On the Wings

Update (11:16 AM): Some more reactions to the game:

Gorilla Crouch.

Mile High Hockey. Comment: have you not watched this series at all? Darren Helm is the guy centering the fourth line that has given your Avs so much trouble at various. Sure, that line has allowed at least two goals, but still. He’s been impressive.

Earl Sleek at the FanHouse.

CBC Playoff Blog. - Matt

The Detroit Red Wings took a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference Semifinal series against the Colorado Avalanche last night with a 4-3 road win. They were the third team to do so in the same night. Pittsburgh and Dallas have also pushed their opponents to the brink of elimination through three games.

I did not take notes on the game, so some general thoughts follow:

… Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg had probably their best game of the playoffs.

For whatever reason, I had a feeling Pavel would have a big night after I saw him come out hard following the Avs’ first goal. He did not disappoint. He finished a somewhat botched (I’ll get to that) play by Zetterberg to tie the game at one, and demonstrated incredible hands on his second goal. He appeared to knock down a Brian Rafalski shot before transporting it to the left and then into the net. His pass on Zetterberg’s goal was unbelievable. Without the puck, he was a threat all night as well. He finished with only one credited takeaway, but that’s well short of accurate.

As for Zetterberg, he’s showing a newfound Datsyuk-like ability with the puck, as evidenced by his carry-in on Datsyuk’s first goal. I believe he lost the puck off the end of his stick as he cut across (hence the “somewhat botched” above), but it all turned out because he has the best linemate in the League.

… Adrian Dater wrote last night that the officiating was terrible. I couldn’t agree more, though I have a slightly different take on it. Yes, the Forsberg goaltender interference call was awful. Yes, the make-up call on Zetterberg soon after was bad as well (the concept of “makeup call” is just ridiculous to me, but that’s a topic for another time). Yes, Johan Franzen could have been called for tripping when Forsberg deked Chelios out of his jock strap and left #93 alone to deal with his countryman.

All that being said, those calls were little worse than the poor standard of officiating we’ve been seeing all playoffs. I’m more concerned with the Avs’ tactics of mauling the Wings constantly and only occasionally getting called for it. The vicious Laperriere hit on Brett Lebda was just one of three or four examples of hits from behind perpetrated by the Avs. With all the slashing and roughing going on, the Avs are fortunate more wasn’t called.

… Peter Forsberg had some moments in which he looked dangerous, but the Wings did a great job of neutralizing him. I believe Nik Kronwall got a big hit on him and it was heart-warming to see little Brian Rafalski stand him up in the neutral zone in the third period.

He played with his usual edge, taking a tooth out of Samuelsson’s mouth with a baseball swing after Sammy dared to hit him. He could have gone to the box for elbowing and high sticking on that one.

The loss of Stastny compounded the loss of Smyth and made it much more difficult for Forsberg to make an impact. It was pretty obvious that he was playing hurt.

… I thought last night was Brad Stuart’s best of the playoffs. He brought a physical dimension he hasn’t shown too often since coming here.

… I also thought Brett Lebda had a strong game. The Laperierre hit apparently knocked some good play into him as he was more noticeable than ususal. His play on the Johan Franzen goal was something I could stand to see more often.

… Valtteri Filppula needs to stop hitting the post. Twine, Fil. Twine!

… Remember when Mikael Samuelsson was in our collective doghouse? I think he’s well out of it now. He’s looked pretty good this series.

… Chris Chelios had something of a rough game.

… The fourth line didn’t shine as much last night as it did at home, but that’s understandable given the fact that Quenneville could have his top unit out there against them if he wanted.

… Chris Osgood looked like his usual solid self. He didn’t really have a chance on any of the Avs’ goals, but he still made 30 saves. As long as the Wings are scoring at this rate, three goals on 33 shots isn’t bad.

… I don’t know what happened to the Wings at the start of the third. On their first bench minor, they just had six guys out there skating around, similar to Colorado’s bench minor in the second period. On their second one, Valtteri Filppula misread Dallas Drake’s intentions and hopped on before #17 was actually coming off. The Avs smartly pressed Drake against the boards on top of the puck, forcing the call from the official.

The Avs scored on the second one and brought themselves within one. Fortunately, the Wings were able to hold them off for the rest of the period or else that stretch would have really stood out as a turning point, perhaps in the series.

… All in all, a strong game by the Wings. They handled a highly motivated Colorado team and did what they had to do to take a stranglehold in the series. They now face the difficult task of notching that fourth win and it’s not going to be easy. Game 4 will be another stiff test of their determination.

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