Posts filed under “2008-2009”

Datsyuk to start with Zetterberg, plus pre-game

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(Breaking with my usual gameday format a bit)

Bruce MacLeod offers further hope that yesterday’s “He’ll play,” wasn’t just another mind game with the news that Pavel will play his first shifts on Hank’s wing. The goal will be to split them up “if he looks like himself” (Babcock); he’ll then move to center, presumably on his own line. I’ll still only believe he’ll be in the lineup when I see it myself, but this definitely chips away at my disbelief.

As for the game itself, it’s huge, obviously. The series isn’t over after this one, but the team that loses faces the challenge of their lives on Tuesday.

I really don’t care to list out keys to the game for Pittsburgh. They just have to keep doing what they’ve been doing, and that is balancing a strong effort at the focal point of the play and taking advantage of the officials’ leniency/blindness away from it. Assuming they can keep up that level of energy, and the refs don’t start calling them, they’re in good shape.

The Wings, on the other hand, have to do a lot differently.

Energy. It all comes down to this. They’ve got to dig deep and play with a high energy level. This comes from the work ethic we know they have. They have to pursue every puck as if their lives depend on it, because in the context of this series, their lives do depend on it. And it has to be for the whole game. They don’t have to dominate every shift, but they need to play their hearts out on every one.

Patience. In the defensive end, I think they’re letting themselves be rushed  too much by the Pittsburgh forecheck. The defensemen need to make the safe, smart play rather than the dangerous one, even if it means passing it back to their partner to set up another go at it. They can’t send it up ice just for the sake of advancing the puck, when a Penguin stick might be there to pick it off. Doubling back and trying again as the Pens have to shift their attack might be the way to go on a lot of these breakouts. Don’t force it.

Speed. They need this through center. Once the breakout takes place, the forwards need to get the puck through center and past the blueline with speed. This’ll help in getting around the screen of obstruction thrown by Hal Gill and his friends.

Urgency. In the offensive zone, patience can be important, but the Wings have been patient to the point of freezing when it comes to kicking off offensive chances. Far too many plays have been knocked down by Pittsburgh pass/shot blockers because the Wings took too long to pull the trigger. If holding off a second means you can move around a prone defenseman, fine. Otherwise, get the puck moved, whether it be to a teammate, or to the net.

The net. Tomas Holmstrom has become a bum. He’s been all but useless. That has to change tonight. He has to be a factor from the front of the net, and the same goes for Franzen, and really any other forward with the stones to go there.

Special teams. These units have to be better and to say the Wings’ post-season lives depend on it is no exaggeration. The power play should be holding the puck in the zone for as long as it takes to score. The penalty kill should be animal in its desire to defend its turf. Unless the Wings plan on blowing Pittsburgh out of the water while at even strength (yes, please), fixing these units is not an option.

The team. Finally, the easy wrap-up for all this is that they all need to play as a team. Defensemen need to use their partners, forwards need to use their linemates, all players need to use the open man, all players need to support the goalie. And everyone needs to take part in the task of shutting down the Pens’ offense. The big guns need to show up, but so do the light ones. Pittsburgh is playing like a team, with everyone fulfilling their role. The Wings can do that better than anyone, when they choose to. Tonight has to be such a night.

Dan Cleary missed practice, but it sounds like he’ll be in. Same goes for Rafalski, who also skipped out. Abdelkader had the flu, but isn’t likely to play even if he’s available due to the supposed return of Datsyuk. Whoever is sitting for Datsyuk likely won’t find out until after the warm-up.

If he makes it back, Datsyuk won’t be the solution to the Wings’ problems. He’ll make them easier to solve, but he’s only one guy. The Wings will need to play around him if his return is going to be a success. The biggest benefit will be the weight taken off Zetterberg, and the added danger on the power play. But those things won’t mean much if the rest of the team doesn’t step it up. The Wings need to fuse over the next two or three games into a single unit and play the best games of their season by a wide margin.

I’m not sure how I feel about the game tonight. I’m leaning toward nervous, but I’m excited at the prospect that the Wings might respond to Thursday as they should.

Heimlich

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That’s what the Wings need for Saturday, because they choked tonight. Badly.

I’ll have something more tomorrow, but for now I don’t want to think about it.

Game 3: Wings 2, Penguins 4

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Briefly:

… The Wings did not come out with the necessary fire in this one. Pittsburgh controlled the play for much of the first ten minutes, a stretch in which they scored a goal, and had numerous chances. Zetterberg’s goal at 6:19 was a great one, but it took until midway through the period before the Wings looked to get their feet under them.

… They started to assert themselves better at 11:33 after going on the power play and cycling the puck following some initial trouble getting set up. Some great passing led to Franzen’s goal, and made it 2-1.

… A couple minutes later, the officials blew it when they forgot how to count. After the Pens player got back on the bench, the pressure in the Wings’ end continued and Dan Cleary took a penalty. The Pens scored a little over a minute later. Now, the Wings didn’t have to take that penalty, and they didn’t have to allow that goal, but if the officials make the right call on the too many men situation, that whole sequence never happens, and maybe we have a different game.

… That said, the Wings didn’t rise to the occassion. They played a great second period in terms of statistical dominance, but there were far too many blown chances when it came down to it. Too many missed passes, too many blocked shots, and at least one hit post. They got a little taste of what the Pens experienced in Games 1 and 2. Had they kept up the pressure, they might have finally cracked the Pens.

… But they didn’t. In the third period, they had just three shots to Pittsburghj’s ten. That’s simply pathetic.

… They were fatally weak at clearing the puck from their own zone, and it really killed them on the power play following the Ericsson penalty. Pittsburgh basically dominated the zone for the full 1:30 or so of power play time leading up to the Gonchar goal. It felt inevitable.

… To their credit, the Wings stepped it up after that in an effort to tie it up again, but they couldn’t compete with both Pittsburgh and the officials, who let everything go, no matter how ridiculous. The biggest one for me was the trip at the blueline that caused the turnover leading to Talbot’s empty-netter. We’ll never know if the Wings would have been able to keep it in had the Pens kept it legal there, because the officials were too terrified of making a call that would influence the game, that they let the Pens get away with one that took away any miniscule chance the Wings had of tying it up.

… Just one last comment on the officiating: in Games 1 and 2, I was of the opinion that the officiating was awful both ways. Letting them play is a nice idea in concept, but in practice it just means the players gradually become too loose with the rules. Both teams were guilty of it in the first two games, with rampant interference being the most obvious of the play-to-play stuff. In Game 3, however, the officiating largely turned against the Wings.

Let me be clear: Detroit is not a team of perfect little angels, and I’m sure there were some things they didn’t get called for last night (I freely admit I was paying more attention to what the Pens were doing as far as penalizable offenses), but Pittsburgh truly got away with some really blatant crap last night. From tripping Ericsson in his own zone, to the high hit of interference on Helm in the final minutes, to the kicking of Osgood by Cooke, to the final uncalled trip to any dump-in involving Gill, not to mention the willful collusion on the the too many men situation.* If you’re going to call stuff like the Ericsson interference in the third, call it when the Pens do it too. It’s only fair.

Call it both ways, or don’t call it at all. That’s all I’d like.

… As for the Wings, the disappointing thing is they didn’t fight through the adversity offered by the officiating as well as the difficulty presented by an assertive Pittsbugh team. Individuals like Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula and Helm had great games and put out enormous efforts, but much of the rest of the team fell short. The officiating is a talking point and a gripe, but not an excuse.

… That includes Chris Osgood, who was strong in places, but had a weakish game overall.

… Marian Hossa needs to start getting points, whether it be from goals or assists. He had a bad night last night, and hasn’t been the dominant player he ought to be all playoffs. The Wings need him to get over whatever is holding him back, and to show up to play tomorow night.

… Two examples of awful turnovers: Lidstrom’s to Crosby, and Helm’s to Crosby. Both times, Osgood bailed the culprits out.

… Detroit has to play its best game of the playoffs tomorrow night. It’s as much a must-win game as any they’ve faced this year.

*On the wide angle replay, you can see the center ice ref and linesmen watch the Pens player get off the ice, and then the ref makes an “eh” hand signal to the deep ref.

Counting and We Have Ourselves a Series

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First off, the obligatory comment on the blown too many men call: pure, unadulterated stupidity on the part of Paul Devorski, Dennis LaRue, Derek Amell and Pierre Racicot. Four about 20 seconds in the first, they missed the most obvious and most black-and-white call of the night, and changed the face of the game. Is that why the Wings lost? Heck no, and the same goes for all the other calls they blew tonight (and there were many). But that miss directly impacted the course of a 2-1 game. The incompetency of the officials in this post-season has been truly mind-boggling. Putting sandbags on skates with little jet engines to move them around would be about as effective as paying any of these idiots to “call” a game.

All that said, the Wings blew it tonight, too. They had a 3-0 series  lead within their reach, but couldn’t close the deal on so many of their chances.  Too many blown offensive opportunities, and too many blown defensive clears in this one. Their play in their own zone is far too scrambly in this series, and their offensive passing is not crisp enough, or timely enough. Their puck pursuit was solid, but didn’t beat the Pens’ often enough.

They need to make sure they don’t have to look back on this game as the one that got away, which means they have to play much better in Game 4. That means capitalizing on chances, and fighting through all of the uncalled hooks, interferences, trips, elbows, and slashes.

Henrik Zetterberg played out of his mind tonight. Marian Hossa continues to disappoint in a big way. Chris Osgood was strong when needed. Darren Helm is lucky to still be skating after all the high hits he took.

I predicted Wings in 5, and so I knew a loss had to come. This one sucks the way it happened because the Wings should have battled through to win it, but at least now they can clinch at home. Bring your best to Game 5, boys. Pittsburgh’s had their night. It’s time to shut the door and stomp the throat. We have ourselves a series now.

More tomorrow.

Game 3: @ Pittsburgh (2-0)

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Update (7:20 PM): Bruce MacLeod thinks Samuelsson’s playing, and his reasoning is sound: Sammy did the pre-game soccer ball circle, and likely wouldn’t be doing that if he was injured or sick enough to miss the game. - Matt

Tonight the Finals move to Pittsburgh, where the Pens will try to halt the Wings’ progress after dropping the first two. This is a must-win game for both teams, and should involve the best hockey we’ve seen yet.

For Pittsburgh, it doesn’t get any bigger. They simply have to win tonight, or they’ll all but fall off that knife edge they’re treading. This has to be their best game of the playoffs. Some keys to the game for Pittsburgh:

Energy. They have to play with it. If they skate hard after the puck, they’ll be in better position to force bounces to go their way. This means they have to forecheck aggressively, backcheck aggressively, and defend aggressively.

Discipline. The officials have been letting just about everything go, but that doesn’t mean they won’t call stuff resembling the late-game antics Malkin pulled Sunday. The Pens need to keep their frustrations in check, and focus on responding to the Wings with a strong hockey game, not a strong argument in the case against their maturity.

Malkin, Crosby and Fleury. If Malkin’s pissed off, he needs to channel that into a dominant performnce. If Crosby is frustrated, he needs to find it in himself to break out of the shell put around him by Zetterberg. If he’s as great a player as they say, he’ll do it. And Fleury needs to get his head together and start making saves. He won’t have the excuse of the Joe’s bouncy boards tonight.

Bylsma won’t commit to any lineup changes yet. They used the same lines in practice.

For the Wings, this is a must-win game because they can’t let the Pens think they have  chance. As with the Pens, they have to play their best game of the playoffs so far. Keys to the game for Detroit:

Work ethic. Tireless effort tonight is going to be the key. The Wings have to dig deep and find a way to keep coming at the Pens in every zone, in every way. Hitting, skating, moving the puck. It can’t stop.

Depth. With the Pens getting the last change, the Wings’ depth becomes more important than ever. Bylsma’s likely to get his top guns out against Helm and/or Abdelkader with relative frequency, and so those guys will have to be at their absolute best. Their defensive abilities will be hugely important tonight.

Special teams. If penalties start getting called, Detroit needs to be ready to perform. The kill has to be perfect, as does the power play.

Samuelsson didn’t skate today, but there’s no word on whether he’s out or not. Draper practiced like he’s going to play, but that doesn’t mean a ton. He’s able to play, but will sit if Sammy’s able to go.  Datsyuk is out, again, but may be back for Game 4. I’ll believe it when I see it, “big improvement” or not.

Detroit hasn’t quite attained its “A” game yet in the series. Tonight’s the night that has to happen. If they play two games at their best, they could very well end this thing, assuming bounces don’t start going against them. Pittsburgh, as great as they are, can’t stop a Detroit team firing on all cylinders.

Oh, and read this even if you read nothing else today. Michigan needs two more wins, guys.

Game 2: Wings 3, Penguins 1

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Thoughts on Game 2:

… I’ll repeat what I said about Chris Osgood last night: you can’t overstate the guy’s value to this team in this run. He’s been that good, and this round, that statement is especially true. He stole Game 2, as well.

A word about his interaction with Talbot at the end there. It may have involved embellishment, but let’s not lose sight of what Talbot did. He speared a guy in the gut and didn’t just leave it at that. He pushed Osgood back before Osgood fell back. Let’s not pretend that scrum wouldn’t have happened had Osgood stood his ground. Malkin was looking to send a message out of frustration, and the Pens were looking to aggravate the Wings like so many teams try to do at the end of the game. Heck, it probably would have happened even if Talbot had not speared Osgood and the Wings not felt it necessary to jump to his defense.

… On Malkin, the guy should have been suspended. What the NHL needs to understand is that continual bending of its own rules from the League office means continual bending of those rules on the ice. Malkin went after Zetterberg with his stick well before real punches were thrown, and that alone should be grounds for suspension. Call it fire, call it competitiveness, but I call it bush league.  And that’s an apt description of the NHL these days.

That said, I’m not surprised he didn’t get suspended.

… On the other issue Pittsburgh fans are in a lather about: the Hossa “slash.” Some pretty conclusive evidence against that claim here. (via KK). I have to ask: did NBC have that angle? If so, why didn’t they show it? All I saw from them was the angle from further to the right that obscured the actual breaking point. I’m serious: don’t the networks share the high cameras?

Pittsburgh’s fans have a bigger reason to complain about the Samuelsson pick, though it was no different than anything they did on virtually every shift. I’m glad for  Pittsburgh’s sake that the players and coaching staff don’t seem to be dwelling on that stuff nearly so much.

… Can we all agree that the officiating has been awful all post-season, and that this round is no exception? I feel the Wings were jobbed out of a few power plays last night, and I know Pittsburgh fans feel the same way about the Pens. Doesn’t that say something about the state of officiating? I think it does, and what it says isn’t good. These guys are so terrified of influencing the series with a bad proactive call that they’re frozen into the abject incompetence of making passive blown calls. Missing an obvious trip, interference, hold, elbow, or hook is just as bad as calling a chintzy penalty in the third period, refs.

The frightening thing is that this will not change. The NHL stands behind its men in black and white, with no apparent interest in disciplining them for ruining what should be a good Final by allowing the players too free a rein. Their job is to manage the game. Not to let everything go, and not to call everything. Find a happy medium, if it’s at all possible. Please.

… On the Zetterberg Save. I felt he made a great defensive play to help his goalie out like that with the initial stop. Laying on your side and stopping a puck shot into you seems to be within the rules. The controversial part is where the puck went from there. Probably a blown call by the refs. I’m not sure where they thought the puck was, other than under Zetterberg. With the Wings fan in me far overpowering the strictly hockey fan in me due to the Finals, I’m glad Hank was there to make that play and that he got away with it. The little pure hockey fan in me objects, but Red Wings Fan says “It saved a goal, so shut up.”

That was just one example of Hank’s willingness to give it all to win this series. The guy has been absolutely incredible. If it weren’t for Osgood’s performnce, he’d be my pick for Detroit’s MVP right now.

… Justin Abdelkader’s having a dream series, eh?

… Darren Helm wants to be a Red Wing next season, I think. It’ll be crimminal if he isn’t.

… I’m hoping Hossa can break out in Pittsburgh. It seems like that whole storyline is getting to him more than it should, to be honest. I hope hearing the boos rain down on him tomorrow night will galvinize him. Nothing will be sweeter than to see him light the Pens up in their own arena.

… I’m also hoping the Wings as a whole can break out tomorrow. Too much of the play in this series has been dictated by Pittsburgh. The Wings have to bring their A-game, and turn the tables on Pittsburgh from a puck posession standpoint. They can’t stop being opportunistic and forcing positive bounces, but that’ll come with being more proactive. They need their best performances of the season over the next two games, and beyond, if it comes to that.

I’m looking for better play in the second half of periods, better puck retention in their own zone, and more sustained pressure in the Pittsburgh end. I’m looking for a team that, because it has the puck more often than not, has to do fewer things that could be penalizable. With the Pittsburgh crowd gasping at everything, the officials are sure to be more whistle-happy in Game 3.

… Pittsburgh is indeed better this year. One goal in each game better, in fact.

Snark aside, this series isn’t over. Pittsburgh is on a knife edge and could easily go either way. If they come out pissed and seeking physical vengeance in Game 3 like the Hawks did in Game 4, they’ll fall off the knife and the series will be all but over. Detroit eats teams that fall apart like that for breakfast.

But if they come out with poise and play a disciplined game at a top level, their chances of improving their lot go up significantly. They could still lose to an A-game Red Wings squad, but they also have a shot at doing what the Wings did to them: winning in spite of being outplayed, as long as they’re opportunistic.

Game 3 is going to be very interesting. Here’s hoping the Wings have caught the scent of the end of the tunnel and will come out showing the hockey world just how dominant they can be. Should be an epic game.

Game 1: Wings 3, Penguins 1

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Short on time this morning, so this’ll be brief:

… I thought the Wings started out pretty well. There were a couple chances early that would have made nice goals, and aside from those, the action was pretty solid. It seemed to me that the Pens started taking over slightly around the 5:00 mark.

… But it was Detroit that got on the board first, with the help of the boards. A couple Pittsburgh turnovers in their own zone led to a Stuart shot that missed the net, hit the backboards, bounced back toward the front of the net, and went in off Fleury’s skate before making it there. A flukey goal, sure, but the Wings made their own luck in forcing the turnovers.

… Pittsburgh’s goal late in the period was the result of a Stuart turnover, unfortunately. Malkin intercepted a Stuart outlet pass off the boards, and turned it into a shot that Osgood stopped. He didn’t control the rebound terribly well, and Fedetenko was able to take advantage of the broken play caused by the Stuart TO by picking up the puck and putting it past Osgood. He was uncovered.

… Osgood had to be strong to start the second as the Wings were weak in their own end early on. He made what was probably the biggest save of the game at 3:24 of the period when Malkin got a breakaway after tripping Kronwall at the Pittsburgh blue line (apparently superstars are immune to the usual rules on tripping). Malkin tried to snipe it, and Osgood got his glove on it to keep it 1-1.

… The Wings went to the box at 4:38 when Lebda’s efforts to stick check a Penguin led to that Pens’ stick falling apart like straw. I’m all for calling the really viscious slashes that break sticks, but I honestly didn’t think Lebda hit it so hard. Considering how easily these things break, it’s probably excessive to assume every time one breaks it’s worth a penalty. Anyway, the Wings killed it off very well, with Helm standing out once again.

… At 7:05, Jordan Staal demonstrated his diving technique when he felt Samuelsson’s hand on his shoulder. Maybe it was a holding penalty, but Staal went down way too early and way too demonstratively. I wish the officials still enough self-respect to call diving. It’s really a slap to their face every time.

… Let’s remember that this whole time, Pittsburgh is setting picks (interference) on top of holding, tripping and elbowing (Crosby’s center ice encounter with Zetterberg). On some of them, even NBC was expecting a penalty. They finally got slapped with one at 13:44, but they got away with one of the most egregious penalties of the night when Cooke headhunted Holmstrom with his elbow well after the whistle.

… Late in the period, the Wings came at Pittsburgh pretty hard, and it paid off with another fortunte bounce. This time, it was a Rafalski shot that came hard off the boards. Franzen played it well and threw it at back toward Fleury, who kicked it in with his leg.

… The third was a lot of Pittsburgh, to be honest. The Wings had their stretches, though, and were able to make it a 2-goal lead at 2:46 when a pressure shift by the fourth line led to Justin Abdelkader pulling his own rebound out of the air and down to his stick before putting the puck in the net. That unit had a very strong third, I thought.

… Pittsburgh came hard after the goal, and forced the Wings to play defense much of the rest of the period. The Wings nearly made it 4-1 on a late flurry involving the fourth line, and then again with the empty net, but the couldn’t seal it until time expired.

… A good start, though I’d be less generous with that had they played the same way and lost. They’ve got to be better today.

I don’t have time for a full three-key preview, but I can say that for Pittsburgh, the big key will be forechecking. That killed the Wings at times last night.

For Detroit, it’ll be a more general “killer work ethic.” If the Wings work their butts off and keep their feet moving, they’ll both get to the puck first and be able to establish their puck possession game, and they should be able to draw some penalties.

… No word on Datsyuk’s status yet, but I’m having my doubts that he’ll be back tonight. I hope I’m wrong.

I’ll be at my in-laws today, with limited access to the computer, so I may or may not be around until sometime before the puck drops.