First Off: The big story, which is the Howard injury that no one knew about until this morning. I’ve kept this post updated, so that’s where the latest is. Basically, it’s not as bad as the initial fears projected. Which is great.
But I’m not going to apologize for that reaction and I don’t think anyone should. Jimmy Howard is that important to this team and we all know that. Hence the visceral, overwrought reaction. Anything less than a freakout would have been disappointing. The prospect of a Howard-less team is that horrifying.
Anyway: The game. The Wings dominated statistically and in the scoring chance department, but the margin was much closer in the finishing department. They had, what was it, 5, solo opportunities that were blown thanks to a combination of a sharp Roberto Luongo and bad puck luck/cement hands. On a just night, the Wings win it by a few in regulation. But the Canucks hung in there despite managing just 11 shots through two.
The Canucks: I can see why the rivalry between the Canucks and Blackhawks is so heated. A playoff series between the Wings and this Canucks squad would stoke the fires of hatred to white dwarf levels. Seriously. Those guys are incredibly hateable due to all their stupid antics. Add in their ridiculously expressive and entitled* crowd and you have a recipe for an all-out hate fest.
Zetterberg/Kesler: If we played the Canucks any more than we do, I have to say the battle between those two would be known League-wide. They were chopping at each other all night, and it wasn’t all sweetness and light on Z’s side. Many more encounters and maybe one of them does something he regrets.
Watching it was the final nail in the coffin containing any positive thoughts I ever had for Ryan Kesler. American or not, back off the Bearded Swede, jackass.
Kronwall: I didn’t notice any particularly nasty encounter involving Nik, but the general thrust of the Canucks’ play was petulant, over-large-and-dangerous child. I have to assume the hit had something to do with that.
I guess the Kesler slash at the end of the first would count as a nasty encounter in some books. But it was no worse than that.
Cleary: Sweet goal. More of that, please.
Hudler: Dude’s on fire. I love it.
Miller: Coughed up the puck to set up the Burrows goal and then scored on what must have been his next shift to make it all better.
UnPower Play: The Wings were handed four power plays by the Canucks and took advantage of exactly zero of them. That’s unacceptable. And this is dead-on. I remain far more concerned with the Wings’ inability to make teams pay through special teams than I am with their weakness on the toughness front.
Which Brings Me To: The fights. I assume Lapierre started it with Abdelkader. I just wish Justin had skated away. The fight came right after a Red Wings goal and could have negated the momentum swing. It turned out okay in the end, but Abs has to be smarter than that.
As for the Bertuzzi match, it was underwhelming. But this is a great picture.
The Points: I would have rather the Wings won this one in regulation and in a more emphatic fashion, but they got another win on the road and got two points, which is the important thing. Even better, they did it on the night both Chicago (to Sam Gagner) and Nashville (to Philly) lost.
They’ve now got six points on St. Louis and Chicago, and five on Nashville. That’s a buffer that will be key with Jimmy out at least two games. They’ve done a great job positioning themselves at the front of the pack in the race. They just need to keep going.
*Shut up. It’s not the same.