On the Wings

Wings defeat the Oilers in regulation, 4-2. I blogged during the game at Behind the Jersey, well I posted during the intermissions and then following the game. Here’s what I had to say throughout the night…

First Period
I missed the first couple minutes because OLN didn’t cut to the Wings vs. Oilers game feed until the Ottawa vs. Tampa Bay game ended (Ottawa won). But aside from the first few minutes that I saw, Detroit looked pretty good! They applied lots of pressure and had some great scoring chances.

Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani scored 7:22 into the first while on the power play. From my perspective, Cleary got caught behind the play and Pisani was left all alone in front of Manny. So when the puck popped up from behind the net, Pisani had a nice shot to get the puck in the net. Torres and Horcoff were given the assists. Oilers 1, Wings 0

A little over six minutes later (13:25 in the 1st period), Mathieu Schneider takes a nice shot from his “post” inside the blueline while on the power play. Tomas Holmstrom deflects the puck behind Oilers goaltender, Dwayne Roloson. It was Holmstrom’s third goal of the season (including regular and postseason) against the Oilers. Wings 1, Oilers 1

Five minutes and 58 seconds later, Robert Lang (who was given an assist in the previous Wings goal) shot hit two goalposts. The replays weren’t totally clear, but Niklas Kronwall was given credit for the goal after tipping it in? The CBC broadcasters speculated that Spacek was the one who actually accidentally kicked the puck in. I’m not sure. If anyone can confirm if this is correct (or inform me if it is incorrect), I’d really appreciate it! The OLN people now say it looked like the puck bounced off Kronwall’s leg and then went into the net. However, there was no kicking motion involved (the goal did go under review) and the goal stood. (Sometime in the 2nd: It appears that Lang has now been credited with the goal.) Wings 2, Oilers 1

Detroit went 1/4 on the power play while Edmonton was 1/2 on the power play. Detroit also won 61% of the face-offs.

End of First Period: Wings 2, Oilers 1
(Detroit outshot Edmonton 14-6)

Second Period
4:03 into the second, Spacek scores through Manny’s 5-hole. Yes, the 5-hole. He should’ve had that save. Some of the goals he has allowed this series have not been hard ones; but our backup, Chris Osgood, has a lower body injury (an OtW reader said it was a tweaked groin) so we had to call up rookie Jimmy Howard. Howard has four games of NHL experience under his belt so it’s pretty safe to say that Manny will remain in net. Although Manny did step it up during out penalty kills, he just needs to keep his 5-hole covered and not allow easy goals! Wings 2, Oilers 2

Matt @ Lets Go Wings forum had this to say (and I couldn’t agree more):

You can’t just give this Edmonton team life, and that’s what Legace has done. I know it’s not entirely on the netminder, but it’s not like the Edmonton goals were the result of a bad defensive play.The team is playing solid defensively, but as soon as Edmonton sniffs blood after each of the goals they scored tonight they go bonkers for a few shifts keeping the Wings scrambling… then it slowly heads back to the Detroit possession game.

It’d be nice to gain some momentum with a lead and MAINTAIN the lead for once. Please?

The Wings had four penalties this period. Cheli - what were you thinking? We were already down a man! Maybe the refs missed something Edmonton did, but we couldn’t afford that penalty. He was having fun toying with Smyth (was that the guy?), but do that when we’re not already trying to kill a penalty, buddy. I like the passion and that he’s now pissed about the ref’s call, but try to stay out of the box!

Three of those penalties came 15:46-17:52 into the period. While I was incredibly pleased that the Wings actually managed to kill two 5-on-3 Oiler advantages, we made too many stupid trips to the penalty box that we only had 7 shots on Roloson (to Edmonton’s 13).

Detroit won 53% of the face-offs in the first two periods.

End of Second Period: Wings 2, Oilers 2
(Edmonton outshot Detroit, 13-7)

Third Period
6:44 into the final period, Nick Lidstrom scored from the right corner inside the blueline. Now I’m a Wings fan and am just plain happy that he scored. I watched with my family, fellow Wings fans, and am watching the CBC broadcast courtesy of OLN. The broadcasters strongly believed it was a pick. My brother and dad thought there was obviously some contact, but Lidstrom did not cause him to spin around and fall. (Edit: I’m just happy the Wings scored another goal after Lidstrom’s shot. Obviously, this goal helped with momentum and whatnot, but I’d feel just slightly guilty if that was the only goal that got past Roloson in the third.) Wings 3, Oilers 2

Pavel Datsyuk makes a beautiful play (good stickwork and actually “pushed” past the Oilers player - I can’t think of a better word than “pushed”) and passes the puck to Henrik Zetterberg in front of Roloson. Zetterberg makes a slight deke and shoots the puck backhand to give the Wings a two goal lead! The goal happened 15:53 into the third and scored while on the power play. Wings 4, Oilers 2

The Wings went 2/4 on the power play in the third while the Oilers only had two power play opportunities and did not capitalize on either one. Detroit won 54% of the face-offs in the game, overall.

End of Third Period: Wings 4, Oilers 2
(Detroit outshot Edmonton, 10-7)

Overall Game Thoughts
The Wings needed to win this game and they did. As a Wings fan, I couldn’t be happier! The series is all tied up at two game wins apiece and we are not heading back to Detroit down, 3-1. The game’s three stars were (in order from 1 to 3) Nick Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, and Robert Lang. It’s good to see Lidstrom step up and finally get on the scoreboard.

Detroit’s offensive leaders tonight: Robert Lang had a goal and two assists tonight. The only goal he did not contribute to was the last one. I was impressed with his offensive presence tonight especially with captain Steve Yzerman out of the lineup (with a lower back injury). Mathieu Schneider also had three points tonight, all of which were assists. It’s also nice to see Pavel Datsyuk notch two assists and playing a big role in that final goal cementing the Wings’ lead.

Quick Game Stats
- Wings outshot Edmonton, 31-26.
- Manny made 24 saves / Roloson stopped 27 shots
- Edmonton’s Mark Greene went to the penalty box three times tonight (most of any player on either team / Detroit’s Holmstrom was second with two penalties). He was called for cross checking, hooking, and tripping.
- Edmonton had two more penalties in the game than Detroit, 11 and 9 penalties respectively.
- 5 of the 6 goals in tonight’s game came on the power play. Only Lang’s goal in the second period came while playing at even strength.
- Detroit went 3-11 on the power play (roughly 27%). Edmonton went 2-9 (about 22%).

The game didn’t seem to have a lot of flow with the amount of penalties this game had (20 overall). It’s hard to get a rhythm going when the whistle is blowing every two seconds (an obvious exaggeration).
- First period had 6 penalties (Edmonton had 4 to Detroit’s 2)
- Second period had 8 penalties (Detroit had 5 to Edmonton’s 3)
- Third period had 6 penalties (Edmonton had 4 to Detroit’s 2)

I just looked at the previous games’ offensive score sheets and although it seemed like a bazillion penalties were called, Tuesday’s game had two more penalties than tonight’s with 22 total penalties (each team with 11). However, three of those penalties did come during the overtime period. Last Sunday’s game in Detroit only had 9 total penalties (5 Detroit, 4 Edmonton). And the first game of the series had 16 penalties (8 apiece); none of those penalties were called during either overtime periods.

Sacamano at Battle of Alberta with his postgame reaction:

I don’t usually like to talk about the refs because in the grand scheme of things everything tends to even out in the wash; but that missed pick call on the 5 on 3 was a back-breaker.Having said that, there were about 10 other penalty calls on the Oilers that were deserved, and they did have two 5 on 3’s that they failed to convert. Terrible discipline. Hemsky was quite simply, awful tonight. In addition, like the other loss, the Oilers had zero 5 on 5 production — not that there was a heckuva lot of 5 on 5 play.

He also mentioned that the Oilers still have a strong shot at winning this series is if this is the best Detroit can do. Well, we all know Detroit can do a lot better (namely our second period crappiness), but will they actually bring it on Saturday’s game?

In conclusion…
- The Wings won and we didn’t have to go into overtime!
- I hated watching that CBC broadcast. It really made me miss Mickey and Ken at FSN Detroit.
- Obviously today’s game was a pretty important one, but I think a win on Saturday is also pretty key. I wouldn’t want to head back to Edmonton down 3-2.
- Did I mention the Wings won? Woohoo!