Who faced who in Game 3

Using Vic Ferrari's Time on Ice tool, here's a look at who some of the key cogs squared off against at even strength in Wednesday's Game 3.

The figures are a percentage of minutes played against players on the other team (i.e. we see below that Crosby played 46 per cent of his 5-on-5 ice time against Lidstrom, down from 73.5 per cent in Game 1):

		S. CROSBY
1	N. KRONVALL	49.7%
2	B. STUART	47.2%
3	N. LIDSTROM	46.0%
4	D. DRAKE	42.3%
5	K. DRAPER	39.9%
6	B. RAFALSKI	38.7%
7	H. ZETTERBERG	35.0%
8	P. DATSYUK	33.7%
9	J. FRANZEN	31.3%
10	V. FILPPULA	30.1%
11	M. SAMUELSSON	28.8%
12	D. CLEARY	27.0%
13	T. HOLMSTROM	17.8%
14	B. LEBDA	9.8%
15	A. LILJA	9.8%
16	K. MALTBY	6.1%
17	D. HELM	4.9%
18	J. HUDLER	3.7%

As you can see, Zetterberg and Datsyuk, the Red Wings's top checkers up front, are a ways down the list, out there for less than half as much of Crosby's ice time as they were back in Detroit.

Here's similar figures for Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin, which will show us the matchups Michel Therrien was looking for:

		S. GONCHAR				E. MALKIN
1	B. STUART	43.4%		1	B. STUART	68.5%
2	N. KRONVALL	42.3%		2	N. KRONVALL	66.4%
3	J. FRANZEN	40.7%		3	V. FILPPULA	42.0%
4	N. LIDSTROM	39.6%		4	M. SAMUELSSON	42.0%
5	B. RAFALSKI	36.8%		5	J. FRANZEN	35.7%
6	P. DATSYUK	36.8%		6	D. DRAKE	35.0%
7	H. ZETTERBERG	35.2%		7	K. DRAPER	26.6%
8	M. SAMUELSSON	35.2%		8	H. ZETTERBERG	23.8%
9	V. FILPPULA	32.4%		9	N. LIDSTROM	22.4%
10	D. CLEARY	24.2%		10	B. RAFALSKI	21.0%
11	T. HOLMSTROM	21.4%		11	P. DATSYUK	20.3%
12	A. LILJA	19.2%		12	D. CLEARY	20.3%
13	B. LEBDA	18.7%		13	T. HOLMSTROM	16.1%
14	D. DRAKE	17.0%		14	B. LEBDA	15.4%
15	D. HELM	17.0%		15	K. MALTBY	14.7%
16	K. DRAPER	15.9%		16	J. HUDLER	11.9%
17	J. HUDLER	13.2%		17	D. HELM	11.2%
18	K. MALTBY	11.0%		18	A. LILJA	7.0%

As for the Red Wings, here are the matchups they ended up with. Coach Mike Babcock admitted that, on the road, he "let his guys go" given the fact he didn't have last change, and that's why we see such a wide range of opponents for players like Lidstrom and Zetterberg.

		N. LIDSTROM				H. ZETTERBERG
1	S. CROSBY	42.9%		1	R. SCUDERI	55.9%
2	H. GILL	42.3%		2	H. GILL	53.6%
3	S. GONCHAR	41.1%		3	J. STAAL	42.5%
4	B. ORPIK	41.1%		4	M. TALBOT	36.3%
5	M. HOSSA	40.6%		5	S. GONCHAR	35.8%
6	R. SCUDERI	40.6%		6	A. HALL	35.8%
7	A. HALL	33.1%		7	B. ORPIK	34.6%
8	J. STAAL	31.4%		8	S. CROSBY	31.8%
9	P. DUPUIS	31.4%		9	M. HOSSA	26.3%
10	M. TALBOT	30.9%		10	P. DUPUIS	25.7%
11	R. WHITNEY	24.0%		11	T. KENNEDY	24.0%
12	G. ROBERTS	19.4%		12	J. RUUTU	21.2%
13	E. MALKIN	18.3%		13	E. MALKIN	19.0%
14	R. MALONE	17.1%		14	R. WHITNEY	15.6%
15	D. SYDOR	14.9%		15	R. MALONE	13.4%
16	T. KENNEDY	12.6%		16	G. ROBERTS	10.6%
17	P. SYKORA	9.7%		17	P. SYKORA	10.6%
18	J. RUUTU	8.6%		18	D. SYDOR	8.9%

Note the Penguins checkers showing up far more often here against the top guns, and specifically Jordan Staal, who was a nonentity against Detroit's top line earlier in the series.

That makes a difference.
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