Heading into Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Monday night, the Nashville Predators trail the Red Wings 2-0 in a series where almost all the momentum-changing calls have gone Detroit's way.
"The series right now is so close," Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis said. "There is a fine line between winning and losing."
The winning goal in Game 1? An uncalled offsides in the Predators' view. Then they had a goal disallowed at the start of the Red Wings' 4-2 win Saturday and believed interference should have erased a goal that gave Detroit the lead. Predators coach Barry Trotz still thinks Nashville lost a goal it scored.
"I'm more disappointed in the league not getting it right," he said.
The Wings are -145 money line betting favorites on WagerWeb.com (over/under: 5 goals) for Game 3.
From Game 1 to Game 2, Nashville's focus was to take more shots and give away fewer turnovers. The Predators upped their total from 20 shots on goal in the opener to 27 in Game 2 on Saturday. Giveaways went from 14 to three.
Detroit has out-shot the Predators 78-47 and Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek has an impressive 1.50 goals against average, making it imperative that Nashville gets more traffic at the net. Nashville's top point producers, Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont, have combined for only four shots.
"Being more aggressive around the net is the only way to beat a guy like Hasek and a team like Detroit," Arnott said.The Predators found themselves in a similar situation in the 2004 playoffs, trailing Detroit 2-0. Nashville rallied to win back-to-back home games and tie the series before eventually losing 4-2.
Nashville could see the return of star forward David Legwand (bruised foot) tonight. That would be a boost offensively.
Legwand has not played since March 7 after taking a shot off his left foot that still had him in a walking boot Sunday. But Trotz said Legwand, who had 44 points in 65 games, will be a game-time decision for a team outscored 7-3 in this series.
”David will be a game-time decision,” Trotz said. “We want to make sure he is sound.”
The Red Wings, meanwhile, might split up stars Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in Game 3.
The two practiced on separate lines Zetterberg itch Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen, and Datsyuk with Valtteri Filppula and Tomas Holmstrom. Splitting up Datsyuk and Zetterberg forces the Predators to decide whom to play their top line and top defensive pairing against, as the Predators get the last line change in the next two games.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock has frequently either put Zetterberg and Datsyuk together or split them apart in mid-game.
"We've been consistent over the last two years, sometimes they're together and sometimes they're apart -- whatever allows us to get the best matchup and get success," said Babcock. "We'll just see how the game goes. They'll start together."
The last time these teams played in Nashville (March 20), Datsyuk and Zetterberg played together and Nashville put Arnott, Alexander Radulov and Dumont against them. The Red Wings won that game, 6-3, with Datsyuk scoring two goals and Radulov matching that total.
Nashville is 4-5 at home in three previous playoff appearances. Bruising forward Jordin Tootoo leads the Predators with two playoff goals this year. Arnott and Dumont, who each had 72 points in the regular season, have combined for four shots through two games.
The Red Wings had the NHL's third-best regular-season road record this year with 54 points. That's four points more than Nashville earned in home games.
Betting trends: Wings are are 99-44-3 in their last 146 vs. Central Division. ... Under is 7-2 in Nashville’s last 9 overall. ... Home team is 14-5 in the teams’ last 19 meetings. ... Detroit is 40-19-4 in the last 63 meetings.
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