Pavel Datsyuk is still a dominant force for the Red Wings
Even though he is 36 years old Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk can still take over a game. Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning are finding that out in this series.
By
Adam Gretz
•
3 min read
The Detroit Red Wings enter Game 4 of their first round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday with an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Considering that Tampa Bay was one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference for the entire season, and the way Detroit struggled down the stretch leading to the playoffs, it would be a pretty surprising development.
One of the biggest factors in Detroit's early success in the series has been the sensational play of goalie Petr Mrazek, who was given the job in net over Jimmy Howard. He pretty much stole Game 1 from the Lightning and then recorded his first career postseason shutout in Game 3.
But he's not the only reason.
There is also Pavel Datsyuk, one of the few remaining holdovers from the Red Wings' 2008 Stanley Cup-winning team and a player whose skill level and all-around game still seem to be taken for granted across the league. It has all been on display through the first three games of this series.
The 2014-15 season has been a transition year of sorts for the Red Wings.
With 24 consecutive playoff appearances they are not an organization that goes through a lengthy rebuilding process, but one that slowly retools and maintains its competitiveness among the top teams in the NHL without ever really taking a significant step backward. At no point over the past few years has that been more true than this season. A quick look at their current postseason roster shows 11 players age 25 or younger, the most they have had in any season during the salary cap era. As recently as 2011 they had only two. It has been a season where younger players like Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan have taken on signficantly larger roles and began to bridge the gap to the next generation of Red Wings hockey.
But while the younger players start to establish themselves in the NHL and make larger impacts, Datsyuk is still the engine that drives this thing.
When healthy, he remains one of the most gifted offensive players in the world and a point-per-game player during an era in which almost nobody, even the most skilled players that are in in the prime of their career, can reach that level.
He also still has few peers when it comes to his play away from the puck.
And that is where his impact is really being felt in this series, especially when it comes to his play against one of the NHL's best goal scorers, Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos.
During their Game 3 win at Joe Louis Arena, where coach Mike Babcock and the Red Wings had the luxury of making the last line change, Datsyuk spent the majority of his five-on-five ice time going up against Stamkos. It's not a coincidence that it was also Stamkos' worst game of the series. He registered just two shots on goal in more than 16 minutes of ice time, with only one of those shots coming when Datsyuk was on the ice across from him.
What has been most impressive about Detroit's work against Stamkos in this series is that when Datsyuk is on the ice against him the Tampa Bay superstar is getting almost no opportunities to make a play.
Look at it this way: Stamkos has played a little more than 36 minutes of hockey this series during 5-on-5 play. During that time he has five shots on goal and one assist. The Lightning as a team have attempted more than 60 percent of the total shot attempts and scored two goals. Given the state of goal scoring in the league, those are decent numbers.
But when you drill down to certain matchups you start to see how much of an impact Datsyuk makes and how important it is for the Red Wings to get him on the ice against Stamkos as much as possible in this series.
Here we see Tampa Bay's 5-on-5 play with Stamkos on the ice and how much it changes when Datsyuk has been on the ice against him.
| Steven Stamkos vs. Pavel Datsyuk: 5-on-5 play Games 1-3 | ||||
| Situation | Time On Ice | Stamkos SOG | TB Team shot attempts | TB Possession |
| Stamkos vs. Datsyuk | 16 minutes | 1 | 7 | 35% |
| Stamkos vs. Everybody else | 20 minutes | 4 | 30 | 73% |
If the Red Wings can get that matchup again on Thursday as consistently as they did in Game 3, and if Datsyuk continues that dominance, the Red Wings are going to have a great chance to take complete control of this series.
[Shot and possession data via Natural Stat Trick]
