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Draper healthy
Coach Mike Babcock said that not only is Kris Draper healthy enough to play in tomorrow's Game 3 of the SCF, Draper was good to go for Game 2, but was scratched.
Will Draper be in the lineup for Game 3?
"That's a good question," said Babcock. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a big change guy especially when things are going good, we'll see."
Will Draper be in the lineup for Game 3?
"That's a good question," said Babcock. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a big change guy especially when things are going good, we'll see."
posted by Chuck Pleiness at
2:16 PM
6 Comments:
Don cherry would be proud, he is always promoting that you do not mess with the lineup when you are winning.
Personally, I would dress him over Leino. Match-ups are going to be a pain in the ass, and I think having him in the lineup to possibly take draws against Crosby (when Pit tries to match him up against our fourth line) and having him as an extra shutdown forward are more important than having Leino in the lineup....well, Leino or Maltby...take your choice, but I'd go with experience in this case.
I wouldn't have scratched Draper for Game 2 before I would have scratched Maltby, Abdelkader or Leino.
That said, those three were great, probably better than Draper would have been.
So, my head says get Draper in. Odds are young guys like Leino and Abdelkader are a higher risk right now than Draper. And Maltby isn't as good as Draper.
But my gut says whatever Babcock does right now, I'm not second-guessing after the fact. He's been right so far. And now that Abdelkader, Leino and Maltby are full of confidence, it's hard to argue against them playing.
Because its a road game and the Wings don't get last change, I would put Draper in over Leino or Maltby. Keep Abdelkader in. He's been doing fine in the faceoffs and he's scored two big goals.
But on the other hand, Babcock knows what he's doing and I do agree with not changing things when they're working well. And the Wings have won plenty of games so far without Draper.
Are things really going that well? I mean, yeah, we've won the first two games, but we've also been out shot in both games and had a lot of turnovers. Babcock even said that they can play better than they have been, and I agree.
PP goals and face-off wins are what will matter tonight.
The mental status of the Penguins 6 D, needs to be pushed over the edge with OMR and PP prowess.
My gut tells me that the Pengs will dress 7 D tonight.
JCW
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