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Game 2: Wings 3, Sharks 2

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on April 29, 2007
in 2006-2007, Chris Chelios, Dominik Hasek, Game Reports, Jiri Hudler, Joe Thornton, Playoffs and Sharks
. 5 Comments

There was a lot of talk before this game about the importance of getting a good start to the game, coming out with energy right away. We were expecting the Wings to do just that. Instead they came out completely flat. I don’t think you could come out any flatter if you tried. The Wings gave up a goal only 36 seconds into the game. I’m not entirely sure what happened here, as I hadn’t even settled down in my seat before the horn was blaring. It looked like a deflection, so I don’t blame Dom. The Sharks clearly had more jump. The Wings then followed up with a seemingly endless stretch of stale, listless play.

At least Hasek looked sharp…well until about 4:17, when he apparently decided that San Jose needed another goal. He went behind the net for the puck and passed it directly to the stick of a waiting Shark, Milan Michalek. He passed to his buddy Big Joe, who, using his magnificent skill, lobbed it into the open net. Aside from that single lapse in judgment however, Hasek was playing great and kept the Wings from sinking any farther behind.

Bit by bit, the Wings regained their composure, starting with the PK. At 5:29, Draper took an inexcusable offensive zone holding penalty, and the Sharks were on their first power play, which is always scary. The first unit out was Zetterberg, Franzen, Lidstrom and Chelios. All four worked really hard to contain the powerplay. Chelios, in particular, was impressive. They successfully killed it off and, in doing so, gained a little bit of confidence. However, they still failed to generate any offensive pressure. About 11 minutes into the first, the announcers shared a depressing stat - the Wings had no shots. Zero. Zip. Nada. Not one single save for Nabokov to make. The Wings were losing and their prospects of a comeback were looking extremely dim. At that point, we realized that if the Wings could not get it together, and fast, they were gonna get swept.

Slowly, they started putting their game back together. Patrick Marleau took a hooking penalty at 11:35, but the Wings could not capitalize on the powerplay. Thornton took a slashing penalty at 13:59, and the Wings powerplay was once again fruitless. They had some chances, but no goal. Around 17:30, Zetterberg passed the puck to Datsyuk, who was just inside the blueline. He turned around and passed it back to Zetter, who was racing down the boards. Hank threw a bad-angle shot on net, and it somehow ended up in the net. Nabokov was in a horrible position to make the save. It almost looked like he expected Hank to take it behind the net. It was a weak goal for him to give up.

San Jose has only one player under 6 feet (backup goaltender Vesa Toskala), but Jiri Hudler’s not scared of a single one of them. He had a really impressive effort in this game. Hopefully Mike Babcock noticed too… He was dealing hits, fighting for the puck, and backchecking. It was a very good game for Jiri. At 17:46, our littlest forward took a boarding penalty. Who knew Jiri even had the strength to knock somebody over? After this impressive and unexpected hit, we noticed little Jiri’s ice time go up (once again diminishing in the third). Watch out Sharks, you may have big scary guys, but we have Jiri Hudler!!!

The Wings came out with a lot more energy in the second period. They had another good penalty kill at 3:08 after Bertuzzi was slapped with an interference penalty. We saw a lot of good things out of the Wings in this period. The defense was joining the rush, with both Chelios and Lidstrom joining the action on separate occasions. Hasek made a number of key saves including one huge one on a 3 on 2. Hudler continued to make the most of his limited ice time, bringing energy to every shift.

The Wings kept up their play in the third and were rewarded with a goal at 1:23. Dan Cleary pounced on a turnover by Christian Erhoff (a turnover which was caused by the aggressive play of Kirk Maltby) to even up the score at 2-2. The Joe Louis Arena crowd came alive, with octupi flying onto the ice. At this point it felt like the Wings had taken control of the game. The momentum was in their favor. They were playing exactly the way they needed to be. They played a very agressive PK when Bertuzzi took a hooking penalty at 12:50. Basically the entire third period from the point at which the Wings tied it was an intense waiting game. For awhile it looked like we might be suffering through an overtime or two. It was a huge relief when Pavel Datsyuk scored the game winning goal with 1:24 left in the period. Zetterberg made another great play on this goal. He took the puck around the back of the net, and then passed it up to Samuelsson. Sammy took a good, hard shot, but Nabokov was there. Datsyuk picked up the rebound (something they had trouble doing all game) and took it to the other side of the net, where he roofed it.

The first 15 minutes aside, the Wings played much better than game 1. Once they settled down, played a sound defensive game and put on a lot of offensive pressure. It would really help offensively if they could work on getting the rebounds. Nabokov isn’t often beaten on the first shot, but he doesn’t suck up the puck like a lot of other goaltenders do. If the Wings can drive the net and start taking advantage of those rebounds, they should be able to score with ease. Hasek continues to be solid, he just needs to be careful not to have any more momentarily lapses like he did on the Sharks’ second goal. Chelios plays like he’s 30 and Hudler plays like he’s 7 feet tall -now if we could only get the whole team on board. Lang’s effortless and careless play continues, which resulted in only two shifts during the third for the Czech. So much for Babs’ denial of his being demoted. Also, what happend to first-round Lilja? I was starting to like that guy.

For game three, the Wings need to come out with some energy. I know, it’s starting to sound an awful lot like a broken record, but it’s two games in a row that they’ve given up two goals in the first five minutes of play. With a team like San Jose, that just isn’t going to work. We came back once, we didn’t the other. It’s not a risk I’m willing to take every game. Also, keep Lang on the fourth line, but move Jiri up. He brings energy that the team desperately needs, and he’s proven that his size is not a liability. The Wings have the ability and the talent to beat this team…they just have to use it.

Game 2: vs. San Jose, 3:00 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 28, 2007
in 2006-2007, GameDay, Playoffs and Sharks
. 2 Comments

I’m on dialup and don’t have much time, so this will be brief:

This afternoon is the Game 2 of the Wings’ Western Conference Semifinal series with San Jose. They are down in the series 1-0 after losing the opener on Thursday night. Game 3 is Monday.

The Sharks began the series on the right foot, but could use another win today to really put the Wings on the spot. To do that, I think they’ll need to be,

  • Excellent on the power play. If Game 1 was any indication, there won’t be a lot of penalties, but when there are, the Sharks need to produce.
  • More physical. They have those big bodies and would be even more effective if they used them.
  • Strong on the forecheck. If they can produce a similar hastiness in the Wings’ outlet passing, they’ll probably see a good number of turnovers.

The Wings need this game or else they’ll be in danger of collapse once they fly out to San Jose. They’ll still have to win on the road, but at least they’d be doing it from equal footing. They’ll have to

  • Come out stronger. They looked flat and rusty in the first minutes of the game Thursday and cannot repeat that or they may find themselves down a goal or two again. And any opening jump needs to last throughout at least most of the game.
  • Be more physical. Sure, they out-hit San Jose Thursday night, but overall, they weren’t the same team in that regard that they were against the Flames.
  • Stay out of the box. If they can’t kill penalties, they can’t take them.

If the Wings can’t do those things and others, they’ll need to have Dominik Hasek steal a game. This may be Dom’s series to shine.

I expect both teams to play better than they played in Game 1, so it should be more exciting than that relative snore-fest.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch any of the game because of other commitments. Megan and Sarah will be doing the game recap.

Game 1: Wings 0, Sharks 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 27, 2007
in 2006-2007, Game Reports, Playoffs and Sharks
. 0 Comments

I don’t have a lot to add to my initial reaction to the games, so this’ll be relatively short.

… The opening minutes weren’t all that bad for the Wings. They had a couple pretty solid chances, but couldn’t finish if they connected on the passes. The Sharks had a strong chance or two as well, but either the Detroit defense or Domink Hasek turned them aside. The Sharks overall had more sustained pressure, while the Wings’ offense came from isolated forays into the zone. Their stick defense was good, though, so the puck was bouncing all around the zone as they kept knocking it away from San Jose players. During a more sustained and dangerous Sharks’ cycle shift, Henrik Zetterberg lost his stick and Nick Lidstrom took a “hooking” penalty, though it looked a lot more like tripping to me.

… The penalty kill started off well, as the Wings had the Sharks skating the lenth of the ice a couple times. Then, San Jose set up. They caught the Wings all on the right side of the zone, looking at Thornton in the corner. Only Henrik Zetterberg got his sights on Carle creeping up and was trying to get there just as the pass came out front and it was one-timed into the net. Carle was Lilja’s responsibility, but he had his back turned.

… Wilson sent out the checking line right after that and a strong forecheck by Mike Grier caused Mathieu Schneider to throw the puck out front, where it was intercepted by Curtis Brown. It pinballed out front to Grier, who was tied up with Schneider, but not enough to prevent a hard, turning shot that beat Hasek. 2-0, with goals scored 24 seconds apart.

… Babcock called a timeout and got the team settled down. The Sharks controled things a little more and then settled back into a efficient defensive mode. The Wings had a few scoring chances and were starting to warm up pretty well by the end of the period.

… The second and third periods consisted of the Wings putting forth a somewhat leisurely attempt at a comeback. It was as though they had forgotten the situation they were in, as I didn’t see a sense of urgency from them down to the final minutes. Individual players played well and put forth good efforts, but there weren’t many dominating shifts by the lines and, in general, even their best scoring chances were pretty low grade. They rarely were able to follow up on a shot and basically did little but give Nabokov confidence with their low-percentage shots.

… It sounds like I’m disparaging the team, but I’m not, really. They were flat, but only relative to their first round performances, which have become the standard by which this postseason iteration of the Wing will be judged. I think they could have won last night had they not made the two mistakes that led to San Jose goals. That said, they were fortunate the Sharks did not take further advantage from the number of turnovers the Wings had (27 to San Jose’s 5). They have got to be better with the puck. Even accounting for the fact that giveaways are a subjective, that kind of discrepancy is unacceptable.

… Still, the Sharks simply did not play all that impressively. They have size, but they don’t use it for much beyond walling off opponents (they don’t hit). The Wings were less physical than they were in the first round, but they still were more physical than San Jose. The Sharks are nowhere near the chippy team Calgary was, which was nice because it didn’t become a whistle-fest or a blown-call bonanza.

… It was definitely interesting to see their meek response to the Wings’ crowding of the net. I remember one instance where Todd Bertuzzi was in Nabokov’s face after a whistle and the two large San Jose defensemen went up to him and just kind of lightly bumped him, perhaps saying, “Sir, we humbly request that you remove yourself from the periphery of the crease for your presence here causes our goaltender undue stress and consternation.” Okay, maybe it was a little more obscene than that, but the point is they didn’t try to take Todd’s head off. This lack of physical anger extended to other post-whistle interactions: the most heated things got was a post-whistle scrum that lasted about 3 seconds.

… As far as individual performances went, I thought Todd Bertuzzi had a good game. He shrugged off even the larger San Jose players like they were nothing and demonstrated the hands that make him so valuable. Still, it’d be great if he could just get the puck in the net. Also, Todd, seriously, you really, really need to be more selfish. Enough with this I-must-pass-at-all-costs mindset. Shoot the puck! We know you want to contribute to your teammates’ success, but you can do that by scoring goals too.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk were solid. Their speed and puckhandling abilities exposed the inexperience of the Sharks’ defense at times, and we can only hope they find a way to finish their plays in Game 2.

No one else really stood out as playing particularly well, except maybe Jiri Hudler. He was underutilized, as usual, however, so he did not have much of an impact.

… Overall, like I wrote last night, I’m not worried. Yet. This series is far from over and I think we’ll see a better game from both teams on Saturday. What that means for the Wings’ chances, we’ll have to wait and see.

An unfortunate start

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 26, 2007
in 2006-2007, GameDay, Playoffs and Sharks
. 3 Comments

Well. I don’t really know what to say about that game except that it was decided in a span of just under two minutes in the first period: the time between Nick Lidstrom’s ill-advised and strange hooking penalty at 8:17 and the Sharks’ second goal at 10:09. That penalty should have set off alarm bells in our minds, in spite of the fact that the Wings started off the kill well. One set up by the Sharks, though, and it was a slam dunk as Andreas Lilja forgot to be aware of his surroundings. A bad pass seconds later by a hurried Mathieu Schneider resulted in another goal.

Other than that, both teams were pretty much dead even the whole game and not in a good way. After an exciting first round series, this one has opened with a bit of a snorer. Neither team was all that impressive and had the Wings not collapsed for about two minutes, it could have gone on forever. Nabokov will get a lot of credit, but I think it’s mostly undeserved because the Wings didn’t mount a very concerted offensive attack. Hasek will get criticism, but, again, I don’t think it’ll be deserved because the Sharks were given exactly two gift-wrapped-goal scoring chances.

It was a bit of tentative game for both teams, I thought, so I hope things open up a bit more in Game 2. The Wings have to start stronger than they did, or else the Sharks will pounce on their mistakes and make them pay, that much is obvious. Oddly enough, I’m not at all concerned, despite the fact that they were shut out. I really think this game could have gone either way, if not for that brief period of sloppy play in the first.

Anyway, I’ll have a more complete game reaction posted tomorrow.

Game 1: vs. San Jose, 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 26, 2007
in 2006-2007, GameDay, Playoffs and Sharks
. 8 Comments

Update (5:31 PM): IwoCPO has posted his version of a series preview, from 30,000 feet. If you read nothing else tonight, read that. Nobody does it like Iwo. - Matt

Update (5:30 PM): More from The Hat: it looks like tonight’s game will not be a sellout. You’d think that the Wings would have brought some people back into the fold with their first round performance. Guess not. - Matt

Update (3:41 PM): Helene St. James has some bad news: Tomas Holmstrom has apparently told a Swedish newspaper that he will not return until Game 4 at the earliest.

It looks like Craig Conroy’s inability to properly control his stick could have long-lasting effects on Homer, if he’s not careful. The Swedish report indicated he was told that if his eye starts bleeding again, it could permanently damage his eyesight. Needless to say, Holmstrom is taking it very easy until this is fully healed and the team is not going to be rushing him back. This is a little more serious than the light-hearted “it depends on his healing process” banter being reported in the Detroit papers indicated it was.

St. James says he’s scheduled to see a specialist tomorrow and Monday, so we’ll know more then. A Game 4 return sounds like a rough, and probably optimisic, estimate, especially considering he’ll have to be involved in a couple practices before he’d be ready to play after days of inactivity.

Let’s hope nothing further happens with his eye and that it heals like it should. Apart from the fact that his career would likely be over if his eyesight is badly affected, it would be a bad situation all around for Homer to have to deal with long-term.

The Wings are going to need to find a way to score on the power play without Homer, because it looks like they may not have him much at all during this series. - Matt

Update (3:29 PM): The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek has a good injury update/series preview posted. We already know about the Wings’ injuries, but The Hat points out that San Jose will be without Mark Bell, which is something I’d somehow missed.

The 6′4″, 220lb Bell, who has a groin injury, posted 21 points over the course of the regular season, and was held pointless in the two games he played against the Predators before going down with the injury. He was minus-1 in the first round.

A comment on Duhatschek: he’s one of the best in the business, that’s for sure. His analysis is always worth reading and his writing is high quality. What other hockey writer can work the phrase “vis a vis” into a hockey article without sounding like a condescending esthete? - Matt

Update (2:30 PM): Sharks Page’s PJ Swenson has posted his series preview. - Matt

Update (2:00 PM): Ansar Khan has chimed in. He doesn’t have anything to add to the discussion except this: “Holmstrom’s status for Game 2 Saturday is up in the air. But, it sounds like Brett Lebda (sprained ankle) might be out longer.” That’s not good news for the Wings, who could really use Lebda’s speed as soon as possible. - Matt

Update (12:41 PM): Looks like Paul Devorski and and Dennis LaRue will be the referees tonight, while Greg Devorski and Brad Lazarowich will man the lines (via NHL Media). - Matt

Update (12:31 PM): From Helene St. James, we have the first official (or, at least the first sourced) input to the discussion on the other winger for the top line tonight: “… Babcock said that it would most likely either be Kyle Calder or Mikael Samuelsson who would play in Holmstrom’s spot on a line with Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.”

St. James goes on to opine, like I’ve been saying since Bruce MacLeod gave us the practice lines yesterday, that Kyle Calder seems to be the most likely of the two. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if there is some interchange between the first and the fourth lines, as I think there’s a good chance Valtteri Filppula could see some time with Hank and Pave. - Matt

Update (11:52 AM): Bruce MacLeod confirms that Henrik Zetterberg is slated to play tonight, citing Mike Babcock as the source. Apparently, Hank rode a stationary bike today rather than practice.

MacLeod says Zetterberg will be the center of the top line today, with Pavel Datsyuk on one wing and an as-yet-unnamed player (likely Calder) on the other. That’s a departure from the team’s usual practice, which has been to have Pavel in the middle the majority of the time. - Matt

Update (11:43 AM): John Niyo reports on the Detroit News Wings blog that Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Calder “laughed off” yesterday’s report out of Toronto that said they are playing hurt, while Ken Holland also told Niyo that the story was not true. So, while most people seem convinced that there is some injury there, the point is they’re both playing, otherwise the Wings would be at least a little more forthright.

Niyo also reports that the story from the Wings on Hank is that he had the flu over the past couple days. Um, I’m not sure I believe that one, but they are saying he’s ready to play tonight, so that’s something to ease our fears. - Matt

Update (11:30 AM): Dave at Gorilla Crouch has a great post up in which he takes a “quick tour” through a number of articles relating to Game 1. Be sure to check it out. - Matt

Update (11:20 AM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Henrik Zetterberg did not participate in the morning skate. Yesterday I wrote that I wouldn’t be worried unless he didn’t skate today, so now that he hasn’t, I’m a bit worried. MacLeod doesn’t know what Hank’s status for tonight is, but promises to update when he does. It could just be more rest, like he says, but it also could be a more serious issue. This could be bad news for the Wings, or it might just be normal operating procedure for Hank now. We’ll find out soon enough. - Matt

Tonight is Game 1 of the Wings’ Western Conference Semifinal series with the San Jose Sharks. It is the Wings’ first second round game since May 3rd, 2004, the date of a 1-0 loss to Calgary in Game 6. If you’re a Wings fan like me, you’re hoping their first round series win over the last team they faced in the second round is a good omen for this series, a first step in the exorcism their postseason demons.

As is well known by now, the Sharks won the season series with the Wings, 3-1. Their wins came on October 19th (5-1), December 2nd (3-2) January 4th (9-4), while the Wings won the October 25th game (2-1). As you can see, we only have reactions to two of those games, so I can only provide a partial picture of the Sharks based on the Wings’ regular season meetings with them.

The December 2nd recap is more of a rant against the calling back of a Wings goal than anything else, but I do notice a few interesting things that have some bearing on the discussion surrounding this series: 1) the Wings did not play well, 2) Joey MacDonald was in net, 3) he nearly won the game for the Wings. Of course, two of those three are just my opinion, so you can discount them if you like, but you can’t deny that the Wings’ #3 goalie was in net for a game the Sharks only won 3-2. Also of note is the fact that the Wings had played in Minnesota the night before and had returned to Detroit early in the morning on the 2nd.

The January 2nd recap looks at the infamous 9-4 drubbing of the Wings by the Sharks. It was a game Wings fans look back on now as some kind of bad dream, where they saw the Wings blow a three-goal lead on the way to allowing nine straight from San Jose. The Sharks were a whopping 6-for-9 on the power play in that game and chased Dominik Hasek on the ninth goal after Dom decided enough was enough (he wouldn’t let Babcock pull him earlier than that).

A few points about the game I think are relevant: 1) it was a meltdown of epic proportions, but the Wings started off well and jumped to a big lead, 2) Chris Chelios was not playing, or even with the team, as he was dealing with the fallout from the murder at his restaurant, 3) Pavel Datsyuk also did not play, as he was out with a groin injury. To the first point, you may say, “So what? They fell apart!” That’s right and it is disturbing, even now, but keep in mind that the Wings outplayed the Sharks until the meltdown. As for the second point, the Chelios haters out there may discount his importance to the team, but Wings fans don’t. That was a hit to the blueline, for sure. And the third point speaks for itself.

Okay, so maybe the Wings’ 1-3 record against the Wings during the regular season isn’t as bad as it has become in the minds of us Wings fans, but the fact is these teams haven’t played each other for over four months. They are very different teams now and may stack up a completely different way after so long.

So, I propose a more recent, but indirect and rough, comparison: their performances against the Nashville Predators. Since January, the Wings played the Preds six times, while the Sharks faced them seven times (twice in the regular season and five times in the first round). San Jose went 0-1-1 in the two regular season games, but handled them easily in the postseason, posting a 4-1 record. The Wings were 5-1 in their six games against Nashville, with wins January 17th (5-3), March 6th (4-3 SO), March 13th (5-2), March 14th (4-2), and March 29th (2-1). The loss came on February 24th (4-3 OT). Granted, the Predators were dealing with injuries in March, but so were the Wings, so the wins are still useful for comparison’s sake. I know, of course, that the regular season is very different from the playoffs (Sharks fans would do well to remember that, as well), but this at least demonstrates that they are in some way capable of handling the Preds easily, much like San Jose did.

Now for some statistics from the Sharks/Preds series. Because I did not watch the series, I cannot speak for the story behind the Sharks stats, so I present them merely as they are, with the qualification that they may be misleading and that the comparisons may be unfair:

  • Three of the Sharks’ wins over Nashville were one goal contests (both of the Wings’ losses were by one goal and only the Game 6 win was)
  • San Jose was 2-for-30 on the power play. That’s 6.7% (The Wings were 5-for-38: 13.2%)
  • The Sharks were 86.4% on the penalty-kill, allowing five three goals on 22 times shorthanded (The Wings were 82.4%, with six on 34).
  • Joe Thornton did not score a goal in the first round, but he did have six assists to lead the team (Lidstrom also had six assists, but added two goals)
  • The Sharks allowed 134 shots and took 163 in the first round. (Wings: 255 to 129)
  • When the Sharks were outshot, they won twice. (Compare to the Wings: they outshot the Flames in every game, but lost twice)
  • Evgeni Nabokov had a 2.39 GAA and a .902 save-percentage (Dominik Hasek had 1.57 GAA and a .922 save-percentage)

Another qualification: the Sharks were playing a higher-seeded team, while the Wings were facing #8. Still, most people figured the Flames were the better team, so the seeding difference may not mean much.

Anyway, the little I know about the Sharks makes it an easy call: they’ll be a tougher team to play than the Flames were. The presence of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Jonathan Cheechoo alone makes them more formidable. Their top five forwards, Thornton (114 pts), Marleau (78), Cheechoo (69), Milan Michalek (66), and Bill Guerin (56)*, in fact, outscored the Wings’ top five scorers, forward or defenseman. This is a deep group, folks, and it goes beyond the top two lines. They had 12 players with double-digits in goals, 10 of whom are forwards, while the Wings had 13, 11 of whom were forwards. So, like the Wings, they can roll four lines and get scoring from each of them.

The team as a whole only scored 256 goals, which was just one more than the Flames’ totals and four more than the Wings, so any claim that their offense is astronomically better than either Detroit’s or Calgary’s is not borne out. The Wings did average more shots per game than the Sharks, though, with 33.8 to their 28.6.

The Sharks’ top three are on par with any top three in the league, but overall, I think the Wings have the advantage here, if only slightly, because I know the quality of their depth better than I know that of the Sharks. You know the Wings are deep when there is such a debate over which of their forwards has to sit when all are healthy. As it stands, the forward corps is down a man, Tomas Holmstrom, so Jiri Hudler will be filling in.

San Jose is also deep defensively, though they lack the name recognition the Wings’ defensemen have. Their big four, Scott Hannan, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Craig Rivet, and Kyle McLaren average over 21 minutes a game, while the Wings have only three defensemen who got comparable ice-time over the course of the regular season, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, and Niklas Kronwall (who is out with a broken pelvis now). Those guys are also big in another sense: they’re all near or above 200 pounds and over six feet all.

The Sharks’ defensemen do not figure as much into the team’s offense as the Wings’ top blueliners do, as their top two scoring defensemen, Matthew Carle and Christian Ehrhoff, had 42 and 33 points respectively. Compare that to Nick Lidstrom and Mathieu Schneider’s 62 and 52. Carle and Ehrhoff do threaten on the power play, however, with the former getting 8 goals on the power play and the latter notching 6. for the Wings, Nick Lidstrom had 10 and Mathieu Schneider had 2 PPGs.

As far as team defense goes, the Sharks allowed 197 goals over the course of the season, which was sixth, while the Wings’ 191 was second. Also, they allowed an average of 26.2 shots per game while the Wings allowed 24.6.

I have no doubt that the Sharks’ defensemen are good. Their size is definitely intimidating and they obviously are good in their own end. However, their youth is not intimidating and neither is their lesser offensive prowess. I stand by the assertion that I’ve often made: the Wings have one of the best defensive corps in the NHL, if not the best, and the loss of Niklas Kronwall to injury did not change my opinion. After its performance in the first round, I have complete faith in it as a whole, including its old weak spot, Andreas Lilja. Nicklas Lidstrom alone tilts the table in the Wings’ favor and after him there’s Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios, both of whom are as good as veterans get. My confidence extends to Kyle Quincey, who acquitted himself very well in Game 6 against Calgary and who will be filling in for Brett Lebda for at least a game.

In the goaltending department, I’ve seen it said that it’s a wash. I can’t say I agree, though their statistics are pretty close. Evgeni Nabokov had a 2.29 GAA over 50 games (25 wins), while Dominik Hasek’s GAA was 2.05 over 56 (38 wins). Nabokov has a slightly better save percentage, .914, than Hasek’s .913%, but he also faced fewer shots (1227 to 1309). Both men are very good goalies, but Dominik Hasek is Dominik Hasek and he’s not lost a series while in the Winged Wheel. I know who I’d like in there when the pressure’s on. The Sharks also have a very capable “backup” in Vesa Toskala, whose numbers, 2.35 GAA and .908 save-percentage, are comparable to Chris Osgood’s 2.38 GAA and .907 save-percentage.

Unlike the last series, I don’t think there is a clear advantage in coaching. Ron Wilson is a capable guy, having guided a team to the Stanley Cup Finals before, but so is Mike Babcock and he’s done the same. In fact, if your criteria is Finals appearances, Babcock made the better showing, as his Ducks made it to seven games, while Wilson’s Capitals were unceremoniously swept by our Wings. Still, that was nearly a decade ago (hard to believe) and Wilson has a better team now, I think, than he had then. Babcock’s coaching ability will certainly be tested as he works on getting the right matchups out there in the face of San Jose’s depth. The same goes for Wilson. Babcock, at least, has been a bit more discrete than Wilson in his discussions about the coming series, so there’s maybe an advantage there with Babs as far as attitude goes.

If you’ve been reading George Malik’s blog, Snapshots, at all over the past couple days, you know that the Sharks have been talking big in much the same way the Flames did. We all know the Wings made the Flames eat their words and we can only hope that they do the same to San Jose. I admit, I had my doubts during the first round that they could keep up the kind of game they played in Games 1 and 2, but they showed that they have the drive to do what it takes to win, and because of that, I believe they’ll come out in this series with the same style and the same attitude. If they truly do that, I’m confident they can handle the Sharks, though it will obviously be a more difficult task than they had with Calgary. The Sharks are a very good, well-coached team and the Wings cannot take them for granted.

In years past, I would be concerned about the Sharks’ size, but the Wings have bulked up this season and have some big bodies that can handle the type of contact they’re likely to see this round. This series will be huge for Johan Franzen, Robert Lang, and Todd Bertuzzi, that’s for sure, and the same goes for Dan Cleary, Kris Draper, and Kirk Maltby. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk have shown that they can play with a physical game, but they may have some difficulty playing 5-on-5 with the Sharks. This will be a real test for them, especially Hank, with his back acting up, like it apparently is.

One thing we can hope for is that San Jose’s size will result in obstruction penalties, in which case the Wings must be better on the power play than they were against Calgary. The Sharks’ size will also create penalties going the other way, however, so the Wings will need to be very good on the penalty kill as well. I don’t want to see a series decided on the basis of special teams, but it has defined previous games between these two teams and there’s always a chance it could crop up again.

This will be a very hard-fought series both ways. The Wings will need to use their home-ice advantage to the max and try to eke out a win on the road in the slush at the Shark Tank. It’s going to be a real test of their resolve, as the Sharks’ size and speed will make the games especially tiring, and the travel will be a real drain. I’m glad for this, though, because it gives the team a chance to build on what it started with Calgary rather than giving them sort of a series off. This is where we’ll find out whether or not the 2006-2007 Red Wings are for real. I’m going in expecting a long series, which is why my prediction is Wings in 6, but I’m not ruling out a shocker in this one.

See also:

From Behind the Mask
Gorilla Crouch

Expect updates throughout the day.

*Only nine of those points were scored during Guerin’s time with San Jose, which began February 28th.

4/24 Injury Update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 24, 2007
in Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Injuries, Playoffs and Sharks
. 2 Comments

Ansar Khan has the latest:

  • Tomas Holmstrom is out until the blood in his eye clears, which means the team doesn’t have any idea when he’ll play. There’s an outside chance he could be ready for Game 1, but it’s more likely he won’t be.
  • Brett Lebda’s headaches are no longer a problem, but his ankle is still bothering him, so his status for Game 1 is uncertain. Babcock is confident that Kyle Quincey will fill in ably.

Khan also makes some suggestions as to what the lines may look like with Holmstrom’s absence. I think Babcock will be loathe to break up either the second or third line, so a Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Filppula top line seems likely. Still, Khan rightly points out it would mean a high concentration of centers on there, but I think he’s wrong to assert it would be at the expense of the fourth line (Calder-Hudler-Samuelsson). Jiri is a capable center and I think he would do fine centering for a game or two.

Lastly, a Sharks blogger has posted a series preview, but the author lost just about all credibility with me when they referred to Valtteri Filppula as “Valeria Flipaburger.” And, the “Wings-are-ancient” meme has grown really, really stale. I could go on, but I’ll restrain myself. Do go read it, though, and learn about the Sharks, a team, I must confess, I don’t know much about. Believe me, I’ll be studying up on them, though! Expect my own preview on Thursday.

Sidebar update and an introduction

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 24, 2007
in Blog, Hockey Bloggers, Links and Sharks
. 0 Comments

You may have noticed that the sidebar has been updated to include links for the second round as well as the schedule. If I missed anything, let me know.

Also, IwoCPO introduces us to a member of the Sharks blogosphere with a bit of a smackdown. Just remember, though, that long-time blogger PJ Swenson, proprieter of Sharks Page, off-sets the kind of blunted analysis Iwo lays bare there.

So it’s San Jose, then

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 24, 2007
in Playoffs and Sharks
. 1 Comment

No thanks to Dallas, which took a whopping 10 penalties last night en route to a 4-1 loss in Vancouver, the Wings will be playing the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the playoffs. Oh joy. Now that the Wings already have a series under their belt, I don’t dread this matchup like I did earlier in the season, but I was still hoping they’d get at least one round of minimal travel and Dallas was their only hope for that. Now, they’ll be flying out to the West Coast for this round and the next, if they make it through the Sharks, since Vancouver and Anaheim are the only other teams left in the Conference.

I think the Wings showed in the first round that they can compete with a big, physical, and fast team. However, the Sharks are deeper than the Flames and will be a greater challenge to the Wings’ team defense. Special teams will be huge in this round. I believe the Wings can do it, but it’s going to be a stressful and tiring series for them and for us fans.

I’ll have a series/Game 1 preview posted Thursday.

Guerin to San Jose

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on February 27, 2007
in Bill Guerin, Blues and Sharks
. 2 Comments

Update (Matt, 1:55 PM): Hockey’s Future’s recent Sharks NCAA prospects update has a small profile on Barriball, who sounds like a pretty good prospect, though young and inexperienced. Still, I think the Sharks got off a lot easier than the Wings would have had they been intent on getting the Blues to give Guerin up to them. - Matt

Update (1:25PM): Sportsnet reports that the Blues apparently got more than we thought from San Jose. On top of a prospect and a draft pick, the Blues got Ville Niemenen. That may very well have been the difference between San Jose’s offer and Detroit’s — Ken Holland is not willing to give up another roster player. The prospect the Sharks gave up was Jay Barriball, their 7th round pick (203rd overall) in the 2006 entry draft. - Megan

Update (12:29PM): Now that I think of it, the the Blues probably didn’t want to deal Guerin to a divisional rival (as Bill has been reminding us since yesterday) unless the compensation was just too good to pass up. I doubt the Wings would have been willing to give much more than San Jose did and San Jose had the advantage of being a time zone away. - Sarah

Looks like you can scratch Guerin off the list of potential trades for the Wings.

TSN is reporting that Bill Guerin has been traded to the San Jose Sharks. Details are scarce at the moment. Reportedly, San Jose gave up a first round pick and a non-roster player.

If that’s true, it doesn’t seem like the price should have been too high for the Wings (who seem to deal picks without a second thought), but perhaps the Blues were demanding a top prospect whom the Wings braintrust was unwilling to part with.

Schooled by Sharks, Wings lose 9-4

Published
by
Sarah Baker
on January 5, 2007
in 2006-2007, Game Reports and Sharks
. 9 Comments

Well, since Matt is sicker than a dog, I’ll go ahead and throw out my own reaction to last night’s game. At least then I can pretend watching it wasn’t a complete waste of my time.

I just have to start by saying that this was one of the most painful games (well, regular season at least…) I’ve seen in the past few years. Of course a 9-4 loss is gonna sting, no matter what,especially when it’s a west coast game and every minute spent watching is a minute of sacrificed sleep. What made it even worse was that it started with such promise. The Sharks came out strong for the first few minutes, but the Wings weathered the storm and seemed to be in control. They continued to build the illusion by scoring three goals in under ten minutes and chasing Evgeni Nabokov from the net. The game seemed to be going perfectly, the Wings were full of confidence. The Sharks’ lone goal at 14:24 in the first seemed like little cause for concern at the time.

The second period, however, revealed that concern would have been much too mild an emotion for what was to come - we should have been panicking. The team just completely fell apart, giving up 4 goals before the period mercifully ended. At this point, I would have thought it was obvious that we needed a change - I’m not saying Dom was playing bad (though he obviously wasn’t stellar) - but sometimes it gives the team a spark. I mean, look at San Jose, they pulled Nabokov and it settled them right down. Maybe that wasn’t the only reason they turned their game around, but I bet it played a part. Babcock, for whatever reason, chose to leave Dom in net. Still, I wasn’t too worried because dismal as it seemed, the game was bearing a striking resemblance to a recent win over Columbus. Okay, I thought, we’ll just come back out and score 4 more in the third, no problem…

So apparently there was one slight problem - the Wings could not stay out of the penalty box for the life of them. The unanswered goals began to pile up, burying the Wings in a towering mountain of shame. I began to wonder, how many goals does Hasek have to give up before Babs will put in Osgood? 6…not yet? 7…is Babs watching the game? 8…finally! Now that we’ve pretty much lost all opportunity to win the game… Well, at least we got the last laugh. That’s right, Brett Lebda finally scored a goal for us in the closing minutes of the third. There’s your answer San Jose! You score 9 and we’ll shoot one right back at ya! Take that! Okay, well they weren’t exactly shaking in their boots, but at least it made the scoring gap seem ever-so-slightly smaller…

The only consolation I can take from this game is that maybe it served as a learning experience, a wake-up call, a warning that no lead is safe - that we could turn into the Detroit Lions at any second… Really it’s a bright neon flashing sign explaining to the team what we’ve been concerned about all along - they have to play for 60 minutes! A whole hockey game! I know it sounds crazy, but winning one period does not win us the game. Hopefully the Wings have seen the light and they’ll find the answers to the predicament that has plagued them all season.

Then again, we might just blame this game on another case of west coast syndrome - it’s just another case of jet lag. I will admit that this has given me the last push I needed to hop into the “move Detroit to the eastern conference” boat. I’m all for it. I hate west coast games, and the fewer the better. Have you noticed that all our first round ousters are at the hands of west coast teams? Edmonton, Anaheim, LA. You’ll notice we made it to the second round when we played Nashville in the first…only to be knocked out by Calgary, another team far outside our time zone.