On the Wings

Just have time for a few comments:

… The shot totals and the final score indicate a more lopsided game than it really was. I thought the Jackets played very well. They carried the play early the game and held their own throughout much of the rest of it. The Wings are great at shutting down the end of plays, which explains the Jackets’ 16 shots. What is surprising is that they only managed 8 shots with the man advantage, which isn’t much over one shot per power play on average. I’ll put that down to the Red Wing penalty killers.

… Niklas Kronwall laid a nice hit on Sergei Fedorov at the Columbus blue line in the first period, drawing a lot of cheers from the crowd. Sergei had just taken a pass and had time to get his head up before getting stopped in his tracks by a hit that connected all the way from his shoulder to his hip.

… Speaking of Sergei and the crowd, fans at the Joe continued their classless tradition of booing Fedorov every time he touched the puck. Apparently, that’s what three Cups are worth these days.

… Scary moment in the second period: Rick Nash on a carry-out backhanded the puck right in to Dan Cleary’s face. I’m not claiming it was intentional because the puck is harder to control on the backhand, but you’d like to see Nash be a little more careful there. Cleary was about six feet in front of him and Nash could have done any number of things with the puck beside put it in Dan’s face. Cleary went straight to the lockerroom and came back with a patched up face and a shield.

… Pascal Leclaire is a great goalie who is very likely to make the initial save. He doesn’t give up big rebounds, but he doesn’t always control the puck off a shot and that’s how two of the Wings’ four goals were scored: digging up rebounds around the net. On both plays, Leclaire did not hold the post. On Homer’s goal, he was able to flip it over Leclaire’s pad, while Cleary was able to put it past his skate on his second. I don’t know if that’s how he’s generally scored on, but the Wings should be able to recreate those conditions in future games given the fact that they have the best around-the-net guy in the league and several understudies of his on the roster.

… Hasek looked good in his return. The Jackets’ goal was essentially a foregone conclusion, so I’m not blaming him for it. He made a number of key saves at various points in the game and definitely did his job. In the post-game, you could hear it in his voice that he wished he’d had more work, but he gave credit to his teammates for their tight defensive play. Dom had the best quote of the broadcast during a brief feature on his daily practice routine:

“… then I warm up my butt …”

I don’t know, maybe I was just tired, but the way he said it made it sound hilarious. Anyway.

… I had a feeling Henrik Zetterberg’s point streak would end last night. Well, his teammates, particularly Pavel Datsyuk, must have sensed my doubt, because they essentially forced the Jackets to give up a point to Zetterberg late in the third period. They went on the power play at 16:02 and after an ineffectual second unit went off, the first unit came out and, with the exception of Tomas Holmstrom (lost his stick and returned to the bench in exchange for Kirk Maltby) they did not leave the ice until 18:32, when Hank scored. Heck, they didn’t even leave the Jackets’ zone. It got to the point where I almost felt bad for Columbus because they could not get the puck cleared no matter how hard they tried. They had to be dead by the time Hank beat Leclaire 5-hole.

It was reminiscent of the power play on which the Wings scored their 7th goal on Colorado in the 2002 Conference Finals Game 7. That time, the Wings put on a clinic for about the whole power play until Pavel Datsyuk scored on a one-timer from the halfboards that blew past a diving Aebischer. Last night’s performance leading up to the final goal was a fine demonstration of what this team can do if it sets its mind on it.

… A good game for both teams, really. The Wings didn’t disappoint and the Jackets have been chastened a bit. I’m sure they’ll be ready for the rematch on the 18th.

Be sure to watch the highlight reel.