On the Wings

Update (4:30 PM): The answer to my question below about the pairings, via MacLeod:

Babcock said that he split Rafalski and Lidstrom on the road. He wanted a puck-moving defenseman — Rafalski — to play when Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were on the ice and a stopper — Lidstrom — on the ice whenever Nashville’s top line of Jason Arnott, Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov were on the ice.

Ah.

Well, with the Wings having the last change tomorrow night, Nick and Rafi will be reunited. - Matt

Update (1:22 PM): The Forchecker analyzes the faceoff statistics in this series. - Matt

Update (11:40 AM): One other thing I wanted to say: why did Babcock screw with the top four defensemen?

I see no reason to disrupt the two top units given the chemistry that has developed between Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and between Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart. I have to wonder if that wasn’t a major contributing factor in the Wings’ horrible start last night.

The insertion of Brett Lebda in the lineup should have changed nothing but the third pairing. - Matt

Update (11:29 AM): George Malik looks at the question of the Game 5 starter here. His conclusion: start Osgood, but that’s not the solution to the problem. This is a team-wide issue (with the exception of Pavel Datsyuk, Nick Lidstrom, and Tomas Holmstrom). - Matt

The Nashville Predators tied up “Series E” with the Detroit Red Wings last night as they skated to a 3-2 win at home.

Some thoughts on the game:

… I’m going to be hyperbolic and say that the first period and first half or so of the second period were among the biggest letdowns I remember as a fan. Nothing I saw this season prepared me for that. The slump in February at least could be attributed to injuries. Last night, all the power of the Red Wings roster was assembled and they couldn’t get it done. Instead, they looked like a bunch of guys in a pre-season game.

Even with their improved play toward the end of the period, I went into the third with my confidence in the team at a low point. They looked nothing like the team that ripped apart the League in the regular season.

… Pulling Dominik Hasek was absolutely the right decision. He wasn’t outright awful, but it’s clear that things are not going his way. That third Nashville goal was a backbreaker and the responsibility for that one rests on his Dom’s shoulders. It just clean beat him.

Osgood came in and slowly restored my confidence in the goaltending. You could see the team develop confidence as well. Without Osgood, that third period never would have happened and the Wings would have nothing to build on going into Game 5.

I don’t know who I’d like to see Friday night. Dom has a history of rebounding strong from bad games, but that may just be beyond him now. Osgood’s calm and poise, on the other hand, seemed to spread through the team on some level, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the nod.

… I have to say that Trotz and Poile’s lobbying has paid off in spades for the Predators. The officials pretty much gave them free rein last night. How many times was a Red Wing hauled to the ice, boarded, or tied up with no call?

Bill McCreary officiated with a chip on his shoulder, as evidenced by his ridiculous spazz-out on Tomas Holmstrom at the end of the first period: a whistle and “GET THE F— IN THERE!!!” when Holmstrom dared to ask about the call. He and the linesmen also micromanaged the face-off circle to the point where it seemed like nary a faceoff went by that a center wasn’t thrown out.

So the officiating sucked and has since Trotz and Poile whined about it, but that’s not the reason the Wings lost. The blown calls could have been overcome, but they couldn’t find a way to do it.

… One thing I hope we hear about again happened just before Chelios’ 15:31 interference penalty. With the two sides grinding the puck out along the boards, Kris Draper fell down. Jordin Tootoo then saw fit to step on Draper’s back in order to get to his other side. It seems to me that something’s wrong with that.

… I’m cautiously hopeful about Game 5. The Wings showed in the third period last night that they aren’t collapsing completely. Make no mistake about it, however, the Predators are now in the driver’s seat.

This happened in 2004 and the Wings pulled out wins in Games 5 and 6 to eliminated the Predators. They have it in them to do that again. It’s just a question of whether or not they will dig deep enough to take the wheel back from Nashville.

… For a better description of the game’s events, see Christy’s liveblog. Dave also has a look at the game.