On the Wings

Some more thoughts on the game:

… Key moment on the first shift, while the Detroit lines were still nice and predictable: Hnerik Zetterberg takes a pass from Pavel Datsyuk and drives to the net. He gets a shot off and Tomas Holmstrom follows up by riding Scott Niedermeyer into JS Giguere. JS is bowled over and loses his helmet. He is shaken and it showed for the rest of his time on the ice. Homer and Niedermeyer were both vying for position, so it wasn’t about running the goalie, so much as gunning for the puck. After that, Babcock began his line shuffle.

… The first fruits of the line mixing (at least on the scoreboard) came at 11:09 of the first, when the new Swede line hooked up for Johan Franzen’s goal. A nice pass by Samuelsson made it an easy slam dunk for Johan, and a no-chance play for Giguere.

… The power play units didn’t get the mixing treatment as much as the even strength lines did, so the second goal was from the usual top line group. Zetterberg carried in and Pavel Datsyuk headed to the net, drawing two defenders with him, while Holmstrom came in alone on the other side. After taking the pass from Hank, he ripped a nice shot off the post and in to make it 2-0 at 19:17. Giguere could have had it, maybe, but Homer’s shot was very good.

… The third goal was rather flukey, as Dan Cleary just threw the puck at the net and it bounced in off Bertuzzi, who got a stick and a leg on it. For some reason, Giguere was pulled after that one, though I thought he hadn’t had that bad a game. Sure, he looked a little shaky, but he hadn’t had a chance on the goals.

… With Ilya Bryzgalov still working the soreness out of his butt from sitting on the bench, Tomas Holmstrom potted another goal at 3:34, 17 seconds after Bertuzzi’s. Valtteri Filppula streaked in down the left wing and around the back of the net, burning by Scott Niedermeyer like he was nothing more than a pylon in a deking training exercise. He came out from behind the net, and got off a shot that nearly went in. Bryzgalov was down and out as the puck tricked to his left, where Tomas Holmstrom pounced on it and slammed it into the net. Not only was it great to see Homer continue to prove his worth, it was awesome to see Fil burn a Norris Trophy candidate.

… The whole Holmstrom v. Niedermeyer/Pronger thing happened at 11:40 of the second period. I’ll need to watch the replay again when I get a faster connection (tomorrow!), but my initial reaction to Niedermeyer’s part in the play is probably wrong. What Rob did wasn’t really all that bad, though it seemed like he took a few steps. Pronger’s part in the play was disgusting, however, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s suspended, especially given his value to the Ducks. I hate the guy and I know from years of watching him play in St. Louis that the best punishment the Wings could deal him would be to beat the Ducks. There’s no need for anyone to go after him.

I have to admit that I was so incensed by the whole thing that most of my thoughts would not have been publishable on this blog, which I’ve tried to keep family-friendly. I’m not a swearing kind of guy, but I believe there is a time for that kind of language, if only rarely and due to extreme emotion (otherwise it loses its shock value and means nothing), and that may have been one of those times. But I’m cooled down now.

… I was worried about Holmstrom for a while after that hit, thinking he had to be injured fairly badly. Versus, of course, couldn’t get any news on him, so it was a shock when he was out there in the third period. Of course, he looked great when he came back, making a perfect pass to Valtteri Filppula for the Wings’ 5th goal. Best part about the play, aside from the goal? Scott Niedermeyer’s presence. Homer’s pass was perfect, but Niedermeyer’s minor tip made the whole thing poetic.

… At the end of the game, Ryan Getzlaf nearly ended his own career while in a battle for the puck with Kirk Maltby. Maltby’s stick was on top of Getzlaf’s when the Duck raised his and ended up brining the blade of Kirk’s into his face near his eye. My initial reaction was that Getzlaf sold it well, but then I saw the replay and saw that the had given Maltby 4 minutes. Totally accidental, but very scary. Not at all similar to the Holmstrom incident, though. Craig Conroy clipped Homer in the eye all on his own.

And now, some individual recognitions:

… I already said in my initial reaction what needed to be said about Dom: he was great, easily one of the three stars of the game.

… Todd Bertuzzi was as noticeable last night as he’s been during his time here in Detroit. He was physical and was creating chances around the net. Hopefully we’ll see more of that from him.

… Valtteri Filppula had a great game as well. It was one of the rare times where Versus made mention of two players (Fil and Todd) that needed to perform for the Wings to win and actually got it right.

One last thing: I don’t want to hear another word from anyone who follows the Ducks about how Detroit isn’t Hockeytown and can’t fill their arena. With the Wings ahead by 4 or 5 goals, fans started filing out and by the end of the game, the arena looked quite empty. I know it’s not fun to watch your team while they’re down so far and have effectively lost the game, but you do not walk out on your team in the Conference Finals, I don’t care what the score is. The same goes for fans in Detroit. If the Wings are put in a similar position, I hope fans would have the respect to stick around.

I think it’s wrong to say that the Wings let this one slip away, because they did not play all that well overall. It’s more like the Ducks almost let the Wings steal one. Detroit put up a fight, but they are still not playing up to their ability, so in some ways we’re seeing a bit of a repeat of the San Jose series. I hope that they aren’t fizzling out, because it seems as though they’re running out of gas. They aren’t skating with the puck like they used to, though they admittedly show a big effort without it. Their special teams have been great, but at even strength, they seem outclassed and often look to be barely holding on. Hasek wasn’t as sharp last night as he was in Game 1 and the fact that the Wings lost despite keeping pace with the Ducks in goals demonstrates the value of a dominate Hasek. They have to find it within themselves to be better in Game 3.

I’ll have more later today, after I get home from work.

The Wings won their Western Conference Finals opener with the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, last night at the Joe. It wasn’t their best game of the playoffs offensively, but they stood up to the Ducks defensively and came out on top overall, which is what counts, at least until tomorrow.

Some thoughts on the game:

… Dominik Hasek was stellar last night. The goal he did allow was similar to the extremely weak goal he gave up to Marcel Goc in the second round, but I just thought it was a good shot by Kunitz. With the Ducks controlling the majority of play in the game, Dom’s steadiness kept the Wings in a game that may have gotten somewhat out of hand, in spite of the defense’s best efforts. He had a lot of help from the skaters, but when the shot did get through, Dom made the save, often in spectacular fashion. It’s for games like last night’s that Dom is in Detroit and he did not disappoint. Plus, he did it while being on the business end of a concerted effort by Anaheim to crash the net. He was run over and fallen on a number of times, and even took a shot to the face by Andy McDonald. There was a scary moment where Kirk Maltby clipped him accidentally and Dom lay face first on the ice briefly before popping up. I guess he’s still pretty tough.

… On the two goals: the first was pure luck as far as the bounce off Beauchemin was concerned, but, had Hank’s pass gotten through to Samuelsson on the other side of the net, it may have been a goal anyway. Of course, with Giguere playing like he is, we can’t say that with certainty, but I’m confident Sammy would have buried it. The Wings had set up a great scoring chance down low and were rewarded with some luck.

On the second, there’s no way that would have gone in had Holmstrom not been there disrupting Giguere’s view of both Lidstrom’s initial shot and the rebound. Again, it was helped in by Beauchemin, but even JS admitted it was already heading across the line.

Like I wrote last night, I do believe the Wings need to bury more of their scoring chances if they want to come out on top in this series, but any long and successful playoff run has its fair share of fortunate bounces, so if they’re getting those too, all the better.

… The Ducks are a very physical team, but they didn’t really faze the Wings much. It’s easy to see where this series will go, at least as far as rough play is concerned. They’re dangerous offensively, but didn’t have much of a finishing ability, as a number of their chances fizzled out just as they were getting good. I think they tried to be too cute at times with the puck, as their passing left much to be desired in many instances.

… Chris Pronger was not nearly as effective last night as he was with Edmonton, pre-game bravado notwithstanding. I can’t say I’m disappointed, because I love few things more than to see Pronger fail and not live up to the hype. His shot is still scary, though, and he did come close to scoring at one point, but he rang the puck off the post.

… I always thought of Scott Niedermeyer as a clean player, but his antics during a run in with Pavel Datsyuk altered that perception of him in my mind. After he took Pavel out of the play, he proceeded to lay on him and give his head a little shove to the ice. Pavel, not usually the most quick to anger, reacted violently and the two exchanged pleasantries with the help of their teammates. Shoving stars’ heads to the ice is not cool, Niedermeyer.

… Henrik Zetterberg had a good game overall, but he needs to stop skating into three defenders only to cough up the puck. It’s getting really old.

… I thought Todd Bertuzzi was relatively effective when he was out on the ice with Kyle Calder and Valtteri Filppula. I guess we can no longer expect him to play a major role in things, so a fourth line winger position may be the best we can hope for. He certainly keeps that group dangerous and I’m willing to accept that, I suppose. I just wish people would stop making it out like he’s a failure because he hasn’t recreated his best years as a Canuck.

… The penalty kill was great last night, but the Wings are going to need to stay out of the box if they want to have success in this series. Of course, that will be made easier if the officials get the story straight on what they’re going to call because last night they were all over the map. I do not want to see this series degenerate into an NBA-esque penalty fest.