Archive for the 'Coyotes' Category

3/6 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 6, 2008
in 2007-2008, Aaron Downey, Andreas Lilja, Blues, Brett Lebda, Brian Rafalski, Coyotes, Derek Meech, Jonathan Ericsson, Manny Legace, Stars and Tomas Kopecky
. 6 Comments

… I only caught the first period of the Wings’ 4-1 win over the Blues last night. I was reasonably impressed with what I saw, though it’s obvious they aren’t quite firing on all cylinders yet. Still, it’s a marked improvement over their February play, that’s for sure.

I have to say something about the phantom Pavel Datsyuk call that led to the Blues’ late first period power play. What the heck was that? I’d like to think that the official who called the penalty knows the difference between a trip and a player falling on his own. Apparently not.

In the end, it doesn’t matter, but my confidence in the officiating is waning. What with the missed call in the Sharks game Friday night, the play that was not stopped in Buffalo Sunday, and various phantom calls, how are we expected to trust in the referees? It’s not as though it’s just a problem in Wings games either. Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers.  I hate to complain about the officiating, but to me this is a League-wide quality issue, not a Wings fan-specific gripe.

… I’ve been trying to cut Andreas Lilja some slack lately. I figure there’s a reason he remains in the lineup, despite his more visible blunders. With that change in mindset, I’ve been able to appreciate big #3 more.

On the Blues’ goal, however, I thought his attempt to knock the puck down was a little on the boneheaded side. It turned out to be a perfect redirect. I thought the conventional wisdom was that defensemen leave the puck alone if they can’t outright block it. With Stempniak  right there, I can understand what Andreas was trying to do, but it just didn’t turn out so well.

… It wasn’t  Brett Lebda that Mike Babcock sat in favor of Jonathan Ericsson  last night. It was Derek Meech. I admit it, I was surprised. Meech apparently hit a high point against Edmonton last week, but his play since was still quite good, I thought. I assume Babcock was just demonstrating to Meech that his spot on the roster is not a given. Hopefully it won’t backfire, somewhat like we saw with Quincey.

… Giving Ericsson another game paid off, if only because of a little drop pass  that kicked off the cycle leading to Pavel Datsyuk’s first goal. If Nick Lidstrom does return Sunday, however, last night was probably Ericsson’s last game in the Winged Wheel this season as he’ll be returned to Grand Rapids.

… Since I missed the second and third periods, I didn’t see the hit on Tomas Kopecky or the aftermath.  It didn’t make the cut on the highlight reel, and neither did the Rafalski throwdown or Downey’s coming off the bench. Too bad. IwoCPO says he’ll have video later.

I’m glad to read that Kopecky’s okay. He looked good in the first period and I assume played a strong game in the second and third, as well.

… I don’t know what he looked like in the second and third, obviously, but you get the feeling that Jiri Hudler is finally going to break out of this horrendous slump. I thought he looked strong in the first.

… Where was Manny Legace’s head on Brian Rafalski’s goal? It just blew by him.

… The Dallas Stars lost at home to the Coyotes last night. That’s two home losses in a row for the second-ranked team in the Conference. Much ballyhooed trade deadline acquisition Brad Richards has zero points in both games since posting five in his debut with the Stars. That’s called being brought back to earth.

The Wings’ two consecutive wins have put them 7 points ahead of Dallas and they retain two games in hand.

GameDay: vs. Phoenix (27-21-2, 56 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 30, 2008
in 2007-2008, Coyotes and GameDay
. 1 Comment

Update (7:13 PM): HockeyTownTodd has his usual pre-game numbers posted.

Also,  PB of One Fan’s Perspective has posted on the Coyote’s win over Columbus last night and has some comments on the game tonight. - Matt

Update (2:16 PM): Richard Nickerson of Coyotes Corner has posted his preview of the game.

He has some good keys for the Coyotes, though the second one (physicality) has become a little bit outdated over the past 2-3 seasons. This Red Wings squad doesn’t get intimidated by physical play like the team has in the past. Their win over a very physical Ducks team last week is only the most recent demonstration of that change.  - Matt

Update (1:50 PM): George Malik points out that Phoenix “super-pest” and NHL-leader in PIMs Daniel Carcillo returned to the lineup last night and will be dressed tonight.

It’s a shame Aaron Downey won’t be on the Wings’ bench, but I suppose Dallas Drake acts as a bit of a deterrent, as well. - Matt

Update (1:00 PM): Thanks to Sarah for pointing out in the comments the significance of the AHL move mentioned in the  9:23 update below:

… the Redenbach loan was in exchange for the Griffins sending their current enforcer (ed. - Adam Keefe) to San Antonio (Phoenix’s AHL affiliate) because Darren McCarty is expected to join the team, pending NHL clearance.

See Bruce MacLeod’s post on the McCarty situation. - Matt

Update (12:55 PM): A bit of a correction to the 12:37 update: Ansar Khan reports that the MRI results have not yet come back, but Lebda doesn’t consider the injury to be serious. - Matt

Update (12:37 PM): Bruce MacLeod has more details on Lebda’s injury, noting that, despite the fact that the defenseman participated in all three practices this week, the training staff prescribed rest.

An MRI was done on the wrist, but apparently no significant problem was found.

MacLeod says Lebda’s status for Friday and Saturday’s Colorado and Boston games will be determined tomorrow.

Helene St. James has some quotes from Lebda himself. - Matt

Update (12:20 PM): The Hockeytown Blog’s Ryan Doherty reports that  Brett Lebda is out tonight with a wrist injury that he suffered during the first period of the Anaheim game.

Brett finished the game with 13:00 in TOI, so the injury can’t be too serious, but the team can afford to be cautious with him. He told Doherty that he’s day-to-day, leaving in question his status for Friday’s game against the Avalanche.

Derek Meech will take Lebda’s place in the lineup and should see time with Chris Chelios.

Doherty also indirectly confirms the return of Dallas Drake and Henrik Zetterberg by reporting Aaron Downey and Matt Ellis as healthy scratches. - Matt

Update (11:28 AM): It’s worth noting that Phoenix’s game in Columbus last night wasn’t your run-of-the-mill road win. The Coyotes came back from two deficits and scored three third period goals to pull out a 4-2 decision over a pretty solid Blue Jackets team.

Early on, there’s little doubt they’ll be pumped from vaulting into the 8th spot with the win, but they may start to run out of gas just as the game hits the third period, during which the Wings play their best defensive hockey. - Matt

Update (10:35 AM): As hot as Peter Mueller has been, Radim Vrbata has been hotter: he produced a hat trick last Thursday and netted one more goal last night to bring his total to four in two games. Expect him to receive some special shutdown attention tonight. - Matt

Update (10:30 AM): Officials for tonight:

Referees: Dave Jackson (8) and Tom Kowal (32)
Linesmen: Greg Devorski (54) and Scott Driscoll (68)

Via NHL Media. - Matt

Update (9:23 AM): OklahomaWingNut has posted his GDT at Kukla’s Forums.

Also, an AHL note: the Coyotes sent Tyler Redenbach to the Griffins on loan. - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final game between these two teams this season. The Wings lead the series 3-0 with wins October 20th (5-2), December 1st (3-2), and December 29th (4-2).

The Coyotes are 9-3-1 in 2008, with their only losses coming to Edmonton (5-2, 10. Jan), Minnesota (4-1, 13. Jan), Columbus (4-3, 17. Jan), and Chicago (2-1 SO, 19. Jan). They began the month of January with four consecutive wins before they hit a patch of alternating wins and losses. Since the shootout loss to the Blackhawks on the 19th, they have won three in a row, including games against the Sabres (6-2), Predators (4-3 OT), and Blue Jackets (4-2). With the win over Columbus, which came last night, the Coyotes improved to 6-6-2 against the Central Division.

Phoenix is fourth in the Pacific Division, ahead of only Los Angeles. Their 27 wins and 56 points is good for the 8th spot in the West, though two other teams also have  56 points with fewer wins.

Shane Doan leads the Coyotes with 48 points, but Radim Vrbata is the leading goal-scorer with 22. Rookie Peter Mueller has five goals in his last five games, bringing his total to 15. Doan (16), Vrbata and Mueller are three of the five 10-or-more goal-scorers on the team; Steven Reinprecht (12), and Fredrik Sjostrom (10) are the others.

Dan Carcillo (knee) is the only Coyote listed as out.

Ilya Bryzgalov will get the start for Phoenix.

For the Coyotes’ perspective, see Coyotes Corner,  Hip Shot Blog, One Fan’s Perspective (and this guest post at Behind the Jersey) and True Coyote Love.

In Coyotes news not related to the game, they are sponsoring PGA Tour golfer Jeff Quinney for a year. Bizarre.

The Wings are 8-2-1 in January, with two blocks of four wins sandwiching a three-game skid. They began the month with a pair of wins over Dallas (4-1, 3-0) and a win each over Chicago (3-1) and Colorado (1-0).  They then lost in a shootout to Minnesota  (6-5) on the 10th and proceeded to lose their next two games, beginning with a 3-2 decision in Ottawa. Three nights later, they dropped one to the Thrashers, 5-1. Beginning with a 3-2 shootout win over Vancouver on the 17th, however, the Wings pulled out of that skid and continued on with three consecutive road wins: San Jose (6-3), LA (3-0) and Anaheim (2-1).

Detroit is atop the Central Division, the West, and the League with a 37-10-4 record and 78 points.

Henrik Zetterberg is the team’s leading goal-scorer (28) and point-getter (61). Pavel Datsyuk is not far behind in points, with 58. Six Red Wings have 10-or-more goals: Dan Cleary (19), Tomas Holmstrom (19), Pavel Datsyuk (17), Valtteri Filppula (15) and Jiri Hudler (11). Hudler has not scored in five games, however, and is among the coldest of the Wings’ scoring forwards. Datsyuk is goalless in his last seven, making him the offensive forward most due for a breakout game.

The Wings should be healthy tonight, with Henrik Zetterberg (back) slated to return after missing two games. Dallas Drake (knee) is also scheduled to dress for the first time in five. Aaron Downey and Matt Ellis will both be healthy scratches.

Dan Cleary apparently won’t miss any more time after sustaining a nasty black eye in a fight with Chris Pronger in the first period against the Ducks on Wednesday. The swelling forced him to miss the game, but it has since gone down.

Bruce MaCleod provided the following lines from practice yesterday:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Samuelsson-Franzen-Cleary
Hudler-Filppula-Kopecky
Drake-Draper-Maltby

I suspect things will look somewhat different tonight:

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Samuelsson-Filppula-Cleary
Franzen-Draper-Maltby
Drake-Kopecky-Hudler

Projected pairings:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Lilja
Lebda-Chelios

As usual, expect some mixing there as the game goes on.

Chris Osgood is scheduled to start. That’s a good move by Babcock, who is no doubt looking to restore his goaltender’s confidence after the shellacking he suffered in the All Star Game on Sunday.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, and Winging It In Motown.

Tonight’s a key game for the Wings as they look to pick up where they left off before the Break. They are well-rested and should be ready to face a hot Phoenix team in what could be a preview of the first round of the playoffs. The Coyotes are no longer pushovers and should make things interesting, though they won’t be all that fresh, having played in Columbus last night. If the Wings bring their “A” game, Phoenix will be hard-pressed to pull out another road win.

GameDay: vs. Phoenix (11-12-0, 22 Pts) 7:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on December 1, 2007
in 2007-2008, Coyotes and GameDay
. 3 Comments

Tonight is the second of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the first meeting, 5-2, on October 20th.  They’ll play once more this month on the 29th and then finish the season series on January 30th.

After a 4-6-0 run in October, the Coyotes put up a 7-6-0 record in November. They managed to put together four consecutive wins from the 17th to the 24th with victories over LA (twice), Anaheim, and Toronto, but that streak ended on the 28th with a loss to the Wild. They are coming off a big 6-1 loss to Chicago last night, their second in a row. It was a game in which a little known Blackhawk defenseman, Dustin Byfuglien, scored a natural hat trick in just under five and a half minutes in the first period. The Coyotes were without Ed Jovanovski, who was suspended one game after hitting Marian Gaborik in the head Wednesday night.

Radim Vrbata leads the team in goals with nine, while captain Shane Doan leads in assists and points with 13 and 18.

It looks like the Coyotes have no injuries, so the only lineup change should be the return of Jovanovski.

Ilya Bryzgalov started last night, but gave up 5 goals on 7 shots and was yanked after Byfuglien completed his hat trick. Mikael Tellqvist stepped in and made nineteen saves. That’s unfortunate for the Wings, who likely would have seen Tellqvist tonight had Bryzgalov played the whole game. It now looks like they’ll face the #1 guy rather than the backup.

For the Coyotes side of things, be sure to check out One Fan’s Perspective,  Coyote Corner, Hip Shot Blog, and True Coyote Love.

The Wings finished October 10-2-1, but followed that up with a 7-4-1 November. They have won their last two, including a 4-2 decision over Tampa Bay Wednesday night. It was one of their more dominating performances of the season, as the Lightning underwhelmed and did not put up much of a fight despite having one of the more exciting lineups in the game. Tonight is the last in a three-game home stand for the Wings, who’ll travel to Montreal to face the Habs on Tuesday.

Since the offensive leaders on the team haven’t changed in weeks, I’ll point out the guys on the opposite end of the spectrum. Aaron Downey has zero points in 13 (but still manages to be valuable to the team), while Dallas Drake has a single assist in 18 games. Johan Franzen has managed a whopping 2 points (a goal and an assist) through 15 games.

Kirk Maltby (back) and Kris Draper (left knee sprain) are out tonight, while Matt Ellis (headaches) will return. He’ll center the fourth line with Tomas Kopecky and Aaron Downey, though that line will no doubt be split up at times.

Chris Osgood will get his fourth consecutive start tonight. Dominik Hasek will start in Montreal.

For more of the Wings perspective, see Snapshots, Gorilla Crouch, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, and Winging It In Motown. Todd already has his preview up.

The Wings played a strong game Wednesday night and need to carry that over tonight. They cannot take the Coyotes lightly, especially if Bryzgalov is playing. The Coyotes played what was no doubt a tiring game last night in Chicago, so as long as the Wings come out flying, they should be able to carry the play. If they take a win for granted, however, they’ll be in trouble.

Wings 5, Coyotes 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on October 21, 2007
in 2007-2008, Coyotes and Game Reports
. 0 Comments

The Wings wrapped up their four-game West Coast road trip with a convincing 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes last night. They began a little shaky, but gradually took command of the game and put the finishing touch on one of their better recent road trips. They passed the first big test of the season with a 3-1 record, and though there are still concerns about their ability to stay out of the box, things are looking pretty good at this stage.

Some thoughts on the game:

… Dominik Hasek was in net last night and, like his teammates, started out a bit shaky. He did get stronger as the game went on, but he’s still somewhere in his “B” game. He was hung out to dry on the Coyotes first goal and was beaten by a straight-up shot by Steve Reinprecht. You’d kind of like to see Dominik Hasek make that save. On the second goal, he had to deal with Mike York virtually on top of him while a Derek Morris shot came through. I don’t blame him for that one at all. The official should have called York for interference there, especially since Hasek was not out of the crease. Later in the game, Dom made some really great saves, so his confidence seems to be building.

… I updated the GameDay post with a comment on the waived off goal and only have a little more to say about it. I do not understand the official’s reasoning on that one, because Tellqvist did not even act like he’d been bumped. Holmstrom never touched him and there was no dive on Tellqvist’s part, so why did the ref call interference? I wish I had a replay of it so I could demonstrate the guy’s complete incompetence.

… While the Wings were in the middle of their warming-up stage last night, one player that stood out as having a rough start was Pavel Datsyuk. He turned the puck over at center at least 3 times, with one leading directly to a goal. His turnovers weren’t 100% his fault, though, as they came as a result of less-than-stellar outlet passes from the defense, but it was still unusual. Pavel got it together in the second and third periods, though, and finished strong.

… Brett Lebda had a strong game. He nearly had two goals, but had his shot cleared away from the empty net by a Phoenix player. He scored on a nice set-up by Matt Ellis a few minutes later, however. Hopefully that’ll get him going offensively.

… Ellis, by the way, had a heck of a game. He stood out a lot in the third period and just looked great. He was a major reason the fourth line caused the Coyotes so many problems and his actions behind the net led directly to two goals. He nearly scored himself a couple times and showed incredible hustle. Dave at Gorilla Crouch believes he’s solidified his spot on the team and I completely agree. There’s no way he’ll get sent down after his performance over the whole road trip.

… Aaron Downey looked good last night as well. I like what he brings to the team, both on the ice and off it. He has a good work ethic and a great attitude on top of bringing that element of toughness the Wings need. He’s gradually earned more ice time, topping out at nearly 6:30 last night, which is good to see. Unfortunately, if the Wings are serious about bringing up Igor Grigorenko soon, he’ll be headed to Grand Rapids. Quite frankly, I’d rather the Wings keep him. Downey, along with Ellis, brings an energy to this team that Grigorenko seems incapable of providing.

… For all those Kirk Maltby haters out there: what now? The man had two goals last night. I think he’s still valuable to the team.

… Jiri Hudler had a decent game. He was johnny-on-the-spot for the first goal and though he finished with only one shot on goal, he remained dangerous.

… Valtteri Filppula also had a strong game, but he needs to find a way to bury the puck. He had two separate breakaways but couldn’t put it in the net. He seems close to breaking out, though, so I’m not anywhere near giving up on him.

… The play that led to Henrik Zetterberg’s goal in the third period was beautiful. Pavel Datsyuk drew two defenders to himself and then dished the puck off to Holmstrom to Tellqvist’s right. Zetterberg, on the other side, called for the puck, and got it. An easy slam-dunk goal. Typical for that line.

… One thing I noticed last night was the Wings had some trouble getting set up on the power play. They went 0-for-7 with the man advantage, which is surprising considering the Coyotes went into the game 26th in the League on the PK at 75%.

… All in all, a good game. It was definitely a relief to see them perform so well on the road. Now, they get two home games in a row, beginning with the Canucks on Wednesday. The big game of the week is against the Sharks on Friday, however.

… Be sure to check out the highlight reel.

GameDay: @ Phoenix (2-4-0, 4 Pts) 10:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on October 20, 2007
in 2007-2008, Coyotes and GameDay
. 2 Comments

Update (10:45 PM): I don’t want to make this into a diatribe against the officials, but this is too much: Coyotes take 2-1 lead on a goal by Derek Morris, with a Phoenix forward in Hasek’s face. No call. The inconsistency there is staggering. - Matt

Update (10:30 PM): I’ve officially lost all faith in the officiating of the National Hockey League. The goaltender interference* call on Tomas Holmstrom at 9:13 of the first period was perhaps the worst call I’ve ever seen. Not only did it send Holmstrom to the box for doing absolutely nothing wrong, it robbed the Wings of a goal by Henrik Zetterberg. What a load of BS. I’m completely disgusted.

*It’s listed in the boxscore as “interference,” but that makes even less sense. - Matt

Tonight is the first of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings swept the series last year, 4-0. They’ll wrap things up with two games in December and one in January.

After winning their opener, a 3-2 decision over St. Louis, the Coyotes dropped two in a row. The first was to Boston, 3-1, and then they were shut out by Columbus, 3-0. They came back after losing to the Jackets with a 6-3 win over the Predators in Nashville on the 11th. In the two games since, they’ve lost both times. Both were at home and both were to Northwest Division opponents, the Wild (3-2) and Oilers (4-2). Tonight is the last of a four-game homestand, but they’ll only hit the road for one game, a match-up with the Ducks on Thursday, before returning to Phoenix.

The team has five players with four points, of which Fredrik Sjostrom has the most goals with three. Their 14 goals-for is less than half of the league leader, Toronto (29). They can take some solace in the fact that they are not too near the bottom in goals allowed, with 18 (Atlanta has allowed 30).

The Coyotes have divided goaltending duties between three men this year: David Aebischer (1 game), Alex Auld (3 games), and Mikael Tellqvist (2 games). Tellqvist has not played since the 6th, so it does not seem likely he’ll get the start tonight. Aebischer played in the team’s loss to Columbus, but Auld has been the guy since, with three games in a row. It looks like he’ll be the one tonight.

Tonight’s game is the last of a four-game road trip in which the Wings have posted a 2-1 record thus far. They kicked things off with a 4-1 win over LA on Sunday and followed that up with a penalty-filled 6-3 loss to Anaheim the next night. They were able to rebound with a solid 4-2 win over San Jose Thursday night, however, and because of that, have already had a more successful trip than usual. They get two home games this week (Canucks and Sharks) before embarking on a three-game Western Canada trip next week.

The team’s leading scorer remains Henrik Zetterberg, whose 15 points leads the league. Hank leads the team in goals, as well, with 6. The Wings have put up 27 goals this season, which is good for second in the league, but have allowed 22, which just shows they have holes to plug defensively.

The Wings will be without Dallas Drake tonight as he was sent home to be with his family and rest up after having his face planted into a stanchion Thursday night by Kyle McLaren. Mikael Samuelsson will be returning to the lineup to give the Wings 12 forwards. Because of the Drake injury and the fact that Johan Franzen is still recovering from a knee sprain, the team’s two injury reserves, Matt Ellis and Aaron Downey, will remain in the lineup.

It is possible that Brian Rafalski may sit out tonight, despite reports that he is okay after receiving a knee-on-knee hit from Joe Thornton in San Jose. He did not practice yesterday and if his knee is not 100% today, Babcock may insert Derek Meech.

Dominik Hasek should get the start tonight after sitting out in San Jose following a bad showing against the Ducks.

The Wings need to be careful tonight not to take the Coyotes for granted. Sure, they’re struggling and already look to be headed for another bad season, but they’d love to catch Detroit napping at the end of a long road trip. The Wings need to have a better start than they had in San Jose and just play their game.

A reminder: the Coyotes jacked up their ticket prices (scroll down) just for this game (and their other home game against the Wings). The price change ranges from $75 to $8. They do this for no other games this season.

Wings 4, Coyotes 1

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 18, 2007
in 2006-2007, Coyotes and Game Reports
. 0 Comments

The Wings took first place in the Conference last night with their 4-1 win over Phoenix. They were able to do so thanks to the Minnesota Wild’s 4-1 defeat of Nashville in Peter Forsberg’s debut. Powered by Henrik Zetterberg’s first career hat trick, the Wings finished the season series with the Coyotes 4-0 and put themselves a point ahead of the Preds with 60 games played for each team.

Dominik Hasek was in net for the Wings and played quite well considering he only faced 9 shots through the first 40 minutes. In the third, however, he was called upon to make some key saves and he didn’t disappoint. He was beaten only by a tip-in and otherwise had a great game in his return from the wrist injury. He looked calm and confident, and was definitely on top of his game.

Mikael Tellqvist was in net for the Coyotes, not Curtis Joseph, who I had predicted to start. He had a great game himself and Phoenix would have been in worse trouble had he not, as the Wings managed to get a number of high quality scoring chances throughout the night.

The first period began with both teams charging out of the gate. Action for the first five minutes or so was pretty exciting as they traded chances. The Wings had a couple great rushes disrupted by unforced errors, such as Pavel Datsyuk’s blowing a tire around the 3:05 mark and Jason Williams’ lazy pass aimed at a streaking Robert Lang that ended up being intercepted 30 seconds later or so. On that same shift, Lang, Williams, and Dan Cleary put up some power play-like pressure in the Phoenix zone, but it didn’t result in a goal. Not long after that, Dominik Hasek made a casual save on a dangerous rush that ended with the puck going at the net off Bill Thomas’ skate. Dom just calmly scooped it up with his glove and got a whistle.

Things slowed down around the 5:00 mark. Hasek made another great save at 6:54, this time on Ed Jovanovski, who had crept up. Dom stoned him at the right post on the shot that came from 10 feet out. After the subsequent face-off, the Wings had a little trouble clearing the puck. Until Brett Lebda picked it up, that is. After the puck was sent back deep into the Detroit end by the Coyotes, Lebda picked it up, spun and immediately sent it up ice to Johan Franzen at the red line. It was a perfect pass, right on the tape, and, Franzen was able to take it in and get a shot off. To me that’s more evidence of how good Lebda is and how important he is for the Wings’ transition game, as George Malik pointed out the other day. I’ll never understand Brett’s detractors.

As well as Tellqvist played last night, he was helped by the Wings’ missing the net completely on a number of occasions. Case in point: Tomas Holmstrom had two great chances in one shift but sent it wide on both, first off the rush when his backhand clanged off the backboards, and then a little later when Zetterberg’s pass put him in prime scoring position. Homer put it up and over the net. Thirty seconds after Holmstrom’s chance, Niklas Kronwall had a great one of his own, but he ran out of real estate as he stuffed the puck in Tellqvist’s pads. Going the other way, the Coyotes had a good scoring opportunity but Hasek came up big.

Continue reading ‘Wings 4, Coyotes 1′

GameDay: @ Phoenix (25-30-3, 53 Pts) 9:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 17, 2007
in 2006-2007, Coyotes and GameDay
. 0 Comments

Update (5:47 PM): Looks like George Sipple has emended his report on the Holmstrom signing. It now says that the deal is believed to be for a little over $2 million a year. - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final game between these two teams this season. The Wings have won the previous three, beginning with a 9-2 blowout at home on October 11th. The next win came on January 11th, a 5-1 decision on the road, and the most recent game, on February 7th, finished 4-2 Wings.

The Coyotes have lost four in a row, including three after losing to the Wings on the 7th. They dropped the two remaining games of a road trip, first against the Panthers and then against the Lightning, before returning home and losing overtime to Anaheim on Thursday. They blew a 3-goal lead to the Ducks, so that point from not losing in regulation can’t be much consolation. The Coyotes are well out of the playoffs, by the way, so they have little to lose at this point.

On Thursday, Phoenix captain Shane Doan condemned himself to five more years in the desert by signing a $22.5 million contract extension that could be the last of his career as he’ll be near retirement by the end of it.

Former Red Wings goalie Curtis Joseph has allowed 13 goals in his last three games, including five against Anaheim, and has a 6.60 GAA against Detroit this year.

Since beating the Coyotes last week, the Wings have posted a 2-2-0 record. They were shutout by the Blues on the 8th and they followed it up with a commanding 7-4 win over Calgary on the following Sunday. The next night, however, they hit a seasonal low point by losing 6-1 to the dead-last Flyers. The team rebounded on Wednesday, however, with a well-played 3-1 win over Dallas.

They are one point behind Nashville for the Central Division lead and will be keeping an eye on the Preds’ game with Minnesota tonight. It will be Peter Forsberg’s debut with Nashville, but we fans will have to wait a week before we get to see him, as the Wings face them next Saturday. As far as reactions to the trade go, the Wings have a more even keel than some fans or pundits, with Ken Holland saying he won’t react just to react, and Mike Babcock saying, “I really like our team.” I do too, Babs, but an addition probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. The players aren’t worried, though they admit it’s a big deal for the Predators. Danny Markov told the Free Press, “Good for Nashville. I don’t think it’s going to change this locker room.”

Dominik Hasek is slated to return to the ice tonight after sitting out four games with wrist tendonitis. Incidentally, it was against the Coyotes that he last played, as his wrist flared up during the February 7th game.

Ken Holland can put a check-mark on his list of players to sign this summer, as he has locked up Tomas Holmstrom for three-more years, the Free Press reports. Contract terms have not come out yet, but Homer makes $1.5 million this year, and it’s not unreasonable to assume he’ll make that much, not not more, after the season he’s having. It could be a front-loaded/tiered salary plan, with him getting the most next season and the rate going down over the next two seasons. He’s 34 now and it’s hard to see him playing past 37, given how much punishment he takes every night. Anyway, it’s good to see Kenny get that out of the way. It’ll make the more difficult contract negotiations, such as those with Pavel Datsyuk, Mathieu Schneider, and Danny Markov, go a little easier.

The Wings need to win tonight and keep pace with the Preds, who are the favorites over the Wild. They’ve outscored Phoenix 18-5 this season and need to continue that kind of dominance. However, it’s a game they should win, so expect some kind of trouble, despite their easy handling of Phoenix thus far.

2/12 Quick Links

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 12, 2007
in Coyotes, Henrik Zetterberg, Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Ladislav Nagy, Links, Peter Forsberg, Ray Emery, Robert Lang, Senators, Stars and Trade Rumors
. 0 Comments

Update (2:30 PM): … Ansar Khan writes on the Peter Forsberg situation and has a few interesting tidbits, particularly the possibility that the Wings might look to trade away Robert Lang for a winger on top of making a push for Forsberg. - Matt

… Henrik Zetterberg has been named the “First Star of the Week” by the NHL.

… Also Zetterberg-related: see also Dave’s response to the Freep’s Michael Rosenberg column advising Wings fans to maintain proper “perspective.” Rosenberg believes the jury’s still out on Zetterberg, and Dave is right to point out that he’s way off base there.

… Ottawa Senator’s goalie Ray Emery is only getting suspended for three games after this vicious slash last night.

… Ladislav Nagy is now a Dallas Star. So much for this rumor.

Wings 4, Coyotes 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 8, 2007
in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Coyotes, Danny Markov, Game Reports and Injuries
. 4 Comments

Update (6:35 PM): I neglected to mention that the Wings can only pass Nashville with a win if the Predators lose to Toronto tonight.  The Leafs are riding a 4-game win streak, while the Preds are 1-3-0 over their last four, but that win came at home and that’s where the game is, starting at 8:00 ET. Keep an eye on that one, folks. - Matt

Update (6:05 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Danny Markov will sit out tonight’s game with an “undisclosed upper body injury,”suffered when Jeremy Roenick hit him into the end boards in the third period last night.

I wrote below that it looked like a rib injury and Khan concurred in an email, though it looks like we may be wrong: Markov was supposed to have an MRI today, which seems to imply there was something to Ted Kulfan’s speculation about the injury being to his left shoulder. As Megan pointed out to me in conversation, if it was his ribs they’d just do an X-ray. For a shoulder injury, they’d check it out with an MRI just like they would with a knee. So, it may be safe to assume that for “upper body” you can read “left shoulder.”

In any case, the Wings aren’t too worried about it and expect Danny back soon, as this quote from Mike Babcock indicates:

“Markie’s tough as a rattlesnake, he’ll bounce back.’’

Andreas Lilja will be in the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch since Schneider returned on February 2nd. - Matt

The Wings extended their win-streak to five last night as they beat Phoenix 4-2 at home. It honestly wasn’t much of a contest, as the Wings controlled the greater part of the play, but the Coyotes were kept in it by the great goaltending of Curtis Joseph. The former Red Wing made 44 saves, many of which were high-quality, and gave his team a chance to win before Detroit pulled ahead in the third.

Dominik Hasek was in net for the Wings and looked solid. He made 20 saves and didn’t have to work too hard, though he did have to make a good save occasionally. He was the victim of the Wings’ chronic inability to clear the crease on the first goal and of the team’s offensively opportunistic doctrine for defensemen on the second, and can’t really be blamed for either one, though he made a bad gamble on the latter and compounded the problem.

The Wings controlled play from the start, with their early shifts being mostly in the Phoenix zone. Joseph was sharp and made the necessary saves, including a great one on Pavel Datsyuk on a give-and-go with Josh Langfeld before the 4:00 mark. The Coyotes brought the puck the other way and nearly scored when Hasek missed on one of his wandering pokecheck attempts. Chris Gratton sent the puck just wide, however, and the score remained 0-0.

The Coyotes had a light 1-man forecheck going early in the game, but seemed to be dangerously opportunistic. Fortunately, the Wings’ defense was up to the task, as they generally diffused any Coyotes offensive chance.

Pretty early on, it was clear that Henrik Zetterberg had brought his “A” game and was set to have a big night. He had a good scoring chance around the 6:45 mark and continued to create plays for the rest of the game.

Phoenix took a 1-0 lead at 9:06 when Owen Nolan walked out from behind the net and got off a shot on Hasek, which was stopped. There was a rebound, however, and Nolan kept whacking at it as Danny Markov ineffectively pushed him with his arms. Ladislav Nagy ran interference on Mathieu Schneider as Nolan got his stick on the puck, spun, and backhanded it into the net just before Hasek fell on his back to close off the post. It was one of those plays were Nolan would have been on his back had he tried that against most any other team. It was a little sad that even with Markov out there, they couldn’t clear the front of the net. Maybe Dom could have held on to the puck better on the initial shot, but he should have had to.

Henrik Zetterberg had a nice shift following the goal as he kept the puck away from three Coyotes, but nothing came of it. Owen Nolan forced Hasek to come up big soon after with a quick shot in the high slot that was more dangerous than it looked.

Around 13:50, Pavel Datsyuk made a nice takeaway at the Phoenix blueline (just as they got away with having too many men on the ice) and carried the puck into the zone. He centered it to Zetterberg, who had a nice scoring chance as a result, but Joseph stoned him.

The Wings went on the power play at 14:17 and had a couple good opportunities to tie it up, but Joseph was too sharp and they couldn’t get it past him. After the penalty expired, the Coyotes switched to a hard forecheck and forced the Wings on a carry-out attempt that ended up taking maybe 45 seconds as a result.

All in all, the first period wasn’t overly exciting. The Wings looked a little off and the Coyotes looked to have a little more desire, but they didn’t necessarily have the ability to do much with it, despite their lead.

The Wings began the second period with some chances in the first minute or so, but Joseh was equal to the task. Granted, the Wings did a pretty good job of blowing chances, as in the first four minutes, they failed on at least three big ones: first, Cleary’s slow cross-ice pass meant Joseph arrived at the other side of the net long before Lang could one-time the puck; second, Jiri Hudler sent a shot high over the net 40 seconds later; third, Kirk Maltby had a goal on his stick but couldn’t get a shot off before the defense closed in on him.

They did finally score at 4:51 on a nice give-and-go between Lang and Lebda. Robert carried the puck down the right wing and sent it across to Lebda, who took it deep before making a great pass across the goalmouth to Lang at the right post. Slam-dunk into a wide open net. 1-1 game.

Nik Kronwall really stood out a couple minutes later with a few nice shifts as he got involved offensively. On the first, he forced a faceoff on a chance sneaking up and on the second, he made a smooth manoeuvre around the defense before getting off a shot, and the rebound was almost knocked in by Lang and Cleary.

Henrik Zetterberg made a nice play at center when he tipped the puck to himself and took it in on a rush around 8:50. Pavel Datsyuk was doing similar things and was putting in a good effort, but almost looked to be trying too hard, as he often went one deke too far or attempted passes that were too pretty. Still, Hank, Pavel, and the rest of the Wings were dictating play around mid-period and beyond.

Zetterberg put the Wings ahead by one at 16:27 with a nice personal effort. He carried the puck down the right wing 1-on-1 with Derek Morris covering him. He threatened a backhand shot from that side and faked Joseph into commiting before taking it around the back of the net and coming out the other side. With Joseph down and out, he got underneath the puck and roofed it in the top right corner with a backhander. Great play by Hank, and kind of a sequel to his goal on Manny Legace last week.

Soon after the goal, the Wings went on the power play. They had a couple chances, but couldn’t quite click, and before long, they were called for a penalty themselves and we went to 4-on-4 hockey. This stretch was uneventful and soon the Wings were killing off a short power play.

Things were going pretty well until Datsyuk turned the puck over in the Phoenix zone after getting hooked slightly by Keith Ballard. Chris Chelios had pinched up, hoping to pick up a drop pass from Pavel, but Michael Zigomanis got to the puck first and sent it up ice to Yanic Perreault at center. Perreault just tipped it to the left wing just as he got nailed by Danny Markov and Shane Doan was away as Chelios skated as hard as I’ve ever seen him skate in trying to catch up. Dominik Hasek chose this opportunity to come out of the net and challenge Doan, but the Coyotes’ captain deked just before Dom got to him and, though he was tripped up, managed to maintain possession as he fell. He got off a shot and the puck slide into the gaping net to make it 2-2 with one second remaining on the power play, at 19:43. In hindsight, it was not a great decision by Dom, but that’s his practice on breakaways and it’s worked more often than not until recently.

The Wings still had jump as they started the third period and they scored again within three and a half minutes. The play began with Holmstrom getting nailed before a Zetterberg takeaway and subsequent Lidstrom shot off the post. Zetterberg picked the puck up off the rebound along the boards and sent it back to Lidstrom, who returned it to Hank right away. Zetterberg stepped up and took a snap shot that ricocheted off a Coyote skate before beating Joseph glove side at 3:22. It was Hank’s 100th career goal.

Not long after the goal, the game hit a patch of penalties. First, the Wings went on the power play at 5:07, then they got a 5-on-3 at 5:43. Once the initial penalty expired they had a short 5-on-4 powerplay but it was cut even shorter by a BS goaltender interference call on Holmstrom, who had been irritating the Phoenix defense all night and was in serious danger of having his head taken off. Following a faceoff, Homer headed to the net while Ballard did the same, only he was gliding backwards. He bumped into Holmstrom and pushed him back toward the net, but Homer ended up at the side of the net rather than out front and Ballard bumped Joseh ever so lightly. Joseph, however, decided he wanted an Oscar nomination and threw up his arms before falling like a sack of potatoes. The ref, unfortunately, fell for it and slapped Homer with the penalty. Fortunately, the subsequent stretch of play was uneventful, mostly due to Lang’s casual disruption of a Phoenix near-breakaway by slowly putting his stick out to knock the puck out of reach.

After their power play, the Coyotes showed some life and the Wings narrowly avoided a possible tied score when Derek Morris’ stick betrayed him by breaking on a slap shot. Dom had to make a couple big saves in sequence around the 9:30 mark and by then, the Wings had regained control.

Kris Draper, aggressively forechecking as usual, was called for hooking at the transition point from fore- to backcheck when Ballard either lost an edge or took a page from Joseph’s book at center. Danny Markov was hurt on the resulting Phoenix power play when Jeremy Roenick nailed him in the end boards following a clearing shot. At first it looked as though it was his right arm, but based on the way he was laying, I think it may be his ribs. Roenix hit him with his elbow or shoulder and may have cracked something. Markov skated off eventually, and the Wings killed off the rest of the penalty.

Soon after the power play ended, Pavel Datsyuk had a nice break down the middle. He a shot from pretty far out in order to get something before the defense closed on him, and its surprising quickness forced Joseph to be sharp.

The teams traded penalties again before the period ended, with some 4-on-4, 4-on-3, and 5-on-4 play resulting. Finally, with a minute left, the Coyotes pulled Joseph. He had hardly even made it to the blueline before Perreault’s pass was intercepted by Zetterberg. Hank took a couple steps before sending it to Datsyuk, who skated in the middle and sunk it in the empty net at 19:00. After the formality of the last minute, the Wings won 4-2.

According to Ken Daniels, Wayne Gretzky said before the game that Henrik Zetterberg is the most underrated player in the NHL. Hard to disagree after seeing how much he dominated the game last night. He was easily the #1 star, though Joseph should be thought of as a solid #2.

It was a pretty complete win for the Wings, unlike their recent comeback victories. It put them one point behind Nashville and gave them a chance to pass the Preds tonight with a win in St. Louis. The Blues have lost their momentum a bit and have won only one game in their last five. They are 12 points out of the playoffs and have very little chance of making it now. A loss tonight would make it even more difficult. However, they’ll be certain to fight hard and that means the Wings could be in trouble, having played a game last night.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch the game tonight. So, no game report tomorrow. Sorry about that.

GameDay: vs. Phoenix (25-27-2, 52 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 7, 2007
in 2006-2007, Coyotes and GameDay
. 0 Comments

Update (5:55 PM): I forgot to thank Sidney Crosby and Company for beating Nashville last night and making it possible for the Wings to get within a point of  the Preds with a win tonight. - Matt

Tonight is the third of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings lead the season series 2-0, with wins October 11th (9-2) and January 11th (5-1). They’ll play each other once more this month, in Phoenix on the 17th.

The last time we saw the Coyotes, they were one of the hottest team in the league, having won 8 of their previous 9 games, including 7 straight, providing their fans with a glimmer of hope for a dismal season. Since losing to the Wings last month, however, they have reverted somewhat to form and have posted a 5-6-0 record. During that 11-game stretch, they have beaten such teams as Nashville and Colorado, but lost to San Jose, Anaheim, and Pittsburgh. So, it’s been win a couple, lose a couple for nearly a month now, though they have two wins in February thus far and just one loss. One of those wins came last night in Columbus, a 3-0 decision.

Following the game tonight, they will head to Florida to play the Panthers on Saturday and the Lightning on Tuesday.

As far as post-season prospects go, the Coyotes are 12 points out of a playoff spot and will need a miracle at this point to make it.

I expect Curtis Joseph to be in net tonight as Wayne Gretzky evidently does not have a policy against starting his #1 goalie in back-to-back games, having started CuJo on Jan. 31st as well as Feb. 1st.

Since beating the Coyotes in January, the Wings are 7-2-1. They’ve won their last four, which included games against the Avalanche (3-1), the Islanders (4-3 OT), the Blues (5-3), and, most recently, the Rangers (4-3). Their last loss came to the Blues in overtime, a 2-1 decision on January 26th.

They have been alternating home and away games since they played Colorado on the 28th and will continue to do so by travelling to St. Louis after tonight’s game to play the Blues tomorrow night before returning home to play Calgary on Sunday. After that, they’ll head out on a three-game road trip to Philadelphia (the 12th), Dallas (the 14th), and Phoenix (the 17th). Philly to Dallas, eh? A nice turnaround.

Although they have the league’s third-best record, The Wings are currently solidly in the 4th seed and will be unless they can catch Nashville for the Division lead. They are just three points back with five games against the Predators remaining.

Dominik Hasek will be in net tonight per the Wings’ policy to only play him on days in which he’s able to go through his full pre-game routine. Since they’ll be leaving for St. Louis tonight after the game and will probably only do a light skate in the morning, it’s not possible for him to do all the things necessary to safeguard his groin before playing the Blues. Joey MacDonald will be in net tomorrow instead since Chris Osgood is still out with a broken finger in his stick/blocker hand.

Mikael Samuelsson is the only Wing with a short-term injury but his recovery time just got extended to another couple weeks so he definitely won’t be back tonight.

The Wings will need to settle down and play a full game tonight, without needing to come back in the third period. I’m sure the Coyotes will be playing hard but Hasek and the defense should be able to contain them and the offense should be able to add to the 14 goals they’ve already scored on Phoenix this season.