. pumped to have Helm back.

maybe it's arrogance, but I trust babcock and the team's experience, and barring a catastrophic injury, I think the wings take this in 5 or 6.

Volverine

April 11th, 2012 at 5:49 PM ^

The Preds home ice is tough. Bridgestone can get loud. However, I don't like teams that can't rely on two goalies in the playoffs. Even the Wings usually had two (Vernon-Osgood, Hasek-Osgood, Osgood-Howard, etc.). Pekka is a beast, but his backups are unproven. I think the Suter-Weber line is crazy good, but they will get tired when they play a lot of minutes and by game 3 or 4 should probably be split. I like the Datsyuk line to score well against only one of Weber and Suter.

The key will be to avoid penalties, which we're usually good about anyway. Let's go Wings! 

Sir Guy

April 11th, 2012 at 5:50 PM ^

I don't think tonight is a must-win, but they do need to win one of the first two.  If they don't, this series could be over quick.  

If they leave Nashville with one win, I'll be very happy and confident.

TheTruth41

April 11th, 2012 at 6:01 PM ^

The preds are to the Wings what msu is to Michigan.

Everything they do is consciously in concern for the Wings. They've set their bar to the Wings. The one opponent they get up for is the Wings.

Living in Nashville you get a major sense of little brother coming from them and their fans towards the Red Wings.

Yes Nashville has been hot as of late and they have made some roster impacts at the deadline. Detroit is nearly back to full health...like when they were in (if not leading) the hunt fir the presidents trophy. We played with Nashville the last time they were in Nashville and Detroit had their B team out there. Tonight we get basically our A team back out there and we turn it up a notch from having the boatloads of playoff experience.

Detroit is way better than a 5 seed. They'll be playing as such tonight.

JCV16

April 11th, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^

because that was more fun.  I think this series is a tossup.  This year might be our last legit shot at a cup before blowing it up.  Win one for the... homer?

Sambojangles

April 11th, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^

I think the Wings win in 7, but I'm very nervous about this series. I can see them losing in 5 or 6. Obviously, I'm hoping it all works out, especially if Helm is good to go for the whole series, but more injuries to our key guys would be deadly.

The key: score early and often. Close games are not only bad for my own health, but will wear the old guys out if Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Zetterberg have to be out there for half the third period. We are best when we roll all four lines and don't have to shorten the bench to come back or protect a one-goal lead.

B-Nut-GoBlue

April 11th, 2012 at 6:33 PM ^

Go Penguins.  Sorry, wrong thread-ish, but I gotta get that in somehow!  Man I love me some playoff hockey.  I'm not exactly the biggest hockey buff but man it's some intense and exciting sport to watch this time of year.

B-Nut-GoBlue

April 11th, 2012 at 7:17 PM ^

Interestingly enough I've been watching hockey since I was six/seven years old.  I fell in love with the Penguins with Lemiuex, Jagr, Ron Francis, Tom Barasso et. al.  Sorry if that made me a bandwagon six year old.  Me not being a huge hockey buff makes sense because I'm from and grew up in IOWA; football, basketball, track, baseball were my sports of interest the most as I was able to play them.  Still always enjoyed watching the game and learning about it....and cheering the Penguins on.

P.s. Crosby is the poo...and Malkin...and Kunitz, Staal, Andre-Fleury, Orpik, Letang, Dupuis...

B-Nut-GoBlue

April 11th, 2012 at 7:25 PM ^

Not flamebait in any way, shape, or form.

If so, please explain why.  Don't knock someone because they have a differing viewpoint i.e. roots for a different team.  It's sports people, settle the eff down, we're not in Europe/Egypt.

Roachgoblue

April 11th, 2012 at 7:45 PM ^

The penguins suck cock and whine about everything after 1 cup. Please knock Crosby into the boards and crush cheapshot Malkin on his ass. Go Wings!

TheDirtyD

April 11th, 2012 at 6:39 PM ^

Trashville is pretty decent this year they have team depth and the wings have to match their intenseity if they do the wings will win. The past few years the wings have been sluggish to get moving. Helm changes things on several aspects. Hall Gill might be out for the preds he skates like hes stuck in slow motion. 

OMG Shirtless

April 11th, 2012 at 8:04 PM ^

This is the time of year where we can pick out all of the formerly banned users after one of their meltdowns.  We know who Wolverine318/319 is now.  We figured out who BRCE was and he was banned again.  We're still trying to identify the reincarnation of TheBigHouse500th.  Am I missing any of the other Kneejerk Nancy's?

aiglick

April 11th, 2012 at 8:06 PM ^

Yeah that Special Teams stat says it all. Kill the penalties and Detroit should do fine. Give up goals a man down and they will be in trouble.

Good luck to the team.