On the Wings

No full, chronological recap for the game last night. Just a few notes/comments:

… Dominik Hasek did not make the trip with the team, since he wasn’t going to back up Chris Osgood anyway. Joey MacDonald manned the faceoff clipboard instead.

… Gotta love this sight in the first period: little 5′8″, 180 lb. Jiri Hudler having to cover 6′7″, 270 lb. Derek Boogaard. A bit of a mismatch, I think.

… Chris Osgood looked good last night. The Wild are the kind of team that can do nothing offensively for long stretches before suddenly coming on for brief but intense offensive forays. Ozzie was strong in all of these, allowing goals only when he was either hung out to dry by his teammates or when the shot was tipped just before it got to him. He was not responsible for the loss last night.

… After two scoreless and unexciting periods, the third period seemed like a goal fest. It started out badly for the Wings, however, who gave up a shorthanded goal at 3:25. They were slow to set up in the first place, but matters were not helped by the fact that Jason Williams was again on the blueline for the second unit. A turnover by Williams following a carry-in resulted in a clear.

Back in the Minnesota end, the Wild were very effective at pressuring the Detroit puck-handlers, especially at the blueline. A turnover at the left point resulted in a fast break going the other way, with Jason Williams the only Red Wing back. Pascal DuPuis took the puck down the right wing and waited for Williams to make a decision on his coverage. Williams, who obviously never read the Defenseman’s Handbook, chose to attempt to knock DuPuis off the puck. DuPuis, predictably dished the puck off and took the hit, with Mikko Koivu taking the pass. Koivu had Osgood flat-footed and put it over the falling goaltender.

Just for future reference, Jason, in a situation such as that, your first responsibility is to take away the pass. Trust your goaltender to cover the puck carrier, who is likely to shoot if there’s no passing alley.

… Tomas Holmstrom sure was determined to get his first goal in 20 games. He had seven shots through two periods, which constituted nearly a third of the 20 shots the Wings had at the start of the third. He was finally rewarded for his effort when he tipped in a shot by Henrik Zetterberg at 10:16 of the third period. Zetterberg had taken the puck down the right wing and around the back of the net before turning and taking a bad angle shot from the bottom of the left circle. Homer got his stick on it for his fifth goal of the season.

… The Wings took the lead at 16:17 after some consistent Minnesota pressure. They took the puck the other way on a 3-on-2, Kirk Maltby carrying down the right wing, Kris Draper skating parallel through the middle and Johan Franzen trailing behind him. Maltby centered it to Franzen, who’s one timer was stopped by Manny Fernandez. The puck fell to his feet, however, and Draper pounced on it, knocking it into the net to make it 2-1 Wings.

… The Wild responded 16 seconds later with a tying goal. Keith Carney took the shot from the left point and Mark Parrish got his stick on it maybe 10 feet out, redirecting it under Osgood’s right arm. The puck may also have gone off Williams on its way to the net.

… Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg and Nick Lidstrom started overtime for the Wings. After some up and down play, Datsyuk took the puck over the Minnesota blueline. He apparently felt a sudden need to do everything himself as he deked and juked while three Wild players swarmed him. He finally decided to pass the puck but picked a bad time to do it as Wes Walz’s stick happened to be in the way.

Walz passed the puck to Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who had half of the ice surface with which to work on his way to the net. He deked forehand to backhand and beat Osgood gloveside to win the game at :45 of OT.

Of course, you’d like to see Osgood make that save in today’s shootout era, but blame rests on Datsyuk’s shoulders with that selfish turnover.

… Overall, I felt the Wings and Wild played pretty evenly last night. Both teams had their periods of dominance and both teams had their periods of defensive passivity. The Wild continue to dictate the pace of the game to the Wings, however. It only opens up when the Wild want it to, it seems, and since that isn’t very often, the game wasn’t overly exciting. It’s clear that the Wings have trouble beating teams that prevent them from setting the game’s pace and that sit back patiently, waiting for mistakes. It’s a bit disturbing and hopefully they’ll become better at overcoming stiffling trap-type defenses like the Wild’s.

The last game of this miniseries is on Wednesday at 7:30 in Detroit.