#2 Posted: 5/6/2013 5:40:10 PM
Lydman is a big loss, especially on the road where composure and solid play are king, but Souray gets to step in after being a healthy scratch. And I expect solid play from Souray who will try to make amends for taking a bad penalty late in game 2. IMHO, Ducks are deeper on the blue line than Detroit is on offence. The loss of Abdelkader will prove to be bigger as the Ducks can focus pairings on Z and Datsyuk.
The only explanation for the Ducks 3rd period dominance would be shift count, Ducks rolling 4. When I was at games 1&2, Detroit's bigs had easily 20% more shift time.
X-Factor is goaltending and the Hockeytown advantage...Ducks are 9-29 there in recent history and Howard has had their number for the most part. Can Hiller not let in soft ones early and keep the crowd out? How much politicking by Babcock will get calls? Can a Ducks squad keep their collective heads 2 games in a row?
When teams are, in my eye, evenly matched I will typically go with plus money. The fact that Anaheim sits at +110, barely a dog, in what I feel is a must win for Detroit...tells me that Anaheim is the right side of this line. |