I didn’t take notes on the game so I can only offer a few comments off the top of my head today.
… Dominik Hasek rebounded from his less-than-stellar performance on Long Island with a strong game last night at home, though the score may not indicate it. He was the victim of some bad breaks, but came up huge in the third period when the Blues were trying to mount their 4th comeback. Considering what happened to Dom at 7:43 of the second period, his performance last night was amazing.
It was worst moment of the season: Ryan Johnson got behind the Wings defense, and Brett Lebda could do little more than try to disrupt his shot. Johnson got it off, however, but kept driving to the net at full speed. He left his feet and absolutely nailed Hasek, knocking Dom flat on his back, before ending up against the boards, which finally stopped his momentum. The first Red Wing to go after Johnson was Lebda, and soon he was mobbed, while the training staff came out to check Dom out. He ended up being okay, but the situation had never looked bleaker than when he was laying flat on his back at the edge of the trapezoid.
Johnson got away with a slap on the wrist, a goaltender interference penalty, when he should have been thrown out of the game. He was not hit into Hasek, was not tripped into Hasek, and had ample time to change direction before he bowled him over. It could be argued that he tried to avoid the hit by jumping, but he could have avoided it by going to the right of the rather than across it. I’m trying to find a replay of it and if anyone has one, let me know. I’ve rarely been as upset by a play before.
Andy Murray, the Blues’ coach, had the gall to argue the penalty, but had he taken a second to actually watch the replay, I’d like to believe he would have admitted its validity. However, he was still whining about something at the start of the third period and good money says it had something to do with the Johnson call. My respect for Murray, who is a great coach, went down considerably after seeing how much he fought that penalty.
As for Johnson, he’s joined the Public Enemy Pantheon, with Scott Hartnell, Jordin Tootoo, Raffi Torres, etc. I would have given anything for the Wings to have had Brendan Shanahan on the team last night, because they had no one to set Johnson straight.
One more thing about Dom: he really was in a wandering mood last night, leaving the net on fast breaks at least three times and giving us heartattacks a number of others. Two of his slide-tackle attempts failed pretty badly, which is unusual because he generally makes that play, but only one resulted in a goal, and that was just bad luck.
… Henrik Zetterberg looked great last night. His goal at :33 of the first period should go on highlight reels and his play for the rest of the game was exemplary. He finished with 4 points and the arena first star.
Watching the play develop just before his goal, I definitely didn’t see it coming, because it was a chance similar to many others he’s had this year and I expected him to do what he’s always done: take the puck around the back of the net to try a wraparound or look for a centering pass. Instead, Hank cut to the front of the net and scored with an incredible backhand shot to the top right corner.
… Mathieu Schneider made his return last night and looked mostly solid, though it was evident he was a little rusty (which he admitted) on a few plays, such as the Blues’ first goal. He saved Dom’s behind in the first period when the latter tried to break up a scoring chance by charging the blueline. When Dom missed nabbing the puck, the Blues had a great scoring chance, and Schneider was able to keep it out of the net by good positioning. It was good to have him back.
… Tomas Holmstrom also had a good game. His breakaway goal in the third period was a pleasant surprise and his tip-in goal in the second was all the revenge for the Johnson hit that we can hope for.
… I wasn’t too impressed with the shortness of the review on Tkachuk’s third period goal. The question was whether or not he had knocked it down with a high stick and they took about 30 seconds to decide. FSN had barely gotten its replay up before the goal was being confirmed and the puck was getting dropped at center. However, the replay seemed to show his stick was far too high and I would have liked to have seen them look at it longer to decide. Not sure why they can spend 15 minutes when Holmstrom scores a similar goal, but turn around and be so sure when Tkachuk scores it.
… Chris Chelios looked great last night. He made a very impressive play on a 2-on-1 at one point and I wanted to see a replay of it, but it never came. Basically, he stood his ground on the puck carrier, went to his knees and took it away. I hadn’t seen an odd-man rush played like that before, but it worked very well.
… Overall, the game served to inflame my dislike of the Blues, from Johnson’s run on Hasek, to Cajanek’s tomahawk chop high-sticking of Kirk Maltby in the second period, to Murray’s whining about calls. I’m glad the Wings made their playoff hopes all the more dim, and while part of me would like to see them play St. Louis in the playoffs, I’d probably rather see the Blues fall on their faces and fail in their attempt to redeem their season.
Next up: @ NYR on Monday at 7:00 ET.