Posts by Matt Saler

Wings 4, Canucks 3 (SO)

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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.

Report: MacDonald Recalled, Howard Injured

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Update (1:39 PM): And now we have the source of the injury. Lapierre’s one credited shot of the night appears in the play-by-play at 1:39 of the third period. - Matt

Update (12:28 PM): The latest, via Khan. So that’s good. - Matt

Update (10:07 AM): Press release from the team confirms the Joey Mac recall and the Howard right-hand injury. They say he’ll miss at least the next two games, and that he’ll be reevaluated when the team gets back to Detroit on Tuesday.

The two week timeline came from somewhere, but the team’s not making it official yet, at least. - Matt

Update (9:56 AM):

So, it’s not killer (i.e. long-term), if that’s true. The Wings’ schedule over the next two weeks isn’t terrible, either. But there’s this counterpoint (and part two). Yep.

We’ll see if Conklin can rise to the occasion. The Wings can’t afford to fall back much at all as tight as the race is.

Also, George notes it’s his right hand, since he remembers the circumstances leading up to Jimmy’s trip to the bench. - Matt

No press release from the Wings yet or record of the move on the AHL website. But there’s no reason to disbelieve Ward. No confirmation from Detroit media yet. They’re probably still out of action thanks to the time difference.

Jimmy was at the bench in the third period, though at the time it seemed to be an equipment issue. Piet Van Zant was there, however, which is never a good sign even though Jimmy went back to the crease and finished the game.

Ugh. Ugh. Doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Assuming Ward’s report is right, it is possible that it’s not something that’ll keep him out too long. But this is where the Wings complete lack of a capable (thus far) backup could really come back to bite them.

Ugh.

Game Day Notes: @ Vancouver

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Update (3:56 PM): There’s some discussion on Twitter about the Commodore/Kindl decision, with the question being why the more physical Commodore’s sitting in a game where revenge could  be an issue.

That’s the question asked of Helene St. James, who makes a really good point in response:

I hadn’t thought of that. But it makes sense in the context of the Wings’ longstanding preference for skill over rough stuff: a kid who can in theory aid in the puck movement game is more valuable in this situation than a guy who’s tougher, but not as skilled. And let’s face it: Commodore’s not a great fighter if it were to come to that.

So better that the Wings load up on the puck possession side and attempt to outdo the Canucks that way.

This Babcock guy, he knows what he’s doing. - Matt

Update (3:00 PM): I was half-right:

- Matt

… This is the third of four meetings between the Wings and Canucks this season. The series is tied 1-1-0, with the Wings winning the first game and the Canucks taking the second last month.

… The Canucks finished January 7-2-2 and won their last three of the month. Their losses came against San Jose (SO), Florida, Anaheim and LA (SO), but they beat Minnesota, Boston, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, the Sharks in a second meeting, the Oilers and the Blackhawks.

… That win over the Blackhawks came Tuesday night in overtime. Apparently, they couldn’t make it happen in regulation.

… And that win gave them 66 points, which is good for second in the West, and put them at 31-15-1 overall.

… Their home/away records are fairly balanced: 15-6-3 at home and 16-9-1 on the road.

… As George points out, the skate won’t be until later today, so the game day source notage via the media is limited. But you can be sure he’s right about the primary storyline for this game being the Kronwall hit from last time.

… So, this may be the game the Canucks set aside their interest in emulating Detroit … so they can beat up Detroit. Or try to.

… Roberto Luongo gets the nod for the Canucks. They rested him especially for this game. I now find it entertaining that Babcock didn’t think it necessary to rest Howard for this one. Sort of a “he’s Jimmy Howard. He’s got it.” thing.

… The Wings are coming off a 3-1 win over the Flames on Tuesday. It was a bit of a casual re-entry into the swing of things, so in theory, they should be ready to get down to real business tonight.

… We should see the return of Tomas Holmstrom to the lineup now that his knee swelling has gone down. Emmerton scoring a goal probably means he’ll stay in the lineup at Mursak’s expense.

… And Commodore’s probably in, thanks to the winning lineup rule.

… Jimmy Howard got yesterday off, but will start this one.

… If the Canucks are stupid enough to get distracted by the Kronwall hit, the Wings’d better be on their toes from a power play perspective. Let the Canucks run around as long. The Wings just need to keep their heads up to avoid the worst and put the puck in the net to accomplish what matters in a hockey game. They’ve got a divisional race on the line and that’s more important than being dragged down to the Canucks’ level, should things go that route.

The Blackhawks (@ Edmonton) and Predators (@ Philadelphia) are active tonight. The lead is safe whatever happens, but that’s no reason for the Wings not to do their part by winning.

Keep running.

Lidstrom’s NHL 36 Episode

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Someone put it up on YouTube, though the quality’s not great in spots.

I hate to link to a bootleg copy of something so well done, but the NHL hasn’t yet put up a quality version like they did with Kane’s. So, this is settling until they do.

Or until this one’s taken down.

Holmstrom to Return Tomorrow

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This is old news by now, but there it is: Homer’s knees have flared back down (the superglue has dried, if you will). So, he’ll be back to annoying goaltenders, starting with Roberto Luongo.

I’m not sure if Babcock’s mentioning Mursak to Khan is an endorsement of him and a sign that he’ll be in, or a “nice try, kid, better luck next time,” though.