Ducks vs Red Wings Preview

Game 1 Tuesday 10:30pm NBCSN

This should be an interesting series at the very least. The Ducks have had a remarkable season while the Red Wings are clearly trending downwards. But the Wings experience and few remaining studs got the job done and did not allow them to miss the playoffs. The Ducks are the better team but how much of a factor will experience play? Will the Ducks show up ready and confident or will they show up as the tight favorite who is playing scared to make a mistake?

Up until this very moment I was certain Detroit was going nowhere this season. They just looked like a shell of themselves the whole season. Like they had a couple nice pieces but no depth. They don’t look anything like the old Red Wings. But they still have some top level talent, and some experience and they beat the Ducks twice in Anaheim. The Ducks have some career underachievers, or overachievers whichever way you want to look at them. This season the Ducks decided to show up thanks to stellar defense and especially goaltending. However here in the playoffs two goalies isn’t the same luxury it was in the regular season. It can become more of a distraction. Hiller is the #1 but Fasth has earned himself some cred this year. They finished with the second best record in the West but basically road a nice long win streak into an uncontested #2 spot. Meaning they have not looked the same as they did earlier in the year. This Red Wings team might just have enough left in the tank to knock them off.

The Bet:

Detroit +115 to win the series

Bonus Bets:

Red Wings in 7 games +450

There is no way they win four of six but look for a nice show from Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Howard to win this series in the seventh game.

mlz

Monday, April 29, 2013