Archive for the '2006-2007' CategoryPage 5 of 17

Game 5: vs. Calgary, 3:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 21, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames, GameDay and Playoffs
. 12 Comments

Today is Game 5 of the Wings Western Conference Quarterfinal game with the Calgary Flames. The series is tied up at two and has been a homer series all along.

This is a big game for both teams. For the Flames, it’s important that they win so that they can really take control of the series as they go into Calgary tomorrow night for Game 6. Right now, they have all the momentum but today we find out whether or not that’s only because they were playing at home.

Some keys to the game:

  • Be the home Flames. If the Flames’ so-called evil twins show up today, they’re going to have a very hard time winning.
  • Fast start. They need to take the wind out of the Wings’ sails quickly, not to mention the fans in the arena, who are easily silenced.
  • Discipline. They can’t count on the Wings’ power play being awful today and so the safe bet is to stay out of the box.

For the Wings, this game is huge because they need to stop the Flames’ momentum and go into Calgary tomorrow up a game. Otherwise, they will have a very difficult time getting out of this series alive.

Some keys to the game:

  • Special teams. They have got to be better than they have been, at both ends of the ice. No doubt about it.
  • Even strength. They’ve outplayed the Flames 5-on-5 and have to continue to do that.
  • Dominik Hasek. Dom has to be rock solid today. No flopping, no wandering, and no bad goals. This is why he’s in Detroit.

It looks like we may see some roster changes for both teams, as Robyn Regehr could be inserted for the Flames and Mike Babcock told Bruce MacLeod he could mix things up (i.e. insert Jiri Hudler).

Big, big game today. I wish I could say more about it now, but I’ve got to run.

Game 4: Wings 2, Flames 3

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 20, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames, Game Reports and Playoffs
. 7 Comments

Alright, I finally have a break in my schedule today and I’m feeling surprisingly awake so, rather than sleep, I’ll blog.

I went into Game 4 pretty confident in the team, though I’ll admit to a little bit of apprehension. Overall, though, I felt that they would improve upon their effort from Game 3, which even Steve Yzerman said wasn’t as good as the other games, and that they would pull out a win. I have to say I was disappointed.

A few things/disjointed thoughts follow.

But, before you read on:

… If you’re a Flames fan and your sensibilities are offended by my comments below, I can’t say I’m sorry. This is all part and parcel of the emotional roller coaster that is the NHL playoffs and this frustration stems from legitimate reasons, even if my rhetoric seems borderline hysterical. I’m not in a place right now for cold, calm analysis at the moment. This is how I get after these types of depressing Red Wings losses and the above polemic is based on that. This is not for you, rather it’s for fellow Wings fans.

… The whole sequence that led to the Flames’ first goal was ridiculous in so many ways. First, Iginla elbowed Hasek in the head. There’s no doubt about that. You can see it on the replay. Iginla’s claim that he didn’t touch him is a big, stinking pile of crap. That the officials didn’t slap him with goaltender interference after giving Kyle Calder a penalty for his innocuous and incidental bump of Kiprusoff’s head in Game 3, is a pile of equal proportions and aroma.

That said, Dom’s diving act was about as bad. The Wings were already on the penalty kill and could ill afford that kind of selfish play. He’s fortunate he was not called for the dive. I’ve not been so pissed at a Wing in a long time. The dive was one thing, though. The threatening swing of the stick at Iginla was another. I like the show of emotion from Dom, though it looked pretty stupid in retrospect, considering he was given a penalty for it and put his team down 5-on-3.

… My respect for Iginla goes down further with every game in this series. I used to think of him as a good leader and a guy who stood up for his teammates in the mold of Brendan Shanahan. How wrong I was. Rather than an exemplary leader and someone I can respect in spite of the heat of the series, I’ve found he’s a whiner and a micro-cheapshot artist. I’d almost prefer a macro-cheapshot artist like Tootoo because he at least gets called for crap every once in a while. I’m glad to see someone getting upset at Iginla. I just wish it wasn’t Hasek.

… Anyway. Kudos to Andreas Lilja for his stellar defensive play seconds before the goal. I only wish Hasek had made the save and thus made Lils’ play meaningful.

… A rare great play by Robert Lang led directy to a beautiful goal by Todd Bertuzzi. That revamped second line looked good in the first period. They fell away for the rest of the game, though, which was frustrating.

… The Flames’ second goal was an unfortunate deflection off Lilja. He played a solid game overall, so let’s not scapegoatify him for it. Dom probably still should have had it anyway.

… Good to see Todd complete his two-point night with a nice dish to Johan Franzen in the slot. Too bad the officials didn’t see anything wrong with the mad hooking by Huselius of Franzen. Somehow Johan still managed to get a shot off and score. We’ll return to that later.

… How nice of the officials to see fit to call Lidstrom for hooking while the Wings were already down a man. It reminds me of just how very much I hate the new rules, which mean that completely inconsequential stick usage is called while players can be hauled down without a word from the refs. Of course, it led to a goal. Good to hear Babcock take subtle shots at the officiating for that and the other gift 5-on-3 during the second intermission.

… While on the power play later in the period, Nick Lidstrom lost the puck at the blueline, which was disturbing enough without the end result of the play. The Flames took it on a short-handed rush and somehow managed to blow it. Pavel Datsyuk was called for hooking on the backcheck. The replay showed that he lightly tapped Stephane Yelle with his stick once. It did not keep Yelle from getting a shot off. In fact, Yelle shanked the shot on his own. Let’s review: Franzen is hooked repeatedly by Huselius on his goal and the official’s arm did not so much as go up for a delayed call. Pavel Datsyuk taps Yelle once and he is given a hooking penalty. How is that consistent?

… In the third period, Pavel is hooked and slashed on a rush while on the power play. Again, no call.

… Another disturbing miscue by Nick Lidstrom led to a 1-on-1 between Hasek and Langkow. Dom made the save, though, one of a few very strong ones throughout the night.

… Anyway. More generally, the Wings power play remains awful. If the missed calls weren’t so bad, I wouldn’t care that they’re not getting the power plays they should be because it’s almost entirely pointless. At the other end of the ice is the penalty kill which, if it’s even possible, is lower on the spectrum of suck. If this series does end up going all the way to the Flames, the special teams will have been probably the biggest factor.

… Game 5 is huge. The Wings have got to win or else we’ll have 2001 all over again. They need to find a way to replicate their performance of Game 1 and stop the slide in quality of play that began quietly in Game 2 and reached its nadir (hopefully) last night.

For changes Babcock must make for Game 5, see Sarah’s post below.

Thank You Ansar!

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on April 20, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames, Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Babcock, Playoffs, Robert Lang, Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula
. 8 Comments

Thank you for validating everything I’ve been thinking for this entire series. Khan has a great little piece on his blog today (of which I am not the only fan) highlighting the Wings’ struggles against the Flames and providing a number of helpful suggestions. Let’s just hope he sent Mike Babcock a copy.

Suggestion #1:

He should insert Jiri Hudler back in the lineup. Hudler played with a lot of energy in the first two games.

Jiri played so well in the first two games, only to be dropped with the return of Todd Bertuzzi. Now Bert has earned his keep, but there’s no reason Hudler shouldn’t be out there in place of one of our underachievers. I’ve been hoping Huds would get the call over Samuelsson.

Suggestion#2:

Or he might take out Samuelsson, who has just one assist in 10 playoff games the last two years. If he leaves Samuelsson in, he should at least stop playing him on the point on the power play. It isn’t working. Brett Lebda would be a better option.

Every time I bring up the idea of scratching Samuelsson, somebody says “Oh, but he’s playing the point on the power play.” Here we go again. Babcock is a great coach, but what is his obsession with putting forwards on the PP point?! Now, Samuelsson is no Jason Williams - he’s not a total liability there. But he’s not producing either. It just is not working. Oh, and if I had a dollar for every time I’ve told somebody that Lebs would be a better choice than Sammy for the PP point in the last two weeks, I’d be watching the next game from The Joe instead of my living room. Brett is a great skater and he’s got tons of offensive ability. He’s practically a forward anyway with the way he’s always wheeling around in the offensive zone. Babs should be all over this.

Another thing that I’ve had a hard time understanding is the fact that, despite being one of our hardest working players, Filppula can not manage to get decent ice time - instead it continues to go to guys who are simply wasting it. The thing that really gets me is that Babs admits that he should be playing him more.

“He probably wonders why the coach doesn’t get him on the ice more and the coach wonders that himself,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “My son told me after Game 1 that I didn’t play Fil enough.” (via USA Today)

Even his kids know it! Is Babcock aware of the fact that he’s the coach and he’s actually allowed to make these changes himself? If he thinks he deserves more time, why doesn’t he give it to him?

Suggestion #3:

Valtteri Filppula needs to play more. I’d also try to find a way to work him in on the struggling power play.

Power play time? Now there’s an idea. That would give Fil more playing time AND change up our miserable power play. No, I think that would make too much sense…

Despite Babcock’s stubbornness regarding lines, he has done more this year than last and for that I am most greatful.

Coach Mike Babcock’s reluctance to change his lineup or even his line combinations proved costly in last year’s first-round loss to Edmonton. He made a good move by replacing Kyle Calder and Mikael Samuelsson on the second line with Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen.

Darn right, Ansar. I just want to know what took him so long. I think everybody and their brother knew that Todd needed to be on that second line with Lang the day he returned to the ice. Sometimes I think Babcock is just a little too reluctant to make changes. It scares me. When you’re afraid to make changes, then sometimes you don’t do it until it’s too late. Hopefully that won’t be the case in this series.

Oh, and for anyone who didn’t think Babcock was completely insane for putting Lang out for the last faceoff of game 3 (I’m sure there is no such person, but you never know):

Robert Lang has won only 17 of 54 face-offs.

For those of you without calculators, that’s about a 31% win percentage. That means he loses them 69% of the time! I bet every time the opposing center sees that he’s facing off against Lang, he throws a little party in his head. “Freebie faceoff win! Coach will think I’m good at those! Yay!”

Suggestion #4:

Maybe Franzen should start taking the draws for that line. It couldn’t be much worse.

Sure it could, Lang has actually made an improvement from his game 1 faceoff win percentage - a whopping 20%.

Basically, I think Babs has made some unfortunate decisions up to this point. Maybe he’s overcomplicating things. To put it simply, the players who are playing the best should be playing the most. Makes sense to me. If someone’s not cutting it, they should be replaced, whether it be on the PP, in the faceoff circle, or on the lineup completely.

All tied up

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 20, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and Playoffs
. 0 Comments

Well, that was not fun. I expected the Wings to come out hard and put up a performance similar to their Game 1 or Game 2 performances. Instead, we got the latest iteration of a Wings team that is getting progressively weaker as the series goes on. The Flames didn’t play the world’s greatest game, but they definitely out-played Detroit and actually looked like they wanted the win.

To me, the game was defined by the Wings’ power play beginning at 11:54 of the third. They went through the motions, to be sure, getting a number of good chances, but they looked dispassionate compared to the Flames, who were dropping to the ice to cut off shooting lanes and to block shots. I thought, “This is the game right here.” They didn’t convert on that sixth and final power play after failing to do so on the other five.

We can look at the officiating and say it was bad. It was. Both ways, I suppose. But the Wings did not do what it took to win. The Flames did. Now the series is heading back to Detroit tied up 2-2 and I don’t know where it’s going.

I’ll get a more complete reaction to the game posted today, but to be honest, this week has kicked my butt as far as sleep goes and, if I have a break in my schedule, chances are I’ll be heading to bed rather than writing about how the Wings are letting this series slip away from them. So, it may be a while before it’s up.

Be sure to read Dave’s reaction over at Gorilla Crouch as well as Christy’s at Behind the Jersey.

Game 4: @ Calgary, 9:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 19, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames, GameDay and Playoffs
. 20 Comments

Update (3:13 PM): Ansar Khan and Helene St James report on probable line changes for tonight after watching the morning skate. Looks like Babs is going to keep Sammy in the lineup, but he and Calder will be demoted to the fourth line - centered by Valterri Filppula. Meanwhile, Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen will play on the second line with Robert Lang. I had hoped he was going to put Bert back with Lang, but I always figured (and kind fo hoped) that he’d just take Sammy out and insert Bert in his place. I still think I’d rather have Jiri Hudler playing over Samuelsson, but overall I think the moves make sense. This gives the guys who are struggling a chance for a fresh start. Hopefully it works. - Sarah

Update (2:38 PM): Via Paul, commenting on this Abel to Yzerman post: Here’s the Ken Kal interview clip (MP3) from the Big Show on 1270 WXYT today. They have some general talk about the game, but the most important part is at the start.

Almost right off the bat, Kal says he believes there will be a change in the lineup and goes so far as to suggest that that Jiri Hudler could be in for Kyle Calder, who “hasn’t really had a splendid series so far.” No argument there, but does Babcock really want to take out an energy guy like Calder when he has an option like Mikael Samuelsson? I would hope not.

Kal expects any roster change to be a game-time decision.

Also, be sure to check out Paul’s comment comparing Robert Lang and Rhett Warrener. - Matt

Update (2:28 PM): John Niyo reports that Calgary’s Robyn Regehr (knee) will not play tonight after not skating today. He doesn’t have anything on the Wings, but writes, “stay tuned.” - Matt

Update (1:05 PM): Looks like Wes McCauley and Brad Watson are the referees tonight, with Dan Schachte and Steve Miller manning the lines. (via NHL Media) - Matt

Update (11: 35 AM): IwoCPO’s got some gameday comments posted. I like the line combos, Iwo. Hopefully Babcock’s thinking the same way. - Matt

Update (10:50 AM): Megan left a great comment below and I wanted to highlight the first part of it:

Lidstrom really needs to come out today and be the leader of the team. He needs to be responsible with the puck (which I have no doubt he will be) and he needs to be active on the bench (even though he’s rarely there). …

Exactly. Couldn’t agree more. He had a subpar (for him) game Tuesday and, while his leadership is not in doubt, tonight’s a great opportunity to show the kind of leader he really is. - Matt

Tonight is the fourth game of the Wings’ Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Calgary Flames. They lead the series 2-1, having won the first two games (4-1, 3-1). The Flames took the first game in Calgary on Tuesday, 3-2. Game 5 is on Saturday at 3:00 ET in Detroit and Game 6, if necessary, is Sunday in Calgary, though the time has not yet been announced.

Tonight is a huge game for the Flames, who face the prospect of going down 3-1 in the series as it heads back to Detroit. Essentially, they have to win tonight. Some keys to the game:

  • Big start. They didn’t come out with the promised shock attack in Game 3 and they’d do well to come out harder tonight and steal momentum out of the gates.
  • Power play success. Four of their five goals have been scored on the power play this series and that needs to continue if they want a chance.
  • Discipline. They can’t count on the Wings’ power play troubles continuing and they can’t count on getting away with committing penalties, either.
  • Even strength play. They’ve not been able to do much when the teams are skating five a side so far this series. They can’t exclusively rely on controlling play while they have the man advantage.

Overall, I think they’re going to need to play better than they did in Game 3 if they want to win tonight. They caught some fortunate breaks in a game that could have gone either way and would probably prefer it not be so close this time. The best way to ensure that is to step it up.

This is a huge game for the Wings as well. While the series would not be over with a loss, their psychological edge would be gone and they’d be out of the driver’s seat. They need to steal a win tonight in Calgary to maintain control of the series. Some keys to the game:

  • Special teams. They flat out have to be better here. They’re not getting the job done on the penalty kill or the power play and it’s time that changes. They need to make the Flames pay for the penalties they do take, and they need to kill off the penalties they take themselves. Ansar Khan reports that’s what they worked on in practice yesterday, which is good to hear. Still, I’m with Dave of Gorilla Crouch in saying that the best way for them to improve their defensive special teams is to stay out of the box. As for the offensive side, they have the tools and need to start using them.
  • Fast start. We saw in Game 2 how the Flames can become unraveled when flustered and a fast start tonight could cause a repeat performance. Scoring a goal in the first five minutes would go a long way.
  • 60 minutes. The Wings had their moments in Game 3, but there were also stretches where they looked lost. They need to play hard for more of the game tonight, from start to finish.
  • The Dominator. Hasek has not factored much into this series, but you can be sure he’ll have more work tonight. He needs to be stellar and may even need to steal the game. Dom, this is why you’re in the Winged Wheel.

Like the Flames, the Wings are going to need to do better tonight if they want to win. The biggest thing is special teams, obviously, but they also need to be as physical and confident with the puck as they were in Games 1 and 2.

Believe me, I’m confident the Wings can do what it takes to win tonight, whether it’s on the back of Dominik Hasek, a standout forward taking the lead, or an overall team effort. Of course, whether they will is another question. Personally, I think they will, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

One thing I did not mention above is the Wings’ roster. Babcock is still playing this close to the vest on the whole “extra man” situation and wouldn’t tell Helene St. James whether or not he’d take out Mikael Samuelsson and put Jiri Hudler back into the lineup. I hope very much that he does, but we won’t know more about that until later today.

Game 3: Wings 2, Flames 3

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 18, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and Playoffs
. 11 Comments

The Wings lost for the first time this postseason last night, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Overall, they were outplayed by the Flames in both ends of the ice and didn’t look much like the team that stormed to a 2-0 lead in the series at home. Calgary finally showed up and had something resembling the game they’ve been wanting to play, though I’m not sure they have demonstrated all they can do yet.

I don’t have time for a full recap today, so I’ll just hit a few points.

… First of all, that ten minute slam that the Flames and their fans were talking about did not materialize. Play was mostly even in the first ten and the crowd didn’t seem as loud after the first few minutes. That was encouraging as a Wings, though only because I’d expected to see them have to weather a storm. On looking back, a better first period would have been a good thing, but at the time I was relieved.

… On that note, the loudness, or the lack thereof, of the arena was a letdown. Last year, Rexall Place was rocking for the majority of the game. Last night, the Saddledome was only loud for short stretches, it seemed to me. Not long fter the Flames’ second goal, a fire alarm started going off inside the arena and continued for a while loudly enough to be annoying through the TV. I don’t know why it happened, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some yahoo pulled it to celebrate the goal.

… The Wings power play was still bad last night and it’s really becoming an issue. They had a four-minute man-advantage after Wayne Primeau chopped Dan Cleary in the nose. They did nothing with it. That said, they didn’t exactly have a plethora of chances and that they went 0-4 (0-3, really) isn’t all that surprising.

… Which leads me to my next point: the officiating. I hate being one of those whiny fans that complains about officiating, but I really think it had too much of a role in last night’s game. You can disagree, but that’s my honest opinion. It’s a matter of missed calls and bad calls combined that really hampered the Wings’ chances last night. I believe the Flames probably would have won anyway, given how Detroit played, but they got help from the officials they did not need, and unfairly limited the Wings’ chances at eking out a win in spite of being generally outplayed.

Missed call case-in-point #1:

At 9:15 or so of the third period, the Wings were moving the puck around the Flames zone and it ended up coming around the back of the net and up the right wing on a shootaround. Henrik Zetterberg went after it, but Wayne Primeau (I believe) stepped over and held him back with his arm. Interference, holding, something. No call. The puck goes the other way and Jarome Iginla found a way to beat both Nick Lidstrom and Dominik Hasek to give the Flames a 3-2 lead at 9:21.

Watch the replay, you’ll see what I’m talking about at the start. Flames fans, you can be as excited as you want about Jarome’s finally breaking into this series, but the fact is that rush never should have happened. It’s disgusting. That blown call was just one of many missed interference calls on the Flames last night.

Missed call case-in-point #2:

At 11:07 of the third, Kyle Calder was called for goaltender interference on Miika Kiprusoff. He skated through the crease and lightly bumped Kiprusoff’s head, which was sticking out, as he tried to squeeze in between the goalie and the defenseman. Goaltender interference? Okay, I can see that, I suppose.

What I can’t see is why the official did not have enough self-respect to call Kiprusoff for diving. The guy threw his head back like he’d taken a shot from Ivan Drago and dropped like someone had taken an ax to his legs. Why don’t officials take that kind of crap more personally? You’d think officials would see diving as an insult to their professional integrity. It wasn’t even subtle. The teams should have been skating four a side.

Bad call case-in-point #1:

At 3:16 of the third, Mathieu Schneider was called for interference because he skated backwards into a Flame while his attention was on the puck. It was completely accidental and was a pretty weak call. The Flames scored on the subsequent power play and tied the game at two.

Bad call case-in-point #2:

The Wings were getting some pressure in the Flames’ zone and it culminated with a pass back to the point to Danny Markov. The puck was bouncing like crazy (as it was all night) and Danny fanned on it. It skidded to a stop behind him and was sitting there ripe for the picking of any Flames player that could get to it. Well, Jeff Friesen wanted it and decided the best path was through Markov, who had just finished the follow-through on his shot and was planted in the same spot he’d been in for 5-6 seconds. Friesen, of course, bounced off Markov and didn’t make it to the puck, so, of course, the official whistled Markov for interference instead of sending Friesen to the box for being an idiot.

I’ll dumb it down for you, Jeff: people are hard, you can’t go through them. If you want something on the other side of someone, you have to step around them. Anyway, the Flames didn’t score on that one, but it was still pretty galling.

I’m not upset that the Wings didn’t get more power plays, because they’ve been pretty awful in that capacity all series. It’s that the Flames were getting away with so much, while the Wings were slapped with phantom calls, that pisses me off.

… Todd Bertuzzi: I thought he looked okay, but he definitely didn’t provide the spark the Wings were hoping for. He had some hits after he started throwing his body around later in the game, but overall, he was pretty underwhelming. When you look at how Jiri Hudler brings it on every shift, you have to wonder if sitting him in favor of Todd or Samuelsson wasn’t a mistake. Bertuzzi had little or no chemistry with Franzen and Filppula, which meant those two didn’t have the games they should have.

… Hasek looked steady, for the most part, but he allowed a goal on Iginla that he never should have. I don’t care if Lidstrom let him down. Lilja had covered the pass and it was up to Dom to handle Iginla, but he just whiffed on it. Nice shot by Jarome, but Hasek should have had it.

… Not sure what Babcock was thinking at the end of the game. He put the #1 line out there, when they’d been fairely ineffective all night, when #3 probably would have been a better choice, given how they’d been creating chances throughout the game. The decision to put Lang out there on the final faceoff was especially bad. Robert has been awful in the faceoff circle this series and his presence out there in the final seconds basically meant the Wings acceded the game.

… Aside from the great third line, which was dangerous all night, a bright spot in the game was, surprisingly enough, Andreas Lilja. He’s been great in this series thus far and continued to play well last night. He had a couple bad plays, but they were overshadowed by a lot more stellar ones. I want to know where he was in the regular season, because now he’s becoming a force.

… As for the third line, Dan Cleary, Kirk Maltby, and Kris Draper were all great. Cleary assisted on Draper’s two goals and knocked Dion Phaneuf on his can just before dishing the puck off to Drapes on the goal that put the Wings up 2-1 at the start of the third. He took a high stick to the mouth, got some stitches, came back, and got involved right away. He was causing the Flames defenders fits all night and was on the receiving end of some nasty post-play scrums. A great night for Cleary and his linemates, for sure. Hopefully the Wings will feed off that on Thursday.

… Overall, I don’t think the Wings played that badly. They definitely didn’t play as well as they did in Games 1 and 2, though, and that, coupled with the Flames decision to actually show up, probably would have meant a loss regardless of the officiating, like I said above. They weren’t as physical or as energetic, though they did have their moments, and it really hurt them. They flat out have to be better and more consistent in Game 4. Frankly, I’m confident they will be. I suspect we’ll see the ornery Wings of Game 1 again.

Other reactions:
Gorilla Crouch
Behind the Jersey
Quo Vadimus
The Real Deal

Not so hot

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 18, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and Playoffs
. 5 Comments

Well, I can’t say I didn’t expect it, after predicting it before Game 1. It still hurts, though, especially given how it happened. Dave of Gorilla Crouch put it best in the comments on the Game 3 preview post:

“Bill McCreary has been Calgary’s best threat. He assisted on both PP goals.”

Exactly. Don’t get me wrong, the Flames played well and probably deserved to win, but the fact that they scored goals on two power plays that never should have happened make this loss taste even worse than normal. More detail and explanations on why I think so later. The officiating was much too large a factor in this game for my taste.

As for Bertuzzi: I think it was a mistake to put him in for Hudler, even though he played with physicality. It didn’t go well, overall.

Other snap reactions: Cleary/Draper/Maltby = great all night, Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom = not so much; Lilja = good, Lidstrom = an off night; Lang = useless; Babcock = bad line mixes, bad decision to put Lang out at the end, and again, bad decision to change the lineup by taking a fireplug like Hudler out.

I expect a pissed off Wings team on Thursday ready to steal a game on the road.

I’ll have a summary up as soon as I can tomorrow. I’m heading to bed now.

Game 3: @ Calgary, 10:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 17, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and GameDay
. 18 Comments

Update (9:50 PM): Via Gorilla Crouch: Bertuzzi is in, Hudler is out. That’s a shame for Jiri. He’s had a heck of a series so far. I don’t agree with Babcock’s judgment here, as the team is going to miss what Jiri can bring to the game. Mikael Samuelsson has shown little thus far and I think he had better have a whale of a game tonight or else he ought to be riding the pine instead of Huds on Thursday. I’d hate to see Jiri have to sit for the rest of the playoffs, so hopefully they’ll institute some kind of rotation. - Matt

Update (6:00 PM): IwoCPO says Ken Kal suggested earlier today that Bertuzzi might play on a line with Filppula and Franzen. I have to say that sounds like a barn-burner. Fil would have very little worry about with those two guys flying wingman.

Also, some wishful thinking from a Flames fan? I hope so. - Matt

Update (4:36 PM): Helene St. James has more from Babcock: “He told me he was great. I’ve said all along, as soon as he’s ready, he’s playing.”

Then he’s playing, right? No? Yes? This is getting ridiculous.

And she’s got this from Bertuzzi: “I think everyone is going to take warm-up and we’ll go from there.”

So, what’s the deal? Is Babcock going to watch and see who doesn’t have their sock tape on straight and make a decision about who sits based on that?

Then there’s the rest of that quote: “Obviously I’m not going to be 100% at all for the rest of the year so it’s just a matter of working as hard as I can.”

Excuse me. What? “Not going to be at 100% at all“? Was the concussion that bad or is his back still an issue? Will we ever know? It must be the back and maybe it’s not surprising, but he’s not supposed to talk like that. You’ve got fans’ sensibilities to consider now, Todd. - Matt

Update (3:30 PM): According to Ted Kulfan, Mike Babcock said today that Bertuzzi is still a game time decision, even after Todd participated in today’s morning skate. Kulfan says Bertuzzi looked “fit” out there today, so it seems like he’s ready. Still, the Wings are playing things close to the vest, which means we have to wait until we get it from FSN in the pre-game. - Matt

Update (2:40 PM): Some good news for the Wings as they get ready to play in a very hostile environment: Bruce MacLeod reports that Robyn Regehr did not skate this morning. Like he says, that probably means Regehr will not play tonight. - Matt

Update (12:30 PM): IwoCPO’s got a good list of reminders for Wings fans everywhere as we get ready for the first late game of the postseason. - Matt

Update (11:55 AM): Over at his snazzy new blog (same name, new location/look), George Malik has a great roundup of quotes from the Wings relating to the game, from both Detroit and Calgary media sources. - Matt

Tonight is Game 3 of the Quarterfinal Series between Detroit and Calgary, a series the Wings lead 2-0.

The Flames just need to be better, in all areas of the game. First and foremost, they need to be more disciplined and find a way to be physical without taking penalties. If they do that, they’ll be better able to defend against the Wings’ attack. They also need to find a way to get their top players going. Overall, the most important thing is giving Miikka Kiprusoff some support. The guy can win games for them, but they have to actually play in front of him if he’s going to do that.

This game is huge for the Flames. If they win it, they’ll gain loads of confidence and we’ll have a series. If they lose, in front of their home crowd, they might as well start scheduling their tee-times.

All the Wings need to do is play like they’ve been playing. The only improvement I can see is they need to be better on the power play. If the Flames are going to take dumb penalties, it’d be great if they could capitalize on them more. Overall, though, if they play their newfound physical game and their standard puck possession offense/defense with as much confidence as they have in Games 1 and 2, they should be able to match anything the Flames might throw at them. And if the Flames don’t show up, no amount of atmosphere at the Saddledome will keep the Wings from a win.

For the Wings, this game is important because they need a win on the road to end this series quickly. The last thing they want is to start a habit of losing on the road to Calgary because that would mean a 7-game series and you can bet they’re hoping for a longer break between series than that.

The Flames are promising that they’ll be a different team tonight. They also promised that for Game 2 and it got them about a period of B-grade hockey. For now, I’ll assume they’ll be better, but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, “Show me the money.” While the Wings have been showing all along that they’re capable of winning this series, the Flames have shown little or nothing. Tonight’s their time to demonstrate whether they want it or not. I said at the beginning of the series that they’d win Game 3, but every period of this series that I watch is convincing me that Calgary isn’t capable of even that. That’s fine with me. I know the Wings want it and that’s all that matters.

Game 2: Wings 3, Flames 1

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 16, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and Game Reports
. 4 Comments

The Wings picked up where they left off Thursday with another strong win yesterday at the Joe. They took a 2-0 lead over Calgary in the series with the win and head into Calgary with all of the momentum. It wasn’t quite as dominant as Game 1, as the Flames actually showed up to play for some of the game, but the Wings had already jumped out to a two-goal lead by then.

It was definitely a confidence builder, as I was pretty nervous before the game. Which Red Wings would we get? The dominant, physical Wings of Game 1, or the lethargic, dead Wings of regular season afternoon games? We obviously got the former. Of course, as Paul Kukla put it so well yesterday, “it isn’t a series until a road team wins.” After seeing how well the Wings have played compared to how badly the Flames have, it’s easy to predict a sweep. I’m sticking by my original prediction, though.

I’m not going to do a full, blow-by-blow recap this time. I don’t have the time today, unfortunately.

The first period was a disaster for the Flames. It didn’t start out all that badly, as they got the puck in the Detroit end right off the bat. The Wings took it the other way, however, and that’s when things begain to turn south for Calgary. Pavel Datsyuk picked Alex Tanguay’s pocket along the right wing boards, wheeled out to the middle of the ice, and released a high rocket snap shot. It beat Kiprusoff high over his right shoulder and surprised the heck out of everyone. No deflection, no screen. Just a great shot. 1-0 Wings at 1:02.

After that, the Flames came unraveled. About a minute after Pavel’s goal, the Flames took their first of five penalties in a span of six minutes. The Wings were basically on the power play from 2:15 until 10:13. They managed to score a goal while on a two-man advantage and otherwise had the Flames running around in the zone for all that time. The goal came seconds after a beautiful keep-in by Mathieu Schneider on a Calgary clearing attempt. He got it across to Lidstrom and Nick’s blast beat Kiprusoff high at 3:50. During this stretch, Miikka Kiprusoff was the only thing keeping the Flames in the game.

Later in the period, the Flames settled down and got somewhat more on track. The Wings ran into some slight penalty trouble of their own and Calgary was able to get some offense going and gain confidence. That confidence continued in the second period, when the teams were much more evenly matched. The Flames had the Wings on their heels at times throughout the second, particularly after they scored their goal at 2:42. They were on the power play when Dion Phaneuf took a shot that deflected in off Chris Chelios. Hasek looked like he had the initial shot, but after the deflection, he was helpless. Throughout the rest of the period, I’d say that the Flames generated more pressure than the Wings, but the defense went into overdrive and held them to just three shots.

To start the third, the Wings’ offense was a bit sloppy as they seemed to have trouble connecting on passes. Still, it didn’t take them that long to score again, as a nice rush by Johan Franzen led to a goal by Valtteri Filppula off the rebound from Johan’s shot at 6:05. Again, Kiprusoff was beaten high. I’m noticing a trend. I’m also noticing that Filppula has scored twice in two games. Is he going to be one of those Wings who really shows up in the playoffs? The Wings were more assertive after that. The game wound down with the Flames getting into penalty trouble again. At the final whistle, the teams were skating four a side.

The Wings put out a good effort yesterday, but they were aided by Calgary’s apparent inability to keep their heads. It also helped that Robyn Regehr went down with a recurrence of his knee injury in the second period after a collision with Kris Draper. Kiprusoff was impressive as always, but even he couldn’t win the game with so little support. The guy had to face 51 shots, while his teammates only managed to get 15 on Dominik Hasek. That’s a major discrepency, especially given the quality of the majority of the Wings’ shots.

I have to say that the Flames have surprised me during this series. I’ve had confidence in the Wings that they would win, but I never expected them to have it so easy. I understand that they’ve only won two games, but the Flames have not shown yet that they are able to stem the hemorrhaging. We all said they’d come out hard in Game 2 and yet they didn’t, despite the psychological importance of a win there. Now, to be safe, I’ll go along with everyone and say they’ll be a new team in Game 3. But will they?

Officially I’m standing by my “Wings in 5″ prediction, but were I to make a new prediction, I’d say “sweep.” I still suspect they’ll win a game in Calgary, but I have nothing on which to base that suspicion, because they’ve not shown they’re capable of even that. These teams were supposed to be pretty evenly matched, but thus far, the Wings have been walking all over them. I’m not complaining, I’m just surprised.

Maybe they should fire Playfair, as some are suggesting. I’d rather they didn’t, though. This is too much fun.

As for the Wings, they’ve shown a desire and a drive that I haven’t seen from them in years. I admit that I sort of doubted they could repeat their Game 1 performance, but they did, aside from the fact that they weren’t quite as physical. I’m with Kukla in saying that the jury is still out until they win on the road, but my confidence is growing. I can’t wait to see what they do in Game 3.

One slightly disturbing thing about the game: while Pavel Datsyuk looked great again, Henrik Zetterberg was relatively quiet offensively. He didn’t seem to have the same jump he had in Game 1 and a lot of his offensive chances just fizzled out. Hopefully it’s just that he’s still getting up to speed and not that his back is bothering him that much. He was second on the team with 7 shots so hopefully he’s going to break back onto the scoresheet soon.

Also, Robert Lang has been utterly useless thus far this series. I’d love to see him benched in favor of Todd Bertuzzi, but I can’t see the Wings doing that. It’s a real shame that a hard working, productive player like Jiri Hudler is going to be scratched instead. I can’t wait until Lang’s gone this summer. He absolutely does not fit on this team.

Game 2: vs. Calgary, 1:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 15, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames and GameDay
. 0 Comments

Today is the second game of the Wings’ quarterfinal series with Calgary. It’s a hugely important game for both teams, as the Wings need a win to show that Game 1 wasn’t a one-time thing, and the Flames need a win to get back in the series.

Keys to the game for the Flames:

  • Set the physical tone. It was the Wings who were initiating contact in the first game and the Flames can’t let them do that again.
  • Be disciplined. Sure, the Wings only had one power play goal, but they’re bound to get better if the Flames keep giving them opportunities
  • Get the offense going. This will be tough, but they didn’t get much going in Game 1 and can’t expect to win without doing so.
  • Give Kiprusoff some support. They did not play good enough defense in Game 1 and can’t strictly rely on their goalie to win games.

Keys to the game for the Wings:

  • Set the physical tone. They need to show that the new tough Red Wings team wasn’t an anomaly, and the best way to do this is to keep hitting and not let the Flames dictate the physical play.
  • Be patient. The Flames’ speed will make it difficult, but they need to continue to be careful and patient with the puck. Puck possession is their strong suit.
  • Get the power play going. If the Flames aren’t disciplined and are taking penalties, the Wings need to capitalize.
  • Play a full 60 minutes. In this situation, they can’t afford to become lax for any stretch of time. They need to put out a complete effort.

This game isn’t the series, but the winner will have a big psychological edge on the other. The question the Wings need to ask themselves is would they rather go into the Saddledome up 2-0 or tied 1-1? You know the Flames will be gunning for the them and hoping to steal one on the road. The Wings need to at least match that intensity, if not exceed it. Was Game 1 the start of something new for this team? We’ll know at least part of the answer to that question today.

I’m not thrilled that this is an afternoon game, but maybe the Wings have an edge here. It is a lot earlier to the Flames, given their Western Canada body clock, after all.

For takes on the game from Wings bloggers and Flames bloggers, see the relevant sections on the sidebar to the right.