On the Wings

Just a few more thoughts on the game:

… It sure would be nice if the officials would learn how to count. They missed two or three Anaheim bench minors (and I’m guessing the Wings had too many men a time or two as well) at key points in the game.

… The Ducks probably had a slight edge in an otherwise even first period. Dom was steady, though, and so was the defense. The Wings had a number of chances of their own, though none on the power play. The Ducks continued with their slight edge into the second, but the Wings gradually took control and dominated the majority of the rest of play.

… Valtteri Filppula continued his dominance of Scott Niedermeyer with a nice chance in the first five minutes of the period. He didn’t have any support down low, though, and the chance fizzled out.

… Six minutes into the second period and we’re still wondering when the first Ducks penalty would come. It’s not like they weren’t committing anything offenses, but apparently the refs didn’t see it that way.

… It took about 6 replays for me to understand how Andreas Lilja’s goal went in. I kept watching the posts, but it wasn’t until NBC finally showed the overhead view that I saw it hit the net to Giguere’s left. Not a great goal for JS to give him, to be sure.

… Henrik Zetterberg showed a lack of concern over his own physical well-being when he laid the body on Chris Pronger midway through the period. Nice to see Pronger take the hit like a man and not retaliate.

… The Wings’ first power play was pretty pathetic. The Robert Lang chance that led to it was better than anything they had with the man advantage.

… On the next power play, though, they came about as close to scoring as they could come: Zetterberg took a shot and Holmstrom swept the rebound through the crease behind Giguere, parallel to the goalline about a foot out. Brett Hull said later that, “He shot it perpendicular!” Um, not so much, Brett, but I wish he had. Then it would have been a goal.

… Todd Bertuzzi, perhaps showing the first signs of his reinjury (could be out Game 6), had a nice opportunity to drive to the net after the power play, but chose rather to wheel and deal around with the puck. He obviously has good hands, but it would have been nice to see some bull-in-a-china-store stuff there, but if he was hurt, I guess there’s nothing to say.

… Filppula put on a nice forecheck late in the period and nearly connected with a teammate off a steal. Would have been a great play. I’m getting a little tired of saying “would have been a great play,” with Fil. He seems on the verge of breaking out and hopefully tomorrow night is the night.

… Right at the end of the period, the Ducks had a nice little flurry of pressure in the Detroit end, but the puck somehow stayed out of the net. Scott Niedermeyer lowered the boom on Dan Cleary in a bit of a nasty hit.

… Early in the third, the Wings couldn’t clear their zone to save their lives. The Ducks cycled very well for a long time, but finally, the puck somehow got out.

… Later in the period, Holmstrom nearly scored off a tip in. Another missed chance.

… Kyle Quincey took an awkward hit from a Duck along the benches. He ended up sliding along with one leg in and another out. Can’t have felt good.

… Pavel Datsyuk was called for interference at 18:13 of the third. I still haven’t seen a replay that shows anything remotely resembling interference, so I can only conclude that it was a BS call. At that stage in the game, I don’t know that the officials should be calling little crap anyway. I hate chintzy calls.

… Johan Franzen tried clearing the puck on a mad scramble in the Detroit end, but it was kept in on the line somehow by the Ducks and just seconds later, Scott Niedermeyer scored off an incredibly lucky double deflection off Nick Lidstrom. No chance for Hasek, especially after his penalty killers hung him out to dry by not clearing the zone. Even give that it was a 6-on-4 situation, it’s unbelievable that they couldn’t clear it.

… The Ducks got pumped up after that goal and looked good in OT. The Wings looked a little stunned, but not too badly.

… Lilja made a bonehead play on the gamewinner, no doubt about it. He had a guy to his left, but tried to pass it to his right, where MacDonald was and it was knocked down right away. Zetterberg ought to have been covering Selanne rather than streaking up ice, so Teemu was left alone to walk in on Hasek. Although I think Dom was hung out to dry and ultimate blame rests in Lilja, I wish he hadn’t gone down so quickly and easily. Had he stood Selanne up rather than roll, maybe he would have made the save and the game would have continued.

But who knows? It’s all pointless speculation, and I’m not going to play the individual blame game any more than I have. No one involved in that play was the reason the Wings lost. They lost because they could not capitalize on chances earlier in the game, both at even strength and on the power play. They outplayed the Ducks all over the ice, but not on the scoreboard, which is what counts. That obviously cannot happen in Game 6 or else this run will be over. Generating chances is great because it keeps the Ducks from getting their own, but they have to put the puck in the net more. They’ll need to play the best game of the season tomorrow night (though I guess they could be like the Ducks and get widely outplayed, but still find a way to steal a win). I’m confident they can do it and that they will. This is a different Red Wings team. They aren’t going to roll over, folks.