From The Silky Mitten State: On the defense, forecheck, and pugnacity that helped the Panthers overpower the Rangers, and why the Red Wings should seek to replicate it

In debriefing the two Conference Finals on the last episode of The Silky Mitten State, we approached each series from the perspective of the question: "What could the Red Wings learn from this result?"

With respect to Rangers-Panthers, I made the case that Detroit played like New York this past season (or at least the best of its hockey looked that way), while to progress further, the Red Wings will need to draw more inspiration from the Panthers.

I see the following resemblance between the best of this year's Detroit team and the Rangers: great special teams, decisive finishing, modest underlying numbers, and strong goaltending fueled success.  However, for both sides, that formula ran up against a ceiling.

Florida's physicality, stingy defense of its own slot, heavy forechecking, and dose of nastiness stymied New York entirely, with only Igor Shesterkin saving the Rangers from embarrassment.  It's a simple formula, but it's one that should be replicable on some level for Detroit.

The Red Wings aspire to many of the features of the Panthers' game that make them so successful—depth, forechecking, and tight defense are the virtues Derek Lalonde named as his team's objectives all season long.  Florida has a mean streak to its game that wasn't necessarily of feature of this year's Detroit team; perhaps the Red Wings would be well served to add a bit more of that to their game.  

Regardless, the 2023-24 season showed the need for improvement with respect to those objectives, while also making clear that the PDO and power play benders that fueled weren't (quite) enough to crack the playoffs, let alone push beyond.  Of course the Red Wings cannot simply flip a switch and become the two-time-reigning Eastern Conference champions, but it is a standard worth aspiring toward.

For an excerpt from our conversation, check out the clip above.  For the full episode, go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify:

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