On the Wings

The Detroit Red Wings moved to within one win of the Stanley Cup with their 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night in Game 4 of the Finals.

Some thoughts:

… I didn’t think the game started out very well. For all the reports of the Wings being angry and ready to give the Pens a thrashing, they seemed flat in the opening twenty minutes. Their passing was off for the whole first period and they took some really stupid penalties over that span as well.

… I thought Brian Rafalski and Brad Stuart in particular had rough first periods.

… The Wings’ play gradually began to improve as they rebounded from the early Marian Hossa goal. Nick Lidstrom’s goal at 7:06 of the first was huge. Although it wasn’t technically a power play goal, it may as well have been. It cut short the Pens’ momentum and allowed the Wings to ease into the game.

… I thought the second period was largely uneventful and pretty evenly-played. As we headed into the second intermission, the game had a definite “next goal wins” feel. The third period was looking like it’d be a doozy.

… The third lived up to expectations. It was some of the most exciting, stressful hockey of the season.

The Wings kicked things off with a great shift on the part of the fourth line and Brad Stuart. Stuart’s efforts to keep the puck in led directly to Jiri Hudler’s goal at 2:26. Jiri’s shot just made it in behind Fleury and gave the Wings a lead they had to savagely defend for the remainder of the period.

… Mid-way through the period, Kirk Maltby went to the box forhooking. Andreas Lilja soon followed after a fairly weak interference call. The subsequent kill of the 5-on-3 was incredible, with Henrik Zetterberg taking center stage. His play at the side of the net on Sidney Crosby saved the game from overtime and his activity in the passing lanes really made it difficult for the Pens to get anything going. In that one shift, Zetterberg showed in a nutshell why he should win the Selke this season.

… I’d give the Pens credit for not giving up as the game wound down, but they really just did what they had to do and that was fight like heck to tie things up. Anything less than a monumental effort would have indicated a team that doesn’t belong there. Unfortunately for them, their monumental effort was not enough. In the end, the Wings’ own monumental effort won out, with the help of a few fortunate bounces. The Pens made it interesting down to the final seconds. A great finish.

… I though Chris Osgood had a stellar game for the Wings. Say what you want about the number of shots he faces, the man has been there to make the save much more often than not. He was much more solid-looking in Game 4 than he was Wednesday.

… Some people may question Babcock’s decision to play Andreas Lilja instead of Chris Chelios in Game 4. I think it paid off well as the big Swede has maybe his best game of the playoffs.

… Brad Stuart got better as the game went on, just like his teammates.

… One thing the Wings will need to do better Monday night is make the Pens pay for their aggressiveness more. Pittsburgh was forechecking very hard and pressuring the points on the power play heavily much of the game and the Wings were unable to get the puck moved up ice fast enough to get behind the Pens, especially in the first 40. If Pittsburgh is that aggressive Monday night, Detroit will need to move the puck faster.

… One win from the Stanley Cup, folks. Game 4 Game 5 (it was late - ed.) is going to be epic.