On the Wings

The Wings put on a dominating performance in the second game of their home-home series with the Blue Jackets, winning 5-0 last night at the Joe. In the end, the Jackets owned the ice for a single period over two games while the Wings owned it for five.

Dominik Hasek, rather than Chris Osgood, started the game for the Wings and got the redemption he was looking for with a 27-save performance. Dom looked very sharp and driven as he turned aside every puck on the way to his 73rd career shutout.

Fredrik Norrena started for the Blue Jackets and did not impress in his second outing against the Wings.

The Wings began the game with Henrik Zetterberg centering Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom. Play was up and down for that first shift before the ice tilted toward the Columbus end, where most of the action took place for the next few minutes.

Brett Lebda, channeling Paul Coffey, according to Mickey Redmond, had a nice end-to-end rush down the right wing around 2:22. He got off a shot on Norrena but was stopped. About a minute later, Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula hooked up for a nice scoring opportunity, with Hudler getting a good shot off that was stopped.

At 4:28, Alexander Svitov was called for trippinng and the Wings got their first power play opportunity. Right off the bat, Datsyuk took a pass up the center and split the defense on his way to the net only to be stopped by Norrena. The Wings had just gotten set up when the play was stopped and Nick Lidstrom was assessed an illegal stick penalty. A strange call, since the only thing wrong with Nick’s stick was that the knob had fallen off. Apparently, the concern is that the end of a composite stick is too sharp to play with unless the knob is on it, hence the penalty.

So, the teams skated four a side for 1:36. Columbus had a couple chances in the Wings’ zone, with David Vyborny and Fredrik Modin getting off shots, but the Wings took it the other way and soon scored to put themselves up 1-0. Mathieu Schneider started the play at the blueline by passing it to Robert Lang, who dished it to Daniel Cleary, who sent it back to Schneider and headed across the front of the net. Schneider took the shot and Cleary tipped it on as he passed in front of Norrena. Great play by Schneider, Lang, and Cleary. The goal came at 5:46.

Just as the Columbus power play began, Rick Nash had a great rush into the Wings’ zone and only a nice defensive play by Brett Lebda prevented a chance on net. The rest of the power play was uneventful as Detroit killed it off easily.

With both teams taking the puck on good rushes, Sergei Fedorov took advantage of the game’s easy flow and carried the puck on one of his trademark end-to-end cruises before dishing it off the Rick Nash on entering the Wings’ zone. Nash’s quick shot was snapped up by Hasek’s glove hand for one of his better saves of the night, at 8:36.

At 9:16, Svitov took another penalty (hooking, this time) and the Wings went on the power play again. The first power play unit, composed of Jiri Hudler, Robert Lang, Daniel Cleary, Nick Lidstrom and Mathieu Schneider, cycled the puck well and scored a minute later. Lang took the initial shot on net, resulting in a scramble apparently ended when Jason Chimera golfed the puck out of the area. It was intercepted on its way out of the zone by Lidstrom, however, and he wasted little time ripping off a shot that Cleary redirected into the net for his second goal of the night. 2-0 Wings at 10:18.

There was a delay following the goal, which at first caused the FSN crew to think there was some kind of review pending. After pointing out that they could see nothing questionable about the goal, Daniels and Redmond noticed Norrena standing by the Columbus bench, passing his stick over the boards. They said then that he must have just been getting a new stick.

They went back to it later in the game and informed us that Norrena had been told by the official he needed to have white tape on the knob-end of his stick so they could differentiate between his stick and a dark color in case of a questionable goal. Another odd stick-related thing slowing down the game.

At 11:45, the Wings went back on the power play when Rostislav Klesla went off for high-sticking. The Wings’ set up was immediately cleared, with former Red Wings Anders Erikkson making a great pass to Rick Nash through center. Nash had hardly gotten the puck under control when Hasek came out of nowhere and slide-tackled it away from him at the top of the circles.

As the FSN crew pointed out on the replay, Dom made the decision to come out practically as Erikkson was making the pass. Spectacular play by Dom, but it was a heck of a gamble. Remember, the Wings were only ahead by two goals at that point and if Hasek had missed on that play, Nash would have buried it and the Jackets would have been back in it.

The Wings had a couple chances before the end of the power play, with Datsyuk getting off a shot and a few seconds later, getting behind the Columbus defense only to center the puck to a non-existent teammate. One disturbing thing about this power play: Jason Williams appeared to be playing on the point. I don’t now if it was just because the real defensemen had cycled low (I was too shocked at the sight of Williams loosing a weak blue line “blast” to notice) or what, but I hope I don’t see that again.

At 15:02, Jiri Hudler took a hooking penalty and the Jackets got their first real power play. They generated some good pressure, but a combination of good shifts by Chris Chelios and Cleary prevented a Columbus goal.

Dominik Hasek had a good poke check on a dangerous play toward the end of the period. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the Columbus players’ jersey number nor the time of the play.

At 18:12, Pavel Datsyuk was knocked into the back of the Columbus net and then a Jacket player fell onto it as well, knocking it over 90 degrees onto its face, with Norrena huddled underneath. Don’t see that very often.

The rest of the period was pretty uneventful.

50 seconds into the second period, the Wings went back on the power play when Rick Nash made a dangerous play on Niklas Kronwall along the boards. It wasn’t quite knee-on-knee but it wasn’t very smart of Nash, who was handed a tripping penalty. This power play was completely uneventful.

For the next few minutes, my notes just say: “39 looking good” and “13: shoot!!!”

At 6:15, Kirk Maltby scored his first goal of the year. It was unassisted, but Mathieu Schneider deserves a point on the play because it was his dump-in that resulted in the goal. The Columbus defenseman intercepted the dump in and had not had a chance to get it under control before Maltby stole it and headed toward the net with the puck bouncing at his feet. He somehow got it under enough control to snipe the top right corner from 11 feet out. 3-0 Wings.

Just before Holmstrom went off for interference at 7:11, the Jackets had a 2-on-1 rush that ended with Nash barreling into Hasek, with Zetterberg all over him. Not very impressive.

With Holmstrom in the box, Columbus appeared to have scored at 8:52 when the puck went into the net off the skate of Svitov. The play was reviewed, however, and ruled no goal, as there was a clear kicking motion. The Wings killed off the rest of the penalty.

At 9:56, the Wings were back on the power play, after Nikolai Zherdev hounded Chelios behind the Detroit net, earning a hooking penalty. Hudler started again on this power play, with Lang, Cleary, Kronwall and Schneider. It wasn’t until the second unit, however, that the Wings would score again. It was as simple as a blast from the point by Nick Lidstrom with Holmstrom in place out front for the screen. Norrena never saw it. 4-0 Wings at 11:02.

Around the 13:00 mark, Valtteri Filppula showed nice speed through center, into the Columbus zone and around the back of the net. His centering pass to Schneider resulted in a nice scoring chance, but the puck was sent wide of the net. Not long after that, Valtteri was called for tripping and the Jackets went back on the power play.

After a couple Columbus shots went wide of the net, the Wings took the puck the other way. Henrik Zetterberg sprung Kris Draper behind the Jackets’ defense but Drapes couldn’t put it in the net as Norrena stopped him. The Wings killed off the rest of the penalty.

As the period started to wind down, Columbus began pressuring, but the Wings were patient and didn’t let things get out of control. Detroit got one more power play before the period ended but didn’t do much with it.

In the first minute of the third period, Kronwall whiffed on an easy outlet pass and the Jackets pounced on it with a 2-on-1 only to blow it.

At 2:03, Hasek was called for tripping behind the net. It was a good call, in my opinion, but Dom was shocked. The FSN camera crew did a great job of capturing Hasek’s face as he tried to argue his case. Jiri Hudler got to serve the penalty. The Jackets had a couple chances, but the most memorable moment of the power play was when Niklas Kronwall laid out Anson Carter along the boards at 3:20 or so.

Just 35 seconds after the Hasek penalty expired, Jason Williams scored on a breakaway, shifting from forehand to backhand and beating Norrena 5-hole. Just after the puck went in the net, Filppula bowled the Columbus goalie over with a Jackets defenseman. Norrena was pulled after the goal, in favor of Ty Conklin. Norrena went to the bench apparently livid and appeared ready to go after Hitchcock, but the latter came over and said something that calmed the goalie down. Apparently, it was just, “It’s not you.”

Conklin had to face a couple tough shots pretty soon after taking the net, first from Pavel Datsyuk and then Tomas Holmstrom. He was equal to the task, however.

At 6:03, Brett Lebda went off for cross-checking and Alexander Svitov went off for slashing. With the teams playing four a side, Henrik Zetterberg had a great scoring chance but sent it over the net. Other than that, this stretch was uneventful.

At 8:16, Chelios turned the puck over in his own zone and Dan Fritsche pounced on it only to send it wide.

Andreas Lilja was handed a lame hooking penalty at 9:43 and Columbus went back on the power play. They cycled the puck well and had some good pressure, but the Wings penalty kill was strong and kept the puck out of the net.

The rest of the game consisted of the Wings holding back and absorbing Columus attempts at a comeback. 5-0 Wings, final.

… Adam Foote did play last night, after all. … Apparently, Mikael Samuelsson is out until after Christmas, which means Matt Ellis will get at least two more games in the Winged Wheel. Ellis, by the way, played 5:17 last night, an increase of only 12 seconds from Monday’s game. He continues to impress by not sticking out in a bad way. One more thing about Ellis: on Tuesday, he and Dominik Hasek were the only two Wings that practiced. Apparently, Dom called him in the morning and asked if he’d be interested in taking some shots. Given the result of last night’s game, I guess it was all the practice Hasek needed. … Mathieu Schneider has an 11-game point steak going. He has two goals and twelve assists in that span. It’s his longest point streak and the second-longest in team history, according to the Freep. … Blogger reactions: Gorilla Crouch, No Pun Intended, Army of the Ohio, The Jacket Times, End of the Bench. …

A good game by the Wings, who restored proper balance to the universe with the win.

Next up: vs. Minnesota on Friday at 7:30 PM ET.

The Wings lost a heartbreaker last night, never fully recovering from three bad first period goals by the Jackets and finishing with a 4-3 loss in spite of a concerted effort for two periods.

The Blue Jackets, though they did not play a bad game at all, owe a heck of a lot to Fredrik Norrena, who pretty much stood on his head to keep the Wings behind. He made 23 saves, many of which were of the highlight reel variety, especially in the third period, when the Wings really put the screws to him. The Versus crew was quick to point out that the three goals he did allow were somewhat bad, but he more than made up for that with some very tough saves. The Wings do have a frustrating knack for giving previously unspectacular goalies confidence by taking about a period’s worth of perimeter shots before making a mad push at the end. Kudos to Norrena to standing up to the onslaught.

Dominik Hasek, on the other hand, sucked it up for the 20 minutes he played. Not sure what was going on with him but, whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty. He looked awful on the first goal, which came after he coughed up the puck behind the net with a pitiful attempt at a backhand pass to a teammate that turned out to be Columbus’ Jason Chimera. Chimera took the puck out from behind the net, wheeled and sniped Hasek, who had fallen far too early, over his left shoulder. 1-0 Jackets, at 8:30, made worse by the fact that the goal was shorthanded.

Less than a minute and a half later, the Jackets’ top line of Sergei Fedorov, David Vyborny, and Rick Nash put on a passing clinic on their way into the Wings’ zone. Vyborny to Fedorov to Vyborny to Nash, who took it at Hasek’s right and cut across the net, beating Dominik to the opposite post. It was jut a great play and I’m not going to put the blame fully on Hasek, but I do think he was a bit out of position when Nash came across. Whatever. 2-0 Columbus, at 9:54.

The Jackets waited until near the end of the period to score again. This time, the Wings were trying to kill off a 5-on-3 penalty when an uncovered Sergei Fedorov ripped a shot between Dom’s legs to make it 3-0 at 18:28. Now, 5-hole goals should rarely, if ever, happen on a goalie of Dom’s caliber, especially in situations like that.

I was glad when the second period started and Osgood was in net. He was immediately strong as the Wings came out to start the second period a little flat, buying time for them to get their game together. The goal he did allow came on a 3-on-2, with Henrik Zetterberg and Nick Lidstrom apparently giving their attention to Vyborny and Nash only, and ignoring Fedorov on the right wing. A quick pass by Vyborny to the former Red Wings resulted in a rocket that blew by Osgood, who had no chance to stop it.

Robert Lang, who had a great game otherwise last night, needs to stop it with the penalties. He had two, both wholly avoidable, being hooking and tripping calls. He made up for it, though, with two goals, with one coming in the second period and the other late in the game. The first came seconds after a Jiri Hudler blast (redirected, but stopped) resulted in a line change.

Lang’s line came over the boards and Robert’s strange luck kicked in again. After taking a pass from Dan Cleary, Lang took a shot that was stopped, but the rebound came right back to him. He moved the puck around the Columbus defenseman and backhanded the puck easily into the net. He always makes it look so easy.

His second goal came at 18:28 of the third period and in similar fashion. Another pass from Cleary resulted in a quick shot by Lang, which was blocked by a defenseman this time. The puck bounced right back to Robert, who one-timed a snap shot past Norrena to bring the Wings within one again, just twenty seconds after Fedorov had given Columbus a two-goal lead.

Jiri Hudler is making good use of his time now that Tomas Kopecky is out. For two games in a row, he’s involved himself heavily in the offense, making good plays with the puck and showing good effort at both ends. It paid off last night when he scored the Wings’ second goal, at 12:42 of the third period. Kris Draper made a great play on Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, using his body to knock the defenseman off track in a race for the puck, before immediately centering it to Hudler. Jiri beat Norrena to his left and put the Wings within one.

Aside from the goal, Jiri’s line with Valtteri Filppula and Matt Ellis was a solid energy line. Ellis, who wore #8, played only 4:55, but had a couple hits and didn’t stand out in a bad way at all. A good debut. If Samuelsson returns Wednesday, we may only see Ellis again if someone else gets hurt since Hudler has been playing well enough to stay in the lineup.

Pavel Datsyuk looked pretty good again last night, but he and Henrik Zetterberg at times seemed a little lost as they carried the puck into three- or four-player-stong crowds only to lose it. I don’t think Tomas Holmstrom necessarily fits the bill as a replacement for Mikael Samuelsson on that line. It seemed obvious that those two needed a finisher, even with Pavel shooting more.

Other players that had good games: Mathieu Schneider, who played solid as usual; Niklas Kronwall, who played a physical game; Dan Cleary, who had two assists and is looking very strong on the puck; Johan Franzen, who was one of the few Wings capable of really standing up to the Jackets’ physical play.

I’m with IwoCPO in saying I wouldn’t object to Sergei Fedorov being in the Winged Wheel again, though that’s about as likely as Gordie Howe suiting up for another season. He looked good last night and, for his sake, I hope he continues to play like that. He’s faded into obscurity since leaving Detroit and it’s good to see he’s stepping back into his former shoes. No team should be as bad as the Jackets have been this year and I hope he can be instrumental in making them respectable. Just as long as they don’t get too good.

Not much to negative to say about the Versus broadcast, which I didn’t have on as loud as I would for an FSN game. Still, I heard “swagger” and the many variations thereof, about 500 times (I exagerrate, but only a little), and it got a little old. Every time any player would use even the slightest move on the opposition, it was, “swagger move,” or the player was, “swaggering,” or the opposition was, “swaggered.” What the heck? Since when is that a description of a deke or a move around a defender? Is it now the only NHL-approved description? You’d have thought so, based on how many times the announcer said it.

Anyway, after the first period, I was ready to ream the Wings for an awful game, but they looked great for the last 35 minutes or so of the game so I can’t really complain. Another game lost because of a hot goalie and because of a couple mistakes.

I’m not sure who I’d like to see in net on Wednesday. It might be good to give Osgood the start and let him pick up where he left off, but that may do more harm than good to Hasek’s ego. Maybe starting Hasek and giving him a chance to make up for last night’s pitiful performance would be best.

Whoever’s in net, the Wings need to win. No falling behind and having to fight to catch up. The Blue Jackets are a much improved team, but if the Wings want to go anywhere, they need to be able to handle them.