On the Wings

Update (2:10 PM): I forgot to mention earlier that Henrik Zetterberg’s home point streak ended at 27 games last night. With the net empty at the end of the third, the team made an obvious push to get him the puck, but he sent his best chance wide. As unfortunate as that was, it’s good to see the Wings winning on secondary scoring, with Tomas Kopecky getting the game-winner rather than someone from the top line. - Matt

The Wings won their only meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, putting up four goals to the Bolts’ two last night at the Joe. Despite the fact that Tampa managed 23 shots, it seemed to me that the game was one of the more lopsided contests game the Wings have played all season. They dictated play virtually the whole game. Quite frankly, the Lightning were a disappointment.

… Marc Denis was in net for Tampa Bay. He should take the posts out to dinner, as they are the only reason he didn’t get lit up for eight goals instead of four. Two of the post incidents were especially memorable. On the first, Denis was completely down and out with Pavel Datsyuk looking at a wide-open net in a situation similar to his eventual goal. The defenseman must have gotten his stick on the puck at the last second because it’s hard to believe Pavel would shank it that badly, but it clanged off the far post. Later, the prettiest passing play you ever saw ended with a heavy Henrik Zetterberg shot going off the far side post in the other end. That one really hurt because it would have been such a great play to put on the highlight reel.

… At the other end, Chris Osgood was stellar. He had zero chance on either of the Lightning’s two goals and great saves on their few scoring chances. He continues to exude confidence.

… Chris Chelios’ pass to Jiri Hudler on the opening goal was a thing of beauty. Great veteran play by Chelios and nice anticipation by Jiri. The little Czech is looking better all the time.

… Pavel Datsyuk is heating. IwoCPO puts it perfectly at Abel to Yzerman:

And speaking of Datsyuk…stand by. He’s been around long enough for us to recognize the signs and they’re all there. 4 goals and 6 points the last three games and he’s just heating up. Forget the stats and just consider the way he’s controlling play every shift.

He’s been racking up the assists all year, but now the puck is going in for him and he’s looking as sharp as ever. That’s great news for the Wings.

… I give lots of credit to Aaron Downey for choosing to ignore Andre Roy when the Wings were ahead. Roy was trying to get him to go most of the night, but Downey knew it would only serve to get the Lightning fired up at a time in which the Wings were dominating. Keeping Downey was another great decision by the Wings.

… Tomas Kopecky’s goal in the second period came as a complete surprise to me. I knew he had offensive skill, but I never expected to see him break in, shoulder-fake Denis, and roof it like he did. One of the prettier goals of the year so far, even if it was against a sub-par goalie. As much as the team wants him to focus on his defensive game, I hope that goal just the beginning for him.

… Ken Daniels and Mikey Redmond spent the remainder of the night singing Andreas Lilja’s praises following Kopecky’s goal. The big Swede’s pass that let Kopey get in the clear was definitely a great one and evidence that Nick Lidstrom is rubbing off on #3 more than most fans think. I’m starting to appreciate Lilja more and more, and already consider him one of the team’s better penalty killers.

… Mark Hartigan was a complete non-factor in the game. The two highly-knowledgeable Griffins fans that I watched the game with called him a dirty, lazy player. I’m glad he’s been sent back to the Griffins.

… Good to see Dan Cleary get on the board again. As with Kopecky, hopefully he’ll be able to build on the goal.

… All in all, a strong performance by the Wings, who’ll need to keep up the offensive dominance as they head into a game against Ilya Bryzgalov and the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. While the Coyotes aren’t anything to write home about, but Bryzgalov is a great goalie and one that’ll be harder to beat than Marc Denis.

Links

• Baroque’s recap at HockeyTownTodd
• Highlight Reel
• Post-game interviews (as single mp3 file here)
  • Jiri Hudler
  • Mike Babcock
  • Dan Cleary
  • Tomas Kopecky
• Boxscore