by true Citizens of Hockeytown
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.
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.
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!
Links
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.
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.
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.
The Detroit Red Wings lost their second in a row and eighth in nine games last night as they were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place. The loss, together with the Dallas Stars’ 6-3 win over Nashville, cut the Wings’ League and Conference lead to just six points.
The game looked promising before it even started, as a scrum around center ice instigated by Jeff Cowan and Aaron Downey seemed to indicate a spirited contest was coming. It remains to be seen whether the two teams will face disciplinary measures for the incident, however. Downey, in particular, may find himself in trouble as he jabbed Cowan with his stickblade at one point.
Both Roberto Luongo and Jimmy Howard were called upon to make big saves early on. Henrik Zetterberg was robbed by the Canucks goalie at 1:06 following a centering pass from Mikael Samuelsson. Seconds later, Luongo made another key save on rookie Ericsson. At the other end, Howard stoned Mason Raymond at 1:49. It was Howard who got the most work early in the game. He look very strong.
Despite determined efforts, the Canucks did not get on the board until 14:26 of the first. The goal came just after an offensive zone faceoff. Daniel Sedin won it back to Mattias Ohlund, who slid it across to Alexander Edler. His shot deflected off Jonathan Ericsson out front and beat Howard to put the Canucks up 1-0.
The Wings’ efforts at making a comeback were hampered by an awful turnover by Andreas Lilja in the defensive zone. Somehow Howard managed to make the save on Ryan Shannon at 15:17. Not long after that, the Canucks had a nice break into the Detroit zone, with Henrik Sedin ripping a shot that was just deflected high and wide by his #33 counterpart, Kris Draper.
Johan Franzen injected some excitement when he stole the puck in the Vancouver end and turned it into a nice scoring chance. Mike Weaver’s diving attempt to knock the puck away resulted in the big Swede going down and a Detroit power play. Franzen still managed to get a shot off, but he sent it wide.
On the subsequent power play, the Wings took a criticism of their passing crispness in Calgary to heart: they sent the puck rocketing around the zone as they cycled it. The puck ended up on Tomas Holmstrom’s stick below the goalline and he sent it out to Derek Meech at the point. Meech pump faked for a second and then released a blast that tricked through Luongo and into the net. At first it looked like Meech’s first NHL goal, but it was later determined that Pavel Datsyuk had gotten his stick on it. The goal came at 16:54.
Meech, who was already having a strong game, looked particularly good in the minutes following his apparent goal. He had a great shift with the top line in the final minute of the period and continued to look like he belonged out there.
Some end of the first festivities resulted in the teams skating four a side to start the second. Both teams got some good chances in this time, but neither converted.
During five-on-five play, a nice breakout started by Andreas Lilja and Derek Meech resulted in a power play when Tomas Kopecky was tripped up at center as he tried to get around Henrik Sedin.
Brett Lebda had a great chance at putting the Wings up 2-1 early in the power play, but he took too long to shoot and Luongo had an easy save. At 6:07, the Canucks took another penalty and gave the Wings 59 seconds of 5-on-3. They put on a good show, but they couldn’t convert. One of the more obvious reasons for this was Pavel Datsyuk’s overly hard passes that even Henrik Zetterberg couldn’t handle. Meech looked like a solid power play quarterback here. When Sedin came out of the box and the Wings had a regular power play, they could barely get set up. A definite wasted opportunity.
At 10:09, the referees made it up to the Canucks for having given the Wings a 5-on-3 by calling an atrocious roughing penalty on Kyle Quincey. They may as well have called it “2:00 for playing defense” because that’s all Quincey did. Unfortunately for the Wings, they were unable to hold the Canucks off on the power play. They scored and took the lead at 10:39 off a beautiful set up to Sami Salo. Howard had no chance of stopping it.
Not long after the goal, Derek Meech rang a shot off the post for a brief moment of excitement.
Pavel Datsyuk drew a penalty at 14:33 that had the Canucks fans crying “dive!” The Wings put their “pass first” mentality to good use on this power play, as that was about all they did: pass. Their best chance came late in the power play as Jonathan Ericsson unleashed a monster of a shot. It resulted in nothing, however.
The Wings returned to the power play at 18:01 and did somewhat better to start. Ericsson had a great chance as he jumped up in the play, but Burrows lifted his stick just in time. After that, the Canucks mostly controlled the puck. Not the best power play, overall.
The Canucks came out strong in the third period and countered any Detroit chances with offensive opportunities of their own. They extended their lead at 3:31 following a horrible Brett Lebda turnover at the Vancouver blueline. Ryan Kesler broke in to the Detroit end down the left side with Henrik Zetterberg trailing. Kesler cut across the net and put the puck under Howard to make it 3-1. It was a bad turnover and a fairly clear breakaway, but that’s one you’d like to see Howard stop.
The Wings looked out of it after that as the Canucks refused to let off the gas. Howard really had to work to keep the score as it was. When the Wings managed to get an offensive chance, Luongo hardly ever gave up a rebound. This made a comeback unlikely as the best Detroit was able to do was shoot the puck at Luongo’s chest, with no hope for a follow-up.
Tomas Kopecky took a weak penalty at 11:24, but the Wings fortunately killed it off. There was a bit of an injury scare as Andreas Lilja took a shot off the leg and limped around for a while. Fortunately, he shook it off and finished the game.
The Canucks finalized the scoring at 17:00 on a play similar to their third goal. This time it was Lilja who was beaten at the blueline and Pavel Datsyuk who was desperately trying to get back. Kesler cut across the net again, but this time he drop-shot it and beat Howard under his right leg.
The game wound down after that, with the Wings making only feeble attempts to cut the lead.
There was a bit of an injury scare at 11:45 of the first, as Derek Meech found himself on the wrong end of a Jeff Cowan hit. Meech hunched over and seemed to be favoring his ribs, though it looked like it was his shoulder that received the brunt of it on the replay. Fortunately, he returned and whatever it was did not seem to be bothering him. He played yet another strong game with 22:17 in TOI.
Jonathan Ericsson looked good again, though perhaps not so good as he had in his first game. I’ve noticed that he’s a little casual with the puck in his own end. Hopefully that’ll get corrected soon. He played 20:39.
Kyle Quincey was solid, though not spectacular, and played only 13:39. Garrett Stafford did not stick out much, but he only played 8:29, so you might say he was underutilized.
It was not Brett Lebda’s best game, but the reason for that is simple: he played a heck of a lot. 28:17, to be exact. That’s far more than another other skater.
Andreas Lilja played 20:42 and was himself.
I’d like to see Mike Babcock utilize Aaron Downey more often. 4:47 seems kind of low when the team could really use the spark he provides.
Pavel Datsyuk had an off night, despite scoring the Wings’ only goal. He was trying too hard, as his passing indicated. He was rifling the puck around and made it very difficult for this teammates to take his passes. With the offensive already out of sync, having the team’s best forward passer ripping the puck around doesn’t improve the situation.
I think my confidence in the team’s ability to overcome fatigue was a little misplaced. They were obviously tired, from the veterans down to the rookie defensemen. Hopefully they’ll be able to rest up sufficiently for their game Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Although the young defensemen are playing well, there is an obvious disconnect between them and the forwards on breakouts and in-zone setups. The team will have today off, but will practice together Monday and that will hopefully solve at least some of the problems.
Links
Update (11:25 AM): George Malik has a post-game media roundup here. - Matt
The Red Wings fought through the thicket of Minnesota bodies and sticks to come back from a one-goal deficit late in the third period last night and capped the comeback off with a win in overtime. It was their eighth consecutive victory.
The Wild carried a 2-1 lead through the 18:39 mark of the third. At 18:40, Dan Cleary tied it up after he threw the puck at the net from the left-wing boards. It somehow found its way between Niklas Backstrom and the short-side post. It was Cleary’s 20th of the season and tied a career high set last season.
Minnesota held the Wings off for the remainder of regulation, but couldn’t stop them in extra time. Brett Lebda was the beneficiary of the great work of Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg, who wrecked wrought havoc in the Wild zone while #22 jumped up. With all five Minnesota players on the ice watching him to Backstrom’s left, Zetterberg sent a pass to a wide open Lebda, who netted his third of the season to win the game.
The Wings began the scoring at 9:58 of the first period with Johan Franzen’s 10th goal of the season. Backstrom kicked the rebound off a Tomas Kopecky shot right to the big Swede and he had an easy time of it putting the puck in the net. The goal came seconds after Franzen had hit the post on a feed from Kopecky.
The lead lasted only 1:12, however, as Derek Meech took a bit of a weak hooking penalty at 10:55 and the Wild scored a power play goal fifteen seconds later. Brian Rolston walked out of the right wing corner and stuffed the puck under Dominik Hasek, who had gone down on his side in order to take away the bottom of the net.
The game remained tied until Pavol Demitra scored the go-ahead goal at 5:36. The play began when Pierre-Marc Bouchard tripped Valtteri Filppula in the Minnestoa zone near the left point. The Wild defenseman then picked up the puck and sent it out to Demitra on the opposite wing. A 2-on-1 developed, with Andreas Lilja the only Wing back. Demitra beat Hasek high gloveside with a quick shot from 37 feet out.
The Wild would eventually fall back into a defensive posture, but immediately following their goal, they looked to press home the attack. They had the Wings on their heels a bit, but their push was interrupted by a four-minute roughing penalty taken at 9:48 of the second.
It was not the Wings’ best power of the season and could have been a back-breaker for a weaker team. They got off only a couple shots over the course of four minutes and were manhandled in front of the net by an ornery Wild defense. Jiri Hudler, taking the role of Tomas Holmstrom for the second unit, was roughed up by three Minnesota players when he refused to back down after the whistle had gone.
On the next shift, Holmstrom faced a similar situation. When Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg skated in to provide support, they too were mobbed. Brent Burns gave Zetterberg a completely uncalled-for facewash, nearly knocking him down. The end result of the fray was penalties to Datsyuk and Mikko Koivu, both for roughing.
At 18:03 of the second period, Datsyuk took his second penalty of the game. This time, it was a weak holding-the-stick call. On the ensuing power play, Bouchard had a glorious chance in the slot, but he took too long to get the puck off and it was deflected high and wide.
The Wings looked strong in the third period, but the were competing with a tight-checking Minnesota squad. In an effort to get back in the game, Mike Babcock switched up the lines somewhat. Henrik Zetterberg centered Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary on at least one shift, and Johan Franzen skated between Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky. Franzen also saw time with Kris Draper and Samuelsson.
The team came close to tying it up a number of times throughout the period as they put up 16 shots to the Wild’s 3. Niklas Backstrom’s quick glove and Minnesota’s ability to get to loose pucks before the Wings made a comeback difficult. The Wild were well on their way to pulling off a win when Cleary’s bad angle shot suddenly changed the game.
Although he was kept off the scoreboard, Pavel Datsyuk had a strong night.
Dominik Hasek continues to allay fears about his ability to win games as he made a number of key saves throughout the game, keeping the Wings in it when the Wild had control of the ice. He had a couple huge stops on Marian Gaborik, including one on a breakaway in the second period. Somehow that one did not make it into the NHL’s highlight reel, but this one came just seconds later. He finished with 22 saves.
It was not a perfect game by the Wings. They were beaten to loose pucks more often than not and were too easily defeated by the Wild’s poke-check defense. The power play struggled once again and the penalty kill on the Rolston goal was less than stellar. Although the stats (such as the shot totals) would indicate they deserved to win the game, it’s probably more fair to say that they stole this one from the Wild.
Despite the fact that it was not their best game, the encouraging thing is that they are still finding ways to win.
Next up, the Wings face the Kings at home Thursday. LA activated Mike Cammalleri from the IR yesterday, so they should be more dangerous than they were on January 22nd. During the broadcast last night, they said that Thursday is 80’s Night at the Joe. If you’re going, you know what to do.
Links
Detroit came back from a one-goal deficit in the second period to beat the Bruins 3-1 last night in Boston. The win was their 40th of the season and extended their unbeaten streak to seven games.
If the first period was any indication, the Red Wings were headed for a long night. They came out flat and looked very much like a team that had played a hard-fought game 24 hours before. They were fortunate to have Chris Osgood in net making saves that kept them in it while the Bruins carried the attack. Although the teams finished 10-9 Boston in shots, the Wings seemed to be noticeably outplayed.
They began the second period looking better, but it wasn’t until after they killed off a lengthy 5-on-3 that they really seemed to wake up. With two of the team’s top penalty killers, Nick Lidstrom and Andreas Lilja, in the box, the Wings managed to stave off a determined Bruins team and the resulting boost gave them the jump they needed to tie things up.
Despite the fact that they elevated their play following the big kill, it took the Wings until 15:04 of the second to get on the board. That was largely due to the strong play of Tim Thomas, who was only cracked by a lightning-fast play off a draw from Pavel Datsyuk to Henrik Zetterberg.
Pavel Datsyuk made it 2-1 Detroit after knocking in the rebound of a Zetterberg shot at 1:53 of the third period. The goal snapped a nine-game goalless streak for the Red Wing forward.
Brian Rafalski added to the Wings lead with a blast at 14:02, just eight seconds after the start of a power play. Tomas Holmstrom provided the screen out front.
Chris Osgood finished with 22 saves and improved to 22-3-2 on the season.
Andreas Lilja played a strong game despite an ill-advised holding penalty early in the second.
Tomas Holmstrom looked especially physical and ornery as he dealt out some big hits throughout the game.
An encouraging win for the Wings, who, despite playing the night before, seemed to get stronger as the game went on rather than the reverse. They rebounded from a slow start and found a way to win, which is a good sign as they head down the stretch to the playoffs.
They will face the Wild in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Links
Update (5:55 PM): Two more responses to the game:
First, Anaheim Duck Fan. Quote: “The Ducks played an amazing first period.” What? I will say that during the game, particularly during the first period, I wondered how fans enjoy watching the Ducks. A completely different philosophy on the game of hockey, that’s how.
It’s moments like these that I find myself in sympathy with the melodramatic view that teams like the Wings and Senators are bastions of the skill/puck-possession game opposed to strongholds of thug hockey of the Anaheim or Philadelphia vein. Only a Cup win by one of puck-possession will stop that particular tide.
Second, Finny at Girl with a Puck. I’d just like to point out that it doesn’t matter where Hasek was, Todd Bertuzzi had no business hitting him. He didn’t trip. He deliberately ran him over. - Matt
Update (2:55 PM): Steph has posted her response to the game over at No Pun Intended. - Matt
Update (2:15 PM): Couple things. First, Ian left a great comment on the game below. Be sure to read that if you have a minute.
Second, Greg Wyshynski has a colorful reaction (NSFW - language) to the Wings’ win last night over at sports über-blog Deadspin in the NHL Closer. Not sure I find the comparisons with the Patriots at all flattering (the Wings don’t cheat, for example), but there’s no denying the dominance of the Winged Wheel this season. - Matt
The Wings wrapped up their three-game road trip with a playoff-style win in Anaheim last night, improving to 36-10-4 on the season and taking a 2-1 lead in the four-game series with the Ducks.
Some thoughts on the game:
… The first period was as infuriating as any 20 minute block of time I’ve watched this season. The Ducks are simply a vicious team and for the entire first period, I oscillated between mildly pissed off and incensed as I watched them ride roughshod over the Wings.
… The prime example was Todd Bertuzzi’s completely uncalled-for wrecking ball impression done on Dominik Hasek at 5:14. What was that?
I’m grateful for the referees for giving the guy an extra penalty on the play, but you have to wonder why he wasn’t given more. If it wasn’t a blatant attempt to injure, it was certainly extremely dangerous and could have easily resulted in an injury regardless. Johan Franzen’s reaction was perfectly justified.
I’m glad I can hate Todd Bertuzzi again.
… The Dan Cleary/Chris Pronger fight. Why? Was Pronger upset by Cleary’s reaction to his big hit? And what was Pronger’s cat fight-like clawing of Cleary’s face right off the bat?
I give Dan a lot of credit for standing his ground there and for dodging two or three haymakers before Pronger fell and for then getting in a few good punches himself. The end result of the fight, however, wasn’t so pretty, as Pronger bloodied Cleary’s nose and managed to cause his eye to swell shut, resulting in the latter ducking and covering on the ice.
Cleary left the ice after that and did not return for the rest of the game. The Wings missed him for the rest of the game, though they found a way to do without him.
Really, the fight should have been broken up when Pronger fell and I blame the officials for their negligence in that regard. Had they stepped in when they should have, Cleary’s eye injury would have been avoided.
… It was always my understanding that if a player dropped his gloves in an altercation, that player was given a fighting major. I can’t find anything about it in the rulebook, however, so apparently that’s wrong. So, I guess Doug Weight’s roughing penalty at 9:40 was legitimate, though he dropped his gloves on Lebda and tried to instigate a fight.
… The first period was a penalty fest, with the two teams taking a combined 34 minutes in penalties. Unfortunately for the Wings, they only capitalized on the power play once, while on a 5-on-3 at 11:52.
… The second period was much less frustrating, as the penalties became less frequent and the Ducks realized they actually had a game of hockey to play instead of rugby or UFC or whatever. That’s not to say they stopped throwing themselves around, though.
The Wings seemed to take over the game at least as far as puck possession was concerned, though they continued to take a beating from a physical Anaheim team. I thought they handled this physicality well, given the fact that they are not used to that kind of treatment. As much as I hate to watch the Ducks, I can be grateful that they reminded the Wings what playoff hockey is like last night.
… The third period was more of the same, though the Aaron Downey/Sean O’Donnell fight late in the second seemed to cause the Ducks to kick up their play a gear or two. They made things interesting by scoring at 8:05 off a Pronger blast and kept the result of the game in doubt down to the final face-off with three seconds left. The Wings started looking more tired and may have run out of gas had the game gone into extra time, but they hung on.
… Dom had a strong game. He had little chance on the Pronger goal and was otherwise extremely sharp. You watch a goalie like JS Giguere freeze the puck nearly every time it comes close to him and you really start to appreciate Dom’s habit of keeping the play going.
When he’s not out of it as he seemed to be in San Jose on Saturday, he’s extremely involved in the play. Though that sometimes leads to heart stoppages for us fans (and probably his teammates), it doesn’t seem to bite him all that often. I suppose having an active goalie like that is better than having one that huddles in the net.
… A couple days after I write that Tomas Kopecky is the most expendable forward on the team, he what I thought was a whale of a game. His play to Valtteri Filppula on the Wings’ second goal was great and he was involved in a number of altercations with the Ducks. I loved seeing that.
The fourth line, with Kopecky, Matt Ellis, and Aaron Downey really stood out at times and much of that was due to Kopey actually using his size.
… Filppula had a heck of a game as well, I thought. I don’t know what it is about the Ducks, but they seem to bring out the best in him. He played very well in the playoff series last spring and in particular made Scott Niedermayer look like a rookie more than a few times. He was back at it again last night, scoring a goal while the Ducks’ Captain Greybeard looked on helplessly. He was constantly involved in the play and, quite frankly, stood out more than Pavel Datsyuk.
… Brian Rafalski, on the other hand, had a less than stellar game, in my opinion. Right off the bat, on his first shift, he turned the puck over, and that seemed to be the trend for him all night. Somehow he finished with only one giveaway on the official “Event Summary” but I can tell you that’s way off.
He was no doubt doing all kinds of positive things I just didn’t notice, but the giveways and occasional bonehead play really stood out. I appreciate Rafalski’s passing ability and know his defensive play has improved, but he’s fortunate the gift-wrapped pucks he passes out to the opposition seemingly every game don’t come back to bite him more often.
… Funny moment in the third period (I believe it was): Jiri Hudler went into the corner with speed, looking like he was going to lay a big hit on Chris Pronger. At the last second, Jiri apparently had second thoughts and chose to ease up, resulting in only a minor bump. Surprisingly enough, Pronger didn’t take Hudler to task for daring to touch him. Gotta love Huds, though. At times, he plays like he’s the same size as Zdeno Chara.
… Mathieu Schneider was largely unnoticeable, but more because the Ducks under-utilize him than anything else. He remains a threat on the power play and was most noticeable at those times, but thankfully did not do much more than release a few bombs against his former team. He finished with 17:49 in ice time.
… Watch this clip of the Rafalski goal and keep an eye on Scott Niedermayer at the end, after the puck goes in. Is it is just me or does he give Holmstrom a completely unnecessary shove? When did Scott Niedermayer become that kind of player? Oh, yeah, when he became Burke-ified in Anaheim. Pretty sad.
… Overall, a positive game for the Wings. They earned a tough road win in the second night of a back-to-back and did it in a playoff atmosphere. However, the game raises concerns over whether they could do it again over the course of a series.
Personally, I’m confident they’ll step up like they did last playoffs, but they’ll definitely need to be healthy. As I stated above, Dan Cleary’s absence was very noticeable in this game because he is one Red Wing who can take a beating just as well as he can dish them out. Fortunately, he’s okay and it doesn’t look like he’ll miss any time.
There is some bad news on the Henrik Zetterberg front, though: apparently, he’s felt little improvement in the back pain that kept him out of the last two games and that will keep him out of the All Star Game. He still has plenty of time to rest, though, so it’s not unlikely he’ll be fine by the next game.
As for the rest of the team (minus the three All Stars and coach), they get a good break here before they face Phoenix on Wednesday. They still need to work on their power play, which remains relatively ineffective, but they’ll stand a good chance on breaking out of that against the 22nd-ranked Coyote penalty kill.
Links
