Series Breakdown: Red Wings vs. Kings
By Brian Engblom
Special to ESPN.com
The Red Wings are focused on regaining Cup glory, and the Kings will have their hands full trying to contain Detroit's offense. Check out which team has the edge, and then see what I think the outcome will be.
Matching up 5-on-5
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BREAKDOWN
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EDGE
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The Red Wings have the league's No. 1 offense. They are so strong and balanced that they can play any type of game. They have so many big-game players. Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan, Pat Verbeek. Their top two lines are deadly. And traditionally their third and fourth lines score big goals in the playoffs. The Red Wings are savvy playoff team, even with the new blood they have. They hurt teams with four lines. The back end is extremely talented, with Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, Larry Murphy and Steve Duchesne. Just looking at the lineup would make any team sweat. The Kings offense is in trouble because Bryan Smolinski, their second-line center, is gone. Ziggy Palffy should be ready, but he has missed the last month with a sprained shoulder. How effective can he be? The Kings don't have much depth on their scoring lines. Detroit's defense is solid at playing smart and controlling the puck. The Kings have Rob Blake, but otherwise they are outmatched.
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Special teams
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BREAKDOWN
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EDGE
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The Kings have a tendency to take too many penalties, and that could end the series quickly. Just on special teams alone, the Kings can lose the series. Their penalty killing is below average going against the league's strongest power play, with Murphy and Lidstrom on the point, or Yzerman. The Red Wings has superior talent and will show seven or eight different looks. Their combinations are almost endless. There is no way to figure them out. Martin Lapointe and Tomas Holmstrom will park in front of the goalie and take a beating. But Detroit will score three or four goals in the series that the goalie will never see.
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Goaltending
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BREAKDOWN
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EDGE
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The Kings' goalies are still on the learning curve and haven't each the upper echelon yet. Jamie Storr is still young, and Stephane Fiset may not be 100-percent healthy. Meanwhile, Chris Osgood has won two Stanley Cups and had a solid season. It's a big advantage for Detroit.
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Intangibles
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BREAKDOWN
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EDGE
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The Red Wings have big-game players -- Lidstrom, Yzerman, Fedorov, Murphy, Chelios, Brendan Shanahan. Take your pick. Because they lost out last year, the Red Wings are hungry again. They just have incredible playoff experience. The Kings feel better about themselves this season than they have in the past.
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PREDICTION
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Red Wings in four. Experience, talent, depth. When the Red Wings are playoff ready, they are just better than the opposition.
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Brian Engblom, a former NHL star with the Canadiens, serves as an NHL analyst for ESPN and ABC.
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