On the Wings

… Ted Kulfan confirms what I said yesterday about the first round being a wake-up call for the Wings in the Detroit News. He even goes so far as to say they are “… indebted to the Nashville Predators” for preparing the Wings for the rest of the playoffs. That’s true but you wouldn’t think a veteran team like the Wings would need such help from a team like the Preds. It’s obvious they that they had become complacent, though, and that they needed such a wake-up call. Now they just need to stay awake. It will only get tougher and there are three more rounds before the Cup gets handed out.

… The Wings will most likely start Round 2 on Thursday. They will face either Colorado or Calgary, depending on the results of the Canucks/Flames Game 7 tonight in Vancouver. The series could also start on Wednesday but that is not as likely, though I would probably prefer seeing the Wings play then. Rest is important in the playoffs but there is such a thing as too much rest and I don’t want to see the Wings get complacent again. The sooner they start, the better, especially if they will be facing Calgary, a team which will be exhausted after a hard fought series if they come out of it.

… Ray Whitney’s goal Saturday afternoon was his first goal in the playoffs since April 18th 2000 when he was a Florida Panther. His assist was his first since May 19, 1995 when he was a San Jose Shark. Ray has only played in the playoffs three times in his career, twice with the Sharks and once with the Panthers. He has not been on the best teams in the league, that’s for sure. Welcome to the upper tier, Ray!

… There are three series going to seven games in the first round this year:

Calgary/Vancouver (Game 7 forced Saturday night/Sunday morning when Canucks won)
Ottawa/Toronto (Game 7 forced last night when Ottawa won)
Boston/Montreal (Game 7 forced Saturday when the Habs won)

The Habs will try to complete their comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the series tonight in Boston while the Canucks will try to win their series after going down 3-2 in it tonight as well. The Leafs and Sens play tomorrow night.

… As has already been mentioned by Tom Benjamin of Canucks Corner’s NHL Weblog, there is an excellent piece by Dubi Silverstein in which he summarizes salary escalation in the NHL through the years. Definitely a must-read.

The Wings did what they had to do today and played a textbook game on the way to shutting out Nashville 2-0. The Preds became the fourth team to be eliminated (after the Blues, Islanders and Devils) and never really got going like they did in the first four games of the series.

Curtis Joseph made the start for the Wings and was solid once again while Tomas Vokoun started for his Predators and gave them a chance to win.

First Period
The game had a very choppy start, with many stoppages of play in the first minute and a half. The Wings got off two shots in that time but both were fairly easy saves for Vokoun to make and didn’t come with very much pressure.

Then, at 1:26, the Wings struck. Ray Whitney finally got himself on the board when he took a shot from the slot area and had it go off a defenseman. He spun around and the puck came right back to him for another try. The Preds defenseman had sort of given up on the play, thinking the threat was gone but that only served to screen Vokoun for Whitney’s second shot, which ripped by him to make it 1-0 Wings. It was just their 3rd shot on goal and once again, Vokoun was left out to dry by his defense.

Exactly 30 seconds later, the Wings scored again. It was the same line (Whitney/Lang/Yzerman) but this time The Captain finally got on the board. Robert Lang had the puck behind the net and was hardly pressured since Mark Eaton had dropped his stick. He centered the puck to an open Steve Yzerman who chipped the puck in past a helpless Vokoun who was once again left out to dry by his defensemen. It was a trend which continued for much of the game but was the last time Vokoun gave up a goal in such a situation.

Less than a minute later, Tomas Holmstrom created a chance when he came in on the left wing and sent a drop pass to a trailing Kris Draper from behind the net. Draper took a shot and Vokoun made the save but the puck still got through and ended up falling on the goalline where it was knocked away by a Predators defenseman. The play was reviewed and obviously found to be “no goal” but Barry Trotz knew it was time to calm his team down and called a timeout.

Henrik Zetterberg had a chance going in with no help at about 3:50 but he was mugged while trying to maneuver around the Preds defense and ended up on the ice with a Nashville player on his back while swiping at the puck. The Preds came back and finally got their first shot on goal at 4:02 and another seconds later but both were saves by Joseph.

The Wings’ Robert Lang took a penalty at 9:46 that I thought was pretty weak since it looked like Greg Johnson fell more because he lost an edge than because Lang hooked up but the refs decided to call it anyway. The Preds got a good set up going early on and got a good shot off but Joseph made the save and did not allow a rebound. The Preds had a couple more good chances to score but missed the net on them and could not convert.

The Wings took another penalty at 12:44 when Jiri Fischer made himself look like a moron at center ice in roughing up Adam Hall. The Preds were slow in getting set up but did eventually, though it didn’t matter because the Wings killed it off regardless.

The Wings went on the power play at 15:39 when David Legwand couldn’t handle Pavel Datsyuk in his own zone and resorted to cross checking. They got very little going, however, and the Preds killed that off as well. Sometime after the power play was over, Mathieu Dandenault face-washed that little punk Jordin Tootoo while on the Wings’ bench and wasn’t called as he should have been. He really got away with one there and better watch what he’s doing from now on because next time he won’t.

The period wound down to an uneventful finish with the Wings still on top. It was another good 20 minutes for the Wings though they did not dominate as much in it as they did in the first period of Game 5. Shots were 11-5 Wings.

Second Period
The second period started out with the Preds generating some decent pressure but the Wings came back with the Two Kids and a Goat Line and got some of their own. Vokoun was forced to make two good saves on Pavel Datsyuk when he came in from the right wing on net and the three Wings players had a good shift overall.

Scott Hartnell blew a glorious chance to bring his team within one at about 2:30 when he stepped around Yzerman and had a clear shot at the net but he sent it wide. Yzerman had been looking for a hit and whiffed on it when Hartnell made the move.

The secondary Grind Line of Maltby/Draper/Holmstrom had a great shift a couple minutes in to the period. Shane Hnidy had gotten away with interfering on Kirk Maltby earlier in the shift and couldn’t control himself towards the end of it when he went after Maltby again at 3:37 with a cross check. The Wings got a good set up on the ensuing power play but couldn’t get a goal with the Preds taking players down and getting away with it.

This was about the time I noticed how quiet the Nashville crowd was. I don’t know if it was because of the television broadcast by ABC keeping the ambient noise down or if it was because the Wings were holding the Preds down so well. I suspect it was the latter.

Jiri Fischer got another of his constant penalties at 5:58 and forced the Wings to go on the penalty kill once again. Fortunately, they were up to the task and instead o killing it off in their own zone, they had some very good shorthanded chances. Most notable of these was one of the most lopsided breakaways I have ever seen. Kris Draper took a long bomb pass from Derian Hatcher and had the far side of the red line and the offensive zone all to himself as he broke in on Vokoun. He tried a little move but ended up looking like the Kris Draper of old when he was stoned by the Predators goalie instead of scoring like he has all year on chances like that. I think Draper might have been a little surprised that he had so much space to work with and kind of had a brain freeze. Fortunately for the Preds, Vokoun was fully awake on the play since a goal there would have put them away completely.

The Preds had good pressure going near the half-way mark of the game and got another power play at 10:37. They got no shots off, however, and the Wings killed that off without much trouble.

Pavel Datsyuk had a big chance with about 6:10 left when he undressed Hamhuis and walked in on Vokoun but he was stoned on the play. Soon after that, the crowd began to wake up again and we started to hear some noise though not as many nasty cheers.

Robert Lang took a bad penalty at 16:06 when he tripped David Legwand behind the net in his own offensive zone. Legwand made sure to get his other leg up in the air to get the refs attention and there almost could have been a diving penalty on the play as well. Adam Hall had a huge chance on the power play when the net was left wide open but fumbled the puck and couldn’t get it in. The Preds got a good set up going but again were held to no shots.

The period wound down again with the Wings still on top. All the penalties threw them off on offense but they stayed strong on defense to keep it 2-0. Shots were 9-5 Wings.

Third Period
The Wings came out and had a good shift with Pavel’s line but the Preds came back with some good pressure of their own. Steve Sullivan was called for cross-checking at 4:34 but I didn’t think the play necessarily warranted a penalty since Sullivan didn’t hit The Captain all that hard and it was more Yzerman’s own momentum that took him into the boards. The Wings took the power play anyway but couldn’t score when the Preds killed it off.

The Preds tried to come on after that but couldn’t get much going because the Wings were playing very tight defensively. They also couldn’t stop the Wings from cycling the puck for long periods of time trying to kill the clock. The Wings kept winning faceoffs and, towards the end of the game, sent the puck down the ice for icing only to win the faceoff again.

After an uneventful finish to the game, the Predators fans stood up and saluted their team in the final minute, realizing their team’s season was over. Those fans should be proud of what their team achieved this year and not be too disappointed in a first round elimination. The Preds did better than anyone outside of Nashville thought they would this year and they’ll get better.

Shots in the third were 6-5 Wings for a total of 26-15 Wings.

Notes
Going in to today’s game, this was the only series in which the visiting team had not won a game. That obviously changed today … The Wings have now won their last nine potential playoff clinching games, dating back to losing to the Stars in ‘98 … Derian Hatcher had another good game, as did Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg … Steve Thomas disappeared again and only played 5:02. I think he must be hurt because I did not see him after a certain point in the game … Curtis Joseph was solid when he needed to be but was hardly tested throughout the game. It was his 16th career shut out, a category in which he is 3rd all-time behind Patrick Roy (23) and Martin Brodeur (20) … It was Nick Lidstrom’s 162nd consecutive playoff game. He has not missed one since joining the team … There will be a new Stanely Cup champion since the Philadelphia Flyers eliminated the New Jersey Devils today … The team with the lead usually kept it in this series since there was only one lead-change throughout it. It was in Game 1 when the Wings scored three in the 3rd period to win 3-1 … If the Flames win tonight at home over the Canucks, they will be the Wings’ next opponent. If they lose they still could be the next opponent but they would have to win Game 7 in Vancouver. If the Canucks end up winning that series, the Wings will face Colorado in Round Two. Neither series is very appealing after the tough time the Wings had with Nashville, though …

Quote of the Day

“Vokoun should be a motivational speaker. He did a great job with us. I just don’t think a guy should spout off like that, especially to this team. But he’s got a future in motivational speaking.”

– Brendan Shanahan in post game interview exercising his right as victor to be a jerk back (I like it!)

Here is the boxscore.

Lines
(courtesy GWB)
Maltby-Draper-McCarty
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull
Whitney-Lang-Yzerman
Maltby-Draper-Holmstrom
Zetterberg-Datysuk-Shanahan
Thomas-Lang-Yzerman
Shanahan-Draper-Holmstrom
Shanahan-Lang-Holmstrom
Zetterberg-Draper-Hull
Maltby-Draper-Yzerman

Hatcher-Chelios
Lidstrom-Schneider
Fischer-Dandenault
Lidstrom-Dandenault

PP-
Lang-Yzerman-Holmstrom
Shanahan-Datsyuk-Hull
Shanahan-Lang-Holmstrom
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull
Whitney-Yzerman-Thomas
Maltby-Draper-McCarty

Lidstrom-Schneider
Hatcher-chelios
Lidstrom-Chelios

PK-
Maltby-Draper
Shanahan-Yzerman
Maltby-Yzerman
Shanahan-Draper
Zetterberg-Datsyuk

Lidstrom-Chelios
Hatcher-Schneider

Net-
Curtis Joseph

The Wings sent the message they needed to send tonight in beating the Predators 4-1 and putting them in a very tough position going back to Nashville for Game 6. It was by far their best game of the series and is something they will need to build on for the game on Saturday. For Wings fans, the game lived up to the hype and did not disappoint, except maybe that there weren’t more goals.

Curtis Joseph started in net tonight and wasn’t the savior everyone wanted but that was because his teammates won on their own. He was solid when needed, however, and looked good in his first start since March.

First Period
The Wings started out well, with the Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Hull line playing a shift just over a minute long right out of the gates. Henrik Zetterberg looked especially good, battling down low and generating pressure. The Grind Line came on after that and had another high-pressure shift in the Predators zone. Throughout all this, neither goalie was really tested since the puck was mostly kept along the boards.

Then, at 3:19, Henrik Zetterberg opened up the scoring. Pavel Datsyuk was tripped up when going behind the net but he got up, got the puck and sent a perfect, no-look pass through his own legs right to Zetterberg who took the puck on a string and backhanded it over a prone Tomas Vokoun. Three Predators defensemen were caught behind the net on the play and left Hank wide open to score. For the Wings, it was their first goal in the opening twenty minutes of any game this series and it woke up the crowd. It was also their first shot of the game.

After generating some more good chances, the Wings scored again at 6:22 to make it 2-0. Again, it was the Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Hull line’s solid pressure that lead to the goal. They cycled the puck well in the time leading up to it and their hard work paid off once more. Henrik Zetterberg, battling along the boards, sent the puck to Pavel Datsyuk in the circle who sent another no-look pass to an open Brett Hull. He tipped the puck in past Vokoun who was once again left helpless by his defense when they left Hull uncovered.

The Predators were credited with their first shot eight minutes in, though I don’t think it actually got through the crowd in front of the net. The Wings continued to pass the puck well and to control the puck. They did not give up many chances to the Preds at all and played very tight defense. The puck was hardly ever in the Wings’ zone and when it was, it was usually being carried out by a Wings player. Dave Lewis was really mixing the lines up a lot in the period and did so throughout the game. For once, it actually worked.

Brett Hull took a dumb penalty at 13:18 when he got beat and stuck his knee out in an attempt to stop Vladimir Orszagh from getting out of the zone. Curtis Joseph got his first test on the ensuing penalty kill and passed it with no problem. The Wings then took the puck down the ice and scored on a harmless looking play. Brendan Shanahan took the puck behind the net and sent it out front where it bounced off Dan Hamhuis’ skate. It went under Vokoun and barely crossed the line but still counted. It was Shanny’s 22nd shot this series and just his first goal.

The Wings had to kill off a delay-of-game penalty on Joseph near the end of the period but got some help from Hamhuis when he cheapshoted Kirk Maltby and got a penalty. On the ensuing 4-on-4 play, David Legwand had a near breakaway but Mathieu Dandenault got back in time and Joseph made the stop to keep the score 3-0. The Wings then went on the power play but got nothing done. It carried over into the second period.

The first twenty minutes of this game were by far the Wings best of the series. They did everything right and finally came out on top. Shots were 15-8 Wings.

Second Period
The Wings started out on the carryover power play from the first and got one good shot off (from Mathieu Schneider) before time ran out.

They did not exhibit as much jump to start off the period and gave the Predators more room to work with, which they took advantage of. The Wings were still controlling the puck fairly well, however, and the Predators chances weren’t all that threatening. For about the first five minutes, the play was back and forth, with neither team getting much sustained pressure.

The Wings had to kill off another penalty at 6:54 but again got help from the Preds when Jeremy Stevenson slashed the heck out of Chris Chelios in front of the net to make it 4-on-4. When the Wings came on the power play, they set up in the Preds’ zone and got a goal out of it, this time from Nick Lidstrom. The puck came to him bouncing off the boards and he one-timed it past Vokoun to make it 4-0. It was the first time the Wings had scored four goals in a playoff game since the 2002 Western Conference Finals Game 7 against Colorado.

Curtis Joseph had a huge save with nine minutes left in the period which sprung Brendan Shanahan on a near-breakaway. He was hooked on the play by Mark Eaton, who got a penalty for it which was good but they’re should have been a penalty shot. The Wings had some really good pressure on the ensuing power play, with chances by Datsyuk, Lang and Yzerman but they could not convert. Lang could have shot the puck on his chance but opted instead to hold on to it. That’s the only problem I have with Lang, he doesn’t shoot enough.

The Wings had the Preds on the heels, forcing them to ice the puck by generating pressure and then coming back with solid defense. Then Jiri Fischer took another dumb penalty at 17:37 and the Predators scored on the ensuing power play. It was just a good shot by Sergei Zholtok which beat Joseph cleanly. I don’t think he ever saw it since he was screened, though. The Wings had a good kill going before that goal and it kind of came out of nowhere.

It wasn’t quite as good a period as #1 but it was still better than just about anything they had done so far in the series. Shots were 6-5 Preds.

Third Period
The Predators came out with a whole lot of jump and held the Wings down for the first three minutes or so. Pavel Datsyuk got a good chance about three minutes in but that only led to a Brendan Shanahan penalty when he ran Vokoun trying to get the puck. The Predators set up well in the power play and got some good pressure on the Wings but could not score.

The Wings continued to get some good chances but started to pass too much again and couldn’t finish on them. At about 7:50, they went on a 3-on-2 and Whitney got off a great shot from the Lang feed but Vokoun made a quick toe save to keep the score 4-1.

The Predators spent the rest of the period generating fairly sustained pressure in an attempt at a come back but eventually seemed to get frustrated. Jordin Tootoo high sticked Pavel Datsyuk at 16:09 and got a double minor out of it but fortunately for him, the Wings did not score. Steve Sullivan high sticked Maltby at 19:55 but the game was basically already over at that point.

The Wings de-generated a fair amount in this period but the Preds were making it harder for them to dominate anyway. Shots in the third were 11-6 Wings for a total of 31-20 Wings.

Notes
Steve Thomas replaced Boyd Devereaux and didn’t look too bad in his return from his first career playoff scratch … Hull’s goal in the first was his 102nd playoff goal and his 24th playoff game winner (tied for first all-time with Wayne Gretzky) … The Two Kids and an Old Goat line had five points tonight … Former Wings defenseman Steve Duchesne attended the game tonight. He won a Cup with the Wings in 2002 and was left unsigned … Derian Hatcher had probably his best game as a Wing tonight …

Here is the box score.

Lines-
(courtesy GWB)
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull
Maltby-Draper-McCarty
Whitney-Lang-Yzerman
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Shanahan
Maltby-Draper-Holmstrom
Thomas-Lang-Yzerman
Shanahan-Lang-Whitney
Maltby-Draper-Yzerman
Whitney-Lang-Thomas
Thomas-Datsyuk-Hull

Lidstrom-Schneider
Hatcher-Chelios
Fischer-Dandenault

4 on 4-
Maltby-Draper
Zetterberg-Hull
Datsyuk-Hull

Hatcher-Dandenault
Lidstrom-Schneider

PP-
Zetterberg-Dastyuk-Hull
Lang-Yzerman-Holmstrom
Shanahan-Datsyuk-Hull
Maltby-Draper-McCarty

Lidstrom-Schneider
Hatcher-Chelios

PK-
Maltby-Draper
Shanahan-Yzerman
Zetterberg-Yzerman

Lidstrom-Chelios
Hatcher-Schneider

Net-
Curtis Joseph

Well, Dave Lewis has made it official: Curtis Joseph will start in Game 5 tomorrow night in place of Manny Legace.

I’m all for this, actually. I do not put any blame on Manny for the past two losses since most of the goals he allowed were the results of defensive breakdowns and not of any lacking on his part. He wasn’t a game-saver but he most definitely was not responsible for the losses. The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of his teammates, in my opinion. However, I do think a chance in scenery would do the Wings some good. Curtis Joseph looked sharp last night in the third period after coming in cold to replace Manny and I think he might provide the spark the Wings need. He has something to prove and I’m pretty sure he’ll be playing his heart out. Hopefully he’ll be the example the Wings need to follow. It won’t be the same as injecting a new skater into the lineup but the Wings need everything they can get at the moment.

This isn’t the solution, however. I think the coaches have done all they can do and it’s time for the players to take things into their own hands. Tomorrow night defines the Wings’ season to this point. It’s either win at home and have a chance at putting it away Saturday or lose at home and have to go into a rocking GEC Saturday to try to pull out a win there.