PITTSBURGH -- When it became clear that Pavel Datsyuk would be back for the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5, there was one particular question everyone had for coach Mike Babcock. How much impact did he expect from the star player who missed the seven previous games with what was widely believed to be a broken foot?
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| In his first Finals game of 2009, Pavel Datsyuk checks Tyler Kennedy into the boards. (Getty Images) |
The big hit served as something of a wakeup call to the Red Wings, who were flat-footed at the outset of the game after losing the previous two in Pittsburgh and then went on to a 5-0 thumping of the Penguins. Still to the Detroit coach, the real indicator of what Datsyuk's return meant came when he made the pass Dan Cleary converted to open the scoring.
"The shift that we noticed was where [Brian Rafalski] made the great outlet pass, Pav's in the right spot and set up Cleary for the goal," Babcock said. "He was calm through the neutral zone, not going fast, just executing."
Yes, executing. It's what Datsyuk, with his vision and ability to control the puck at both ends of the ice, does best and quite often deceptively. And it's what Detroit had not been doing particularly well in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Penguins.
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The Red Wings had looked uncharacteristically out of sync in splitting the first four games of the Finals, committing an inordinate amount of physical turnovers and mental miscues, and more concerning, struggling with both their special teams. In essence, the Red Wings were missing their vaunted poise and looking vulnerable for perhaps the first time in these playoffs against the high-powered Penguins.
Making matters worse, they were being forced to overplay Henrik Zetterberg, their ying to Datsyuk's yang, and top defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, in an effort to contain Malkin and Sidney Crosby. No wonder they rushed Datsyuk back into the lineup.
"Believe me, if this was the regular season, he wouldn't be playing," Babcock said. "But you know, after a while, what do you save him for?
"Everyone can get better in the summer. We're doing everything we can to try to win this. People always talk about having a shot to win, you never have a shot to win this thing until you've won three games. We've won three games. We have a legitimate chance, but he just gives us that much more confidence, and that much more calm, and that much more belief in the opportunity we have."
It's not surprising when you consider Datsyuk's two-way talent. Detroit is a deep, skilled team with enough stars to light up the galaxy, and that makes it difficult to single out someone as most critical to its lineup. But it should tell you something that Datsyuk, who led the Red Wings in scoring this season and was fourth overall in the league, is among the three finalists for the MVP award and for best defensive forward honors as well.
"If you watched him all season, you know how much he means to our club," Cleary said. "I could see it in the guys' eyes, when we knew he was playing. To be able to come into a Game 5 of the Finals and not miss a beat, I mean, what a huge lift."
Datsyuk picked up a pair of assists as Detroit had its most fluid game of the series and went ahead 3-2. He played 21 shifts and nearly 18 minutes, with more than four minutes coming on the power play. Not coincidentally, that special team came alive for Detroit for the first time in this series.
"He brought a lot of energy," Zetterberg said.
Datsyuk was actually in on only one of the three power-play goals the Red Wings scored in a nine-minute, second-period surge that blew the game open, but he drew the first penalty that started the onslaught, and made the play to set up the goal that broke the Penguins' backs.
"His ability to hold on to the puck and also use his linemates and use his defense in the offensive zone created more zone time, more pucks in and around our goalie and made us play defense a little bit more," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "He's an elite player."
And one that might have already gotten into the heads of the Penguins, whose meltdown in Game 5 became apparent when Maxime Talbot slashed Datsyuk's foot late in the second period with Crosby already in the penalty box. Talbot insisted he was just going for the puck and Datsyuk let it go at that, rather than fueling a controversy with his team one win away from a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
"I don't know, I'm happy we have penalty, 5-on-3, that's what it is," Datsyuk said. "I feel good."
So do the Red Wings.
