On the Wings

The Detroit Red Wings advanced to the Western Conference Finals after completing their Semifinal sweep of the Colorado Avalanche last night with an 8-2 win on the road.

… First off, I want to point you to what I think may be the best quote on this series that I’ve seen:

Bottom line is that we didn’t get the series that we thought we would; this tilt between the Wings and the Colorado Avalanche was supposed to be like a rematch between Godzilla and King Kong. And just as we’re all pumped up to see the two beasts rumble, the lizard shoots the ape in the head with a pistol like Indy against the swordsman in “Raiders.” So sad.

- Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo! NHL Experts Blog

That pretty much describes one half of my feelings exactly. The other half is thrilled, of course.

… Now: the game. For all their later dominance, I did not think the Wings started so hot. The first few minutes were sloppy and not very encouraging. Mikael Samuelsson relieved the stress a bit with a softie on Jose Theodore at 4:33, but that relief was short-lived as the Avs scored just over two minutes later. As I wrote last night, down to the 18:00 mark, the game looked like it’d be a tough one.

… The floodgates opened with a bit of a flukey one from Tomas Holmstrom. The play began in the Detroit end with Pavel Datsyuk tipping it up to Henrik Zetterberg and springing Hank and Homer on a 2-on-1.

Zetterberg made a great fake and dished the puck across to Holmstrom, who I don’t think got all he wanted on it. The puck beat Theodore just inside the right post nonetheless. Had Homer gotten the shot he wanted, he may have put it right into Theodore’s chest rather than along the ice at the post.

That goal came at 18:34.

… At 19:21, Johan Franzen made it 3-1. The play began at center on a fast transition with Franzen and Valtteri Filppula on the attack. Franzen sent the puck across to Filppula, who immediately returned it. Franzen had a split second of trouble with the puck as it came back to his feet, but he managed to put it past Theodore to score his first of the night. Theodore was slow getting across once again.

… To start the second, Jose Theodore was yanked and Peter Budaj was put in the line of fire. Within six minutes, he gave up two to Henrik Zetterberg. The first came on the power play and was a one-timer rocket from 50 feet out with Holmstrom screening. The second was Zetterberg’s circus goal. Budaj didn’t have much chance on either one.

… The onslaught continued when Henrik Zetterberg took control of the puck while the Wings were shorthanded and carried it up ice with Johan Franzen on a 2-on-1. With John-Michael Liles completely unable to do anything, Zetterberg got the puck across to Franzen, who calmly put it over Budaj at virtually the last possible moment. 6-1 Wings at 11:37.

… Franzen completed his hat trick and set a team record for most goals in a single series (and an NHL record for most goals in a four-game series) with a tip in off a Nick Lidstrom shot at 17:15.

… Mikael Samuelsson finished the scoring for the Wings with his second of the night at 8:02 of the third. After a failed Avs breakout, Filppula carried it in and dished it across to Jiri Hudler while Samuelsson went to the side of the net. Hudler got the puck over to Sammy for an easy tip-in.

… Liles put the Avs within six with a screened slapshot at 10:26.

… This is a minor quibble given the final score, but how the heck did Tomas Holmstrom get a tripping penalty there? He was the one getting hauled down in front of the net!

… Andreas Lilja had a couple bad spots in his cover game for Chelios. First and foremost was his blown coverage on the Arnasson goal. He definitely looked like a guy who hadn’t played since Game 3 of the Nashville series.

… Chris Osgood was solid once again. If nothing else, the mental effect his presence has had on the Wings is the key to the way this run has gone so far.

… Fabian Brunnstrom was no doubt wowed by the game. I just hope it wasn’t to point where he says, “I’ll never get a chance to crack the lineup!”

… Again, I want to give the Avs credit for not stooping to goon hockey despite getting embarrassed. A lot of teams would have been sore losers, but the Avs went out with class.

… There’s no arguing that Colorado’s injury troubles and poor coaching decisions made it easier for the Wings. However, I think the Wings were dominant enough in this series that even a fully healthy Avs team and one backstopped by Budaj instead of Theodore could not have beaten them. It would not have been a sweep, but I truly believe the Wings still would have advanced.

They are on a mission. Don’t expect them to stumble just because they made it look so easy against the Avs.

Links

Highlights

Gorilla Crouch

Greg Wysynski

Mile High Hockey

Jerseys and Hockey Love

Shane Giroux

Jibblescribbits

In the Cheap Seats (and here)