Big Win: Yeah, this was huge. Sad that a regular season over Nashville has this kind of importance, but it does. They needed two points and they got them. Obviously, there were some things left to be desired in the execution, but hey, two points.
Jimmy: His outing had a lot of similarities to that famous LA game in that he made a crap load of saves but this time the bailing out was done by the posts rather than his teammates. That’s because, with the exception of Stuart on one play, they weren’t bailing anyone out defensively last night. But that’s another talking point for later.
So, anyway, there were what seemed to be like 6-7 post/puck interactions behind Jimmy Howard last night. And here’s where my takeaway from that differs from what I felt about the LA game: it’s my opinion that shots that hit the post are usually like 90% of the goalie’s positioning being such that the shorter had nowhere else to put it. I’m not sure how much that rule applied last night, because it seemed like a couple of them were a whole lot of Nashville incompetence, but the point is I feel Jimmy played better this time around.
I will say he was slow to get across on the Preds’ first.
Some folks are not doubt thinking today, “haha, Osgood couldn’t-a done that.” No kidding. Neither could Jimmy Howard cica. December 20, 2009. Jimmy’s able to put on shows like that because he’s been playing.
D: Would this be an appropriate grade to give the blueline for that effort? I think so. Can’t give them an F because of the win, but wow were there some serious moments of fail. The Wings as a team had a registered 18 giveaways to go with 6 Nashville takeaways. I don’t know the zone breakdown of those, but I would be shocked if the vast majority of them weren’t in their own end. Really poor defensive zone effort.
With the exception of Stuart, who managed to save a goal on the line the same time Jimmy was being majorly interfered with, just after Kronwall nearly had his face cut off by the guy’s skate.
Williams: I didn’t notice him all that much, but he scored a goal by showing a surprising nose for the net. Not a bad first game back after missing nearly half the season.
Miller: I thought he really made a case for himself last night with a strong game. He was right there on Williams’ goal and then had one of his own. Sad thing is, he might be making a case for himself to other teams. I hope the Wings can manage to keep him for sure.
Big Guns: Good to see Nick continue to roll offensively and it’s great to see Hank score like that, too.
Sunday: They need to finish this week with a win in Pittsburgh. Really. Do it.
“Sad thing is, he might be making a case for himself to other teams.”
I’m sure he is, but I’m also pretty sure he’ll be in Detroit next year, unless he has some exhorbitant contract demands. If you’re suggesting that he’s traded/waived to make room when the injuries clear themselves up, I don’t see it. Main reason? I had read (kahn, maybe?) that when Franzen and Lilja come back the Wings will be nearly $2M over the cap. Obviously May is gone and one (or both?) of Lebda or Meech, but I can’t see Miller going anywhere for two reasons: one, he HAS made a case for himself to, at WORST, be the 13th forward and two, he’s got the smallest cap hit on the team so if he’s waived with, for instance, Lebda and May, they would still need to get rid or more salary to get under the cap.
Now, I don’t know WHO goes, but I sort of think it’s Leino or Maltby. I’m sure that, even with the season he’s had, Leino is still decent trade bait (I’ll guess he goes to the Island, where he and Robbie Schremp can be 2/3 of a formidable line down the road). Even if it’s just a 2nd round pick, Detroit can work wonders with a second round pick.
Yeah, I see them trying to trade Leino for a pick as well. They obviously aren’t going to use him this year, and if they have to shed salary, why not move the guy with the most potential that other teams may want? I’d definately take a 2nd rd pick for him at this point.
If they waive May and Meech and trade Leino they still are $211,543 over the cap. So either Lebda has to go too (with Janik or Kindl only a phone call away as the 7th D-man) or they have to make another trade. Lilja’s $1.25M contract is double that of Lebda’s so his return certainly made it more difficult.