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GameDay: vs. Edmonton (39-27-13, 91 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published

on April 11, 2006

in 2005-2006, GameDay and Oilers

. 1 Comment

Update (2:07 PM): Turns out Valtteri Fillpula won’t be filling in after all. The Wings called up 29-year-old Don MacLean from Grand Rapids, Ansar Khan reports. MacLean, who will replace Lang in the lineup tonight, has a franchise-record 52 goals this season with the Griffins and could very well win the AHL MVP award this Friday.

I have to admit I don’t know a lot about him but it sounds like he’s got some scoring punch, to put it mildly. Anyone who knows the Griffins better have any comments?

Khan says Zetterberg is going to play tonight. — Matt

Update (2:47 PM): Interesting information in the Griffins’ press release announcing his move-up: MacLean has played for three different NHL teams, most recently with Columbus, where he played 4 games in 2003-2004. According to the press release, his only goal of that season came against the Wings on March 31st, 2004, in a 3-2 Columbus loss. His last NHL game was April 3rd, 2004 in Detroit, a 4-1 Jackets win in the last game of the regular season. – Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final regular season game between these two teams. Edmonton leads the series 2-1, with with overtime wins November 3rd in Detroit (4-3) and November 17th in Edmonton (6-5). Detroit won the latest meeting, 4-3 in a shootout on March 18th.

The Wings have won their last four, though two of those wins came over Columbus this past weekend. They had to rely on a shootout to beat Calgary on the 3rd, 2-1, but used their power play to great effect on the league’s best penalty killing team, Minnesota, the day before, winning 3-2. They lead 4-1 at one point against the Jackets on Friday night but the score ended up tied 5-5 and the game went to overtime and then a shootout, fortunately resulting in a 6-5 win for the Wings. The next night, they won a little more decisively in Columbus, 4-2.

Manny Legace should be in net tonight after getting Saturday’s game off. Chris Osgood had a great game, though, and is poised to take Manny’s spot should he falter.

As mentioned yesterday, Robert Lang was injured at the start of practice yesterday and is questionable for tonight with an “upper body” injury. IwoCPO detects some subterfuge on Babcock’s part, given the fact that the injury occurred before the press had arrived at practice. If he’s right, I like this head coach even more.

Henrik Zetterberg is listed as “probable” by the Freep and should be in the lineup unless something develops during the day.

Mathieu Schneider will remain out with a groin injury.

Valtteri Filppula has not been recalled to Detroit yet but may be, depending on the situation with Zetterberg and Lang.

Since playing the Wings on March 18th, the Oilers have gone 5-4-2 and have alternated wins and losses since their March 26 shootout win over Colorado. They are coming off a heartless 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Sunday in which they could have clinched a playoff spot had they won.

As a result, head coach Craig MacTavish did not run practice yesterday, leaving it instead to his assistants. The Edmonton Journal quotes Chris Pronger as saying, “I think he just needed it (a break from the players) because he probably wanted to kill everyone.” Pronger also told the paper, “I’m sure it was disappointing to see the way we responded in what was a pivotal game for us.” You sure, Chris? Maybe it should have been disappointing to you, too.

Anyway, the Oilers’ captain, Jason Smith, was a little more encouraging for Edmonton fans, saying, “We’re going to come out and we’re going to play well.”

Dwayne Roloson should get the start tonight.

The Wings need just one point to clinch the President’s Trophy and given the fact that these teams have skated into extra time in each of their three previous games, getting that point ought not to be a problem. Then they can forget about it, because, although it’s nice and shiny, it’s not what this team is after and it’s not enough to satisfy expectations.

This is a possible first round match-up and tonight is a good opportunity for the Wings to show they can beat the Oilers because they may very well need to do it four times starting in a couple weeks. Whatever their performance in their important game on Sunday, you can bet Edmonton will come to play tonight.

Also, Ted Kulfan takes a page from Christy’s book (original) in today’s Detroit News.

Wings 4, Columbus 2

Published

Kevin List

on April 8, 2006

in 2005-2006, Blue Jackets and Game Reports

. 4 Comments

The Red Wings were away at Columbus tonight, facing the Blue Jackets for the second consecutive night. The Wings came into the game on a 9 game road winning streak, with an NHL record of 28 road wins of their total 53 wins. After the Wings victory in this game tonight, the Wings hold the record for most road wins in a season. Henrik Zetterberg was out of tonight’s game with an upper body injury from last night’s game, so the Wings recalled Valtteri Filppula to take his place as the strong forward. Filppula arrived at the Nationwide Arena this evening with a bag of sticks in his hand and clueless of how to enter the arena. The Arena security wouldn’t even let him in until some Wings staff found him and escorted him inside. We’re glad you could make it Filppula! In addition to Zetterberg’s absence, Pavel Datsyuk was out tonight with a lower body injury and Mathieu Schneider was out with a groin injury. Last night’s game against the Blue Jackets in Detroit was proof that the Wings offensive lines are vulnerable when two key players, such as Schneider and Datsyuk, are out with injuries. This plague put the Wings at a major disadvantage coming into tonight’s game, with Zetterberg out as will. However, with the superb goaltending by the starting goalie Chris Osgood, and consistent pressure in the Blue Jacket territory, the Wings managed to crank out yet another victory on the road.

First Period

The first period began with Blue Jacket possession as Jan Hrdina won the faceoff against Kris Draper. At 27 seconds into the period, the Blue Jackets lost the puck, after Adam Foote’s shot on Osgood. Shanahan brought the puck down and set it up to Draper, who made a wristshot on Leclaire, but was knocked down. The Blue Jackets then brought the puck back into the Wings territory. Rick Nash took the puck to the right side and made an impressive shot on Osgood, but it was tipped away by Nicklas Lidstrom, accompanying Osgood. Manny Malhotra got the puck at the blue line and cracked the puck at Osgood, who froze the puck at 1:49.

Dan Cleary won the faceoff against Mark Hartigan, and brought the puck back into the Blue Jacket territory. Kirk Maltby took the puck and made a shot from the left side, which went wide of Leclaire. The Blue Jackets came back into the Wings end and pressured Osgood with a few set up attempts. Finally, David Vyborne shot the puck toward Osgood, who knocked it back into play. Rick Nash jumped in and began to screen Osgood in front of the net. At 3:03, Jan Hrdina recovered the rebound and tipped it into the net from the right side, for a goal. The score is now 0-1, with the Blue Jackets in the lead.

The Wings gained control of the puck, as it was given away by the Blue Jackets shortly following the faceoff. Robert Lang brought the puck into the other end, but was turned over by the Blue Jacket defense. Malhotra stormed into the Wings territory on the right side of the ice and made a wristshot on Osgood, who knocked the puck back into play. Following the shot, Malhotra tripped Nicklas Kronwall, and was sent to the penalty box on a tripping penalty at 4:11 into the period.

In their power play, the Wings made a valiant attempt to place a significant amount of pressure on Leclaire. Kris Draper got the puck to Lidstrom off the faceoff. From the blue line, Lidstrom passed the puck to Samuelsson, who made a hard slapshot on Leclaire. In this play, Tomas Holmstrom was within the boundaries of the goal crease, near Leclaire. If Samuelsson had gotten a goal from his shot, Holmstrom’s intrusion into the crease would certainly have been taken into consideration.

This power play soon expired with no gain yet made by the Wings. At 8:00, Rick Nash was caught with a hooking penalty for bringing his stick around Draper’s knee. So, the Wings were sent into yet another power play advantage. Later in this powerplay, Mikeal Samuelsson and Jason Williams both made major shots on Leclaire, but they went wide of the net.

The Wings continue to implement pressure in the Blue Jacket territory after the power play expired. Several major wristshots were made by Steve Yzerman and Dan Cleary. The puck was soon turned over to Malhotra, who broke away from his zone and made a wide shot on Osgood. The puck was recovered to Andreas Lilja and sent to Mark Mowers, who then tipped it to Brendan Shanahan. At 12:06, Shanahan knocked the tipped puck past Leclaire, for a goal. 1-1 tie.

Later in the period, Rick Nash centered the puck and hit it over to Trevor Letowski. Dan Cleary came on against Latowski, however he made a fair shot on Osgood, who knocked it away from the area. The Wings brought the puck back into the Blue Jacket territory, where Samuelsson and Kronwall set up a shot on Leclaire. After the puck was deflected of Leclaire’s glove, Holmstrom came up on the right side and made a textbook goal clear from the side bar, at 17:19. The Wings are now ahead in the game, with the score 2-1. The period ends in the Wings zone.

Second Period

The second period began with Wings possession as Draper claimed control of the puck in the opening faceoff against Jan Hrdina. Lidstrom established the puck into the puck in the Blue Jacket zone, and made a wide shot on Leclaire. The puck was then taken up by Malhotra and to the other end, where the Radoslev Suchy made a clear shot on Osgood. However, Chris Chelios quickly cleared the puck in the other direction. Samuelsson received the puck and quickly took a shot on Leclaire. Holmstrom tried to set the puck up again, but he ended up losing it to Alexandre Picard. Holmstrom swung around and hooked Picard from behind. At 2:33, Holmstrom received a hooking penalty and was sent to the box. This sent the Blue Jackets into their first power play of the game, and the Wings 5th ranked penalty killing into action. Draper won the power play against Hrdina, and sent the puck into the Blue Jacket zone, where an offside penalty was called at 2:55.

Following the call, Hrdina won the faceoff against Dan Cleary in the Wings zone and got the puck to Ron Hainsey. He passed to puck from the right side of the ice to David Vyborny, stationed in front of the blue line. Vyborny made a hard wristshot on Osgood, but it was deflected to the side. Klesla received the set up puck and made a slapshot from the right side. At 4:04, the Blue Jackets set up the puck once more to Mark Hartigan, who was about ten feet from the blue line. His shot, however, was sent up high and over the net. The power play finally expired at 4:30 with no gains made by the Blue Jackets.

At 5:09, Steve Yzerman won the puck off a faceoff but, the Blue Jackets were caught with an icing call as the puck was sent clear into the Wings end. Robert Lang took the puck out of the Wings territory, but lost it to Trevor Letowski just past center ice. The Wings defense intercepted his efforts and knocked the puck to Jason Williams. He took the puck down the side of the ice and passed it to Jason Woolley, who made a clear slapshot on goal. Intimidated by the Wings pressure, Leclaire covered the puck and stopped the play.

Two minutes later, the Wings defenses stormed the Blue Jacket zone and put pressure on Leclaire once again. At 9:17, Dan Cleary made a wristshot on the goal, but was deflected wide. The loose puck was picked up by Malhotra, who broke away into the Wings territory. He followed the right side of the ice down and took a clean shot on Osgood, with the puck entering the goal just under the crossbar. The score at this point was tied at 2-2.

Lang started with the Wings possession and slid the puck over to Mikael Samuelsson. He made a shot on Leclaire, but it ended up deflecting over the net. At 11:19, Lang set the puck up on the right side of the Blue Jacket territory. He made a hard shot across to the left side, where Yzerman tipped the puck to Williams, who stuffed it into the goal. The space between the defenders in this play was a key factor in the success of the goal. This marked Williams’ twentieth goal of the season. Consequentially, this goal also made Jason Williams the 8th Red Wings to make 20+ goals. This is a first time moment in Wings history.

After this goal, the Wings once again brought the puck back down into the Blue Jacket zone. Cleary brought the puck to the right side of the net, and made a clean shot on Leclaire, which was covered by his glove. Following Cleary’s shot attempt by, Aaron Johnson picked a small fight with Cleary near the right boards. Both were sent to the penalty box on roughing penalties at 12:16. The player ratio on the ice is now 4 on 4.

During this time, neither team held any major strength advantages. So both teams resorted to making various faulty set up attempt in the opposing zone. After some faint action in the Wings zone, the puck was recovered back into the Blue Jacket territory. Thomas Holmstrom made a major slapshot on Leclaire at 19:38. The period time finally ran out and ended with some action at center ice.

Third Period

The third period started out with Blue Jacket possession, as Malhotra won the opening faceoff against Kris Draper and forced the puck foreword. At 33 seconds into the periods an offside penalty was called on Mark Mowers. Robert Lang won the next faceoff and knocked the puck to Steve Yzerman, who brought it into the Wings zone. Wings veteran, Sergei Fedorov turned the puck over to the other end and made a slapshot on Osgood. The puck, however, was deflected wide. Robert Lang snagged the loose puck and brought it back to make a wrist shot on Leclaire, who freeze the play.

After this play the Blue Jackets regained control of the puck and got it to Vyborny, who took a wristshot on Osgood, who also stopped the play. Duvie Westcott forced the puck back into the Wings territory, from Rostislav Klesla, and sent it to Johnson. His shot, however, went wide of the net. Balastik got the deflection and made a wrist shot on Osgood. In this action, Mulby was caught with a hooking penalty and was sent to the box.

Kris Draper won the following faceoff, however the puck was quickly given away to Hrdina, who sent it into the Wings end. Nothing was accomplished in this power play, and it finally expired at 4:26. The puck remained in the Wings territory following the Blue Jackets power play advantage. At 5:45, Jason Chimera took the puck to the side and made a wristshot on Osgood, who stopped the play. After Malhotra won the faceoff against Yzerman, the puck was tipped to Johnson, who fired the puck within the Wings territory. His shot was knocked away to Klesla. He set up a wristshot on Osgood, but it went over the net. Jody Shelley got a piece of Osgood as well, but his shot attempt went wide of the net. The puck was cleared to the Blue Jacket territory, where an icing call was made at 7:50.

The puck is established in the Blue Jacket territory with a Samuelsson wrist shot, at 11:06, which went wide of the net. The loose puck was picked up to Lidstrom, who made a slapshot which was deflected off of Leclaire. The puck was sent to Williams, who set the puck up to Corey Cross. He made a clear shot, but the puck was tipped away by Leclaire, and sent to the side Yzerman. The Blue Jacket defense contained the play and got the puck to Letowski, who made a wide shot on the run. When the puck was turned over to the Wings, Letowski swong around and hooked Corey Cross with his stick. Letowski was caught on this and was sent to the penalty box on a hooking call at 13:48. One minute later, Lidstrom was called out on an interference penalty. The player ratio is 4 on 4 at this point.

Sergei Fedorov took the puck into the Wings territory and made a wristshot on Osgood, who froze the puck. Yzerman won the following faceoff, but was then tripped up by Adam Foote. Foote was sent to the penalty box for this tripping call. The player ratio was shortly 3 on 4, but after ten second it switches back to 4 on 4. These penalties quickly expired with no gains made for either side.

With a minute left in the game, Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant pulled Leclaire from goal, for a one man advantage. At 19:56 into the period, with only four seconds left, Chris Chelios sent the puck from center ice toward the Blue Jacket end, and scored on the empty net. His goal was unassisted. The final score of the game is 4-2.

Wings 6, Columbus 5 (SO)

Published

Brian List

on April 7, 2006

in 2005-2006, Blue Jackets, Game Reports and Henrik Zetterberg

. 0 Comments

Update (12:54 PM): Valtteri Filppula has been re-called from Grand Rapids. Hopefully it’s just because they need a forward short-term in place of Zetterberg and not because his injury is a long-term thing. (via. A2Y) – Matt

Update (11:22 AM): Click here for a video of the shootout. (.mpg, 51 MB) — Matt

Zetterberg Update (08. Apr, 10:31 AM): The Detroit News quotes Tomas Holmstrom as saying, “He got a puck in the upper body somewhere.” If so, it’s interesting that it wasn’t noticed. Surely any shot strong enough to cause a rib injury, for example, would have been remembered and scrutinized for a reaction. Does anyone remember him getting hit in the hand by the puck?

As the day progresses, news should be coming out, though I doubt we’ll know what exactly the injury is, just how long he’ll be out. Check the Freep’s front page (more specifically, their Breaking News box, which will be on the right if there is any such news), Kukla’s Korner, Abel to Yzerman, the LetsGoWings Forums or back here for updates. — Matt

The Wings won 6-5 in a disappointing game against the Blue Jackets tonight. After losing their 4-1 lead midway through the second, a third period goal from Draper made it 5-4 and should’ve sent the Blue Jackets packing. But their persistence paid off and Nash was able to beat Legace with 33 seconds left to send it to overtime. Legace didn’t see the shot, and the goal made for Nash’s first hat trick. Nash led all skaters with 10 shots tonight, the rest of his team combining for the other 13 of Columbus’ 23 shots. The Wings ended the game with 36 shots.

The shootout seemed inevitable while watching the overtime, and Holmstrom was the first to score, as the 10th shooter, to win it in the sudden death rounds of the shootout. The bright spot of the game was seeing Legace as strong as ever during the shootout, making glove saves and closing the gaps along the posts. Also, Holmstrom had a great goal in the shootout, deiking Denis and going high. But the win came with the bad news that Zetterberg left the game near the end of the 2nd period with an “upper body injury.” He left the building to go to Detroit Medical Center to have it checked out. He would join Datsyuk (”lower body”) and Schneider (groin) as injured Wings. Woolley, Mowers, and Cross all saw action tonight. The Wings are now 6-1 versus Columbus this season.

The first period started quickly for the Wings, who opened with a 7-1 shot advantage. At 1:01, Samuelsson scored his 22nd goal (40th point) from Zetterberg and Holmstrom. On the play, Zetterberg made a pretty pass across to Samuelsson, who tipped it in a relatively open net on the 2-on-1. 1-0 Wings. The Wings got some great scoring chances during a stretch around 4 minutes in. Draper had a chance off a rebound on Denis, and Kronwall had his own off a feed from Zetterberg behind the net.

You could definitely notice Sergei Fedorov’s presence on the ice all night. He was booed fairly loudly, and made quite a few turnovers to finish the game at -1 with only one shot. Lilja made a giveaway at 14:40, but was able to make up for it by diving to deflect the puck from Letowski. At 18:13, Columbus scored a powerplay goal from Nash to make it 1-1. The Wings ended the period with a 12-8 advantage in shots, 5-5 in scoring chances. The period really turned from a quick start from the Wings to a back and forth grind-it-out game, which is all the Blue Jackets could ask for.

The 2nd period started with a Blue Jackets powerplay, and Lidstrom made a great play 25 seconds in by breaking up a pass to Nash that would’ve been an easy backdoor goal. At 2:46, Picard was caught holding up Chelios along the boards behind Legace, and the Wings got their first powerplay of the night. They came into tonight 2 for 11 in their last few games. At 4:14 Kronwall scored his first goal of the season (2nd career NHL goal) from Woolley and Lang. It was a pretty individual goal by Kronwall, who showed veteran patience on the blue line when he found some room, walked in between the circles, and beat Denis up high. Traffic in front and a screen by Shanahan gave Denis no chance on the shot. 2-1 Wings.

At 12:22, Legace made the save of the game on a chance from Letowski. On the play, Fedorov carried the puck up along the far boards, and threw it out in front after going behind the net. Letowski jumped on the loose puck, and Legace stoned him. The Wings showed a strong transition game by going from that big save to their own scoring chance. Shanahan picked up a rebound on Denis for his 35th goal, to make it 3-1 Wings. On the play, a point shot from Draper rebounded and Mowers got a chance deep on Denis, the rebound going to Shanahan for his Johnny-on-the-spot dunk in. It was an important 2 goal swing with the Legace save leading to the Wings’ goal. Important for the Wings’ later lack of defense.

Just 1:17 later, the Wings got another, this time from Jason Williams - his 19th of the season. On the play, Yzerman was patient behind Denis and fed it out to an open Williams between the circles, who rocketed it top corner to make it 4-1. On a side note, Williams is one goal away from reaching 20 goals and becoming the 8th Red Wing this season to reach that mark, which would be the first time in Red Wings history for that to happen. Yzerman also extended his points streak to 13 points in now 10 games.

This is where the Wings reach the dreaded 3 goal lead versus Columbus and the game goes sloppy. We’ve had plenty of examples of the Wings giving up the big lead to Columbus. Just a few weeks back, Columbus rallied to score four goals against the Wings in 7:30 during the third to win it 5-4 in the SO. Even Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond were joking about how fast the Wings’ 3 goal lead could evaporate. And it did.

At 11:02, Columbus started their comeback with a goal from Hartigan off a Corey Cross turnover. On the play, Cross attempted a dangerous pass to Lang in the Wings’ zone, and paid the price with Hartigan capitalizing on the broken play. 4-2 Wings. That’s 3 goals in 3:11 of play.

At 13:10, a Lilja giveaway led to a Malhotra chance that hit the post, nearly making it a one-goal game. The Wings had their own missed opportunities, with the puck bouncing on Yzerman’s stick in what would’ve been a great bang-bang feed from Lang. Soon later, Williams had a sure-goal with a backdoor opportunity on Denis off an Yzerman feed, but couldn’t handle the puck quick enough and was denied by Denis on the shot and rebound.

At 16:42, Fritsche scored for Columbus to make it 4-3. It was the result of a Lang giveaway, with a quick pass from Chimera to feed Fritsche on the doorstep. That makes for 2 Columbus goals off of Wings turnovers in their zone, something that had to bug Babcock going into the third. With 10 seconds left, Cleary charged the net hard and had to leap over Denis to avoid crushing contact. The contact was still enough to knock Denis down and draw a few slashes, but surprisingly went uncalled.

The third started with a great chance from Lang on a breakaway at 1:15, but he hit the post. A delay of game penalty on Fedorov at 1:57 gave the Wings their second powerplay. Lang played well during the man advantage, with some redirects and carrying the puck to the net. This is when Ken Daniels notices Zetterberg’s absence from the Wings bench, as it is always strange to see Draper out on the powerplay. The Wings later released a response that Zetterberg had left the game late in the second with an “upper body injury,” and went to Detroit Medical Center to have it checked out.

At 4:21, Columbus tied it literally on a tic-tac-”toe” play with Nash shooting it off the left skate of Woolley near the backdoor to make it 4-4. Nash’s second goal on the night. At 9:16, Draper put the Wings ahead 5-4 with his 8th goal of the season. On the play, Shanny fed Draper on a breakaway, and Denis committed early leaving Draper room to score. Lang got a holding penalty right after the goal, but it was later nullified by a Vyborny hooking call.

The Wings handled the puck well late in the period, and were in the Columbus zone up to around 1:10 left. Columbus was able to gain the Wings’ zone and get Denis pulled for an extra skater. Kronwall attempted a clear, but the puck was turned over and Nash threw it at the net, capitalizing on Legace’s inability to follow it. 5-5 tie.

The overtime period was pretty uneventful, and it was inevitable that the game was going to end with the shootout. Williams, Yzerman, and Lang were the Wings’ three shooters, up against Balastik, Nash, and Hartigan. Legace was a monster during the shootout, and made some pretty impressive glove and kick saves. Williams missed the net on his attempt, Yzerman hit the post, and Lang gave a pretty lousy no-deik attempt to send it to the sudden death rounds.

Next up were Letowski and Samuelsson, who both were denied. Vyborny was stopped with a glove save along the post, setting the stage for a Holmstrom opportunity to seal the win. He came across center ice weaving and stick-handling like I’ve never seen him do, and he scored to make it a 6-5 shootout win for the Wings.

All in all, positives I took from the game included Holmstrom and Legace’s strong outing during the shootout, Yzerman continuing his point streak, and Draper scoring what should’ve been the game-winning goal. Negatives are much more obvious. Giving up the 4-1 lead, and giving up the 5-4 lead with 30 seconds left. This is not exactly unprecedented stuff, and the Wings shouldn’t be letting this happen this late in the season. Also, the “upper body injury” to Zetterberg late in the second is no small matter. Though we don’t know whether it’s just because he has the flu or if it is really an injury we should be worried about.

Giveaways proved painful for the Wings, with Kronwall, Lang, and Cross all making mistakes leading to Columbus goals. Another negative is Lidstrom playing 31 minutes, with Schneider out with a groin injury. Lidstrom definitely deserves some rest.

Losing a lead like that at home, and the fact that the Wings are on a 9 game road winning streak with 28 road wins makes me believe that having home ice advantage may turn out to not be worth its cost in injuries with this team. Seriously, with the way 8th seeds come in hot and the fact that the Wings are an old team in areas, why not sit some guys out and take the 2 seed if it comes down to it? Is the 1 seed worth it if it means injuries in these final few games? I said it after the Wings’ loss to Columbus on March 25, and I’ll say it again, sit the key players and don’t worry about the President’s Trophy. We are guaranteed the 1 or 2 seed either way!

Do the math. The Wings and Dallas both have 6 games left, and the Wings lead Dallas 114 to 105. The Wings win one of their last six games, and Dallas would need to win out to pass the Wings. Dallas is 6-2-2 in their last 10, and has had a 6-game win streak twice this season, but I still say its a stretch. Let’s all hope the Zetterberg injury turns out to be nothing and serves as a reminder to Babcock to not push this team too hard in these final, meaningless games.

Head over to Abel to Yzerman for coverage on Zetterberg. Apparently there’s word that he had been suffering from flu symptoms before the game, but it’s still odd to me that a hospital trip was necessary. Let’s hope for the best, and more word should come before gametime tomorrow night. Also, the Letsgowings forums are always a good place to read fan reactions. They remind us that Zetterberg had been pounded during the Calgary game on Monday, barely avoiding a knee-to-knee courtesy of Marchment.

Abel to Yzerman game report

GameDay: vs. Columbus (32-40-3, 67 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published

Matt Saler

on April 7, 2006

in 2005-2006, Blue Jackets and GameDay

. 0 Comments

Tonight is the seventh of eight games the Wings will play against the Jackets this season. They are 5-1 against them so far: 6-0 October 20th, 6-2 October 24th, 4-3 (SO) December 20th, 5-2 December 31st, and 4-0 January 8th. The Jackets finally got a win on March 25th, a 5-4 shootout decision after a 3rd period Detroit meltdown.

The league-leading Wings (112 Pts) have won their last two, 3-2 over Minnesota on Sunday and 2-1 over Calgary in a shootout on Monday. The Flames game wrapped up a difficult stretch of play in which they played four games in five days in four cities. They managed to win three of the four, losing only to Chicago on Friday, and locked up the Division on Sunday with the win against the Wild.

Manny Legace will get the start tonight.

Mathieu Schneider will remain out with a lower body injury. Brett Lebda is back in Grand Rapids so Jason Woolley and Cory Cross will both be in the lineup.

Dan Cleary is supposed to return from a rib injury tonight. (DetNews)

The Blue Jackets went into Detroit last time having just snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Calgary the night before. This time, they’re riding a six-game winning streak, which is a franchise record, and are giving their fans something to hope for in the near future, although they cannot make the playoffs this season. In their four games since beating the Wings 5-4 in a shootout on March 25th, the Jackets have outscored their opponents 16-4, beating San Jose, St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville.

They have been rotating their goalies and since Pascal Leclaire started Monday in Nashville, I expect Marc Denis will be in net tonight.

David Vyborny, the Jackets’ top scorer, will be in the lineup tonight after taking Brendan Witt’s knee to his right thigh on Monday night. Witt was suspended one game for the play, which would have caused Vyborny serious injury had contact been made knee-on-knee.

The Jackets will hope to continue their habit of not losing to the Wings in April, having gone 2-0-1 (tie) against Detroit the last month of the season in previous years, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Having soberly reflected on their triumph last time they were in town, the Jackets expect the Wings to be gunning for them tonight, and they plan on coming out of the gates strong in anticipation of a fast start by Detroit.

I don’t envy Denis (or Leclair, if he plays). Aside from wanting revenge, the Red Wing forwards have to have a lot of pent up frustration from Monday’s low-scoring game and hopefully will be looking to vent it out on the next unsuspecting goalie they run across.

Wings 2, Flames 1 (SO)

Published

Matt Saler

on April 4, 2006

in 2005-2006, Flames, Game Reports and The Team

. 8 Comments

The Wings got their 28th road victory last night, beating the Calgary Flames 2-1 in a shootout. It wasn’t a win to inspire confidence in people who were already pessimistic about their chances of getting past the Flames in the playoffs, though. Miikka Kiprusoff was just as nigh-unbeatable as usual and it was only because the Wings’ have players with better moves that they won. In a shootout. Those don’t happen in the playoffs. Sixty-five minutes of playing time and just one goal. Granted, the Wings only allowed one goal in that span as well but that doesn’t leave a whole lot of margin for error.

Anyway, on to the game. Chris Osgood got the nod for Mike Babcock and played well. Of course, he wasn’t tested as much as Kiprusoff but the Flames had their own glorious scoring opportunities and he was up to the task of stopping the puck on all but one. He was a wall in the shootout, stopping both shots he faced like they were nothing. I’d say we’re pretty well off as long as one of our two goalies is hot and our defense covers up the rest.

Pavel Datsyuk definitely had a good night, probably giving the Flames defense nightmares, not to mention Kiprusoff. He slick with the puck the whole game, side-stepping hits and spinning away from coverage in ways that caused the Calgary players fits, even when double-teamed. He’d get knocked down and a perfect pass as he fell and at least once without looking. His goal in the shootout was great and momentarily caused Kiprusoff to look human (it was deja vu a minute later when Jason Williams roofed it on the same deke using the other hand). Too bad he’s out for a week to ten days now with a lower body injury. I guess one of those double teams got him.

Steve Yzerman was great again too. He had a few scoring chances that were among the Wings’ best and drew penalties purely because the Flames couldn’t knock him off the puck. He scored yet another goal, his 692nd and is within two of Mark Messier for 7th all-time. I cannot wait for the playoffs.

The Flames controlled the play slightly more in the first few minutes of the game. I noticed that the Wings weren’t passing all that well, just a step or two ahead or behind the target and that Calgary was generally there to pounce on it. Neither goalie was very much tested early on, as both teams kept the puck away with good defensive work.

Kiprusoff stoned Brendan Shanahan off the rush six minutes in, with Tomas Holmstrom in his face, looking supremely calm as he did it. You have to wonder what shots look like to him. Something like the bullets did to Neo in The Matrix, maybe?

Roman Hamrlik went off for interference at 7:29 and the Wings got their first power play of the night. And unlike Sunday afternoon, being on the power play just means we have more opportunities to see Kiprusoff stop shots. The Wings had their chances, with Yzerman nearly burying the puck, but they might as well have been shooting at a wall.

Nik Kronwall, who I have not been impressed with recently, turned the puck over on what should have been an easy zone-clearing play and it resulted in Flames pressure that never should have happened. Where’s your head at, Nik?

Probably because Kronwall’s giveaway resulted in tired players, the Wings got a too-many-men penalty after they finally cleared the zone. Mikael Samuelsson and David Langkow also got into a little tussle at this point so we were treated to a 4-on-3 Flames power play.

It wasn’t too hard for the Wings to kill it off, however, since Calgary’s strategy seemed to be just skating fast into the zone and neglecting to set up around the perimeter. Osgood had to make a quick save on Jarome Iginla not long after the penalty expired, kicking out his right leg and stopping the puck with his foot for a nice one.

The Wings still weren’t passing very well, I thought, and though the game was fast-paced, there wasn’t a whole lot of offense. Both teams were too solid defensively.

The Flames handed out another power play at 16:00 but the Wings were passing so badly (particularly Jason Williams’ exceptionally poor breakout effort) that they couldn’t get set up until later in the PP. Then, they did set up and got off a couple shots but no goals.

Calgary put the screws to the Wings late in the period and Chris Osgood was coming up big on a very long shift for his skaters. A very tired Andreas Lilja, Johan Franzen, Kirk Maltby, Chris Chelios and Kris Draper couldn’t do much when Dion Phaneuf, the Flames’ young stud on defense, took a pass from Tony Amonte and one-timed it past Osgood at 19:20. The goal came on a delayed penalty call on the Wings, though, so it was essentially 6-on-5, if only for a few seconds.

The Wings weren’t done, though. Steve Yzerman and Henrik Zetterberg each had chances before the buzzer, with Yzerman’s going high in the final seconds.

The Flames controlled the first minute of the second but a dumb slashing penalty by Kiprusoff cut their fast start short at 1:55. This time, the Wings set it up and cycled it, looking for that one shot, that one undeniable shot, an ordained goal. They got it but Kiprusoff didn’t get the memo saying it had to go in. Pavel’s pass through the crease to Henrik Zetterberg should have resulted in a goal but somehow, Kiprusoff got across in time to rob Hank on the goalline. How many times have we seen that goal go on? Many, correct? And how many times have we seen it stopped like that? I can’t think of a time, either.

After the power play was over and the play stopped, Pavel Datsyuk and Andrew Ference had a spat that resulted in them both receiving a slap on the wrist from the refs in the form of a two-minute roughing penalty. 4-on-4 hockey lasted about a minute before Bryan Marchment went off for holding.

The 4-on-3 power play was uneventful because the Wings only got off one shot, with no one in front, causing Kiprusoff to laugh derisively as he confidently turned the shot aside. After the save, the Flames wanted to clear the zone but Robert Lang had another thing to say about it! He hounded the Flames player mercilessly along the boards … and was promptly called for tripping.

So, 3-on-3 hockey. Not often seen but we saw it twice last night. The big event of this stretch of play was a nice play by Zetterberg to Lidstrom that came to nothing because the puck went between Nick’s legs.

Back to 4-on-4. FSN had just returned from a commerical and was superimposing some ad over the crowd when Ken Daniels cried out, “And they score!” So, the ad pitch was cut short and we were shown a replay of the goal. It came right off a faceoff deep in the Calgary zone (right circle, in fact), which was won by Yzerman to Pavel Datsyuk to his left. Pavel took a couple steps toward the net before dropping it back to The Captain, who one-timed it quickly past Kiprusoff to tie it up. The goal came at 6:12 and was Yzerman’s 692nd. Correction: After reviewing the play per request, it appears that Yzerman lost the faceoff to Lombardi and the puck was picked up by Hamrlik. Datsyuk immediately stole it from him, though, and made the pass back to The Captain that resulted in the goal.

The Wings killed off the short Calgary power play that followed and both teams went back to full strength. The game kept its good pace, with both teams skating hard up and down the ice. Kris Draper went flying through center and into the Calgary zone, stepping around the Flames defenseman and his path was disrupted just enough to be considered a penalty. So the Wings went back on the power play.

The puck was cleared quickly on two initial setup attempts but they had a couple chances with Pavel and Hank’s group. A pass from Datsyuk to Zetterberg was too hot to handle but seconds later, Datsyuk was double teamed and sent a no looker to Williams at the point as he fell to the ice. Williams got off a good shot but Kiprusoff was too strong. Iginla had a nice chance off another Kronwall turnover (not the best guy to give the puck away to, Nik) but didn’t get a shot off as the young Swede was called for hooking.

During 4-on-4 play, Stephan Yelle rocked Chris Chelios’ world in the left corner of the Detroit end, causing the friendly Calgary fans to cheer wildly.

Datsyuk had a great shift beginning at about 16:50, busting out a couple slick moves that nearly resulted in goals by Andreas Lilja and Mikael Samuelsson. The Wings were looking really good at this stage, though solid defensive plays were seen as obvious penalties to a very vocal crowd. Unfortunately, the ended the period on the wrong foot, with Chris Chelios being called for tripping on completely harmless play. Amonte crossed the blueline with his head down and Chelios stepped up to lay the body on him but Tony looked up just in time to sidestep, but not quite all the way. He tripped over Chelios’ leg (when he should have hit him full on) and the ref’s arm went up just after the buzzer.

The Flames began the third period on the power play but couldn’t do much.

The Wings got another power play before long, when Iginla hooked The Captain. It wasn’t the greatest power play for the most part, though Yzerman had a nice scoring chance with about 15 seconds left in it. Kiprusoff was his usual wall self, though.

Going the other way, Kristian Huselius had a good scoring opportunity and drew a penalty on the play. The Wings killed it off with little trouble and nearly scored a shorthanded goal. Yzerman ended up heading into the Calgary zone with the puck all alone and Kiprusoff gambled by coming way out and poke-checking it away. Zetterberg was right there, however, and picked it up well before the goalie could get back into the net. Rather than shoot it (two defenseman were between him and the net), Hank passed it across to Yzerman, who would have one-timed it had he not whiffed on it. The puck went the other way immediately and Osgood was forced to come up big himself.

The Wings were coming on in the third but the Flames were ready for it and had a few chances of their own. About five minutes after the Flames’ power play, Henrik Zetterberg took the puck through center ice only to meet Bryan Marchment. We all know what Marchment is infamous for and he was apparently looking for another notch to add to his gun last night. With Hank flying, Marchment stepped up and stuck his knee out for one of the dirtiest plays in hockey. Fortunately, Henrik saw him there and side-stepped him but just barely, as you can see:

Photo via. Kukla’s Korner

He was tripped up but that was it. No call, which is disgusting. One of the league’s top players almost had his knee taken out by that scum and there wasn’t even a tripping call. Sick. Being aggressive is one thing, being dirty is entirely different. I can’t say I’m very encouraged that no one on the team felt it necessary to defend their teammate.

We had more 4-on-4 hockey not long after that but nothing much happened beyond a scoring chance involving Zetterberg and Brett Lebda.

The period wound down with both teams playing evenly and we headed to overtime.

The Flames got a penalty 41 seconds into OT, just after Hank sent a shot wide on good scoring chance. The Wings set up and Lidstrom got off a shot but it went high. He had another chance seconds later but this time it went off the post.

Robert Lang cut the fun short at 1:56 of OT when he got a penalty himself. 3-on-3 hockey again and then a 4-on-3 Calgary power play. Lilja blocked a shot with his knee and hobbled off and Chris Osgood came up big as his teammates couldn’t clear the puck. The Flames had control most the last minute or two of overtime but they couldn’t score and we got another exciting shootout.

Datsyuk went first. He deked backhand to forehand and roofed it over Kiprusoff, who was fooled pretty badly on the play.

Matthew Lombardi was first for Calgary and he tried a backhand shot that was stopped by Osgood when he closed the 5-hole.

Jason Williams was next for the Wings and he tried the same move on Kiprusoff, just going forehand to backhand because he is right-handed (Pavel is left-handed). It had the same result, beating Kiprusoff high.

Jarome Iginla had to score to keep the Flames alive and he tried to snipe it glove side. Osgood stoned him and the Wings won.

Click here for a video of the shootout (.mpg, 19.2 MB).

The Wings are going to have to find a way to beat Kiprusoff in regulation or overtime if the want to beat the Flames in the playoffs. They just have to and they should be able to. The good thing about last night’s game was that they showed they can play with a physical team and come out on top. If their offense is going to have so much trouble scoring on a good goalie, that means their defense will have to be that much better because they don’t have a goalie that is that good.

They lead the league with 112 points, five ahead of Ottawa, and get three days off before facing Columbus on Friday for the first of a home-and-home series.

Abel to Yzerman summary

GameDay: @ Calgary (42-24-8, 92 Pts) 9:00 ET

Published

Matt Saler

on April 3, 2006

in 2005-2006, Flames and GameDay

. 0 Comments

Sorry about the lack of updates this weekend. A friend of mine was in town and I wasn’t able to watch yesterday’s game because of that and schoolwork. I recommend heading over to Abel to Yzerman for a good take on it, though.

Tonight is the fourth of four games between these two teams this season. The Flames lead the season series 2-1, with wins November 16th (3-1) and December 1st (3-2). The Wings’ last win against Calgary came in the third game of the season, October 9th, a 6-3 decision at home.

The Wings are coming off a 3-2 win over Minnesota yesterday afternoon. Tonight’s game will wrap up a packed section of the schedule that had them playing four games in five days, beginning in Nashville Thursday night (4-3 W)and continuing with a game at home against Chicago (4-2 L). Yesterday’s win officially locked up the Central Division for the Wings, who now can focus on clinching the Conference lead. They have an eight point lead on Dallas currently with 110.

Manny Legace started yesterday so I expect Chris Osgood will be in net tonight.

Mathieu Schneider is not with the team, having stayed back in Detroit with a “lower body” injury. Apparently, it’s not serious but he obviously isn’t planning on playing soon. Brett Lebda was brought up to play in his stead, though he may sit tonight in favor of Cory Cross.

The Flames have won their last three, their most recent of which was a 4-1 decision over Edmonton on Saturday. They are currently in third place, though the race in the Northwest Division is still close and they have by no means clinched the lead.

Our old buddy Miikka Kiprusoff will be in net tonight, most likely doing his usual good job of keeping the puck out of it.

The Wings went into Minnesota and tore up the league’s best penalty kill, scoring two power play goals (2-for-4) and winning once again on the road. One more road win and they will tie the 98-99 New Jersey Devils for most road wins in a season with 28. Tonight seems to be a good opportunity to do it, I think.

Wings 2, Chicago 3 (OT)

Published

Brian List

on March 31, 2006

in 2005-2006, Blackhawks and Game Reports

. 5 Comments

The Wings were luckily to get a point tonight, losing to Chicago 3-2 in overtime. They seemed to run out of gas during the second and third periods, and being without the services of Mathieu Schneider and Daniel Cleary (still sore from the Scott Walker hit) didn’t help either. Chris Osgood got the start for the Wings, and Mowers filled in for Cleary. Even on the 78th birthday of Gordie Howe and with Vladdy Konstantinov in attendance, the Wings just didn’t show the jump you’d expect from them.

Lucky because Pavel Datsyuk tied the game at 2-2 with Osgood pulled at 46 seconds left in the third. But Chicago’s Patrick Sharp made a great individual play at 1:29 of OT, deiking Lidstrom and Kronwall before beating Osgood near the mouth of the crease. The bright spot of the game was Yzerman getting his 691st goal, now 8th all time (and three away from Messier). Yzerman is now on a 7 game point streak. The Wings were fortunate to get the overtime loss point and make it 108 points, all but locking up the Central Division and lengthening the Western Conference lead on Dallas to 7 points. Khabibulin, previously 0-4 against the Wings this season with a 4.98 GAA, was strong in net on the Wings 41 shots.

The first period opened with 4:23 of play without a whistle, with Osgood making a save on a knuckle-ball shot from Canton, MI native James Wisniewski. The Wings’ penalties from Shanahan at 4:51 (hooking) and Lilja at 7:53 (interference) prevented them from establishing much offense, as they were held without a shot until 10:56. The Lilja call drew the ire of Mickey Redmond, as he explained how Lilja was simply holding his ground in front of Ozzie, and merely bumped shoulders with Calder to draw the interference call.

At 10:56, on the Wings’ first shot on net, Yzerman scored off a great pass from Williams to make it 1-0 Wings. On the play, Williams stole the puck streaking up center, and cut left waiting for the trailing Yzerman, who took the pass in front Khabibulin and tipped it in. It was Yzerman’s 691st career goal, passing Lemieux for sole position of 8th place all time. He is now three goals behind Mark Messier at the next position at 694, with nine regular season games remaining.

The Mowers-Holmstrom-Zetterberg line brought a lot of energy to their play around 4 minutes remaining, the Wings only having taken 5 shots up to this point. At 2;38, Osgood made a save on a Calder point shot, and lost track of the puck as it bounced off his chest above his head. It was a tense few seconds until Ozzie caught sight of the puck and was able to get a glove on it.

At 1:12 remaining Shanny was called for interference, and the Wings got a great chance off a faceoff turnover, leading to a Kris Draper chance on Khabibulin. It hit iron, and a few seconds later Maltby had his own chance on a 2-on-1, but was stoned by Khabibulin. Franzen got a chance before the end of the period too, beating the Chicago defense on the near side to get a quasi-break on Khabibulin. The period ended, and Chicago was luckily to be down by only 1 goal.

During 1st intermission, Jason Williams talked of his excitement for having serious play time in this season’s playoffs, and Vladdy was shown on camera.

The second period started with a penalty kill, the Wings killing it without allowing a shot. A few minutes in, Wisniewski was hit in the mouth by a shot in front of Khabibulin. He fell to the ice, and it was a scary minute as he covered his mouth with his gloves. Being a Canton, MI native, his family was in attendance, so it was fortunate that he was able to continue playing the rest of the game. At 14:08, Zetterberg was called for holding the stick, and while the Wings killed it off, Chicago scored at 16:16 on a backdoor pass from Calder to Cullen. 1-1 tie. Osgood didn’t have a chance on the play. Shots in the period were 17-14 Wings, a pick-up in shots but definitely less energy than the first.

During the 2nd intermission, John Keating interviewed Jiri Fischer, with some clips of it shown. The full interview will be shown pregame Sunday and Monday.

The Wings opened the third sluggish, but got a great power play chance at 6:04. On the play, Datsyuk passed to Holmstrom in front, but Khabibulin was as strong as ever on the stop. It was a funny moment when Mickey Redmond started singing lyrics from his favorite Billy Joel song, “It’s 9 o’clock on a Saturday!” Ken Daniels had to remind him it’s still Friday.

At 14:31, the Blackhawks broke the tie on a goal from Lapointe. On the play, Chicago converted on a 3-on-1 with Lidstrom the only man back, and former-Wing Lapointe notched a goal. 2-1 Chicago. The Wings were desperate with a minute left and the score still 2-1. Osgood was pulled, and the Wings converted on the 6-on-5 advantage with a goal from Datsyuk. On the play, Holmstrom did a great job of getting the puck from behind the net to Shanny, who directed it to Pavel in front. Regulation ended 2-2 with shots 40-32 Detroit.

In overtime, Chicago controlled the pressure and Patrick Sharp made a great individual play on his game-winning goal. On the play, he deiked Lidstrom and Kronwall before beating Osgood near the mouth of the crease. 3-2 Chicago, who definitely deserved the win. The Wings were very lucky just to get their point, and better rest on Saturday before their Sunday matinee versus the Wild. Remember to turn your clocks forward an hour Saturday night! The Wings definitely won’t enjoy that, in addition to their 4 games in 5 nights!

Wings 4, Preds 2

Published

Matt Saler

on March 31, 2006

in 2005-2006, Game Reports and Predators

. 1 Comment

The Wings all but locked up the division last night, beating the Preds 4-2 in Nashville. They now have 107 points and a 15 point lead on the Predators for the Central Division lead with 10 games left (and one game in hand). They’re also the first team to 50 wins, a marker they have only reached two other times in their history (’95-’96: 62W, ‘01-’02: 51W). The Wings now lead the season series with the Preds 4-3 and remain undefeated in Nashville with one more game to be played there.

Manny Legace did get the start for the Wings and looked strong. He was worked more than in his previous two games and didn’t seem to have much trouble with it.

Babcock started the Swedes, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Andreas Lilja and Nick Lidstrom. The first minute wasn’t bad and first impressions were that the Wings looked pretty good. Robert Lang, who has been coming to play increasingly often lately, started the game out well. He appears to be getting ready for the playoffs, which is encouraging.

Early in the game, all four lines were generating pressure, and getting chances, as the Wings came on strong. The Preds derailed that a bit by killing off their first penalty, mostly due to the Wings apparently suddenly forgetting how to conduct a power play. In a bit of a momentum swing, Nashville came out of it ahead, with the ice tilted in their direction.

They had a power play of their own beginning at 5:47 and were pretty dangerous on it. Fortunatley, the Wings’ PKers, particularly Manny Legace, were ready and it was killed off. Not long after the teams were back to even strength, Brendan Shanahan went off for hooking and the Wings were forced to kill off another penalty, which they did pretty well.

While still on the power play, the Preds ended up getting a penalty of their own and we got some 4-on-4 hockey. The subsequent Red Wing power play wasn’t bad but Tomas Holmstrom cut it short when he was called for goaltender interference. Five seconds of 4-on-4 followed and then the Preds were back on the power play.

Mike Sillinger made it 1-0 Predators at 13:29. Nashville cycled the puck in the Detroit zone and it ended up on Steve Sullivan’s stick. He sent it over to Sillinger, who blasted a one-timer from the left face-off circle. A good shot.

Forty seconds later, the Wings responded. Pavel Datsyuk and Kris Draper took the puck in on a 2-on-1, with Pavel carrying and Draper headed to the net. Datsyuk took a shot that was stopped by Tomas Vokoun and though he didn’t give up much of a rebound, it was enough. Kris Draper was johnny-on-the-spot and knocked it in off the backhand just after the initial save. 1-1 game. Shanahan got the other assist.

The Preds wasted hardly any time re-taking the lead, scoring again at 14:36, just 25 seconds after the Detroit goal. The goal game immediatley after a commercial break and the faceoff, which made it a bit surprising. Brendan Witt got the puck after the faceoff and let loose a shot from the point through, somehow threading it through the crowd of nine players in front of him. Legace, who was completely screened appeared to have hardly seen it and it beat him glove side. The goal was later given to Scott Hartnell (the punk!), who had some kind of physical contact with it before it went in, apparently. 2-1 Predators.

At 15:30, Jordin Tootoo kneed Manny Legace’s head after taking the puck along the goalline from the right boards on an individual effort. The ref saw fit to called him for goaltending interference but he shouldn’t have bothered. At first, the resulting Detroit “power play” seemed more like the Preds had the man-advantage. The Wings finally got some pressure going but couldn’t score.

The pace of the game had quickened pretty dramatically and the crowd was loud (and somewhat classless in their choice of cheers, though I couldn’t quite hear what they were chanting), making for some nice atmosphere.

At 18:31, Tomas Vokoun made a nice stop on a good scoring chance involving Pavel Datsyuk. Just after that, Brendan Shanahan and Scott Hartnell (the punk!) had a little altercation that ended with taking the younger player down after a few punches. That was satisfying.

Seven seconds later, Sullivan went off for slashing and the Wings went back on the power play. This time, they scored. Holmstrom tied it up at 19:25 when he tipped in Lidstrom’s pass/shot right in front of Vokoun.

Manny Legace was forced to come up big early in the second period when Paul Kariya and Danny Markov got off a couple dangerous shots in the first two minutes.

Scott Walker ran Dan Cleary into the boards at 2:58, knocking the wind out of him. He turned out to be okay though and the Wings got a power play, which they squandered. The game had slowed down a bit and it wasn’t quite as exciting.

The Preds had a really good scoring opportunity nearing the halfway mark of the period but Mathieu Schneider broke it up and was lucky he wasn’t called for holding on the play. The Predators player had a step on him but Schneider caught up just in time and apparently got the puck first because the ref didn’t call anything. It could have been a penalty shot.

The Wings got a 3-on-1 half way through the period but Hank’s pass to Samuelsson was intercepted by Markov and it amounted to nothing. The pace had quickened, though.

Andreas Lilja got his penalty at 11:41 right after Manny Legace made a big stop. The Wings killed it off pretty well. Lilja somehow got a breakway after leaving the box but he was stoned by Vokoun despite making some passable moves. Better luck next time, Andreas. Lord knows you’ll be in the box often enough that you’re bound to be sprung on another post-penalty breakway!

Something about Lilja’s breakaway must have gotten the Wings fired up. They started controlling the play and looking dangerous. Then, Pavel Datsyuk fell on Tootoo and they were back on the PK.

Kirk Maltby had a glorious shorthanded chance, with Vokoun all to himself, and nearly scored. He sent it off the side of the net after a couple of dekes, though.

At 19:08, the Preds got caught with too many men on the ice. The Wings couldn’t do much before the period ended or when the third started but they capitalized soon after the penalty expired.

Brendan Shanahan completed his Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fight) at 1:42 after receiving a beautiful no-look pass from Steve Yzerman. Shanny found himself all alone out front and he deked Vokoun forehand to backhand, scoring to the goalie’s right to make it 3-2.

Two minutes later, the Preds got some revenge when the Wings were called for too many men as well. Draper and Maltby had a solid shorthanded scoring opportunity but Vokoun was equal to the task and made the necessary stop.

The Preds were dangerous as the period wore on and Manny was forced to stay sharp. The pace was good, with the teams skating end to end exchanging shots and the goalies playing well.

Lilja went back to the box at 9:43 but the Preds couldn’t do much on the power play and it was killed off. The game began to become chippy after that as the Wings dug in and the Preds attempted to tie it.

Jason Williams put it away at 15:54 after taking another great pass from The Captain. He one-timed it past Vokoun to make it 4-2.

Nashville still pulled their goalie and called a timeout in the final minute in an effort at a successful final push but it didn’t work out. The Wings got their 50th win and the Preds got nothing.

Next up, we have the Hawks tonight at 7:00 ET. They have won just twice since last playing the Wings on the 12th (2-3-2) and are coming off one of those wins, a 3-2 overtime decision against the Blues Wednesday night. It’ll be the 7th of 8 divisional games between these two teams.

Abel to Yzerman game report

Also, A2Y discusses a dilema Babcock faces here.

GameDay: @ Nashville (42-22-8, 92 Pts) 8:00 ET

Published

Matt Saler

on March 30, 2006

in 2005-2006, GameDay and Predators

. 1 Comment

Tonight is the 7th of eight games between these two Central Division rivals. The season series is tied 3-3, with the Wings winning January 6th (3-1), February 8th (6-0) and February 9th (3-2). The Predators won two in a row in Detroit on January 23rd (3-2) and 24th (2-1 OT) and won the most recent game, 3-2 in a shootout last week. This game was added to this week’s schedule to make up for the home game Nashville lost when the January 23rd matchup was switched from Nashville to Detroit to make up for the canceled November 21st game.

The Wings are coming off a strong 4-1 win in St. Louis on Monday night. They basically dominated the entire game and held the Blues, who came to play as well, at arm’s length, nearly getting the shutout but failing in the final minute. It was a game in contrast to their 5-4 shootout loss to Columbus on Saturday, where their effort was only sustained through a little over two periods instead of all three. They blew a three-goal lead in all of seven minutes in the third and though they forced overtime, were unable to recover enough to pull off the win. It was their second loss in 10 games, both of which came in shootouts.

Detroit is entering a stretch in which they will play four games in five days. Three of those games are on the road (tonight, Minnesota on Sunday, and Calgary on Monday) but one will be at home (Chicago tomorrow night). This will be a real test of their stamina, especially given who they’re playing. The Calgary game could be a rough one.

I expect Manny Legace will start tonight.

The Predators have lost three straight since beating the Wings last Tuesday. All three losses came on the road to Pacific Division teams (Anaheim, LA, and Phoenix), no doubt causing Preds fans to feel relieved they aren’t likely to face the Ducks or Kings in the first round. They allowed 17 goals over that stretch and have their goalie criticizing them in the media as a result.

The Tennessean reports that the Preds are looking to get back in the saddle with tonight’s game, after generating some talk about their current slide. They’re ready for another go at the playoffs and this time there’s a good chance they’ll have home ice advantage.

Tomas Vokoun will get the start tonight.

The Wings are undefeated in Nashville so far this year but that doesn’t mean anything. The Preds need to get themselves back on track and you can bet they see tonight is as good a time as any for a start. Any lax play on Detroit’s part will be pounced on by Nashville and so they’ll need to play a full game. Should be a good one, folks.

Wings 4, Blues 1

Published

Matt Saler

on March 28, 2006

in 2005-2006, Blues and Game Reports

. 1 Comment

The Wings went into the game last night knowing they had to make a statement, that anything less than a commanding win wouldn’t be an acceptable response to their embarrassing implosion on Saturday night. They had a Blues team gunning for them and the anti-Red Wing factions of the media licking their chops, looking for more reasons to spread doubt. They even risked the loss of some of their bandwagoners (gasp!). They did not disappoint. It’s pretty safe to say that last night was one of the Wings best sustained efforts all season. Because the Blues came to play as well, it wasn’t completely a Detroit-dominated game but it was close.

Manny Legace was in net for the Wings and was a mere 58 seconds away from his second shutout in as many games but just like the Sharks game, he wasn’t worked much. The credit for this win goes to the team.

Other than the win, the best thing to happen last night was Steve Yzerman’s 690th goal, which tied him with Mario Lemieux for 8th all-time. The goal came at 9:45 of the second period and was the result of a nice set up by Brendan Shanahan, who dished the puck to Niklas Kronwall in the slot to get things going. Kronwall’s shot was blocked but Robert Lang and Yzerman were right there on the doorstep. Lang got it to The Captain, who got an easy goal at the side of the net from 13 feet out.

True to form, it seemed to be just another goal for Yzerman, who didn’t make a scene with wild celebration. The OLN guys didn’t even mention what it meant until a few minutes later and it was in sort of an off-hand way, not at all like Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond would have. It’s great to see The Captain move up the charts and at the rate he’s been scoring lately, 700 doesn’t seem completely out of the question for this season.

The Blues came out of the gates flying and for about a minute it seemed like they would be setting the tempo, as the puck spent the first 50 seconds or so in the Detroit end. The Wings soon put those worries to rest, however.

Kirk Maltby opened the scoring at 2:01 with just his fifth goal of the season. The Wings took the puck on a broad-front rush, all three forwards at once, with Dan Cleary carrying the puck. He crossed the blueline and passed it to Maltby, who waited a second before releasing a wrister from the right wing. I thought at first it had just gone off the crossbar but the goallight went on, indicating it had gone in, if just barely. 1-0 Wings.

Henrik Zetterberg and Company followed up with a good, strong shift and the tone was set. Or it would have been had the Wings not gotten into penalty trouble.

At 6:22, Andreas Lilja, who seems to be good for about a penalty a game if not much else, went to the box for holding. The kill was going well until 6:53, when Draper was called for holding himself, handing the Blues a nice long 5-on-3 opportunity. St. Louis got off a couple pretty good shots but after their initial pressure, they had trouble getting much going in the face of strong penalty killing by the Wings.

Both teams looked good but the Wings were more dominant, for sure. The Blues had a few chances but nothing sustained and Legace was up to the task of stopping their shots. In the process of one such scoring opportunity, Nick Lidstrom was called for hooking. The Wings controlled most of the subsequent power play and when Mathieu Schneider went to the box for another hooking penalty at 17:24, they killed that one off easily as well.

Late in the period, OLN had a close in shot of Robert Lang on a breakout with the puck. Just after he passed it, they cut away to a wider shot and the first thing I saw was the puck being intercepted by a Blues player and going the other way. No comment.

With just 3.9 seconds left in the period, Mark Rycroft was sent off for hooking. The Wings won the deep zone faceoff and Cory Cross’ shot rang off the post as the buzzer sounded.

Shots for the period were 8-4 Wings.

Detroit began the second on the power play but it wasn’t very well orchestrated until later on and it resulted in a St. Louis kill. The Blues were looking pretty good but they couldn’t score on yet another power play just four minutes into the period.

The Wings’ second power play, beginning at 7:25, was much better than the first. Both units were strong and created some good chances but Patrick Lalime was too good. Another kill for the Blues.

Yzerman’s goal came 20 seconds after the penalty had expired. It was followed less than a minute later by another goal, this time from Johan Franzen. Kirk Maltby kicked the puck free behind the net to Franzen, who took it out front. His initial shot was stopped by Lalime but he picked up his own rebound and scored off the backhand while cutting across the net. The goal put the Wings up 3-0 at 10:32 of the second period.

At this point, the Blues called a time out but it didn’t appear to have much effect. The Wings started to really swarm and St. Louis spent much of the remainder of the period on their heels. Mikael Samuelsson had a glorious scoring chance at about the 15 minute mark and it was followed up by scoring opportunities for Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom. Patrick Lalime was standing on his head while his defense played the pylon game and prevented a much more lopsided score, especially during this stretch.

Lalime was given some relief when Lilja got his second penalty of the night, at 16:31. The Blues set it up and generated some good pressure but the power play was killed off relatively easily by the Wings. It was followed, however, by a St. Louis flurry down low late in the period, a storm which was fortunately weathered.

Shots for the period were 13-5 Wings (feel bad for Lalime, yet?).

It took the Wings less than 34 seconds to score in the third. The All-Sweden Line of Samuelsson, Zetterberg and Holmstrom took the puck on an 3-on-2 rush over the St. Louis blue line, Hank carrying on the left wing. Samuelsson went to the net and Holmstrom waited for the pass in the slot. He got it and waited for a second as the St. Louis defenseman cleared the way before roofing it backhand over the abandoned Lalime. 4-0 Wings.

Officially, Jesse Boulerice was called for hooking at 3:08 but I think he actually committed the penalty about a minute or more earlier. The Wings were already controlling the puck in the St. Louis zone when Boulerice committed his sin but once the ref put his arm up and the Wings’ brought on a sixth skater, it was as though the officials had skipped the formality of stopping play to escort Boulerice to the box. It was already a power play. They cycled the puck and absolutely dominated until it was finally touched up and the official power play began.

They set up and got off a couple shots but nothing serious. The Blues took another penalty less than a minute into the first and the Wings got 1:11 of 5-on-3. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take full advantage of it, as Lalime was strong once again.

It was clear at this point that the Wings weren’t about to let up. Although I can’t say I didn’t feel uncomfortable at how easily they took the lead and controlled the game as they had on Saturday, they didn’t get as casual at any point during last night’s game as they did on Saturday. The Blues may get the odd chance but 45 seconds out of any given minute was played with the Wings in control of the puck, it seemed. They were going for the kill.

Yzerman and Lang went to the box five minutes apart in the second half of the period but the Wings were up to the task of killing the penalties off. Legace had to come up big just before Lang’s penalty, though, and it was clear the Blues were weren’t going to give up any sooner than the Wings let up.

St. Louis came even more late in the game and Legace was strong. But they still scored, at 19:02. The goal came off a faceoff, with two Blues in front and just one Red Wing (Chelios). Legace was down and out, making it pretty easy for Petr Cajanek to ruin the shutout.

The refs were intent on calling the game right to the end as well. They called Dennis Wideman for delay of game (they had to - he shot the puck out of the rink) at 19:27, giving the Wings one more chance to score. They got off a shot on their first try and forced another faceoff but after it was cleared, they let the clock run down. Final score 4-1 Red Wings.

Shots for the period were 12-11 St. Louis and 32-21 Wings for the game.

A good win for the Wings, after their loss Saturday brought doubters to the forefront. As others have pointed out, this game could very easily have been a loss under Dave Lewis but under Mike Babcock, there are no such worries. Ken Holland has got to be the best GM around and not just because of the gems he’s found in Samuelsson, Franzen, Cleary and all. Getting Mike Babcock on the bench is looking like the best thing to happen to this team in years.

Have to feel for the Blues and their fans. They weren’t unimpressive last night and it makes me wonder just how different things could have been for that team this year, had things gone just a little better. They put up a respectable fight and will hopefully get their feet back on the ground next season.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing if Chris Osgood had been in net last night since now people can point to Manny and say Osgood’s the reason they lost Saturday. Ah well. Who am I kidding? Osgood’s critics will never shut up because it’s so easy to become one.

Next up, the Predators on Thursday at 8:00 ET. It’s the makeup game for the homegame they lost as a result of the scheduling fallout after Jiri Fischer’s heart incident.

Also, this week’s The Hockey News Player Poll asks “Excluding your team, who has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup?” The top three teams picked were Ottawa (30%), Detroit (30%) and Carolina (17%). I guess nine players haven’t read all the media whining about the Wings’ weak divisional schedule. Update (29. Mar, 12:24 PM ET): ESPN has the player-by-player results here. A lot of Eastern Conference guys picked the Wings but the picks mostly cross conference lines so I guess that’s understandable.