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Game 4: Wings 2, Predators 3

Published

on April 17, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports, Playoffs and Predators

. 7 Comments

Update (4:30 PM): The answer to my question below about the pairings, via MacLeod:

Babcock said that he split Rafalski and Lidstrom on the road. He wanted a puck-moving defenseman — Rafalski — to play when Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were on the ice and a stopper — Lidstrom — on the ice whenever Nashville’s top line of Jason Arnott, Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov were on the ice.

Ah.

Well, with the Wings having the last change tomorrow night, Nick and Rafi will be reunited. - Matt

Update (1:22 PM): The Forchecker analyzes the faceoff statistics in this series. - Matt

Update (11:40 AM): One other thing I wanted to say: why did Babcock screw with the top four defensemen?

I see no reason to disrupt the two top units given the chemistry that has developed between Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski and between Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart. I have to wonder if that wasn’t a major contributing factor in the Wings’ horrible start last night.

The insertion of Brett Lebda in the lineup should have changed nothing but the third pairing. - Matt

Update (11:29 AM): George Malik looks at the question of the Game 5 starter here. His conclusion: start Osgood, but that’s not the solution to the problem. This is a team-wide issue (with the exception of Pavel Datsyuk, Nick Lidstrom, and Tomas Holmstrom). - Matt

The Nashville Predators tied up “Series E” with the Detroit Red Wings last night as they skated to a 3-2 win at home.

Some thoughts on the game:

… I’m going to be hyperbolic and say that the first period and first half or so of the second period were among the biggest letdowns I remember as a fan. Nothing I saw this season prepared me for that. The slump in February at least could be attributed to injuries. Last night, all the power of the Red Wings roster was assembled and they couldn’t get it done. Instead, they looked like a bunch of guys in a pre-season game.

Even with their improved play toward the end of the period, I went into the third with my confidence in the team at a low point. They looked nothing like the team that ripped apart the League in the regular season.

… Pulling Dominik Hasek was absolutely the right decision. He wasn’t outright awful, but it’s clear that things are not going his way. That third Nashville goal was a backbreaker and the responsibility for that one rests on his Dom’s shoulders. It just clean beat him.

Osgood came in and slowly restored my confidence in the goaltending. You could see the team develop confidence as well. Without Osgood, that third period never would have happened and the Wings would have nothing to build on going into Game 5.

I don’t know who I’d like to see Friday night. Dom has a history of rebounding strong from bad games, but that may just be beyond him now. Osgood’s calm and poise, on the other hand, seemed to spread through the team on some level, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the nod.

… I have to say that Trotz and Poile’s lobbying has paid off in spades for the Predators. The officials pretty much gave them free rein last night. How many times was a Red Wing hauled to the ice, boarded, or tied up with no call?

Bill McCreary officiated with a chip on his shoulder, as evidenced by his ridiculous spazz-out on Tomas Holmstrom at the end of the first period: a whistle and “GET THE F— IN THERE!!!” when Holmstrom dared to ask about the call. He and the linesmen also micromanaged the face-off circle to the point where it seemed like nary a faceoff went by that a center wasn’t thrown out.

So the officiating sucked and has since Trotz and Poile whined about it, but that’s not the reason the Wings lost. The blown calls could have been overcome, but they couldn’t find a way to do it.

… One thing I hope we hear about again happened just before Chelios’ 15:31 interference penalty. With the two sides grinding the puck out along the boards, Kris Draper fell down. Jordin Tootoo then saw fit to step on Draper’s back in order to get to his other side. It seems to me that something’s wrong with that.

… I’m cautiously hopeful about Game 5. The Wings showed in the third period last night that they aren’t collapsing completely. Make no mistake about it, however, the Predators are now in the driver’s seat.

This happened in 2004 and the Wings pulled out wins in Games 5 and 6 to eliminated the Predators. They have it in them to do that again. It’s just a question of whether or not they will dig deep enough to take the wheel back from Nashville.

… For a better description of the game’s events, see Christy’s liveblog. Dave also has a look at the game.

Game 3: Wings 3, Predators 5

Published

Matt Saler

on April 15, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports, Playoffs and Predators

. 3 Comments

Update (6:27 PM): Helene St. James has a little more on the botched line change that lead to the game winner a little further down here. Nice of Nick to hang his former defense partner, Andreas Lilja, out to dry there a little. - Matt

Update (1:16 PM): George Malik’s wrap-up of Game 3 is here. - Matt

Update (1:01 PM): George Malik notes that splitting up Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk did not work all that well. They ought to play together tomorrow night, in my opinion. Take Nashville head on. - Matt

Update (12:42 PM): IwoCPO reacts to Steve Schrader’s suggestion that the Wings pull Hasek every time the Predators score so that Osgood can play for a few minutes as a way of curbing these quick-hit goals.

Given that Steve Schrader is sort of the Freep’s resident funny man, I’m guessing the suggestion was a joke, but you should still read what Iwo has to say. - Matt

Update (12:31 PM): BS Fest of the Day: “The best moment in Predators franchise history.” Wow, why don’t we just give the Predators the Cup now? - Matt

Update (12:15 PM): Some further reactions:

Abel to Yzerman

Bruce MacLeod - touches on something I meant to mention below: Brad Stuart. He’s not having a very good series and the break he deserves for playing hurt doesn’t quite cover it.

Steve Ovadia

The Forechecker

PredJoe

- Matt

Update (10:21 AM): HockeyTownTodd has some points about the game that are worth reading.

I don’t buy that last assertion, though. There’s no way last night was a bid for another home game. It was simply a poor effort from the coaches down to the fourth line. - Matt

Update (10:03 AM): Megan has pointed out to me that responsibility for the botched change leading to the game winner could also lie with Chris Chelios. Cheli may have just made a bad decision to leave at that point, independent of Babcock, leaving Lilja to cover two halves of the ice on his own.

Obviously, Babcock wants Lidstrom on the ice against Nashville’s top line, and rightly so. The timing on that instance just didn’t work out.

It also did not help that Draper lost the faceoff, of course. - Matt

Because of class, I only had the pleasure of watching the Wings’ two-goal meltdown, one-goal recovery, and second two-goal meltdown last night.

The Red Wings team that I saw in that period and a half was not the same one that won Games 1 and 2. They couldn’t pass efficiently, they made stupid decisions on attempted hits, and they looked frazzled. This experienced group let the crowd noise and Nashville’s exuberance put them off their game.

Still, Pavel Datsyuk managed to crack a as-yet-unimpressive Dan Ellis after the Wings blew a two goal lead and put them within a period of going up 3-0 in the series. It was just a matter of holding out, as they had in the previous two games. But they couldn’t do it.

Suter’s goal, like Radulov’s before it, was one Hasek had little or no chance of stopping. A beautiful Brad Stuart screen made sure of that.

It’s the goal that came nine seconds that still makes me angry after that pathetic excuse for what passes as a night’s sleep in college. Andreas Lilja is getting a lot of flak for it already, but why not lay some blame at the feet of Mike Babcock? At the time of the face-off following the Suter goal, the defensive pairing is Lilja and Chris Chelios. By the time Arnott streaks into the Detroit zone, Chelios has gone to the bench and Nick Lidstrom has just gotten on the ice.

Was it so necessary to make a change there?

There’s also the question of calling a time out. In Game 2, Babcock used his timeout at a key moment and helped changed the game back in the Wings’ favor. Why not call a timeout just after Suter’s goal?

Those questions are secondary to my real beef, which is this: when his team needed him to make what should have been a relatively routine save, Dominik Hasek let them down. Arnott is no slouch, his performance to that point in this series notwithstanding, but that’s a save most goalies make nine times out of ten.

I missed Hasek’s performance in the first period, so my perception of him last night is colored by that one play, but I can’t just brush it aside. The blame for the meltdown rests on the whole team, but Hasek is supposed to be the fire insurance.

It’s just one loss, of course. It’s a bad one and a frustrating one for a lot of reasons I won’t elaborate upon at risk of being labeled a hypocrite. But it’s just one and I didn’t really expect a sweep. I just hate to see them lose like that.

Wednesday is a must-win game for both teams. For the Wings, they have history going both ways. In 2004, they lost both games in Nashville, but won the next two to take the series in six. In 2001, however, the Kings took them in six after a Game 3 stunner pulled the rug out from under them. Right now, the pessimist in me has taken over and you can bet that I’ll on edge all day tomorrow.

It’s possible that we may see a lineup change or two, though Babcock seems to be a guy that sticks with what he’s got until he has to change. That said, what could change? The popular choice, no doubt, is to dump Lilja in favor of Brett Lebda. That has its positive points, namely Brett’s speed. However, Lebda had, in my mind, an off season and also lacks size, an essential element in this series. Lilja brings size and a physical element the Wings will need to pull out a win in Game 3. Just pair him with someone other than Chris Chelios. The two slowest players on the team? Come on.

Another possibility is sitting Mark Hartigan in favor of any one of Aaron Downey, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Downey brings size and physicality that will help deter the Predators from taking so many liberties (read: charges and boardings) with our stars. However, he has no offensive upside.

Abdelkader brings size and speed, but has zero experience at this level. That could be an asset in the form of pure youthful exuberence, but I’d hate to see him make a rookie mistake that turns this series on its head.

Helm brings speed and offensive ability, but he’s small. He’s also inexperienced.

It’ll be interesting to see if any lineup changes are made. If not, there are certainly strategic changes that must be made. This team will make the necessary adjustments, but tomorrow night we’ll find out whether or not they’re enough to pull out a win on the road.

Game 4 is not going to be fun.

Highlights

Game 2: Wings 4, Predators 2

Published

Matt Saler

on April 13, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports, Playoffs and Predators

. 0 Comments

Update (2:03 PM): Just after I published, I saw the latest from Bruce MacLeod. Basically, Babcock told him the Eurotwins will “start together” in Game 3. As MacLeod points out, that doesn’t mean they won’t be split up later, after Trotz’s strategy with regard to the two stars has been determined. - Matt

The Detroit Red Wings took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Nashville Predators with a 4-2 win yesterday afternoon.

The game was uneventful for the first minute and a half or so. Around 1:40, however, the Predators entered the Detroit end on a rush and Alexander Radulov forced Dominik Hasek to make a save. Meanwhile, Radek Bonk tumbled toward the net due to contact with Brad Stuart. Radulov picked up his own rebound and slipped it past Hasek’s left shoulder in what appeared to be a goal just before Bonk knocked the net off.

It was immediately waived off, however. The referee ruled that he had lost sight of the puck prior to Radulov’s second try and although the whistle did not sound until after the puck had gone in, the play was dead (Rule 78.5 xii). Obviously not a great move by the official, since the play was nowhere near over at that point.

There is also the matter of the net. On the first replay I saw, it looked as though the puck went over the line just before Bonk knocked it off. On the overhead replay shown later, however, it looked like the net was in motion as the puck went over the line. That, however, doesn’t matter, apparently. Rule 78.5 x says

The goal frame is considered to be displaced if either or both goal pegs are no longer in their respective holes in the ice, or the net has come completely off one or both pegs, prior to or as the puck enters the goal.

Neither condition was met in this case. Had the official not deemed the play dead prior to Radulov’s second shot, the goal should have counted, though it probably would have needed review per Rule 39.4 ii.

To add insult to injury from the Nashville perspective, the Wings scored about 30 seconds later. Brad Stuart kicked off a rush with a pass up to Mark Hartigan just prior to being hit and going to the bench. Hartigan, standing still at center, dished it off to a speeding Dallas Drake, who chased it into the Nashville zone and chipped off a backhand shot as he caught Suter and Zidlicky flatfooted. Ellis made the save but sent a big rebound to left side where Darren McCarty had an easy slam dunk into the half-empty net.

Mac was definitely Johnny-on-the-spot there, but the play never would have happened without Stuart’s quick disposal of the puck prior to absorbing a Hordichuk hit. Hartigan’s feed was obviously key as well. The goal came at 2:26 of the first.

The Predators spent the rest of the period taking it to Detroit offensively. They managed 15 in the first and plenty of them were very good scoring chances. The Wings matched them fairly well when they attacked in the other end, but their defense was on its heels for much of the period. Hasek had to be stellar and was. At the other end, the Wings made a point of getting in Ellis’ face.

Nick Lidstrom put the Wings up 2-0 at :39 of the second period with a blueline bomb while the Wings were on the power play. Tomas Holmstrom screened Ellis perfectly and the puck beat the goalie high stickside after hitting Smithson out front.

The Predators cut the Wings’ lead in half 1:40 later when they got a lucky bounce off a shoot-in. Hasek came out to stop the puck going around the boards, but it hit a stanchion well before getting to him and he was helpless as Radulov put it in the empty net. Bad decision by Hasek to leave at that time, for sure.

11 seconds later, Jordin Tootoo tied the game up. Jiri Hudler turned the puck over at center and Andreas Lilja blew it when the bouncing puck evaded him in his feet. Tootoo picked it up and beat Hasek 5-hole, as Greg Zanon made sure to tell him after celebrating with his teammate.

After that, the Predators really took it to the Wings. The swarmed the Detroit zone and had at least three huge scoring opportunities. The first was a blown chance on the open net by Jan Hlavac. The others were a couple shots off the post by Bonk and Suter.

At 4:46, Mike Babcock called a time-out. He got the Wings to settle down and 14 seconds later, they regained the lead. Jiri Hudler carried the puck into the zone and was knocked down. Mikael Samuelsson picked it up and dropped it off to Kris Draper, who sent it in the general direction of the net. The puck went in off Greg Zanon’s skate. Call that payment for his earlier taunting of Hasek.

After that, the Predators were somewhat deflated. The Wings began to knock them around, as evidenced by Tomas Holmstrom’s hit of JP Dumont into the center divider between the benches, and Chris Chelios’ hard hit of Rich Peverley into the endboards not long after that. Dumont remained on the bench for quite a while before finally returning.

The end of the second period was a crazy one. A Kris Draper chance was countered by a Dumont solo rush in which Hasek came well out of the net to take the puck away. It bounced high in the air and the Wings narrowly avoided a tied game when the Predators couldn’t follow up.

The Wings regained two-goal lead at 10:03 of the third period. Following a passing clinic between the defense and the forwards, Pavel Datsyuk took a shot on Ellis while Zetterberg headed to the net. Ellis made the save but kicked the rebound right to Tomas Holmstrom in the slot, handing #96 an easy goal.

The game ended with the Wings on the penalty kill and the Predators with an empty net. They made a good push, but the fact that Detroit could ice the puck made defending somewhat easier. Hasek was strong on the couple chances Nashville had.

All in all, it was a wild game. The Predators had control of it in the first period and into the second, but they lost their grip following the Draper goal. The Wings, veteran group as they are, kept their composure into the third period, where they elevated their play when the game was on the line. That’s what you expect from an elite group.

The Predators are upset over the officiating yesterday and given the facts on the waived-off goal, I guess I can’t blame them. However, guys like Barry Trotz and David Poile should be more upset with the effort of guys like Jason Arnott and JP Dumont, who were just the worst of their teammates. The Predators as a whole lost the game when they couldn’t maintain their focus. In this case, blaming the officials is a cop out. As Ansar Khan put it, “[w]hen Jordin Tootoo is your best player through two games, you’ve got a major problem.”

The Predators, for one thing, have to find a way to stay out of the box. They took too many ill-advised penalties yesterday. The two that stand out in particular were Dumont’s roughing of Nick Lidstrom while Nashville was on the power play in the second period, and Arnott’s interference at center when he was too lazy to move his feet. Those calls and others came at bad times for the Predators and were indicative of their lack of focus.

The Wings haven’t been perfect either. Their defense still leaves much to be desired, though their third period performances somewhat make up for that. I would prefer that they keep the game that tight from start to finish, however. The first period was far too wide open.

I’m a little ambivalent about these breaks the Wings have been getting. In neither game were they the sole reason Detroit won, but they figured a little too much in the final result for my taste. I can’t help but suspect that the outcome would have been different had the first Predators “goal” counted. I’d like to see the Wings tighten up their game and win without these officiating disputes. But I’ll take the breaks as long as they come.

Going in to Game 3 on the road, the Wings will have to prepare for the Predators’ best. Nashville simply has to win tomorrow night and I don’t doubt that they’ll do whatever it takes to do so, even if it comes to thuggery.

I doubt Babcock will consider a lineup change after the success of the current one, so don’t expect to see Aaron Downey come in. I suspect that Darren McCarty will have to answer the call at some point in Game 3 as the Predators look to take liberties with the Wings’ stars. Given that the Predators have the last change, it will be more difficult for Babcock to keep the Eurotwins away from Jordin Tootoo. That’s why it’s likely we’ll see the two split up, as shown by today’s practice.

The Wings are poised to take a stranglehold on this series. They just have to tighten up defensively and pick up where they left off offensively.

Links

Game 1: Wings 3, Predators 1

Published

Matt Saler

on April 11, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Predators

. 3 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings started the postseason off on the right foot last night as they skated to a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators. Statisically, the Wings dominated, but the reality was somewhat different. Nashville was able to keep it close until the third period.

Johan Franzen opened the scoring following a long shift in which he and his linemates at the time, Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler, had the Predators scrambling. After about three clearing attempts by the tired Nashville players, Cleary ended up with the puck behind the goalline.

He sent it out to Niklas Kronwall on the left point. Kronwall threw it back and on its way there it was tipped by Hudler. Cleary took a swipe at it, but it hit a body and fell to the front of the net. Nashville goalie Dan Ellis had reacted to this initial shot and was positioned on the right side of the net. Franzen pounced on the puck and knifed it into the open side to make it 1-0 Wings at 5:58.

The Predators did not respond with a goal of their own until 17:47 of the second period. It came just after a Nashville rush-and-dump-in. Chris Chelios stopped the puck along the near-side boards, but his clearing attempt was stopped by Greg Zanon, who threw it toward the net. The puck went off Jordin Tootoo about 30 feet out and beat Dominik Hasek 5-hole.

The Wings regained the lead at 6:54 of the third on a bit of a fluke play. It began when Henrik Zetterberg sent the puck up to Pavel Datsyuk along the near boards at center. Datsyuk chased it into the Nashville zone where Shea Weber got to it first and attempted to knock it out across the blueline.

The puck instead hit the linesman, who was standing on the blueline, and the play was by default ruled onside by the fact that the official was too busy flinching to make the call. Weber went at it again, but his stick was knocked down by a latecoming Zetterberg. The puck ended up in Datsyuk’s possession as Zetterberg headed to the opposite wing, inadvertently tripping Weber in the process with his stick. With Weber out of the play, Datsyuk slid the puck across and Zetterberg one-timed it into the net to make it 2-1.

Two interesting points about this play. First, there’s the obvious question of whether or not it was onside. Replays on FSN weren’t conclusive (to me anyway), but the point was made that the linesman who was hit by the puck was the only guy who could have made the call and he was busy flinching. At best, the puck hit the onside side (so to speak) of his body when he was straddling the line. At worst, his body was just outside the zone. Either way, it was a lucky bounce and a fair return for the Predators’ goal, I think.

The other interesting point was the fact that Henrik Zetterberg got away with an obvious trip. 9 times out of 10, a penalty is called there. I’m not sure how that was missed. It was the second time in the game Hank got away with a pretty obvious trip (the other coming in the first period).

Zetterberg closed out the scoring at 19:41 of the third with an empty netter. It came off a neutral zone face-off and was a bit of a gift from Barry Trotz. After putting Ellis back in for the faceoff, the Nashville coach pulled him again at the last second and left the net open. It was a gamble that did not pay off.

The game was split between long periods of Red Wing puck possession that were occasionally broken up by lengthy shifts of sustained pressure in the Wings’ zone by the Predators. The Predators did not get many shots in these shifts, as evidenced by their final shot total, but the pressure was at times significant. The Erat-Bonk-Radulov line was particularly effective at making the Detroit defense scramble. The Hlavac-Arnott-Dumont line, on the other hand, was largely neutralized by Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom.

Niklas Kronwall caused a stir at 12:54 of the third when he made the ill-advised decision to step up and hit Rich Peverley while the Wings were on the power play. The hit was devastating and got the crowd excited, but put Kronwall in the penalty box for elbowing. Replays showed that it was Kronwall’s shoulder that hit Peverly squarely on the chin in a hit similar to the famous Scott Stevens hits at center. Peverley was, fortunately, none the worse for wear.

Dominik Hasek was very strong. He was actively involved in the play and seemed to be on top of his game. When the media spoke to him afterward, the disappointment that he only faced 20 shots seemed evident in his voice.

Dan Ellis was also very strong. I thought he looked a little shaky in the first period, but he seemed to settle down as the game went on. It helped, of course, that maybe half of the Wings’ shots were longer and unscreened. They will need to do a better job of getting him moving side to side with low cycling in Game 2.

Aside from one hit in which he charged Tomas Holmstrom and left his feet, Jordin Tootoo was not as reckless as I was afraid he’d be last night. He did get into a few scrums with Darren McCarty, though. There is sure to be a full fight between those two before the series is over.

Speaking of charges, Jerred Smithson got away with one late in the first period when he hit Kris Draper high.

Mikael Samuelsson had a strong return from his groin injury, I thought. He registered eight shots, which lead all skaters, and looked pretty smooth with the puck.

Brian Rafalski, on the other hand, did not look so strong. Evidently, sitting out the 82nd game was not helpful to him.

I was a little skeptical of the decision to play McCarty over Aaron Downey, but it worked. Mac did a good job of policing.

Tomas Holmstrom had a very strong game. He was all over the place and looked like his old Demolition Man self.

Henrik Zetterberg had a strong third period as he seemed to take it upon himself to win the game whenever he was on the ice. His play on the empty-netter was very emphatic.

I also thought Valtteri Filppula looked strong. He had a good playoffs last season and if last night was any indication, he’ll have a repeat performance this year as well.

Jiri Hudler looked confident with the puck. Perhaps he’ll have a good postseason to make up for his awful regular season.

Brad Stuart wasn’t anything special in his return to the lineup. Nothing negative to say about him, really, but nothing too positive, either.

Johan Franzen was his usual self. He still has the hot stick.

All in all, a good start for the Wings. As Hasek said after the game, it was good to get the first win out of the way. They have some things they could improve upon, such as adjusting their offensive strategy, and better passing in their own zone, but overall there isn’t much to complain about. They’ve set the bar and they just have to keep getting over it.

The Predators don’t have to change much for Game 2. Their strategy seems to be to forecheck hard and rely on Ellis to save them in the other end. Given that the kid made 38 37 saves last night and the game was close down to the last minute, I’d say their strategy worked pretty well.

They did lose a key piece of their forward corps in Scott Nichol, however. He went down with an arm injury in the first period. They managed to cope without him for the remainder of the game, but it remains to be seen what effect his absence will have in Game 2, if he can’t make it back.

Links

Behind the Jersey liveblog

A good start

Published

Matt Saler

on April 10, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports, Playoffs and Predators

. 3 Comments

3-1 Wings final.

A good first game for Detroit, though not without its troubling points. They outshot the Predators 40-20, but allowed far too many lengthy pressure shifts for my taste.

Nashville was a strong third period away from stealing one. Fortunately, they failed to deliver in the final frame.

The Wings will need to find a better way to get pucks past Dan Ellis in Game 2.

More tomorrow.

Wings 1, Predators 0 (OT)

Published

Matt Saler

on March 31, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Predators

. 0 Comments

There isn’t much to say about this one. Both teams played very conservatively down to the end and kept things relatively unexciting. It was good to see the Wings pull out a win in such a tightly-played game.

… Dan Ellis stole the show with a 35-save effort, but Dominik Hasek was very strong as well, finishing with a 22-save shutout. He was aided by the post and crossbar about four times, but made a number of big saves on his own. If that was any indication of how he’ll play in the post-season, the Wings should be in fair shape.

… Johan Franzen still cannot be stopped. Here’s hoping he can keep it up in the post-season.

His game-winner took entirely too long to go into the net, though.

… I so wanted to see Aaron Downey go with Jordin Tootoo. I understand why it didn’t happen, balance of momentum and all that, but it would have been fun to see.

… This hit by Dallas Drake on Rich Peverley kicked off a series of three notable hits in about 15 seconds, the next being Dan Hamhuis’ hit on Aaron Downey. Downey went into the empty space between the benches, nearly taking out Larry Murphy.

… This hit by Niklas Kronwall on Alexander Radulov was one of the highlights of the game. I love seeing him wreck people like that, but I also cringe at the sight as his injury history automatically comes to mind.

… The win put the Wings within a point of clinching the President’s Trophy. It would have been theirs last night had San Jose lost, but the Coyotes couldn’t pull off the upset. If San Jose loses in regulation or extra time, or the Wings gain a single point in any of their three remaining games, Detroit clinches first place.

… The Canucks leapfrogged Nashville last night after defeating Calgary 6-2 at home. The Predators are now one point out of the playoffs with 87. Edmonton is just two points behind Vancouver with two games remaining.

… The Wings now have a couple days to rest up and prepare to face a Chicago team that’s looking to make an improbable run at the playoffs Wednesday. The Hawks have two games against the Wings sandwiched around a game against the Predators to round out the season.

… In injury news, the Freep reports that the team is waiting to see how Tomas Holmstrom feels after getting the cortisone shot on Friday. Evidently, he felt some pain Saturday, but the jury is still out on his status for the rest of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.

Also, Babcock told Helene St. James that Brad Stuart (broken finger) will be ready to go for the first round. I hope that means Game 1.

Wings 3, Blues 4 (OT)

Published

Matt Saler

on March 29, 2008

in 2007-2008, Blues and Game Reports

. 5 Comments

For once, I get to comment on the game from the perspective of actually being there:

… Megan and I got there in time to see warmups, though I spent most of them waiting in line for two $5 slices of pizza. $5 Hot-N-Ready apparently does not apply in the center of Illitch-dom.

… The Joe is old and small. The concourse is crampt and badly lit. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Certainly not one of the newer-style impersonal flashy arenas. There’s nothing like literally rubbing shoulders with fellow Wings fans while surrounded by Red Wings memorabilia everywhere.

… There was a fairly large crowd already in their seats just after 7:00. Presumably, the big draw was Darren McCarty, who was going through warmups with the rest of his team.

… Semi-scary moment: when leaving the ice, Henrik Zetterberg got up a big head of steam as he headed toward the bench door and made a smooth transition from skating to running as he went through it. Why the heck he didn’t just stop before the door, I don’t know. Sure he’s a professional athlete, but for a split second there, I was envisioning him wiping out horribly.

… When McCarty left the ice, he threw pucks in the crowd and dished out high-fives.

… When they announced the starting lineup, the cheers reached the expected level for all players not named Darren McCarty. At Mac’s name, we gave him a standing ovation.

His first shift was disappointingly uneventful. He finished with 5:03 in TOI and wasn’t very noticeable overall. He did have one glorious scoring chance, though. Had that gone in, the Joe would have exploded into the kind of joyous celebration normally reserved for championships.

… During the first period, I commented to Megan, “This has to qualify as a sellout.” I’d say about 95% of the seats were full and I’m willing to bet the remainder were in the concourse. Of course, the numbers dwindled throughout the game, but for a little while, the Joe looked about as full as it did in the past.

… The Joe doesn’t have one of those crowds that’s incessantly cheering. Brief “Let’s Go Red Wings” chants came up regularly, but generally, the crowd was pretty intent on watching the game. It was certainly demonstrative on any scoring chance, hit, exceptional move, and obvious penalty that happened to take place.

… The Blues surprised me. They weren’t nearly as violent as I was sure they’d be, though they were pretty testy on occasion.

… The Wings’ passing was out of sync all night. The puck was constantly going just out of reach, or bouncing off a stick like the receiver had cement hands.

… After the second, Christy Hammond came by to see us. She handed me the massive packet of stats the teams provide to the media, as well as a packet of press clippings. She was working the game and could be seen in the press box in the second.

… There were a couple of those failed scoring chances that cause physical pain for fans. The most memorable was Johan Franzen’s missed slam dunk. The second I saw Henrik Zetterberg calmly drop the puck off to Franzen, I thought, “Goal.” So did everyone else in the arena. Most of us actually got up and started cheering before the awful truth set in: despite having a half-empty net, he somehow failed to put it in.

Fortunately, he made up for it later with two goals, including one with a similarly empty net. But that missed one still pains me, even today.

Franzen’s second pains me for a different reason: I yelled myself hoarse on that one.

… By the way, on the play leading to Johan’s first, I would have sworn the puck was cleared. Kudos to Brian Rafalski for the effort and many thanks to the linesman for calling it in.

… That was about the only favor the officials did for the Wings last night. They were otherwise flat out awful. Two major blown calls really stood out.

The first was the mugging of Kirk Maltby from behind as he went to clear the puck while on the penalty kill. Both refs were looking right at it and neither thought anything of it. The crowd was pissed.

The second was a nasty slash to the stick of Pavel Datsyuk, just below his high hand. It broke the stick right out of Pavel’s hands. He pointed at it with both hands and called to the official, but no call was made. After the play stopped later, Henrik Zetterberg picked up a piece of the stick and talked to the ref about it.

Earlier in the game, Pavel was called for, ironically enough, slashing on a play that, if it was anything (it wasn’t) should have been called a trip.

… Megan and I both agree: Mark Hartigan had no business being on the ice last night. He was directly responsible for the Blues’ first goal and indirectly so for their second.

On the first, he was trying to make a big hit at center and was caught out of position as the Blues carried in. Then, he floated back into the zone and watched as his man, the Blues’ leading goal-scorer, Brad Boyes, skated into the slot and one-timed a Paul Kariya centering pass through a helpless Chris Osgood. You can see in the replay. Hartigan is completely useless.

On the second, he took a stupid penalty and made the Wings needlessly shorthanded. Zetterberg lost the face-off and the Blues promptly scored, four seconds after the penalty. As Hartigan left the box, I was yelling, “Bench him, Babcock!” Of course, he didn’t. I don’t know what the Wings see in the guy. He brought the Griffins down this season and now he’s bringing the Wings down.

… I thought Tomas Kopecky had a bad game. He looked bewildered with the puck and the Blues took advantage of him a number of times. Maybe a game off would do him some good.

… When I saw Paul Kariya wheeling in the Wings’ zone in overtime, I had an ominous feeling that quickly turned into a sick on as Boyes found the back of the net again.

… Anyone who’s been to the Joe knows how the doors at the main entrance work: everyone who wants to take the crosswalk to the parking garage leaves through the right-side doors and everyone who wants to go down the stairs leaves through the left side doors. A massive traffic jam is thus created as we try to cross over to our side in the 10-15 feet between the doors and the staircase. Fun times.

… All in all, it was a fun experience, though of course we would have liked to have seen a win. It was well-worth the drive from Grand Rapids. Thanks again, Christy!

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Wings 3, Blue Jackets 4

Published

Matt Saler

on March 17, 2008

in 2007-2008, Blue Jackets and Game Reports

. 0 Comments

Well, I’m back from my break. It turns out I wasn’t as cut off from the internet as I thought I might be, so I’m not completely out of the loop. Still, I didn’t have time to blog. Thanks to Sarah for posting on the Mattias Ritola call-up.

I missed the Blackhawks and Predators games, but caught the two against the Stars and the Blue Jackets. Neither were the Wings’ best.

Against Dallas, if it weren’t for Pavel Datsyuk and a monumental Stars meltdown, their win streak would have ended at four.

Yesterday in Columbus, though they outshot the Jackets 46-17, they were outhustled from the drop of the puck to the final horn. Columbus refused to let up and played a gutsy game with a very aggressive forecheck and a whole-sale shot-blocking mindset. By the time the Wings started taking the game seriously, they were already in a hole against a team that was earning its breaks. Obviously, the Jackets didn’t play great or they wouldn’t have been outshot by such a wide margin, but their effort easily doubled that of the Wings, I thought.

I couldn’t help but wish Mike Babcock had pulled Dominik Hasek after the Jackets went up 2-0. At that point, it was becoming clear that it wasn’t Dom’s day. A change may have lit a fire under the skaters’ collective rear ends. I don’t really blame Dom for the four goals, though it would have been nice if he’d stopped that first one. By the way, it’s painful to see Dallas Drake just miss pokechecking the puck away from Rick Nash on the replay of that one. Another inch or two and we might have had a different game.

It was interesting to see Babcock mix up the top four yesterday and by interesting I mean I’m mystified as to his reasoning. Brad Stuart is just getting used to Niklas Kronwall. Why break such a new pairing up? Stuart’s certainly not hurt by playing with Nick Lidstrom, but I don’t know that Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall comprise the best second unit. After all, they are the two most offensively-minded defensemen on the team and aren’t as defensively responsible. It’s my opinion that Lidstrom and Rafalski belong together, while the Stuart/Kronwall pairing should be allowed to continue to gain familiarity. Those units have the right balance of offensive flair and defensive responsibility.

It’s great to see Johan Franzen take off at this stage in the season. Here’s hoping it carries over to the playoffs.

I thought Henrik Zetterberg had a higher profile than Pavel Datsyuk yesterday. Of the games I’ve seen recently, it’s been the other way around.

With Jarrett Boll throwing his body around with impunity yesterday, I was wishing Aaron Downey was in the lineup.

The comeback attempt was solid, but, pessimist that I am, I never really believed they’d complete it. I was thinking it could happen after the Tomas Kopecky goal, but the Nikolai Zherdev tally killed it for me. They came close toward the end, but it was one of those games where they weren’t going to get any breaks.

The team has today off and can turn their attention to exacting revenge on the Blue Jackets Wednesday night.

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Wings 4, Predators 3

Published

Matt Saler

on March 10, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Predators

. 3 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings held off a Nashville Predator comeback bid in the third period on their way to a 4-3 win at Joe Louis Arena. It was their third win in a row.

Just a few thoughts on the game:

… Despite the fact that he notched two assists, Nick Lidstrom looked a little rusty in his return. I’m thinking specifically of his uncharacteristic stumble which led to him being forced to take a penalty at 9:23 in the third. Overall, he looked himself. There were just some moments where you could tell he’d missed time.

He finished with 24:34 in TOI, second to Brian Rafalski’s 25:34. Nick is expected to play tomorrow against the Blackhawks.

… It was nice to finally see Jiri Hudler break out of that horrendous slump. Hopefully he can keep it up now.

… I was surprised to learn that it was Johan Franzen’s first multi-goal game. He’s now scored in three consecutive games and is warming up from the playoffs. He filled in for Tomas Holmstrom quite well, I thought.

Holmstrom, by the way, is having an MRI done on his groin today and will not play tomorrow.

… Jonathan Ericsson rather than Derek Meech played for Brett Lebda. I hardly noticed the big Swede all game. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that he only played 10:18.

… Niklas Kronwall has played like a new man since his return from that freak injury. It’s obvious that he can be scary good if he can only stay healthy. Assuming he can fully break his habit of missing half the season, I would not be surprised to see him win a couple Norris Trophies down the road. His play on Hudler’s goal was just great.

… Brad Stuart scored his first goal as a Red Wing on a nice wrap-around effort. I’m still trying to figure out what he was doing so low during a 4-on-4. You can see him taking the open right wing from the point down to the goalline in the replay. Solid offensive instincts, I guess.

… Now, about the nearly-blown lead. The Preds’ first goal was just a bomb by Shea Weber through a crowd. Obviously, you’d prefer to see Dominik Hasek stop that, but it’s no big deal. On the second goal, the coverage ideally would have been better on the left wing man and you’d like to see Hasek control the rebound. Still, it was a nice play by the Predators.

It’s the third goal that I have a problem with. I had just noticed Jordin Tootoo’s presence on the ice in the final stretch of the game and thought it odd. The next thing I know, he’s pounding home the puck on a flurry in front of the net. Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg are right there. How does Jordin Tootoo gain position on two of the best defensive players in hockey?

… After the Tootoo goal, I had to think, “We could actually lose this thing.” Fortunately the Wings realized that too, and did a good job of keeping the puck out of their end in the final minute. Still, the damage had been done. What could have been a decent-if-problematic win was tarnished by an all-too-successful Predators comeback bid.

… It’s obvious that even with the return of Lidstrom, the team has not ironed out all the kinks. Even before the Predators’ strong third, the Wings didn’t play their best at even strength. Their lead was the product of the Preds’ penchant for taking penalties (many of which were deserved, by the way, though not all). Had the game not been a penalty fest, the result may have been different.

The Predators were weak offensively through the second period, but it’s hard to blame them as they spent large swaths of the first period down a man and were playing from behind the whole second as the Wings pressed home the attack. Once the Wings let off the gas in the third, the Predators were pretty easily able to stage a comeback bid. The hole they had dug just turned out to be too deep to climb out of in time.

… This was one of those wins that, for me at least, feel something like a loss. A 4-0 final may have been somewhat misleading, but the first and second period seemed to mark a near return to the team’s efficient play of October through January. A 4-3 final just shows that the team still has some issues to work out.

Wings 4, Sabres 2

Published

Matt Saler

on March 3, 2008

in 2007-2008, Game Reports and Sabres

. 1 Comment

The Detroit Red Wings halted a four-game skid last night in Buffalo, winning 4-2 off goals from unlikely sources. It was just their second win in twelve games.

Dallas Drake and Kirk Maltby cracked 14- and 36-game goalless streaks, adding to a pair of tallies from more usual goal-scorers, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula.

The win extended the Wings’ Conference and League lead over the idle Dallas Stars from three to five points, but used up one of their games-in-hand. They now have played 67 games to the Stars’ 69.

The Wings showed jump from the start of the game, but they fell behind quickly as the Sabres took advantage of an unfortunate bounce in their own end and took it the other way.

Derek Meech missed the bouncing puck along the boards as he pinched on the left side. This resulted in a 3-on-1 with Andreas Lilja the only Red Wing back. Meech, to his credit, caught up with the play and took the right wing Sabre out of the play, while Lilja attempted to take away the pass.

Maxim Afinogenov’s centering pass bounced off Lilja, and the trailing man, Patrick Kaleta, picked it up in the high slot. Dominik Hasek fell and Kaleta’s shot made it 1-0 Buffalo at 2:59.

Following the goal, the Wings put out a strong offensive effort. At the other end, Hasek looked somewhat skittish, but that gradually wore off as he settled down.

At 8:00, Johan Franzen walked into the Sabres’ zone virtually untouched and promptly lost the puck in surprise. He drew a weak penalty, however, and put the Wings on the power play. At 9:16, Derek Roy was deservedly called for holding and the Wings were given a two-man advantage. They made good use of the extra ice, making Ryan Miller have to work to keep the score 1-0. In the end, the score remained the same. For all their cycling, the Wings weren’t getting effective screens on Miller, who was absorbing the puck and not allowing rebounds.

The Wings got on the board at 11:56 off a fortunate bounce of their own. Niklas Kronwall made a great play at the blueline, maneuvering around Steve Bernier and faking a shot. He then skated up the left wing and sent a pass across the crease to Dallas Drake, who was robbed by Miller on the one-timer. This time, however, Miller gave up a rebound and the puck bounced into the net off one of his own defensemen. Tied game.

The Wings took the lead at 5:11 of the second period while on the power play. It began with a nice pinch by Derek Meech that kept the puck in the zone. Johan Franzen picked it up and sent it down to Jiri Hudler at the bottom of the right circle. Hudler hesitated for a split second before sending a hard pass back out to Valtteri Filppula to Miller’s right. Fil had an easy time of it redirecting the puck into the net.

Detroit extended their lead at 14:16. Henrik Zetterberg lead a rush up the middle and gave the puck off to Mikael Samuelsson. Samuelsson dropped it off at the blueline to Niklas Kronwall, who made a beautiful shot fake in the process of sending the puck to Johan Franzen. Miller was completely fooled and Franzen had no trouble lobbing the puck into the empty net.

The Sabres got back within a goal with a bit of a strange one at 3:12 of the third period. With Kronwall in the box for interference, Kirk Maltby rocked Pominville at center. A scrum resulted in which everyone except a Sabre defenseman participated. While this was going on, Pominville got up, picked the puck out of the feet of the crowd, and skated in on Hasek alone. He scored to make it 3-2. That’s two times in two games that the Wings were caught expecting a whistle that never came.

Kirk Maltby rounded out the scoring at 15:52. He was the beneficiary of a nice feed from Pavel Datsyuk out of the corner and sent a rocket from the circle through Miller to make it 4-2 Wings. Datsyuk and Valtteri Filppula had ground the puck out along the boards in a nice effort.

The Sabres put up a good fight toward the end and got some help in that respect by a late Filppula penalty. In the end, though, the Wings were better off shorthanded, as they were able to send the puck the length of the rink without risking icing.

Not a perfect game by the Wings, but a definite start.

Niklas Kronwall was incredible. He was very much “in the zone” offensively all night and looked strong defensively as well.

Jiri Hudler had a strong game and looks close to cracking his goalless streak.

Andreas Lilja also looked good, I thought. He made a nice save on a Paul Gaustad shot in the second period when the net was wide open. I think the shot was actually going wide, but it was good to see Lilja sacrifice his body like that. He didn’t even cover up.

After some early jitters, Dominik Hasek settled down. I think the decisive moment was his slide tackle on Daniel Paille toward the end of the first period. Mikael Samuelsson’s give away in the Sabres’ zone led to a near 2-on-1, but the initial puck carrier stumbled. He managed to send it up to Paille, though, who had an effective breakaway developing before Hasek came well out of the net to take him out. No penalty was called on the play, but I think Hasek enjoyed his little excursion so much that it calmed him down for the rest of the game.

The Wings have a couple days to tinker before they face off against St. Louis on Wednesday. They’re supposed to be getting Brian Rafalski back and that should help them improve on the effort in Buffalo. We can’t know for sure, but if yesterday’s game is any indication, they appear to be headed out of the slump.

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