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GameDay: @ Anaheim (27-19-11, 65 Pts) 10:30 PM

Published
by
Brian List
on March 1, 2006
in 2005-2006, Ducks and GameDay
. 0 Comments

Tonight, the Wings play Anaheim in their second straight night in California, part of a three-game West Coast trip to welcome them back from the Olympic Break. The Wings face Phoenix Saturday night before bringing it back home for three home games next week. This is their third of four games against the Mighty Duck, with the season series tied 1-1. In the last meeting on November 25, the Mighty Ducks won on home ice as Selanne scored the game-winner midway through the third.

The Wings were on a six-game pre-Olympic win streak before losing 5-1 to the Sharks last night. They were on their heels early, as the Sharks jumped out of the gates quickly with energy and an early lead. The story behind behind the game was the absence of the Swedish Olympians (Lidstrom, Kronwall, Samuelsson, Holmstrom, Zetterberg), and it became an issue for the Wings after they allowed numerous quality chances in on Legace. Even though Legace was able to hold off the surge in offense for much of the first and second periods, the Wings’ lack of offense in Zetterberg and Lidstrom’s minutes on defense definitely showed. Legace was strong in much of the game, including notching his first penalty shot save in the third, but eventually the Sharks’ quality chances translated to goals (3 goals in the third). The Wings were outshot 32-29 on the night.

Tonight, the Wings will be getting back the gold medal crew of Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Kronwall, and Samuelsson. However, these players will likely be as jet-lagged as the Wings were last night in their first outing in the states, so don’t expect the Wings to have much of a better start than they did last night. I expect Chris Osgood to get tonight’s start, after Legace’s tough going last night (27 saves on 32 shots, including a penalty shot, without much defensive support).

The Mighty Ducks are third in the Pacific Division with 65 points, and are looking for a miracle to pass the Stars, who lead the division with 79 points. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere is expected to make the start. The Wings are 19-6-3 on the road, while the Mighty Ducks are 17-8-4 at home.

Ken Holland named Team Canada’s GM for World Hockey Championship

Published
by
Brian List
on February 3, 2006
in Canada, Ken Holland and Links
. 1 Comment

The tournament runs from May 5-25 in Riga, Latvia

Link

Wings 5, Wild 4

Published
by
Brian List
on January 30, 2006
in 2005-2006, Game Reports and Wild
. 3 Comments

Well, this game lived up to the cliches “It’s the new NHL!” and “It was a Wild game!,” the over-used material Ken Daniels repeated as the Wild climbed out of a 4-0 first period deficit to bring it within one goal in the second. But the Wings got an important insurance goal from defenseman Andreas Lilja, his first as a Red Wing, to make it 5-3 Wings. It proved to be the game-winner in a 5-4 win against the Wild in the Xcel Energy Center. Chris Osgood got the start for the Wings, but was pulled after allowing 4 goals on 10 shots through two periods of play. Manny Legace came in and allowed one goal on six shots in the third. The Wild had their own goaltender shuffle, with Fernandez pulled after his tough first period, replaced by Roloson. Shots were 27-16 Wings. The Wings shuffled a lot of their lines tonight as well - check the lines below.

The Wings owned the first period, beating the Wild to loose pucks and outshooting them 14-6. Steve Yzerman opened the scoring with a power play goal at 4:19, assisted by Williams and Shanahan. It was the Captain’s 200th career power play goal. On the play, the Captain picked up his own rebound on a shot between the circles, and muscled it in on a sprawled Fernandez. 1-0 Wings.

Just 53 seconds later, the Wings got an even strength goal from Lang, assists Williams and Holmstrom. 2-0 Wings. And at 9:59, Samuelsson scored, assist Zetterberg. 3-0 Wings.

At 17:24, Zetterberg scored a neat even strength goal, assists to Samuelsson and Lidstrom. On the play, Zetterberg carried the puck from the near boards across the mouth of the crease. He waited for Fernandez to drop for a save, and found a tough angle, but an empty net to make it 4-0 Wings. The Wild were booed off the ice as 20 minutes expired.

Fernandez was pulled, and Roloson started the second period. It was all Wild during the second. The Wings looked like they were floating around, and the Wings’ coaching staff warning the team about that during intermission didn’t seem to help. Even strength goals from Gaborik (3:53), White (16:53), and Zyuzin (17:51) made it 4-3. The Wild only had four shots in the second, but three goals resulted. 4-3 Wings. Osgood was pulled as a result, and Legace came in at the start of the third.

After trading periods, the Wings and Wild were both skating well in the third and it looked like the goals swings were over. At 1:48 Lang was called for hooking - something he’s been getting called for nearly every game. On the play, he had one hand on his stick and tripped a Wild player when it got caught between his legs. It was a standard call in the new NHL, and Lang better adapt to that eventually.

At 11:53, Lilja scored his first goal as a Red Wing, a point shot even strength, assisted by Lang and Draper. 5-3 Wings. With the Wild still confident, and the home crowd 100% behind them (after booing them 20 minutes in), the Wild were poised to get back within one. It came at 14:11, on a harmless point shot from Kuba, with no traffic in front of Legace. 5-4 Wings. Legace made up for it a short time later, making a clutch save on a Randy Robitaille breakaway with less than five to go.

The Wings held onto their lead, even as the Wild gained a 6-on-4 advantage with Roloson pulled and Maltby called with a boarding major and game misconduct with around 20 seconds left. 5-4 Wings final. Shots in the game were 27-16 Wings.

Overall, it was a bittersweet win for the Wings. They finally got an even strength goal (4 in the game), and scored early for once (4-0 lead after 1 period). Unfortunately, the cliches fought back and the “new NHL” allowed the Wild to creep back within a goal. The Wings had a tough night in net, Osgood allowing 4 goals on 10 shots and Legace 1 goal on 6 shots. I’m sure the Wings will just be happy to get on the plane back to Detroit and that their January schedule is over, especially the past couple weeks. The Wings were 8-4-2 in January, but have lost 3 of the last 5 - two of which were losses to Central Division points-rival Nashville.

The Wings will have to watch out on Wednesday for the Blues, who have dumped some salaries, some “Weight” you might say (sorry but the horrible puns have taken ahold of me), but have nothing to lose. They won 3-2 tonight against the Flames, with rookie Lee Stempniak, just called up from the minors, scoring the winner during the fifth round of the shootout.

Lines*

Samuelsson-Franzen-Zetterberg
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Holmstrom
Williams-Lang-Holmstrom
Maltby-Yzerman-Cleary
Draper-Datsyuk-Shanahan
Williams-Holmstrom-Datsyuk
Lang-Yzerman-Datsyuk
Maltby-Yzerman-Lang
Draper-Yzerman-Maltby
Zetterberg-Samuelsson-Cleary
Maltby-Cleary
Cleary-Franzen
Draper-Maltby

D-pairings

Lilja-Lidstrom
Lebda-Schneider
Chelios-Schneider
Lebda-Chelios
Lebda-Lilja
Schneider-Woolley
Woolley-Chelios
Woolley-Lidstrom
Schneider-Lilja
Lidstrom-Chelios
Lidstrom-Schneider
Chelios-Lilja

PP

Yzerman-Lang-Shanahan-Woolley-Schneider
Yzerman-Shanahan-Williams-Lidstrom-Lang

*compiled by Brian

Wings 3, Predators 1

Published
by
Brian List
on January 7, 2006
in 2005-2006, Game Reports and Predators
. 2 Comments

The Wings came through with a great effort in a 3-1 win over the Predators in Gaylord Entertainment Center. The game lived up to its hype, with a playoff environment for much of the game, and the Predators fans chanting loudly with both teams skating hard. Manny Legace got the start for the Wings, and had 28 saves on 29 shots. He looked very sharp throughout the game, even at times where he fell out of position and had to make acrobatic saves. Vokoun was also strong for Nashville, but failed to make the saves on a power play dominated by Nicklas Lidstrom point shots. The Wings had trouble establishing control in the Predators zone on the power play at times, something that was tough to understand for the league’s power play leaders. Johan Franzen was out injured, and replaced by Mark Mowers.

First Period

The Wings opened the first period skating hard, kept up with the Predators’ energy. But skating hard didn’t necessarily convert to many chances for the Wings early on in the first. Mark Mowers had a good one at 10:48, splitting two Predators defensemen and deiking Vokoun, who made a glove save. Mowers drew a Nashville penalty on the play, but the Wings failed to establish any control in the Nashville zone.

At 13:30 of the first, Lilja had an obstruction penalty along the near boards. It was a good call, and the Predators converted just 25 seconds into their man advantage. On the play, Fiddler cleaned up on a point shot rebound to make it 1-0 Nashville. It was a bad goal all around. Lilja for getting the interference penalty, and the Wings defense for letting Fiddler get behind them for the rebound.

The Wings got a power play chance at 14:42, after Sullivan was caught hooking Datsyuk. Again, the Wings had trouble establishing much of a presence in the Nashville zone on the power play. Lang particularly had trouble, and his turnover in the Wings’ zone didn’t help. The best chance actually came a short time after the man advantage, when Holmstrom found a rebound near the left circle.

The Wings had a great chance from Zetterberg as time expired, taking a feed from Samuelsson down low. The puck bounced high over the boards off Vokoun’s pads. That made it 11-10 Wings in shots.

Second Period

The second period started with a Lidstrom hooking call at 1:24, his 24th PIM of the season. That’s rather high for the multiple-year Lady Byng nominee. The Wings gained momentum off the penalty kill, with a great chance from Holmstrom in front. On the play, Shanahan passed in to Holmstrom from the far boards, but Vokoun contained the Holmstrom shot to avoid a potentially dangerous rebound.

At 4:21, Lang got caught hooking right off the faceoff, and this started Nashville’s burst of chances. Their best chances of the man advantage came at 6:02, when got a shot off between the circles and had a rush of traffic in front with multiple rebound tries. Legace was his strongest of the game on this play, and the one ten seconds later that nearly mimicked the rush of chances.

The Wings seemed to come alive after Legace’s stand in net. At 8:35, Williams passed from the near side to Zetterberg back door, but he hit the goalpost with Vokoun down and out. A minute later, after drawing a Timonen hooking call, Woolley shot and missed an open net on a slightly bad angle. It was that kind of night for Zetterberg, who even hit the post on an empty net as time expired.

On the power play, the Wings still couldn’t establish themselves in the Nashville zone, making for 0 for 4 so far in the game on the PP. But they made up for it with good pressure after even strength ensued. At 16:18, the Wings had a good chance with Pavel passing to Holmstrom in front. Vokoun was strong on those plays all game though, not giving up too many rebounds.

The Wings got another power play at 16:50 with a Weber tripping call, and the Wings converted 26 seconds later on a Lidstrom point shot to make it 1-1. Vokoun was screened, and Lang picked up the assist. That made the Wings 1 for 5 on the PP so far.

The Wings picked up another penalty with a Kariya hooking call. It was the story of the second period: the Wings skating hard and moving their feet, and the Predators forced to hook and hold to prevent scoring chances. Shots in the period were 15-10 Wings.

Third Period

The Wings carried their momentum into the third, with a goal from Williams two minutes in. On the play, Williams got a feed from Samuelsson in front, and shot it high over Vokoun’s shoulder to make it 2-1 Wings. The Nashville defense fell asleep on this play, as it was a 2-on-2 in the Nashville zone and much credit should be given to Samuelsson’s work along the boards.

At 6:17, first period scorer Fiddler had a wrap-around chance on Legace, but shot it high off the goalpost with Legace down way too early and the top of the net wide open.

It was a scary moment at 11:28 when punk Scott Hartnell checked Cleary into Legace behind the net. Thankfully, Legace got up ok and the Wings got a power play with Hartnell in the box for goaltender interference. It was a cheap play by Hartnell, with Legace obviously in a dangerous position, and reminded Wings fans of past cheap plays by the goon. He was the one who hurt Legace back in 2001, and Fischer in 2003. Color commentator Mickey Redmond was talking about how dirty of a player Hartnell was only seconds before he ran Legace.

The Wings scored late in the ensuing power play at 13:07, on another Lidstrom blast from the point. Replay showed Shanahan getting the tip, making for his 11th power play goal of the season. Yzerman and Lidstrom got the assists. The assist from Yzerman put him tied with Gordie Howe at 7th all time in assists at 1049. 3-1 Wings. Shots in the period were 9-7 Predators, 33-29 Wings overall.

Comments

The Wings certainly pulled out their “A” game and played up to the tempo of the night. It felt like a playoff game, and the home crowd was wild all night. They almost sounded like a University of Michigan hockey home crowd, chanting “Red Wings Suck” and jeering the Wings every chance they could. Lidstrom continued his stellar power play work with a goal and an assist. Legace was as good as he was before getting injured, and really kept the Wings in the game with his second period stand. The Wings probably had their best game of the season tonight. The win put them six points ahead of Nashville in the Central, and marked the mid-point of the season: game 41.

Yzerman got good ice time (13:28) on a line with Lang and Draper. Lidstrom had another multi-point night, with a goal and an assist. He also played 31:46. Lang led all forwards with 19:55 ice time. Chris Osgood will get the start for the Sunday evening game versus the Dallas Stars.

Lines

Yzerman-Lang-Draper
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Holmstrom
Williams-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Datsyuk-Williams-Zetterberg
Lang-Shanahan-Samuelsson
Cleary-Yzerman-Draper
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Williams
Zetterberg-Holmstrom-Datsyuk
Zetterberg-Samuelsson-Draper
Yzerman-Lang-Datsyuk
Shanahan-Lang-Williams
Cleary-Maltby-Mowers
Mowers-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Mowers-Lang-Maltby
Draper-Samuelsson
Maltby-Draper
Zetterberg-Cleary
Lang-Draper

D-parings

Lilja-Lidstrom
Chelios-Schneider
Schneider-Woolley
Lebda-Schneider
Woolley-Lidstrom
Lebda-Lilja
Lidstrom-Schneider
Lebda-Chelios

GameDay: @ Nashville (25-11-3, 53 Pts) 8:00 ET

Published
by
Brian List
on January 6, 2006
in 2005-2006, GameDay and Predators
. 2 Comments

Tonight is the first of eight games between the Wings and Predators this season. The November 21 game in Detroit was postponed after Jiri Fischer collapsed during the first period while on the bench, his heart stopping. The game was later rescheduled for January 23 in Detroit, which was at first a Nashville home game, with a March 30 game in Nashville replacing their home game.

The last time they played each other for a full game, the Wings finished up the first round of the playoffs with a 2-0 shutout win on April 17, 2004.

The Wings have won six of their last seven games, including a 3-0 win against St Louis last night. Manny Legace made his return to the ice, notching the shutout on only 15 shots. Captain Steve Yzerman also returned after a month-long absence, and got some quality ice time on a line with Cleary and Holmstrom (10:03 total). Lidstrom, who has been breaking 30 minutes of ice time more than the Wings would like with Fischer and Kronwall out of the lineup, got a bit of a break with only 25:15 of ice time. He had 31:24 of ice time Tuesday versus the Wild.

The Wings are 12-1-0 against Central Division foes, but now the Wings’ true test starts with the five games versus the Predators before the Olympic Break, and eight total before the playoffs start (that’s 8 of 42 remaining games). These games could very well determine whether the Wings are a #1 or #4 seed come playoff time. Says Zetterberg:

“It’s huge. We’ve got eight games against them and 16 points to play for. Probably the guys who win the most games is going to be above in the standings, so it’s going to be really important to win those games.”

Says Coach Babcock:

“We have an eight-game playoff series. We’re excited about it. They have a real good team. Let’s get there and get going.”

The Predators are also coming off a win versus the Blues, a 4-3 decision on Wednesday. Goaltender Chris Mason was pulled in favor of Tomas Vokoun after giving up two goals on three shots. Previous to that game, the streaky Predators had lost four straight, including close bouts with Vancouver and Edmonton.

The Predators trail the Wings 57-53 in the Central Division points race, so tonight’s game is an important one for both teams. Nashville has one game in hand. Vokoun will likely get the start tonight, facing off against Manny Legace, who is fresh off an easy shutout versus the Blues last night.

The Wings lead the league with a 24.9% power play efficiency, and are tied for second in penalty killing at 85.4%. The Predators, however, are only 13th in the league on the power play at 18.2%, with a 84.8% penalty killing mark that has them tied for fifth in the league. The Wings are 13-4-2 on the road, and the Predators are 16-4-0 at home.

Wings 5, Blue Jackets 2

Published
by
Brian List
on January 1, 2006
in 2005-2006, Blue Jackets and Game Reports
. 4 Comments

The Wings ended 2005 on a high note, beating the Blue Jackets 5-2 on the traditional New Year’s Eve game in Joe Louis Arena. It extended their win streak to five games. Chris Osgood got the start for the Wings, and only faced 15 shots total on the night. The Wings started slow in the first 20 minutes, falling to 2-0 deficit before an offensive surge in the second period.

Sergei Fedorov had an awful game for the Blue Jackets, in the penalty box for two of the Wings’ goals and on the ice for two others. Even though he ended the night -2, I think it should be -4 to reflect his actual performance. Literally hurting his own team, he hooked Johan Franzen into Jackets goaltender Leclaire, who left the game with a neck injury early in the second period on that play. He even redirected a shot into his own net on the Schneider goal that made it 2-2. Fedorov was booed every time he touched the puck, and just didn’t have that Sergei step. Only recognizable because he wore his trademark “91.”

The Wings started out the first period sluggish. With three nights off, and the Jackets coming off a game last night, it was somewhat understandable. It didn’t help with Draper getting a hooking call a minute into the game, either. The Blue Jackets scored at 9:27 on a 4-on-4, with a goal from Nash, assist to former Wing Jamie Pushor. On the play, Shanahan failed to clear the puck along the near boards, and Pushor passed from the blue line to Nash in front of Ozzie for a quick tip-in. 1-0 Blue Jackets.

The Jackets continued to pressure, with a great chance from Zherdev a few minutes later. Even though shots were 13-7 Wings in the first, the story was scoring chances even at 5-5 and the Wings gliding around. Says Lidstrom:

“We came out flat. We weren’t really skating at all. They played last night and seemed to carry that momentum over.”

Even after what I’m sure was an animated Mike Babcock during intermission, the Jackets continued their momentum into the second period, scoring just 36 seconds in. Chimera at 0:36, assists to Letowski and Hulse. On the play, Ledba got beat along the left wing on a breaking Chimera, whose reach on the puck was too long for a sprawling Lebda to disrupt the play. Chimera broke in alone and beat Ozzie. 2-0 Blue Jackets.

The Wings’ luck turned at 1:53 when the Blue Jackets’ goalie Pascal Leclaire left with a neck injury after getting ran over by Franzen. Marc Denis, who has been played a lot recently and was meant to be given the night off, came in to replace his backup. He ended up giving up the next five goals in the game. Fedorov was called for hooking on the play which sent Franzen into Leclaire.

At 3:07, the Wings capitalized on the power play on a blue line shot from Nicklas Lidstrom, with Holmstrom and Zetterberg screening Denis in front. Assists to Datsyuk and Holmstrom - but extra credit to Tomas for holding the puck in the zone twenty seconds earlier to keep the pressure building in the Jackets zone. 2-1 Blue Jackets.

The Wings got the equalizer with another defenseman blast. At 7:57, Mathieu Schneider scored an even-strength goal, assists to Franzen and Lilja. On the play, Franzen did good work along the near boards in the Jackets zone, and fed the puck to a streaking Schneider up the middle. Mathieu must have blasted that puck 90+ mph, and it didn’t help Denis that it deflected off a sprawling Fedorov, who tried to block it. 2-2 Wings.

The Wings snuck in a third goal at 19:07 from Samuelsson, assists to Lang and Zetterberg. On the play, Lang threw the puck at the net from the near boards along the goal line, hitting defenseman Mike Rupp. Denis fell down searching for the puck, and Samuelsson was Johnny-on-the-spot to punch it in. 3-2 Wings. The only goal Fedorov wasn’t on the ice or in the penalty box for. Shots in the period were 16-5 Wings.

The third period was a good continuation of the majority of the second for the Wings - domination of the Blue Jackets on the backcheck, limiting them to only 3 shots in the final 20 minutes.

The Wings scored at 4:19 on a goal from Lidstrom, his 2nd of the night, assists to Lang and Draper. On the play, the Jackets got caught down low, and Lidstrom blasted it in from the left wing. It knuckle-balled by Denis, beating him on the short side. Fedorov was on the ice. 4-2 Wings.

At 14:26, the Wings scored a power play goal from Samuelsson, also his 2nd of the night, assists to Lang and Woolley. On the play, a Fedorov hooking call gave the Wings a power play chance, and they scored in the final four seconds of the man advantage. Samuelsson scored down low on the left side, threading the puck in a tiny open space above Denis’ shoulder. 5-2 Wings. Shots in the period were 14-3 Wings, for a final 43-15 advantage. Says Fedorov:

“It was great to have a 2-0 lead. Then we made some mistakes and they capitalized on them. We had a few chances. Not as many as they, but we didn’t score. It was a tough break. I don’t think we played as well in the second as the first.”

The Wings, though they started out slow, came through in the final 40 minutes and really dominated the Blue Jackets defensively. I can barely remember Osgood getting tested at all during the second or third period. Some positives on the night include Lang adding three assists, Franzen getting his first NHL assist on Schneider’s goal, and Lidstrom scoring two goals to add to his always stellar defensive play.

The Wings are now 4-0 against Columbus this season; 11-1-0 against the Central. Samuelsson’s goals made for 26 points total this season, the most in his career. The Wings have now won their last five New Year’s Eve games, and lead Nashville in the Central 55-51 .

Lines
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Lang
Shanahan-Lang-Samuelsson
Mowers-Zetterberg-Cleary
Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Williams
Zetterberg-Samuelsson-Lang
Franzen-Draper-Maltby
Datsyuk-Shanahan-Williams
Mowers-Holmstrom-Cleary
Draper-Zetterberg
Maltby-Zetterberg

D-parings
Schneider - Chelios
Chelios-Lidstrom
Woolley-Schneider
Lilja-Lidstrom
Schneider-Lilja
Chelios-Lebda
Schneider-Lebda

Wings 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)

Published
by
Brian List
on December 24, 2005
in 2005-2006, Blackhawks and Game Reports
. 2 Comments

The last game before the Wings’ Christmas break proved to be a wild one, with two late Wings goals tying it to send it to overtime, and a Pavel Datsyuk buzzer-beater as time expired in the extra session. It made for the Wings’ third straight win, and sixth win in their last ten. It also secured their place at the top of the Central Division, with the Predators threatening a share of the top spot with a win earlier tonight. It’s now 51-49 Wings in the Central Division points race - the Predators with three games in hand. The Wings lead the season series against Chicago 4-0, and are 10-1-0 in the Central Division. Pathetic. It’s easily the worst division in hockey today.

The first period opened with the Blackhawks carrying most of the energy, and the Wings hanging on until their two first period power play chances. The Wings’ best chance of the period came at 14:55 when Shanahan carried the puck from behind Khabibulin and beat him far side with a wrister - only to hit the post.

Chicago scored the only first period goal at 19:20, on a follow-up goal from Arnason. On the play, Jason Williams muffed the puck around center ice left boards, and Mark Bell stole it and crashed the net. The rebound came out to a trailing Arnason, who easily beat a sprawling Ozzie. 1-0 Chicago. Apparently Arnason was benched in the Blackhawks’ last game, the team struggling and desperate to get its players going. So it was nice to see the guy get a goal, though not at the Wings’ expense. And not at Williams’ expense. It was a terrible giveaway as he tried to pass the puck to himself along the boards, and just got beat by a hustling Bell. Shots 11-8 Chicago in the first.

The second period was much like the first for the Wings. They were outhustled and beat in the corners by the home team. It really was a boring period, with the Wings on their heels most of the time. The best chance came off of a Kris Draper shot around the 12 minute mark but it hit the post. Chicago scored the only goal of the period on another bad Wings giveaway. This time four Wings players were caught in the offensive zone after the puck was coughed up, and former Wing Martin Lapointe (now #22) carried the puck into the Wings zone with a 3-on-1. It was a give-and-go, Lapointe passing to Barnaby at center, before getting the puck back on the right side and tapping it in behind Ozzie. 2-0 Chicago.

It was also an interesting goal by Lapointe, because he had recently blasted his teammates’ effort in the last few games. Words backed up. But I didn’t appreciate his goal as much Arnason’s. Lapointe left Detroit to cash in on his one good season in 2000-2001. He missed the Wings’ Cup run in 2002, and hasn’t done anything since his breakout 27 G, 30 A last season with the Wings. Ten seasons with the Wings - the team that drafted him in ‘91 and had him pegged as the next captain. What a loser. Shots 13-9 Chicago in the second.

The third period was much better for the Wings. They had probably triple the quality chances from the previous 40 minutes. Henrik Zetterberg and Brendan Shanahan had the most chances, and the night was summed up on one play. As Holmstrom found himself open in front of Khabibulin, certain to score, his stick broke as he attempted a shot. It was a frustrating moment for all Wings fans, but I couldn’t help but feel especially bad for those fans who had made the trip from Detroit for this game. The Chicago-Detroit game is always a special one in the United Center, but the Wings were really flat for much of this game.

A few minutes after I was feeling sorry for the Wings fans in the United Center, Ozzie was pulled and a comeback was staged. At 19:21, Kris Draper scored on a redirection of a Jason Woolley point shot. It wasn’t the normal redirection that you’d imagine, but more of a shot by Draper, between the circles, that snuck in under the top corner. 2-1 Chicago. After the faceoff at center, the Wings were called for offsides at 19:28. Datsyuk won the neutral zone faceoff, and the Wings gained the Chicago zone. With time about to expire, the Wings scored on a point shot from Lidstrom at 19:53. It was a controversial goal, as Khabibulin was knocked into by Lang I think it was, and he started arguing the call as he was getting beat by the Lidstrom shot. It fell on deaf ears though. 2-2 tie. Assists from Lang and Datsyuk. Shots in the period were 17-5 Wings.

The overtime was pretty uneventful, and it looked like a shootout was all but certain. Babcock was ready with his Williams-Datsyuk-Zetterberg shootout picks, but twas not to be. In the same style as their last second tying of the game, the Wings got a late goal from Datsyuk at 4:59 to make it a 3-2 win. It was a power play goal, as Duncan Keith was called for tripping at 1:52.

On the play, Datsyuk took a shot from the right circle, and, as the puck crossed the line, the green light went on instead of the red light. Everyone in the United Center thought the game was headed to a shootout, but it turns out the goal judge didn’t have time to react to the puck crossing the line before the green light went on: the red light can’t go on after the green one is triggered. The refs initially waved it no-goal, but went upstairs to review the play. All the viewers on FSN were left in suspense, as the station didn’t have a replay of the play showing time remaining in the same frame. Definitely something NFL or NBA coverage would surely have with their billion dollar TV deals, but such is the price of local coverage of the Wings. Hopefully they get that fixed for the next time it happens.

The refs pointed to center ice - it was a goal! The only replay I saw was the puck crossing the line and the green light going on a few frames later, but nothing with how much time was actually left. Nothing scientific, and I wonder if anyone upstairs had the time remaining to look at or if they just “eye-balled” it with comparing when the green light went on. Martin Lapointe was very mad at the refs after the goal, and received a 10 minute misconduct. Says Lapointe:

“The overtime calls hurt the game. It’s a big game, a big rivalry. The refs should let us play. I guess this is the new NHL. To lose a game on a cheap penalty is not the way to play hockey.”

It was a great comeback win for the Wings, to be able to score two goals in the last minute of a otherwise sloppy game to force overtime and pull off a last second overtime win. Wings fans are used to these types of comebacks, but it doesn’t really make me feel better for the three hours I spent watching this game. I was really bored/frustrated until the third period, when the Wings started playing hard, and even then pucks were hitting the post or sticks were breaking at inopportune times. It just felt like one of those nights where nothing could possibly go right - which made it really weird when 15 minutes later the Wings were headed to the dressing room with a win.

Final shots were 37-31 Wings. The Wings played with only 11 forwards. Some notable lines. Opening the game was Datsyuk-Shanahan-Draper, with Datsyuk-Shanahan-Zetterberg the most used-line in the third.

Wings 6, Thrashers 7

Published
by
Brian List
on December 14, 2005
in 2005-2006, Game Reports and Thrashers
. 2 Comments

The Wings fell their second game on the extended schedule against the Eastern Conference, losing 7-6 to the Thrashers in what turned out to be a power play emphasised, pond hockey style game. Jimmy Howard got the start for the Wings, but was pulled early in the 2nd as an attempt to spark the Wings. Brendan Shanahan had 5 points on the night (1 G, 4 A), and dominated down low behind the Atlanta net. I hated the Thrashers’ powder blue home jerseys. For an expansion team that had my favorite modern jersey, they just ruined it. Also, I totally forgot Hossa was a Thrasher. It’ll take a few years before that sinks in for a guy who was so successful as a Senator.

First Period

The game started out with the Thrashers on the attack. At 3:00, Howard made a great save in traffic, Eric Boulton falling on top of Howard and getting a goaltendering interference call. With the Wings’ injury troubles, especially at goaltender with Osgood and Legace injured or recovering, it was a bit more scary seeing Howard bumped around.

With the Wings on the power play, the Thrashers continued their momentum and caught the Wings deep in their zone, capitalizing on a steal for a Jean-Pierre Vigier breakaway goal. It was a sloppy turnover by the Wings, and a 2-on-0 break ensued, so it definitely wasn’t Howard’s fault. The shorthander made it 1-0 ATL.

The Wings were still sluggish midway through the period, but Atlanta got two quick penalties with holding calls on Jim Slater and Serge Aubin. The Wings had a 5-on-3, and a chance to gain some momentum. And they did just that. Shanahan fed Pavel Datsyuk with a cross crease pass from the left side, and Pavs slam dunked it to make it 1-1 at 11:23. Assists to Shanahan (obviously) and Lidstrom. Since the Wings scored on a 5-on-3, they still had a one-man advantage power play remaining, but failed to convert.

At 15:13, Howard made a tough save that stung him near the mask. Soon after, at 17:05, the Thrashers scored on a goal from Patrik Stefan, to make it 2-1 ATL. On the play, Howard played a rebound out in front bad, and got caught out of position near the top of the crease.

At 19:37, Chris Chelios had an awful giveaway that exposed Howard, but the rookie made a key save, allowing the Wings to escape the period down only one, with shots 14-10 ATL.

Second Period

The Wings opened the period well, getting an early goal from Datsyuk at 2:04 - his second of the night. Assists to Shanahan and Ledba. On the play, Shanahan was near the right circle and passed it in between the circles to Datsyuk, who had a wicked wrist shot that beat Michael Garnett. 2-2 tie.

But the excitement was short-lived for Wings fans. At 3:07, the Thrashers capitalized on a 3-on-2 rush, centering the puck to Bobby Holik, who deflected it and got his own rebound to make it 3-2 ATL. Not much Howard could’ve done. Wings Coach Mike Babcock pulled Howard at this point, not necessarily because he was allowing bad goals, but more to try and spark the Wings into a win. Osgood came in.

At 3:47, Mathieu Schneider got called for a 4-minute high sticking penalty. A minute or so into the penalty kill, Daniel Cleary got called for hooking, giving the Thrashers a 5-on-3. Former Wing Vyacheslav Kozlov scored at 6:05, with a back door pass from Kovalchuk. Not much Ozzie could’ve done. 4-2 ATL.

With things going from bad to worse, Lilja was called for hooking at 6:30, on a bogus call that should’ve instead been diving on the Atlanta player or at the very least offsetting minors. And of course the Thrashers took advantage of their fortune, getting a 5-on-3 goal from Hossa at 6:48. It was a tough play for Osgood, as the puck took a weird bounce out in front, and left him out of position as Hossa shot. 5-2 ATL.

At 8:01, the Thrashers literally had a 3-on-0 breakaway (the Wings still on the PK, down one), with Petrovicky smartly taking it all the way, but with option passes in Modry and Stefan. 6-2 ATL.

Towards the 5-minute mark, the Wings generated some good pressure in the Atlanta zone, with Franzen getting a chance on Garnett. This continued into the remaining minutes, as Datsyuk had a big chance followed by a Zetterberg rebound that should’ve been a goal if he could’ve put some air under it.

At 1:40 left, Shanahan tried a wrap around on Garnett, and dug after the puck in vain after the save. At 1:17 left, Franzen had a semi-break on the right wing, and drew a Brad Larsen hooking call. Schneider drew another Atlanta penalty, giving the Wings a 5-on-3 going into the third. Definitely not game-over, yet. Shots 13-8 Wings in the 2nd.

Third Period

The Wings capitalized on the 5-on-3 just 24 seconds in, with a left circle, farside top corner blast from Shanahan, his 18th of the season. 6-3 ATL. Assists Lidstrom and Schneider. The Wings had some good chances on the remaining power play, but just had one shot.

At 2:02, Jason Williams scored from the left circle, picking up a Shanahan rebound from the opposite side and catching Garnett out of position. Assists Shanahan and Lebda. 6-4 ATL.

At 2:48, Osgood made a beautiful save on a Kovalchuck breakaway, keeping the Wings just two goals down. At 5:16, Lebda hooked Hossa to prevent a dangerous scoring chance. It was a good penalty to take. At 6:28, Draper drew a Modry penalty in the Atlanta zone, after grinding in the corner after the puck.

At 7:08, Hossa was called with holding, giving the Wings another 5-on-3 and a glorious chance to get even. At 8:01, Schneider scored with a shot between the circles, again off a Shanny feed. Assists Shanahan and Holmstrom. 6-5 ATL.

At 8:41, the Wings still with a man advantage, Tomas Holmstrom scored by trailing a streaking Zetterberg and picking up the rebound. Assists Zetterberg and Datsyuk. 6-6 ATL.

At this point the game went to a stalemate for the next five minutes, with both teams on the edge. But Atlanta drew next blood at 15:49, making it a 7-6 ATL lead with a Stefan breakaway goal. On the play, Lilja lost his stick and was unable to block the shot.

The Wings pulled Ozzie at 19:11, but couldn’t generate many, if any, chances on Garnett. 7-6 ATL, final. Shots in the period were 13-10 Wings, for a total 36-32 Wings.

If was a tough loss for the Wings, especially especially charging back early in the 3rd. A tough night for the goaltenders for sure: Howard 13 saves on 16 shots, Osgood 12 saves on 16 shots, and Garnett 30 saves on 36 shots. The Wings gave up 3 power play, 3 even strength, and one short handed goal. The Wings had 4 power play goals and 2 even strength.

A for Shanahan, it turned out it was his 1300th game and he was sick. Says Babcock:

“It was his 1,300th game and he gets five points, so that shows you where he’s at. He was sick tonight. He should be sick more often.”

As for pulling Howard, Babcock admitted its ineffectivity:

“It didn’t work tonight. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely.”

Wings 5, Oilers 6 (OT)

Published
by
Brian List
on November 18, 2005
in Uncategorized
. 5 Comments

The Wings had a disappointing end to the West Coast trip, gaining only one point of the possible six and losing 6-5 (OT) to the Oilers Thursday night. Chris Osgood made the start for the Wings, and Jussi Markkanen made his 15th start in 16 games for the Oilers. The Wings have had trouble winning in Edmonton recently: their last win came December 13, 2001. The story of the night though was the Wings losing a 3-1 lead after two periods, allowing four unanswered goals by the Oilers in the first 12 minutes of the third. Although they rallied to tie it late in the third, it’s inexcusable to give up such a lead on the road. Many of the goals were caused by the Wings’ inability to clear their zone. The Wings come home on Saturday with a game against the St Louis Blues, who have to be sensing the Wings’ vulnerability coming off a bad trip.

First Period

The Wings opened the game a bit slow, but it was pretty expected being the third game in four nights. At 1:32, Nicklas Lidstrom was called for holding, but a Marty Reasoner penalty a minute later ended the man advantage early for the Oilers.

The Oilers controlled the pace for the next 6-7 minutes, and solid goaltending by Ozzie kept it scoreless. At 12:29, Franzen was caught with a high-sticking penalty, and Fischer then called for tripping at 13:57. With a second left on the 5-on-3 advantage, Hemsky beat Osgood off a one-timer feed from Chris Pronger. 1-0 Oilers.

The Wings killed off the remainder of the power play, and evened it up a short time later with a unassisted goal by Samuelsson at 16:26. On the play, Mikael intercepted a lead pass from Pronger and beat Markkanen on a shot from the right circle to make it 1-1. His first goal in nine games. Shots in the period were 10-5 Oilers.

Second Period

The Wings opened the second period strong, and drew a Horcoff holding call at 1:47. On the power play, Datsyuk broke up through the middle and scored with 10 seconds left on a pretty wrist shot, top corner. 2-1 Wings.

Just over a minute later, Franzen had a blast from the right circle that beat Markkanen. Assisted by Lang and Yzerman. 3-1 Wings. The rest of the period was pretty uneventful, other than Franzen hitting the crossbar at 19:48.

The Wings were in control of the game after two and seemed poised to break their two game slump. Shots in the period were 9-6 Wings.

Third Period

The Wings had a good first two periods, moving their feet well for a third game in four nights on the West trip. They also managed the puck well, and had a good penalty killing effort. I wasn’t really glued to the game in the first two periods, hence I didn’t have many comments other than the goals in the first two period summaries. Luckily, the third period was the most exciting and the one I watched intently.

The Wings are leading 3-1, and are 11-0-0 after two periods with the lead. The Oilers, on the other hand, are 0-7-1 after two when trailing. But get ready for a crazy ride in this third period.

At 2:27, Georges Laraque was called for hooking. The Wings had good, sustained pressure on the power play. A highlight was a Pavel Datsyuk pass from the left circle to Henrik Zetterberg in front. After Zetterberg got some wood on the shot, Holmstrom went after the rebound and the Wings almost added to their 3-1 lead.

At 5:30, Marc-Andre Bergeron scored to make it 3-2 Wings. On the play, Chris Chelios mishandled the puck and failed to clear the zone. Bergeron picked the puck up, driving between the circles and beating Ozzie on a snap shot. Before Chelios’ gaffe, Ozzie had made two good saves, but the story was the Wings’ inability to support their goaltender and clear the zone.

As play continued, it was clear the Oilers were gaining momentum. The Wings still couldn’t effectively clear their zone, and Ryan Smyth tied it up at 6:59. On the play, Robert Lang got caught up behind the net, and missed his assignment on Smyth, who picked up the loose puck behind Ozzie and made a pretty wrap-around goal. 3-3 tie.

Right after the goal, Radek Dvorak was called for holding, giving the Wings a great chance to stop the Oiler’s offensive surge. Datsyuk was strong again on the power play, making a great back-door pass to Lidstrom from the right side. Lidstrom had Markkanen beaten, but his shot hit the post on the great chance. Down the other way, Ethan Moreau scored a shorthanded goal at 11:48, to make it 4-3 Oilers. On the play, Horcoff made a drop pass to Moreau, who moved the puck to his backhand and walked in alone on Ozzie. Datsyuk made a desperate attempt to get after Moreau, but was beaten on the play.

The Rexall Place fans started the mock “Osgood” chant, and one of the lows of the game occurred at 10:49 as the Oilers pulled a 4-on-1 break in on Ozzie. Luckily, they overskated the passes, and the Wings were spared even more embarrassment. With the Oilers off since Monday, and the Wings playing their third game on the road in four nights, it was clear the Wings had to do something or the Oilers were about to run it up on them.

A Zetterberg holding call at 10:37 didn’t help the cause, and sure enough Ryan Smyth took advantage of the power play, scoring his second of the game at 12:25 to make it 5-3 Oilers. On the play, he picked up a loose puck as he was stationed in front of the net, and shot it over Ozzie’s shoulder.

That’s four unanswered goals in a 12 minute span. It now became a desperate fight to salvage the West trip and at least get a point out of it. The Wings had a chance on Markkanen around 6:45, but nothing came of the loose puck and scramble in front.

At 14:48, Steve Staios was called for hooking, giving the Wings a huge power play opportunity. After a few shots wide, the Wings inched closer with a hard-fought goal by Shanahan. 5-4 Oilers. On the play, Lidstrom passed from the left side to Shanny near the crease, who powered it in. The Wings were effectively on a 5-on-3 man advantage, with Smyth without his stick for a majority of the time. That gave Shanny a team leading 11th goal of the season (5 on the powerplay).

With three minutes left, the Wings crashed the Oilers zone and Yzerman scored on another hard-fought goal. After Draper threw the puck toward the net, Maltby and Yzerman went after the loose puck, with Yzerman giving it two swipes before scoring on the third. 5-5 tie.

With overtime all but certain, Maltby was called for goaltender interference after breaking in on Markkanen and riding him into the net, knocking it off its moorings. That gave the Oilers a valuable 4-on-3 man advantage in the extra period.

Shots in the period were 14-11 Wings, with six goals scored between the clubs.

Overtime

The Oilers scored quickly in the overtime, 33 seconds in, on a goal from Jarret Stoll. On the play, Stoll had a point shot, and a screening Ryan Smyth got in Ozzie’s line of sight enough to lead to the goal. 6-5 Oilers. Final. Shots in the overtime were 1-0 Oilers. The Oilers scored 3 power play goals and 1 shorthanded tonight, on a disappointing end to a Western trip in which the Wings only gained one point. Final shots in the game were 28-28.

Notes

The Wings haven’t won in Edmonton since December 13, 2001…The Wings have allowed *power play (NOT shorthanded) goals in 10 straight games…It was the first time the Wings have lost after leading after two periods…The Oilers scored 4 unanswered goals in a 12 minute span of the third, with six goals on 26 shots in third between both teams…

GameDay: vs. Minnesota (8-7-2, 18 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Brian List
on November 11, 2005
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Tonight is the first of four games between the Wings and the Wild this season. Detroit won the 2003-2004 season series at 2-0-2. In their last meeting on March 29, 2004, the Wings won 5-3. Ex-Wing Ray Whitney had two assists, and Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist.

The Wings are on a two-game win streak, and are 8-2 in their last ten games. The Wings lead the Central Divison and NHL with 29 points. Nashville trails in the division with 23 points, while Montreal comes closest league-wide at 26 points. In their last game, the Wings beat the Kings 5-4 (OT), with Robert Lang scoring the winner less than two minutes into overtime. Manny Legace had 37 saves on 41 shots, but was noticeably shaky in the third period, allowing three fairly weak goals. But since it was his first game back after missing three with a sprained knee, it was an ok return. Tomas Holmstrom has seven goals in his last four games, for a season total of 8 goals. His career best is 20 goals in 2002-2003. Other Wings on a tear include Pavel Datsyuk (17 points in 10 games, a point in each), Jason Williams (19 points in 17 games with his league minimum salary), Henrik Zetterberg (18 points in 17 games), and Brendan Shanahan (16 points in 17 games). Manny Legace will likely get the start for the Wings.

The Wild are struggling at 4-5-1 in their last ten games. In their last game, the Wild lost 4-2 to the Phoenix Coyotes. The Wild outshot the Coyotes 28-18, but the story was Roloson struggling. He allowed three goals on only seven shots in the first 13 minutes of the first, before getting pulled for Fernandez. The Wild were unable to recover, and were hurt by only going 1-7 on the man advantage. On the season, the Wild are 19.3% on the PP (12th in NHL). I would expect Fernandez to get the start tonight after Roloson’s bad outing last game.

An interesting note on the special teams matchup. The Wings lead the league on the power play at 25.2%, but are 1/16 over their last three games. The Wild lead the league on the penalty kill, boasting a 92.1% efficiency, allowing only one goal in their last 20 short-handed situations. To further put the odds against the Wings scoring on the power play, Minnesota has only given up four power play goals in 48 chances while on the road. The Wings are 7-2-1 at home, while the Wild are 3-4-2 on the road. So the Wilds’ great penalty kill on the road hasn’t translated to as many wins as you’d think. The Wings lead the league in scoring with 68 goals for, and the Wild only have 47 goals for through 17 games.