On the Wings

Update (11:3 AM): Paul Kukla has a screencap of the Bertuzzi/Holmstrom Double Screen. I doubt Norrena can see much of anything, but there isn’t much room for a puck either. - Matt

I didn’t take notes on the game, choosing rather to enjoy it (ha! this was not an enjoyable game) than try to get a detail down and miss three more in the process. So, just a few comments on the obvious things:

… Todd Bertuzzi was about as good as can be expected in his debut. He looks bigger on the ice than I remembered, but that was fun to watch as he deflected bodies on his way around the rink.

He told FSN that he’d only practiced about 10 minutes with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, and I think it showed. The three haven’t developed much chemistry and he was definitely a little behind Homer and Pavel at times. Also, I think it might be better if Bertuzzi and Holmstrom were split up. With two big bodies in front of the net, you’d think there’d be more chances to score, but the puck seemed to get blocked by one or the other of them more often than not.

As far as offensive chances went, Todd had a few. One came later in the game just after I said I hadn’t seen him much recently. He burst in over the line and drove to the net. The puck was knocked away, but the defenseman rode him into the crease and Norrena got flattened. My apologies to Norrena, but it was great to see a Red Wing drive to the net with impunity like that.

Physically, he looked good. He didn’t shy away from contact and dealt out some of it himself. There was a scary moment at the start of the second period when FSN said he wasn’t on the bench, but it turns out he was only getting stitiches for having taken a Chris Chelios shootaround in the chin.

He nearly scored in the shootout as the Wings’ second shooter, lifting a backhand shot just off the crossbar. He had Norrena beat, but put it just a little too high.

He had just stepped on the ice when Pavel Datsyuk broke down the left wing and whistled a snap shot under Norrena’s glove to put the Wings up 1-0, so he was +1 on the night. Not a bad start for a guy who hasn’t played since October. None of that first-goal-on-first-shift/shot stuff, but that’s certainly okay. He’ll become more involved as he develops chemistry.

… Chris Osgood was phenomenal last night. It wasn’t the most offensive game ever, but the Blue Jackets definitely had the advantage in scoring chances. Osgood was essentially perfect in regulation, having only been beaten by a tip-in off his own player (Robert Lang), and he almost stopped that. He definitely kept the Wings in the game while they were sleeping in the first and second periods.

In the shootout, he was the victim of a quick shot over the glove and some Forsbergian trickiness, but he made more than enough saves to ensure the win, had his teammates delivered at the other end. Still, with the game on the stick of Sergei Fedorov, I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising that the Blue Jackets won. Now Sergei and Ozzie are even.

… Dan Cleary impressed me in his return to the ice. In the third period especially he demonstrated some great offensive initiative and came close on a couple rushes. He sniped Norrena in the shootout, beating him with a quick 5-hole shot, which was fun to watch. Good to see he hasn’t missed a step.

… I don’t know if it was just because the game was the first after a Western road trip or what, but the Wings looked very flat for most of the night. They turned it on for the third period, but only until they scored their goal and then they became complacent again.

They had far more trouble with the Jackets than they have any right to have and it’s a little worrisome. Sure, they still have 8 games left, but they need to get things going soon or they’ll be in trouble. They aren’t going to be able to just flip a switch and suddenly play their “A” game when they’re facing a team that’s actually ready for the playoffs in the first round. There’s no excuse for them not to elevate their play in this final stretch. It may take a couple games, but they’re playing what should be easy competition for most of their remaining games and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t hit the playoffs firing on all cylinders.

… If they’d won, they would have the Conference lead right now. Nashville lost in overtime last night and only earned a point, their 101st. The Wings would have had 101 points after a win as well, and would have taken first due to the points percentage tie-breaker. Still, they did get their 100th point, which counts for something.

Next up, we have St. Louis on Saturday at 2:00 on your local Fox affiliate. That’s not going to be an easy one, especially if they play like they did last night.