Update (6:20 PM): Zetterberg quote fixed below. Brain cramps are debilitating… – Matt
First off, a Kronwall update: The latest today is that it’s a grade-2 or -3 sprain and that he’ll be out 2-3 weeks. However, that’s a preliminary diagnosis (possibly handed down by the training staff) and isn’t the final one. He has to go through more tests today.
Second, a Laraque response: The AP quotes him as saying,
“There were four refs [sic] on the ice and they didn’t call anything. If they called a match penalty it would be different. There was no intent. There was no reason why I would try to go and hurt him. It was a pure accident, that’s why they called it tripping, so I’m not worried at all.”
Sorry, Georges, but you may have something to worry about. My wife pointed out that the NHL seems more likely to hand out suspensions when the refs don’t call the play to the full extent. Had he gotten a match penalty that early in the game, there’s a decent chance the NHL would have considered that to be enough of a punishment. As it stands now, however, he could be facing a game or two.
Third, the Wings’ response: To the hit that is, and I don’t mean to the media (predictably condemning). On the ice, the Wings didn’t respond in spectacular fashion—in fact, aside from the immediate aftermath through the power plays, much of the rest of the game was frustratingly flat on their part—but they managed to battle through the loss of their #3 defenseman and pull a win out of the fire in a very unfriendly environment. That counts for something.
Now for the negative: Was it just me or did Nick have a weak game? His pass around the boards that led to the tying goal was very uncharacteristic and the main reason that goal happened. I know some of you want to blame Lebda on that play, but Nick’s pass was so weak, there’s no way Lebda could have gotten to it before the Montreal forward.
Zetterberg let the team down with a weak defensive play on Cammalleri at the actual point of scoring the goal, but the trigger to the whole thing was Nick’s pass around the boards. He also had some moments at the offensive blueline that were unsettling. He’s allowed the occasional off night, but it’s still disconcerting.
Bertuzzi: I’m completely out of patience for the guy. He’s dragging Datsyuk down to average player level with his black hole of suck. That is the real tragedy of the Filpulla and Franzen injuries and even the Williams injury. If any one of those guys were healthy, we could be watching Datsyuk thrive with one of them as a winger rather than Todd “Dead Weight” Bertuzzi.
How horrifying was it to see him quarterbacking the second power play unit in the first period? Ugh.
Zetterberg: Quote of the night:
“The puck was
nightnot my friend all the way in.”
Referencing his battling a bouncing puck all the way in on his shootout chance. I guess he and the puck worked out their differences as he won the game on that shot.
Next up: The Wings’ll be in Nashville on Monday. The game will be aired on the Darren McCarty Television Network.