Here, IwoCPO looks at the Wings’ record against the league’s top 16, a better indicator of where they are than their overall record.
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Monthly Archive for January, 2006Page 3 of 5
A2Y’s post-game reports are always worth a read and this one is no exception.
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The Wings’ first game on NBC in years turned out to be a success, as they beat their old rival, the New York Rangers, 4-3 downtown at the Joe. It was a well-played game by both teams and definitely an entertaining one, as the Rangers kept it interesting right to the end.
I enjoyed the NBC broadcast much more than the OLN versions, though I still prefer FSN. Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro were the studio crew, with Mark Messier joining them in the intermissions. Mike Emrick and John Davidson were in the booth but Pierre McGuire was between the benches and provided insights throughout the game. NBC kept track of the ice time of Brendan Shanahan and Jaromir Jagr, keeping a special clock under the scoreboard whenever either of the two were on the ice. I can’t say I paid much attention to it, though.
The game started with both teams looking like they needed to first get their footing so it wasn’t too exciting in the first few minutes. The Wings came out of it first, getting a couple of chances but finding that Henrik Lundqvist was equal to the challenge.
The Rangers got to go on the power play first, at 4:10, when Robert Lang was slapped with a boarding call. Not a very smart play by Lang, who lost an offensive zone faceoff to start the play off. Fortunately for him, the Rangers power play is miserable, as the NBC crew informed us, going just 2-for-27 in their last 29 chances. They failed to score again, this time, and the Wings got a good kill.
The Wings came close to scoring at 6:53, when Nick Lidstrom’s shot went through Lundqvist and stopped about a foot from the goalline. The Rangers goalie fell back on it and kept it from being knocked in, however, and the scored remained 0-0.
Detroit was penalized again at 8:01. This time it was Mikael Samuelsson, who tied up Jagr at center and was called for holding. The Wings had some trouble controlling the puck in their own zone but they finally got it out and it led to a nice scoring chance down the right wing by Daniel Cleary. The Rangers came back and set up, forcing Manny Legace to be sharp.
Legace looked pretty good in the first, most notably when he made a great glove save on Petr Sykora with 9:01 left. Sykora was left all alone in the slot by the Red Wing defense but Manny was on his game and made the necessary save.
Not long after that, Jason Williams and Lang had what basically amounted to a 2-on-0 (each about a step behind the NY defense) but Williams’ pass was a little off and the best Lang could manage was a weak backhand shot at a sharp angle, though Lundqvist did his best to make the save looked spectacular.
The first Red Wing power play, starting at 12:08, was unimpressive. The Wings were messy with passes and had trouble getting it into the zone until late. Then, they did get a couple of shots off from the point but nothing too serious.
With 3:50 or so left, Pavel Datsyuk and Brendan Shanahan skated in on a 2-on-1 but Tom Poti made a nice diving play to keep Pavel’s pass from getting through to Shanny, saving his goalie’s bee-hind, not to mention his defense partner’s.
One thing about Lundqvist that I noted at this point is how good he is positionally. I don’t remember seeing him out of position the whole first period, he was always square to the shooter.
The Rangers opened the scoring at 18:45 when Jaromir Jagr one-timed a pass from Martin Rucinsky, who was behind the net. Nick Lidstrom was just a half a step away from tying Jagr up on the play but the Czech ended up being pretty well wide open. The puck beat Manny between the legs but it came so suddenly that I don’t really blame him for the goal. A rare mistake by Nick Lidstrom, though Jagr is no stooge and is tough to cover even if you are the best defenseman in the world.
Soon after the start of the second period, the Rangers took a dumb delay of game penalty when Jason Strudwick knocked the net off its moorings. The Wings had a great pressure power play but the Rangers were able to kill it off pretty impressively.
Starting at 3:59, Kris Draper’s line, with Maltby and Franzen, put on a lot of good griding pressure in the New York zone for an impressive shift that resulted in a couple decent shots. Those three showed their usual good energy and kept the Rangers busy.
Chris Chelios laid a big hit on Petr Prucha along the boards and then another one on someone else at center ice during a long shift around the 5:00 mark. The NBC crew later seized on these plays as having fired the Wings up.
The Wings got another power play at 5:40 and did a pretty good job on it but weren’t going anywhere until the Rangers took another penalty with 14 seconds remaining in their first. The Wings made good use of the resulting 5-on-3 and, though the 14 seconds had gone, they scored while still on the power play at 7:45. Nick Lidstrom took the initial shot from he point and Lundqvist made the save but the rebound ended up on Lang’s stick to the right of the net. He put it right under the crossbar and tied the game at one. Nice goal by Lang, who may be finally getting it together and who scored his 11th on the play.
Not even a minute later, the Wings struck again. This time, it was Brendan Shanahan, who took the puck in with Kris Draper on the other wing and let fly a shot. Lundqvist made the save with his pads but the puck still ended up behind his arm and when he went to stop a possible shot from Draper, he knocked the puck in with his stick before Draper could get to it. ‘Bout time, Shanny. 2-1 Wings.
The Rangers came on after the goal but Manny was sharp. The Wings had to kill off another penalty but did so in convincing form and seemed to be very much in control of the game.
Still, New York wasn’t going to let the Wings keep them from scoring again and score they did, at 19:45. This time it was Michael Nylander, who put the puck over Legace’s shoulder as his teammate Ville Nieminen crashed the net. Apparently, Nieminen ran just enough interference to keep Manny from making a save but not enough to get a penalty, though the Wings tried to argue for it. I thought it was a clear case of goaltender interference but the goal stood. Nieminen’s run one of our goalies before, during the 2004 playoffs, if you remember. This time it wasn’t quite so nasty, though the result was a little harder to take. 2-2 tie.
The third period began with both teams playing pretty evenly. Each team had a couple scoring chances but nothing too exciting happened in the first five minutes.
Then, the Wings scored. It was sort of a fluky/weird play: Chris Chelios was swarmed by three or four Rangers at the blueline and knocked down. Pavel Datsyuk kept the play alive by taking the puck down the left wing boards and passing it to Zetterberg. Hank centered it to Shanahan in front of the net and Lundqvist made the stop on the ensuing shot but fell backwards into the net. The puck ended up between his legs and Shanahan made a second attempt at it, just barely getting his stick underneath it to flip it over Lundqvist, who was sitting up just in time to see the puck roll up his chest and by his head on the way into the net. Great goal, Shanny’s 22nd of the year and second of the game. 3-2 Wings.
Though the Wings had the lead, the Rangers were still dangerous and coming close on their scoring chances. They actually rang a shot off the outside of the post on one play but shot themselves in the foot when they took a penalty on a Draper near-breakaway at 12:10.
The Wings got a good setup and a couple of good shots off but didn’t score due to Lundqvist and some good penalty killing by his teammates.
Despite their efforts on the PK, the Rangers gave up another goal. This time it was Johan Franzen, who got his stick on Kris Draper’s centering pass and redirected the puck into the net. The goal came off a fast break and wouldn’t have happened if Maltby hadn’t slammed on the breaks at the blueline to keep the play onsides. The goal came at 14:39 and gave the Wings a two-goal lead. It was Franzen’s 8th of the year.
The Wings were really showing some good energy at this point, doing a good job of pursuing the puck and not laying back much at all.
Shanahan came close to scoring a hat trick a couple times, most notably when he went on a 2-on-1 with either Zetterberg or Datsyuk (regrettably, I neglected to write down which it was) and ringing a shot off the crossbar, to the disappointment of 20,066 fans in JLA.
Bench-reporter Pierre McGuire, in one of the more entertaining anecdotes he related during the game, told the viewers that Steve Yzerman was giving Jed Ortmeyer some lip from his spot on the bench. Ortmeyer and Yzerman had faced each other on their teams’ respective fourth lines and Yzerman was trying to generate some hostility in preparation for their next shift against each other. Well, Ortmeyer left the bench right about then and ended up putting his team within one, whether as a result of Yzerman’s talk or not. No, I’m not blaming you, Steve.
Anyway, Ortmeyer took a shot from the point that was blocked partially by someone in front. It was going wide of the net when it hit Lebda and that put it back on target. It beat an unsuspecting Manny Legace to make it 4-3 at 17:34.
Nevertheless, the Wings kept the pressure on and forced the Rangers to take a timeout after the puck was frozen in their zone. They lost the ensuing faceoff and the Wings burned a good 40 seconds in the zone until New York could finally get it out. They pulled Lundqvist as they headed up the ice but to no avail.
As the buzzer sounded, Henrik Zetterberg sent the puck over to Shanahan, who took a shot from behind his own blueline and would have scored had time not run out. So, no hat trick, though it was a nice gesture by Hank.
Not a perfect game by the Wings but a good one. Next up, is the game at fluffball Columbus, on Wednesday.
Lines*
Maltby-Draper-Franzen
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Zetterberg
Holmstrom-Yzerman-Cleary
Lang-Williams-Samuelsson
Samuelsson-Zetterberg-Datsyuk
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Williams
Samuelsson-Lang-Shanahan
Zetterberg-Holmstrom-Datsyuk
Zetterberg-Holmstrom-Lang
Cleary-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Draper-Yzerman-Maltby
Cleary-Yzerman-Franzen
Zetterberg-Williams-Lang
Cleary-Zetterberg
Franzen-Cleary
Williams-Cleary
Maltby-Draper
D-pairings
Lilja-Lidstrom
Lidstrom-Woolley
Lebda-Chelios
Chelios-Schneider
Schneider-Lebda
Schneider-Woolley
Schneider-Lilja
Lidstrom-Chelios
Chelios-Lebda
Lidstrom-Lebda
Lidstrom-Schneider
PP
Lang-Yzerman-Shanahan-Woolley-Schneider
Zetterberg-Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Williams-Lidstrom
Shanahan-Yzerman-Lang-Schneider-Williams
Weird Line (3 Defensemen?!)
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Schneider-Lebda-Lilja
*compiled by Brian
The Wings will play host to their old Original Six rivals, the New York Rangers, at Joe Louis Arena this afternoon on NBC. They had a seven game win-streak over the Rangers - dating back to 1999 - halted in 2003-2004, when they lost the one-game season series, 3-1 in New York on October 25th, 2003. This also is the only game between these clubs this season.
Detroit is coming off a very good win over Philadelphia on Thursday. Neither team scored in the first period, though they traded a number of power plays, but both scored once in the second to make it 1-1 going in to the third. Then, the Wings’ offense exploded, scoring five goals to give the team a 6-3 win. The newly-formed Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Shanahan line combined for 12 points and accounted for three goals in just the third period. Steve Yzerman notched his 1,050th assist on Robert Lang’s goal to end the night’s scoring and passed Gordie Howe for 7th all-time in assists. The game helped the Wings save some face after dropping their previous two, first to Dallas on Sunday and then to Carolina on Tuesday.
The Rangers are no longer the pushover they have been in recent years. They are just second in the Atlantic Division and are one of the top teams in league standings. They have won their last three games, the most recent of which was a 5-4 overtime decision over the Edmonton Oilers. The game was the last of a five-game homestand for the Rangers, who will now begin a four-game road trip today. The Ranger offense has improved from recent years and has posted a respectable 138 goals so far this season. Jaromir Jagr has returned to his old form and leads the league with 67 points. The Rangers’ success can also be attributed to very good goaltending. Rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist is fourth in the league with a 2.13 GAA (compare to Legace’s: 2.11) and third in the league with a .926 save-percentage.
Manny Legace should get another start today and will hopefully have shaken off the cobwebs.
Expect a good game today. Both teams have momentum going in and have been highly competitive this year. Add in a classic Original Six rivalry and you should get a high quality matchup. The Wings need to show that Flyers-type games are their norm, not Stars-type games or even ‘Canes-type. They need to shut down Jagr and solve Lundqvist and they have the tools to do both.
Well, thanks for a friend of mine, Dan of Detroit Sports, I got to go to my third Red Wings game this season and got to watch them win for the third time live. This time, though, it wasn’t the dregs of the NHL, the Blues or Blue Jackets. This time, it was the league-leading Philadelphia Flyers.
And unlike the other two games, I was sitting one row from the top, with my view obstructed by a long line of heads in front of me. So I stood most of the game but that just meant I was ready beforehand to celebrate all the goals. Because I was standing, I didn’t take notes so this won’t be so much a summary of events as of impressions.
The story of the game was the Shanahan-Datsyuk-Zetterberg line, which accounted for four Red Wings goals and 12 points (four each). These three were especially potent in the third period, when they lit the lamp three times in 10 minutes. They were magic together
and you could sense the change in the atmosphere of JLA when they were on the ice. I was really hoping for a hat trick from either Pavel or Hank but didn’t get it. Don’t expect that line to be around long, though, because it’s hard for the Wings to spread the wealth offensively with such a high concentration of talent on one line, as A2Y points out.
Steve Yzerman notched his 1,050th assist on Robert Lang’s third period goal. It came on a 2-on-1 in which The Captain exacted revenge on a borderline dirty hit Sami Kapanen laid on him as he was leaving the ice. Yzerman came back on his next shift and, after he laid a big hit on Randy Jones along the boards, he was sprung on the 2-on-1 and made a great pass to Lang, who scored an easy goal. The goal came so close after Henrik Zetterberg’s second that Budd Lynch had to announce them at the same time. When he informed the crowd that the assist put Yzerman one ahead of Gordie Howe on the all-time list, everyone in the Joe stood up and gave The Captain their congratulations. To make it even more special, Mr. Hockey himself was in attendance.
More on Robert Lang. He was pretty useless the whole night and continues to be unimpressive. If he hadn’t scored on that 2-on-1, I would have jumped the glass and torn his head off. I don’t know what’s wrong with the guy but he rarely seems to put in any kind of special effort. Maybe that goal will jumpstart him. I hope so. Am I alone in my assessment of the guy?
One guy who had a great night, though he did not get on the scoreboard, was Mikael Samuelsson. He was involved in the play every time he was on the ice, both offensively and defensively. The puck seemed to heading his way constantly and I really thought it was too bad he did not score.
Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Johan Franzen did a great job of shutting down Peter Forsberg, who seemed hardly noticeable for once. They didn’t do such a great job of shutting down Simon Gagne, however. He scored his 30th and 31st goals last night and kept it interesting until the Wings pulled away with their 5th and 6th goals.
I went with a friend who had never been to a game and had really never watched hockey before. She came away not really knowing how to describe it (unusual for an English major, huh?) but did say it was “fast.” Yes, it was fast. I like the quote A2Y found from Flyers center Jeff Carter: “It was definitely the fastest game I’ve been in.” Fast because of the skating speed and fast because of the suddennesss of the goals. The third period was wild and one of the most enjoyable periods of hockey I’ve seen in a while.
Last night, we saw the Red Wings that can make a strong run for the Cup. The goaltending was a little shaky but as mLive’s Ansar Khan points out in his new blog today, it’s too early to second-guess Legace. The skaters played very well as a whole and will need to play like that if they want to accomplish anything significant this season. Whether they will is the question.
Next up, we have the Rangers. It’s the first game the Wings will play on NBC this season and starts at 2:00 ET on Saturday.
Lines*
Lang-Williams-Samuelsson
Draper-Franzen-Maltby
Zetterberg-Shanahan-Datsyuk
Datsyuk-Maltby-Franzen
Holmstrom-Yzerman-Cleary
Lang-Williams-Franzen
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Yzerman-Lang-Shanahan
Cleary-Williams-Shanahan
Shanahan-Lang-Samuelsson
Zetterberg-Draper-Datsyuk
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Williams
Lang-Samuelsson
Franzen-Zetterberg
Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Draper-Maltby
Cleary-Franzen
Franzen-Draper
D-pairings
Lilja-Lidstrom
Chelios-Schneider
Schneider-Woolley
Schneider-Lilja
Lidstrom-Chelios
Schneider-Lebda
Chelios-Lebda
Chelios-Lilja
Lidstrom-Lebda
Lidstrom-Schneider
Lebda-Chelios
*compiled by Brian
The Wings blog pantheon is growing. This time it’s a beat writer for mLive.com.
Tonight is the only game between these teams this season. The Wings won the 2003-2004 season 1-0 with a 4-3 win at home on February 29th, 2004. Robert Lang, making his debut with Detroit, notched three assists and Brendan Shanahan scored his first goal in nine games.
The Wings will look to stop a two-game skid from becoming a three-game one tonight. They are 2-3-0 so far in January, the toughest month they’ve had so far and the most important. A loss to Minnesota opened the month but was followed with two masterful wins, one over St. Louis and another over Nashville the next night. Then, they collapsed, first by blowing a three-goal lead against Dallas and giving up six straight unanswered goals. Their last game was in Carolina, where they allowed three more goals before finally scoring themselves late in the first period. Despite a furious last minute comeback attempt, they still lost, 3-2.
The league-leading Flyers will wrap up an 11-game road trip tonight that has spanned 21 days (though they never left the Eastern Time Zone). They are 8-1-1 in the first ten games of that trip. They were shut out 3-0 by New Jersey on Monday but rebounded with a 5-2 win over Chicago Wednesday. According to Red Wings scout Mark Howe, they have the best depth of any team in the league and with a 28-9-6 record, it appears they have made good use of it. That depth includes two faces familiar to Wings fans: Peter Forsberg and Derian Hatcher. Forsberg, an old enemy, has continued his dominating ways, notching 42 assists on the way to 56 points so far this season. Hatcher, who was bought out by the Wings last year, is plus-14 and playing an average of 24:20 a night. It’s a shame Derian’s knee injury precluded him from really contributing while he was in Detroit but it’s good to hear he’s found success again.
Manny Legace will start again tonight.
Tonight may be the night we see Shanahan break out of his slump, much like he did against the Flyers in 2004. According the Babcock, he played his best game in 7 against the Hurricanes.
As A2Y points out, the Wings are an impressive 14-0-2 against the Flyers at home since 1988. Tonight is a great time to get win #15, I think. Especially because I’m going to the game, having been given a couple tickets by a friend of mine. So, I’m hoping for a fast start and a full 60 minutes of solid play by the Wings. If the Wings do that, it should be a good game. Give the league leaders a fight, at least!
(I apologize for the lateness in getting this published. I was just too disgusted last night to write anything after the game.)
The Wings’ started their last mini-series with Eastern Conference teams off with a loss, dropping their second game in a row, 3-2 to the Hurricanes. They reverted to their practice of opening games slowly and paid for it when they allowed three first period goals. The game’s first twenty minutes was just a continuation of the Dallas game, really, with the opponents wearing different jerseys.
I will say that the Wings came out of the gates with a pretty good tempo, though this was more than matched by the Hurricanes and their rowdy crowd and it soon faded. There wasn’t much sustained pressure from either side in the early goings, with the teams trading fairly decent chances at either end of the ice.
Carolina was the first to take advantage of one of these chances and did so at 5:45 when a turnover sprung them on a 2-on-1 with rookie defenseman Brett Lebda the only one back for the Wings. Lebda backed up to just in front of Legace and then committed to taking away the pass by falling down. Matt Cullen promptly maneuvered around him and ripped a shot past the defenseless Manny Legace. 1-0 Carolina.
The Wings followed this up with a slight push but didn’t accomplish anything. OLN went to commercials and when they got back, the Wings were on the power play and I swear OLN didn’t tell us until 20 seconds in. Anyway, Jason Woolley was called for hooking and the teams went to 4-on-4 for 41 seconds.
Just fourteen seconds after the Red Wing power play expired, the ‘Canes struck again, this time on the power play. It was a bit of a messed up play with Carolina passing like mad and the puck bouncing around the zone like a pinball. It came out of the maelstrom that the slot had become and ended up on the stick of a wide-open Ray Whitney to Manny’s right, at the post. The former-Red Wing slammed it into the net and put his team up 2-0 at 9:21. That goal came as a shock, it was so sudden. I’d like to know how Whitney got so open. He never did that when he was with the Wings!
Mike Babcock used his timeout at this point but its doubtful that it had any positive effect.
The Hurricanes remained dangerous in the next few minutes and really had the Wings on their heels. A prime example of this came at 10:27 when Chris Chelios had to dive to the ice fully extended to block a pass that would surely have resulted in a goal or at least a very good scoring chance. He just barely got his stick on the puck and it was deflected but it showed a certain level of desperation. The Wings looked unprepared and disorganized.
They went back on the power play at 12:52 but soon were called for a penalty themselves and the teams again went to four a side. They had a chance to go on a 2-on-1 but Robert Lang was fully incapable of managing the pass that came to him at center ice and the result was a Hurricane goal a few seconds later. Kris Draper turned over the puck at center and Eric Staal got it to Erik Cole, who took it into the Wings’ zone and got off a shot, which was stopped by Legace. The rebound, however, went right back to Cole, who took it back around the net and scored on the wrap-around. Again, I was shocked and, by then, angry. That goal was just ridiculous.
And since it came during 4-on-4 play, the ‘Canes still got a power play. Fortunately, the Wings killed it off, though.
At this point, I was pretty disgusted and wondering why I was subjecting myself to watching this when it wasn’t even the end of the first period. Then I saw Steve Yzerman at center and had a fleeting thought something along the lines of, “Oh, look, he’s skating all alone. It’d be nice if he could do something but he has no support.”
Well, Steve Yzerman, 40 years old or not, doesn’t need any support. He took the puck into the Hurricanes’ zone, maneuvered across the Carolina defense from left to right and then down the right boards before crossing back toward the net. Martin Gerber tried to poke check the puck away but he failed and The Captain backhanded it in as he fell, scoring just his 5th goal of the season (but now two of them have been among the best of the season). Goal scored at 16:07.
I had remained quiet the whole game but when he scored, my arms went up and I yelled “YES!” I then apologized to my family for the outburst, “but that was an awesome goal.” And it was. You’ve still got it, Stevie Y.
Now, I thought maybe there was a little hope. The Wings finished the period looking a bit better but the Hurricanes still had the edge, I thought.
Soon after the start of the second period, Detroit went back on the power play. This time, they did it by the book and avoided getting a penalty themselves. After some very good pressure and cycling, the Wings brought themselves within one when Henrik Zetterberg scored at 3:26. Hank was down low and attempted to pass the puck through the crease to Tomas Holmstrom at the other post but it went off a defenseman’s skate and into the net for a goal. “Now, we have a game,” I thought.
The Wings looked rejuvinated after that and it seemed like they might really tie it up. However, as the period wore on, play became more and more even until Carolina took control again. They had a very good forecheck going, always pressuring the Wings defensively in their own zone and covered the Wings like a blanket in the offensive zone so that any offensive effort by Detroit was strangled.
And so the second period went. It was a much better period offensively and defensively but after the initial adrenalin rush that came from Zetterberg’s goal, the Hurricanes kept the Wings at arm’s length.
The Hurricanes controlled play early in the third period but were fortunate the Wings didn’t score on a couple chances in the first few minutes. Tomas Holmstrom was stoned in the crease by Gerber after redirecting a pass from Pavel Datsyuk at 1:27 and Brett Lebda just missed a centering pass from Robert Lang a short while later.
Carolina’s Matt Cullen got a chance of his own, 1-on-1 with Woolley (I think, though I neglected to write it down) and ended up crashing the net. Pretty irresponsible on his part and dangerous for the Wings, who nearly saw their goalie injured again. Cullen was called for goaltender interference on the play and the Wings went back on the power play.
It was a good power play, though they didn’t score. Martin Gerber was like a vacuum that didn’t give up rebounds and his defense protected him well enough to prevent a goal. It wasn’t for lack of trying that the Wings didn’t score and I came away from that power play feeling disappointed but understanding.
The game really slowed down as the ‘Canes closed down defensively even more. The Red Wing offense was relegated to the boards and their chances were minimal. It wasn’t until the last couple minutes that the Wings really seemed to try to score, however.
Tomas Holmstrom got a step behind the Carolina defense at 18:11 or so and though he got a shot off, he drew a penalty on the play and the Wings got a chance to even things up at 18:13.
The faceoff was in the Carolina zone and soon after the Wings won it, Babcock pulled Legace for the extra skater. So, a 6-on-4 situation with 1:47 left. What followed as a crazy flurry of chances in the zone. Carolina could not get the puck out and the Wings were continually stoned by Gerber. Abel to Yzerman breaks it down:
“Lang sets up Shanny for a one timer save. Zetterberg from the side, then the front save, save. Lang from the slot save. Scheider, Lidstrom, Datsyuk Gerber stopped them all.”
Yes, he did. The Wings were not going to get a break like they did against Chicago last month, in spite of all their effort. But it was exciting! Ah, my heart…
The buzzer sounded and the game ended with the Wings on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.
I just tried to turn off the TV in disgust and found that the power button wouldn’t work. That did not help my mood.
The Nashville Predators are now just two points behind the Wings in the Central Division. Methinks a win on Thursday is required. Do you agree with me, Guys in the Winged Wheel?
I don’t know why but when I hear OLN announcer Jim Jackson speak, I think “South Park.” Something about his voice reminds me of the narrator or one of the adults or whatever on that show (I don’t watch it enough to pin it down). Pretty nasally, but from the back of his nose. Very annoying.
Also, why are OLN commercial breaks so unbelievably long? And when they come back to the broadcast, they further delay showing the game I’m watching by providing “highlights” from games around the league. I’d rather see the faceoff and not miss 10-15 seconds of on ice action. As much as I hate how FSN plays the same one or two commericals over and over again during a broadcast, I appreciate how short their breaks are and that they come right back to the game.
Johan Franzen did play last night but didn’t stand out. He only got 7:43 in ice time so I’m guessing he’s not 100%.
Lines*
Shanahan-Samuelsson-Zetterberg
Yzerman-Lang-Draper
Holmstrom-Williams-Datsyuk
Cleary-Maltby-Franzen
Shanahan-Draper-Zetterberg
Zetterberg-Samuelsson-Shanahan
Franzen-Yzerman-Cleary
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Maltby-Draper-Franzen
Shanahan-Yzerman-Lang
Cleary-Draper-Samuelsson
Draper-Williams-Datsyuk
Franzen-Draper-Cleary
Cleary-Franzen
Cleary-Draper
Draper-Maltby
Zetterberg-Datsyuk
D-parings
Lilja-Lidstrom
Schneider-Woolley
Chelios-Lebda
Schneider-Lebda
Chelios-Lilja
Lidstrom-Lebda
Lidstrom-Schneider
Lidstrom-Chelios
Chelios-Schneider
Lebda-Chelios
Schneider-Lilja
PP
Lidstrom-Datsyuk-Williams-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Lidstrom-Williams-Shanahan-Yzerman-Lang
6-on-4
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Shanahan-Lidstrom-Schneider
*compiled by Brian
Tonight is the only time this season Carolina and Detroit will meet, unless both make the Stanley Cup Finals again. They played each other twice during the 2003-2004 season, with the Wings winning the first 4-1 on January 2nd, 2004 and both teams skating to a 4-4 tie in the second on January 31st.
The Wings are coming off a 6-3 loss to Dallas Sunday. They led 3-0 early in the second period but then allowed 6 unanswered goals to take their second loss in four games. They opened January with a loss to Minnesota but followed that up with wins over St. Louis and Nashville later in the week. Tonight’s game is the first of a three-game Eastern Conference mini-series that will take them back home to host the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers Thursday and Saturday.
The ‘Canes have won their last four and are coming off a 3-0 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday. They also beat the Isles the night before, 4-1, after wins over Montreal and Atlanta. They are riding the top of the Southeast Division with 58 points, 12 ahead of Atlanta and just one behind the Wings, who are second in the league behind only Philadelphia (60) and Ottawa (59). It’s funny, because the last time these two teams squared off, Carolina was at the bottom of the league. Now, they’re near the top and it’s in large part due to their goalie, Martin Gerber, and young star Eric Staal. Gerber is an impressive 20-7-2 this year with three shutouts and a 2.70 GAA. Staal leads the team with 26 goals and 52 points. This game kicks off a three-game home stretch for the ‘Canes in which they will play host to three Central Division teams: Detroit, Nashville and St. Louis.
Manny Legace will get the start tonight and Martin Gerber should be in net for Carolina.
The Free Press reports that Johan Franzen may return to the ice tonight, based on what the man himself said: ” ‘I felt good today,’ Franzen said, adding he would be ready to play tonight. ‘My whole left side was sore, but it felt a lot better today.’ ” However, both the Freep and News point out that Mike Babcock has other ideas: “I don’t think so. He could shoot the puck if he wanted to, but he didn’t want to. To play his game, a physical game, I don’t think he can do that at this point.” I agree with Babcock. If he can’t play it rough, Franzen ought to sit out. That’s his use to the team, playing a physical game. If he sits out, it will be for the third straight game.
The Freep also gives an encouraging report on the status of Niklas Kronwall. Looks like we could see him back before the Olympic Break and as early as the end of January. That’s great, if he’s really, truly ready. I’d probably rather have him stay out until after the break, just to be sure.
Brendan Shanahan, who has not scored in six games, will have a change in linemates tonight. He has been playing with Pavel Datsyuk, who has a goal and four assists in the last eight, but will play with Henrik Zetterberg instead, the News reports. It’s an attempt by Babcock to get Shanahan jump-started again. Shanny was bothered by back spasms recently, at least, and has not been the same player he was since the start of the season.
The Wings need to win tonight. It’s that simple. However hot the Hurricanes are, the guys need to get it together and rebound after Sunday’s embarrassing loss. Another loss tonight could send them into a tailspin that won’t be easily righted because their opponents don’t get any easier this week.
The Wings blew a three-goal lead, allowing six unanswered goals in the second and third periods, to lose 6-3 at the Joe today. In contrast to the trend of just a few games ago, Detroit came out of the gates flying in the first but faltered after scoring their second and third goals early in the second period. The Stars took advantage of this and dominated for the next 35 minutes or so, getting an important win for their franchise.
The Wings showed us their two sides tonight: in the first and early goings of the second, it was the crisp-passing, game-dominating team we love to see so much. In the rest of the second and all of the third, they were the sloppy-passing, on-their-heels team we see all too often. In a month where that first team needs to show up more often than not, it is extremely disappointing to see the Wings play their “B” or even “C” game.
The game started out fairly well, with an okay pace and both teams skating. Dallas helped Detroit out by taking two penalties in the first three minutes, handing the Wings a lengthy 5-on-3 power play opportunity. They took less than a minute to score, giving themselves a one-goal lead at 3:13. The goal came from Henrik Zetterberg to essentially one-timed a Mathieu Schneider shot/pass and beat Marty Turco just inside the right post. The rest of the power play was uneventful as the Wings couldn’t get set up until the waning seconds.
Dallas came on a bit after this and had a good pressure shift in the Detroit zone. The Wings soon took the puck the other way, however, and drew a penalty on the resulting rush. This power play was not so successful and merely resulted in some sustained pressure that was continued after the penalty expired when the Stars inadvertently iced the puck.
At this point, the Wings were passing the puck well and out-skating Dallas, who had to commit penalties, much the way the Predators did in the last game, in order to keep up. It took the Stars until 13:20 to even get a shot and this was from 76 feet away from the net. Whatever his teammates were or were not doing, Marty Turco was equal to the task of stopping the Wings, however, and they couldn’t get the puck past him again in the first, though they got yet another chance on the power play before the end.
The first period ended with a glorious scoring opportunity for the Wings. Marty Turco, known around the league as a puck-handling goalie, sent a pass up the middle that was intercepted by Zetterberg. Hank walked in on Turco and then passed the puck across the crease to Jason Williams, who had joined the play. Somehow, Turco made the save and the puck stayed out, saving his own hide.
Shots in the first were 10-3 Wings.
Detroit started the second period with a goal, scoring at :25 to double their lead. This time, it was Mathieu Schneider, notching his second point of the night, who scored from the point after receiving a pass from Pavel Datsyuk. The goal was the result of Dallas’ inability to clear the zone, despite numerous chances to do so. For Datsyuk, it was his 200th career point.
Less than a minute later, the Stars took another penalty and the Wings went back on the power play. Again, they wasted no time in taking advantage of it, scoring at 1:32, just nine seconds into the man-advantage. Jason Williams scored this time, after getting the puck from Datsyuk. He took a shot from the point that found its way into the net, likely due to the good screen Tomas Holmstrom had going on Turco, who saw it too late to stop it.
Turco was pulled for the second straight game at this point and was replaced by Johann Hedberg.
The Stars rebounded well after the Wings scored and finally got themselves on the board less than a minute later. Chris Osgood made a couple good initial saves but Brett Lebda, falling into the net, got in his way and he was not able to get firm footing in order to slide across the make the final save. So, Niklas Hagman had an easy goal from the backdoor to put his team within two goals.
Dallas started to come on after this, though the Wings did have a couple of good shifts to counter this. They got another power play but spent most of it passing and skating with little shooting.
The Wings finally took a penalty at 10:12 and handed the Stars their first power play of the game. It took them a minute, but Dallas took advantage of the man-advantage, scoring at 11:10 to put them within one. Jere Lehtinen took a pass from the corner and one-timed it, with Zetterberg covering him, past Osgood, beating him stickside. I’d like to see Osgood make that kind of save but it was a bit of a defensive breakdown so it wasn’t all his fault.
Zetterberg took a holding penalty half a minute later, though I thought it was a bit of a weak call. Osgood was quick, however, and stopped Dallas’ shots as they set up and cycled the puck.
The Wings were becoming more and more sloppy, not connecting on passes and not standing up very well to the pressure from Dallas.
Tomas Holmstrom went off for roughing at 16:38 and again, the Stars scored within a minute, tying the game at three. This time, it was a shot from the point that may have been screened, though I still thought it a bit weak. The puck beat Osgood in the top right corner.
Just after the goal, Zetterberg had a nice scoring chance, making a nice move around the Dallas defenseman and letting loose a shot from 26 feet out. Hedberg made the save, however, and did also on a flurry around the net that soon followed.
The Wings got a power play late in the period but it looked much more like a Dallas power play than anything else as the Stars had a couple of good chances shorthanded. Osgood was sharp, however, and kept the puck out of the net.
Shots in the second were 15-8 Dallas.
The Wings began the third period on the power play but accomplished little. I thought the teams looked fairly even here but the Stars were about to take off.
Holmstrom took another penalty at 5:23 and the Stars went on the power play once again. They quickly got set up and then Jere Lehtinen scored again less than a minute later to put Dallas ahead. Sergei Zubov took a shot from the point that did not get through but Lehtinen picked up the puck and backhanded it past Osgood, who was taken off-balance by the initial shot from the point and was not in any position to stop the new one. I don’t know what was going on in Osgood head on that one but it looked like a bad goal to give up.
Fourty-one seconds later, Dallas scored again. This time, the puck was turned over and the Stars got an odd-man rush going the other way. Niko Kapanen, the last man to join the rush for Dallas, received the pass and ripped the puck past Osgood, who was left out to dry by his defense. Still, it would have been nice if he could have made the save.
The Stars finished piling on the goals just under two minutes later when Mathias Tjarnqvist’s shot from the top of the right circle beat Osgood at 8:44. Head coach Mike Babcock pulled Osgood in favor of Manny Legace at this point. Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond kept saying that it wasn’t because they were playing bad that the two goalies were pulled, it was that the puck wasn’t hitting them. Yes, that’s true, but both of them could have made a save or two more than they did.
The Wings were very much outplayed in the third period, though they did not give up as many chances as they could have. They were not connecting on passes and couldn’t complete the scoring chances they got themselves. As usual, they were trying to be too cute with the puck, one-timing passes back to each other instead of one-timing shots into the net. All too often, they would start out going toward the net and then angle away from it only drop a pass behind them in vain hope that a teammate would brave the low slot and score.
Henrik Zetterberg was called for hooking at 15:56, though nothing came of it. I only point it out because it was an awful example of the new NHL rules and how such a strict interpretation can lead to such BS calls. Because of the angle at which the ref was looking at the play, it looked like Hank hooked the Stars player when in fact, he did not even touch him. I’m all for calling hooking but it’s when they start making phantom calls that I get angry.
Anyway, the clocked ticked away and finally the horn blew with the Wings on the other end of a 6-3 loss.
Shots in the third were 14-7 Dallas and 32-25 Dallas for the game.
Manny Legace was solid replacing Osgood, who has very likely lost the starting job, despite playing with a lack of support from his teammates.
The Wings’ penalty kill was awful tonight for some reason. 2-for-5 is not acceptable for a team hoping to do well in the playoffs.
Neither is blowing a three-goal lead to a likely playoff opponent. I agree with Ken Daniels, who said, “I can’t remember the last time anybody scored six unanswered goals on the Wings.” Neither can I.
Johan Franzen sat out another game with that mysterious upper body injury. Maybe the papers will shed some light on it tomorrow. Mark Mowers played again in his place.
Marty Turco still hasn’t beaten the Wings, since he was pulled, but his coach, Dave Tippetts now has. The Stars hadn’t beaten Detroit since January 16th, 2002, going 0-5-5 in 10 meetings until this win.
So, of a possible 28 points from the 14 games in January, the most the Wings can get now is 24.
Staying ahead of the Predators will not get any easier with this loss. They play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight and as of this writing, are leading them 5-1 in the third period. The Wings’ six-point lead will become a four-point one soon.
Next up, the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. The puck drops at 7:00 ET and the game will be aired on OLN.
UPDATE (09. Jan): Well, it looks like the Predators know how to hold on to leads. They beat Chicago 5-1 and are now just four points behind them. The two games coming later this month just became a whole lot more important.
Also, check out Abel to Yzerman’s recap.
UPDATE (12:37 PM, 09. Jan): The News mentions Franzen today, though his injury is still listed as an “upper body” one, with no more detail. They report that Babcock is “optimistic” that Johan will be back in the lineup tomorrow night. (News)
Lines*
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Lang
Cleary-Maltby-Draper
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Williams
Shanahan-Yzerman-Lang
Zetterberg-Samuelsson-Williams
Mowers-Yzerman-Holmstrom
Holmstrom-Draper-Williams
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Datsyuk
Mowers-Zetterberg-Yzerman
Zetterberg-Williams-Yzerman
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Maltby-Lang-Draper
Yzerman-Lang-Draper
Mowers-Maltby-Cleary
Samuelsson-Datsyuk
Samuelsson-Maltby
Draper-Maltby
D-parings
Lilja-Lidstrom
Chelios-Schneider
Woolley-Lilja
Lidstrom-Schneider
Lebda-Chelios
Schneider-Woolley
Schneider-Lebda
Lidstrom-Lebda
Schneider-Lilja
Lidstrom-Chelios
PP
Lidstrom-Samuelsson-Williams-Datsyuk-Shanahan
Lidstrom-Datsyuk-Williams-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
*compiled by Brian
