by true Citizens of Hockeytown
Ryan Doherty of The Hockeytown Blog has the latest. Basically, he’s feeling better, but not good enough, and is looking to return before the end of the month. That’s not the best news, to be honest. I’m with George Malik on this:
… if this doesn’t cement the concept that the Wings need to acquire a depth defenceman or two, I don’t know what does
Update (11:25 AM): George Malik has a post-game media roundup here. - Matt
The Red Wings fought through the thicket of Minnesota bodies and sticks to come back from a one-goal deficit late in the third period last night and capped the comeback off with a win in overtime. It was their eighth consecutive victory.
The Wild carried a 2-1 lead through the 18:39 mark of the third. At 18:40, Dan Cleary tied it up after he threw the puck at the net from the left-wing boards. It somehow found its way between Niklas Backstrom and the short-side post. It was Cleary’s 20th of the season and tied a career high set last season.
Minnesota held the Wings off for the remainder of regulation, but couldn’t stop them in extra time. Brett Lebda was the beneficiary of the great work of Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg, who wrecked wrought havoc in the Wild zone while #22 jumped up. With all five Minnesota players on the ice watching him to Backstrom’s left, Zetterberg sent a pass to a wide open Lebda, who netted his third of the season to win the game.
The Wings began the scoring at 9:58 of the first period with Johan Franzen’s 10th goal of the season. Backstrom kicked the rebound off a Tomas Kopecky shot right to the big Swede and he had an easy time of it putting the puck in the net. The goal came seconds after Franzen had hit the post on a feed from Kopecky.
The lead lasted only 1:12, however, as Derek Meech took a bit of a weak hooking penalty at 10:55 and the Wild scored a power play goal fifteen seconds later. Brian Rolston walked out of the right wing corner and stuffed the puck under Dominik Hasek, who had gone down on his side in order to take away the bottom of the net.
The game remained tied until Pavol Demitra scored the go-ahead goal at 5:36. The play began when Pierre-Marc Bouchard tripped Valtteri Filppula in the Minnestoa zone near the left point. The Wild defenseman then picked up the puck and sent it out to Demitra on the opposite wing. A 2-on-1 developed, with Andreas Lilja the only Wing back. Demitra beat Hasek high gloveside with a quick shot from 37 feet out.
The Wild would eventually fall back into a defensive posture, but immediately following their goal, they looked to press home the attack. They had the Wings on their heels a bit, but their push was interrupted by a four-minute roughing penalty taken at 9:48 of the second.
It was not the Wings’ best power of the season and could have been a back-breaker for a weaker team. They got off only a couple shots over the course of four minutes and were manhandled in front of the net by an ornery Wild defense. Jiri Hudler, taking the role of Tomas Holmstrom for the second unit, was roughed up by three Minnesota players when he refused to back down after the whistle had gone.
On the next shift, Holmstrom faced a similar situation. When Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg skated in to provide support, they too were mobbed. Brent Burns gave Zetterberg a completely uncalled-for facewash, nearly knocking him down. The end result of the fray was penalties to Datsyuk and Mikko Koivu, both for roughing.
At 18:03 of the second period, Datsyuk took his second penalty of the game. This time, it was a weak holding-the-stick call. On the ensuing power play, Bouchard had a glorious chance in the slot, but he took too long to get the puck off and it was deflected high and wide.
The Wings looked strong in the third period, but the were competing with a tight-checking Minnesota squad. In an effort to get back in the game, Mike Babcock switched up the lines somewhat. Henrik Zetterberg centered Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary on at least one shift, and Johan Franzen skated between Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky. Franzen also saw time with Kris Draper and Samuelsson.
The team came close to tying it up a number of times throughout the period as they put up 16 shots to the Wild’s 3. Niklas Backstrom’s quick glove and Minnesota’s ability to get to loose pucks before the Wings made a comeback difficult. The Wild were well on their way to pulling off a win when Cleary’s bad angle shot suddenly changed the game.
Although he was kept off the scoreboard, Pavel Datsyuk had a strong night.
Dominik Hasek continues to allay fears about his ability to win games as he made a number of key saves throughout the game, keeping the Wings in it when the Wild had control of the ice. He had a couple huge stops on Marian Gaborik, including one on a breakaway in the second period. Somehow that one did not make it into the NHL’s highlight reel, but this one came just seconds later. He finished with 22 saves.
It was not a perfect game by the Wings. They were beaten to loose pucks more often than not and were too easily defeated by the Wild’s poke-check defense. The power play struggled once again and the penalty kill on the Rolston goal was less than stellar. Although the stats (such as the shot totals) would indicate they deserved to win the game, it’s probably more fair to say that they stole this one from the Wild.
Despite the fact that it was not their best game, the encouraging thing is that they are still finding ways to win.
Next up, the Wings face the Kings at home Thursday. LA activated Mike Cammalleri from the IR yesterday, so they should be more dangerous than they were on January 22nd. During the broadcast last night, they said that Thursday is 80’s Night at the Joe. If you’re going, you know what to do.
Links
Update (06. Feb, 10:14 AM): IwoCPO has posted his thoughts on this here. Be sure to read the comments, too (the comments on this post are worth a read as well). - Matt
In today’s edition, the Free Press’ Helene St. James has a piece on Dan Cleary in which she discusses his contract situation.
The fact that Cleary is in the biggest contract year of his career is complicating things. St. James rightly notes that he’ll be due a significant raise from his current $662,500 and uses Chicago’s Patrick Sharp, who recently signed a four-year, $15.6 million deal ($3.9 million a year) as a point of comparison. She suggests Cleary could command that much on the open market, though the Wings would like to sign him to a longer contract averaging around $2.5 million a season.
St. James pointed this out to Cleary. His response?
“That’s a lot of money. That’s something I would have to talk with my family about and make a decision about. It’d be a tough spot.”
That is a lot of money. However, as St. James points out, the Wings may look to trade Cleary if they can’t reach an agreement by the February 26th deadline. That way they’d get some return in case they cannot come to terms before or during the summer. Of course, if the Wings do make a trade with anybody, it’s not going to be with a competitor contender. Cleary has to know this. In that case, you would think the draw of a shot at the Stanley Cup would weigh more heavily in Dan’s mind than the extra million and a half or so he could get as a free agent.
I for one can’t imagine this team without Cleary, who exemplifies the new Red Wings of the Mike Babcock era and who has become one of my favorite players. Here’s hoping he’ll take the same route as so many of his teammates and accept a “hometown discount.”
Update (4:35 PM): Bruce MacLeod confirms the Red Wings’ lines and pairings listed below. He also provides probable forward and defensive units for Minnesota:
Fedoruk-Demitra-Gaborik
Rolston-Belanger-Bouchard
Veilleux-Koivu-Radivojevic
Voros-Sheppard-ParrishSchultz-Burns
Johnsson-Skoula
Carney-Foster
In a separate post, he has an update on Niklas Kronwall. Nothing new, really, though Mike Babcock told MacLeod,
“Every time you interview Kronner, he’s going to tell you how good he feels. This is going to be longer than he thinks. “
Also, be sure to check out the official Wild preview on the team website.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the Wings ought to have someone writing unique game previews like that rather than rely on AP cookie-cutter previews like this one, which you can find here, here and here among other places. - Matt
Update (1:02 PM): The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune’s Michael Russo reports that Niklas Backstrom will start tonight. He should be back up by Nolan Schafer, who will cover for a sick Josh Harding.
He says, “Looks to me from watching Detroit skate that Dominik Hasek is in net, but not positive.”
Russo also confirms that Mark Parrish will be out. Matt Foy will dress instead.
Lastly, he notes that Jacque Lemaire made the skate optional today, strictly to see who would opt out. As he points out, the fact that everyone but Parrish, Boogaard and Harding participated in the skate should indicate how seriously the Wild are taking this game. - Matt
The Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild face off for the fourth time this season tonight in the State of Hockey. The puck drops at 8:00 ET.
The Wings lead the series 2-1-1, with wins December 7th (5-0) and December 22nd (4-1). Minnesota took the January 10th contest, 6-5 in a shootout at Joe Louis Arena.
Gord Dwyer (39) and Steve Kozari (40) will officiate the game tonight. Mike Cvik (88) and Mark Pare (79) will be the linesmen.
Minnesota finished 7-4-1 in January. Their win over the Wings on the 10th kicked off a three-game streak that ended with a shootout loss to Calgary on the 16th. Two nights later, they dropped a game to the Ducks.
Since then, however, they are 4-1-0, including a revenge win over Anaheim on the 30th. They couldn’t get past the Flames on the 22nd, however. They were in Columbus on February 2nd and pulled out a 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets and are now home for their next three.
The Wild are first in the Northwest Division, with a two-point lead over Colorado and a three-point lead over Calgary. As the Division leader, they occupy the third seed in the West, despite having fewer points than the San Jose Sharks.
Minnesota will be without Derek Boogaard (back), Sean Hill (ankle), and Mark Parrish (concussion).
Marian Gaborik leads the Wild with 28 goals and 55 points. Brian Rolston is second in goals scored with 19, while Pierre-Marc Bouchard is second in points with 45, 11 of which are goals.
Three other Minnesota players have scored 10 or more goals: Parrish (13), Eric Belanger (12), and Pavol Demitra (10). Demitra has four assists in his last two games.
It looks as though Niklas Backstrom will be in net tonight for the Wild, though I cannot find actual confirmation on that. It’s possible that Jacque Lemaire will instead go with Josh Harding, who had a very strong outing against the Wings in the January 10th game.
For the Wild perspective, see The State of Hockey News (preview here), Wild Puck Banter, In the State of Hockey, and Land of Lakes and Hockey.
The Wings finished January 9-2-1, with their only losses coming to Minnesota, Ottawa, and Atlanta. They have won their last seven games, including three California contests and two sets of back-to-back matches. They are coming off a hard-fought win over a physical Boston team in a game that came the night after a depleted Colorado squad tried riding over them rough-shod. In both games, the Wings adjusted to the style of play and came out on top.
Detroit sits atop the Central Division, Western Conference and National Hockey League with 40 wins and 84 points, 16 points ahead of the second-place team overall, Ottawa.
The team will be without defenseman Niklas Kronwall (shoulder) for the third game in a row. Rookie Derek Meech will fill in once more.
Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in goals with 31 and tied with Pavel Datsyuk for the points lead with 65. Datsyuk cracked a nine-game goalless streak with his 18th of the season Saturday in Boston.
Five other Red Wings have 10 or more goals: Tomas Holmstrom (20), Dan Cleary (19), Valtteri Filppula (15), Jiri Hudler (11), and Brian Rafalski (10). Kris Draper and Johan Franzen both have nine, while Mikael Samuelsson has eight.
Projected lines (based on Monday’s practice units):
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Hudler-Filppula-Cleary
Kopecky-Franzen-Samuelsson
Drake-Draper-Maltby
Projected pairings:
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Lebda-Lilja
Meech-Chelios
Expect to see the second and third pairings mix somewhat as Chris Chelios continues to undertake greater responsibility in the absence of Kronwall.
Dominik Hasek should get the start tonight.
For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, and Winging It In Motown.
Todd has his pre-game numbers posted and OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is here.
Minnesota has been strong lately and are certainly looking to prove that they can skate with the best in the league. For them and their fans, this game is huge. If they are going to prove anything, however, they’ll have to do it against a team that is even hotter than they are.
With the exception of LA, the Wings have not just been beating up the League weaklings over their current seven-game winning streak, as their wins over San Jose, Anaheim, Colorado, and Boston indicate. Even the win over the resurgent Phoenix Coyotes cannot be considered a slam dunk. They are humming along at the moment and finding ways to win in spite of various points of adversity. I wouldn’t call this their best stretch of the season, but they are certainly capable of beating you no matter how you play. Just ask the Ducks, Avs, or Bruins.
You can bet that the Wings will be looking to exact revenge for their January 10th home loss to the Wild. They would love nothing more than to return the favor tonight in Minnesota.
… Bruce MacLeod reports that Niklas Kronwall skated today with the team for the first time since his injury on Wednesday.
As good as that news is, it was countered by some bad news: new MRI results have indicated that Kronwall will be out longer than the 10 days originally reported. No specifics were provided, though Kronwall used the words, “a little bit longer than 10 days.” That could mean anything from two to three weeks.
Any setbacks in the recovery process would likely force Ken Holland to make a move for a defenseman, as the trade deadline is fast approaching.
Ryan Doherty says Kronwall wanted to be back by Saturday’s game in Toronto, but that is obviously not likely due to this latest development. Nik will make the trip to Minnesota with the team, however, so that he can continue on-ice rehab.
… In another post, MacLeod shows that Mike Babcock has mixed up the lines a little since the Boston game, promoting Valtteri Filppula back to the second line:
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Hudler-Filppula-Cleary
Kopecky-Franzen-Samuelsson
Drake-Draper-Maltby
That third line has some good size to it, and Cleary’s wrecking ball style should give Hudler anf Filppula plenty of room.
Via Red Wings Corner: the NHL has given Darren McCarty clearance to play in the AHL and the former Red Wing forward has been signed to a professional tryout with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Ryan Foherty reports that Mac will practice with the Griffins today and will play his first game Friday against the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.
McCarty will make his home debut on February 15th at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. It will be the Griffins’ first homegame in two weeks. If all goes well in getting tickets, Sarah, Megan, and I will be at that game.
We’ve been having some comment spam trouble here lately, so I’ve taken a couple of new spam-blocking measures. If you’re having trouble getting your comments through, email me.
Detroit came back from a one-goal deficit in the second period to beat the Bruins 3-1 last night in Boston. The win was their 40th of the season and extended their unbeaten streak to seven games.
If the first period was any indication, the Red Wings were headed for a long night. They came out flat and looked very much like a team that had played a hard-fought game 24 hours before. They were fortunate to have Chris Osgood in net making saves that kept them in it while the Bruins carried the attack. Although the teams finished 10-9 Boston in shots, the Wings seemed to be noticeably outplayed.
They began the second period looking better, but it wasn’t until after they killed off a lengthy 5-on-3 that they really seemed to wake up. With two of the team’s top penalty killers, Nick Lidstrom and Andreas Lilja, in the box, the Wings managed to stave off a determined Bruins team and the resulting boost gave them the jump they needed to tie things up.
Despite the fact that they elevated their play following the big kill, it took the Wings until 15:04 of the second to get on the board. That was largely due to the strong play of Tim Thomas, who was only cracked by a lightning-fast play off a draw from Pavel Datsyuk to Henrik Zetterberg.
Pavel Datsyuk made it 2-1 Detroit after knocking in the rebound of a Zetterberg shot at 1:53 of the third period. The goal snapped a nine-game goalless streak for the Red Wing forward.
Brian Rafalski added to the Wings lead with a blast at 14:02, just eight seconds after the start of a power play. Tomas Holmstrom provided the screen out front.
Chris Osgood finished with 22 saves and improved to 22-3-2 on the season.
Andreas Lilja played a strong game despite an ill-advised holding penalty early in the second.
Tomas Holmstrom looked especially physical and ornery as he dealt out some big hits throughout the game.
An encouraging win for the Wings, who, despite playing the night before, seemed to get stronger as the game went on rather than the reverse. They rebounded from a slow start and found a way to win, which is a good sign as they head down the stretch to the playoffs.
They will face the Wild in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Links
After a month-long absence Dave of Gorilla Crouch is back with a post on possible trades.
I’m sticking with my position, which is that I like the Wings as they are and feel any trade involving a roster player would be worse than no trade at all. Is it really worth it to disrupt a lockerroom that is as good as any this team has ever had?
If they can conjure up a trade involving prospect or some draft picks, fine. Go for it. Otherwise, my thought is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Update (1:01 PM): Writing at a newly-redesigned Red Wings Corner, Bruce MacLeod reports Dallas Drake will dress tonight after being a healthy scratch against Colorado.
He also says there’s a possibility that Aaron Downey could remain in the lineup, if Babcock decides the makeup of Boston’s roster demands the presence of an enforcer. In that case, MacLeod says, either Tomas Kopecky or Kirk Maltby will be scratched. Given Kopecky’s play of late, I’d have to think Maltby would be the odd man out.
It looks like Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski will start out together tonight. That would likely mean Brett Lebda and Chris Chelios would share time with Andreas Lilja. Chelios will also likely be paired with young Derek Meech. - Matt
Update (12:47 PM): The Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa confirms that Marco Sturm will be in the lineup and that Tim Thomas will start tonight.
He also provides projected lines and pairings for the Bruins:
Sturm-Savard-Kessel
Lucic-Metropolit-Kobasew
Axelsson-Krejci-Schaefer
Reich-Nokelainen-ThorntonChara-Wideman
Stuart-Ward
Ference-Hnidy
Also, Ansar Khan notes that this is the first time the Wings have made the trip to Boston since 2004. They lost 2-1 in overtime on January 10 of that year. - Matt
Tonight is the only meeting this season between the Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins. The Bruins won the last meeting, 6-3, on March 11th, 2007.
The referees tonight will be Mike Hasenfratz (30) and Marc Joanette (25). The linesmen will be David Brisebois (96) and Pat Dapuzzo (60).
The Bruins are 8-3-1 in 2008, with their losses coming to Carolina, Montreal (twice), and Toronto (SO). They have won their last three, however, beginning with a 4-1 decision over the Islanders on January 24th. They returned from the All Star Break with a 3-1 win over Nashville on the 29th and followed that up with a 4-1 win in Ottawa on the 31st. Tonight is their final game against Western Conference opponents this season, against whom they are 6-3-0.
Boston is third place in the Northeast Division with 59 points, nine behind the leader Ottawa. They currently occupy the seventh seed in the East, but are within a point of the fifth-place team, Pittsburgh. The eighth-place Rangers are just one point behind them.
Marc Savard leads the team with 59 points, 46 of which are assists. Marco Sturm’s 34 points are second-best. Six Bruins have 10 or more goals: Chuck Kobasew (18), Marco Sturm (17), Phil Kessel (14), Savard (13), Glen Metropolit (10), Glen Murrary (10). PJ Axelsson is not far behind with nine.
The Bruins will be without Bobby Allen (back), Glen Murrary (hip flexor strain), Andrew Alberts (post-concussion syndrome), and Patrice Bergeron (concussion, broken nose). Manny Fernandez is also unavailable due to a December 12th knee surgery. The Freep lists Marco Sturm (illness) as questionable, but the Boston Globe reports that he is expected to play.
Tim Thomas will get the start for the Bruins. He is the league leader in save-percentage at .931.
For the Bruins’ perspective, be sure to stop by The Bear Cave (preview here), Bruins Blog, Bruins Nation, The Bruins Report, Five For Writing, Ghosts of the Garden, The Old Bruins Fan, so.very.obsessed., The Spoked B, and WickedBruinsFan’s Blog.
The Wings improved to 10-2-1 in 2008 with a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche last night at Joe Louis Arena. Despite outshooting the Avs by a wide margin (they finished 35-15), the Wings couldn’t get the puck in the net until 17:40 of the third period. Peter Budaj was a wall.
They caught a break late in the second period when a Milan Hejduk goal was waived off when the official ruled Scott Hannan had interfered with Dominik Hasek. The ref failed to notice that Hannan had been pushed into the Red Wing goaltender by Brett Lebda in a battle for position. Once the goal was waived off, however, it was not reviewable.
Henrik Zetterberg finally got the Wings late in the third with his 30th goal of the season. Coming from behind the net, he tried slamming it in and was helped by the stick of the Colorado defenseman, who redirected the puck up and through Budaj. Kris Draper added an empty net goal at 19:47. It was just his fourth in his last 37 games.
Dominik Hasek earned his 80th career shutout, but did not have to do much as the Colorado game-plan for two periods was something of an offense-less variation on the Anaheim strategy: they tried to use physical play to get under the Wings’ skin and force them to frustration. They were largely unsuccessful. In the third period, their strategy changed and they started to focus more on offensive hockey, finishing with 11 shots in the final twenty minutes.
After seeing how tightly the Avs have played the Wings in their last two games, I have to say that I do not find the prospect of playing them in the first round very attractive. Even as depleted as they were, they very nearly took a point out of that game, and could have easily won, despite being outplayed.
The win gave Detroit 82 points and extended their league lead over the idle Ottawa Senators to 14 points.
Pavel Datsyuk notched two assists* last night, bringing his total to 46 on the season. He has eight assists in his last five games, but has not scored a goal himself since the Wings’ 1-0 win over Colorado on the 8th. That’s nine goalless games. Tonight’s a great chance for Pavel to snap out of that semi-slump and get some All Star redemption at the same time.
The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall (sternoclavicular joint sprain) tonight. Derek Meech will get his third straight game in the lineup.
Aaron Downey played last night and because I missed the pre-game coverage and most of the first period, I’m somewhat out of the loop as to why. I assume it had to do with resting Dallas Drake and with having a tough guy in the lineup against Colorado. Drake should be back in tonight.
Projected lines:
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Samuelsson-Franzen-Cleary
Hudler-Filppula-Kopecky
Drake-Draper-Maltby
I noticed Babcock mixed things up as the game went on last night, but the above will probably be his starting point.
Projected pairings:
Lidstrom-Lilja
Lebda/Chelios-Rafalski
Chelios-Meech
The pairings seemed pretty fluid last night, so we can definitely expect to see a departure from these.
Chris Osgood will get the start tonight. His his .926 save-percentage is good for second in the League.
For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, and Winging It In Motown.
Todd has his pre-game numbers posted and OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is up at Kulka’s Forums.
Tonight will be a good test of the Wings’ patience, as they will have to deal with a very defensively-minded team that is backed up by another strong goaltender. If the Bruins are intent on keeping the pace of the game down, that should suit the Wings, who will be in something of an energy conservation mode after playing last night.
Al Strachan recently wrote a piece in The Hockey News calling the Bruins “boring,” but if this game is anything like most other Original Six match-ups, there should be enough emotion to make it interesting.
*One of which came on Draper’s empty net goal. Return
