Big Red Machine

Well that was certainly short-lived.  We’re back out of the playoffs, sitting at 9th.

Three unanswered goals by the Kings and they walked away with the win in a “must-win” for the Red Wings.  I officially hate this season.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Valtteri Filppula (Cleary, Miller); Todd Bertuzzi (Rafalski, Lidstrom)
Los Angeles: Anze Kopitar (Richardson, Simmonds); Peter Harold (Simmonds, Kopitar); Brad Richardson (Parse, Kopitar)

+ The game started out ok.  The Kings were controlling more of the play than I’d have liked to see, but I guess that was indicative of things to come.  Flip’s goal was beautiful–he showed a lot of patience with the puck, waiting out Quick before taking the shot.

+ O’Halloran had a really questionable call that led to the Wings’ 5-3, but like I’m going to complain.  Rafalski ripped a shot, and Bertuzzi deflected it in off his knee.  I remember thinking a while back that I hadn’t seen Rafalski and Lidstrom switch it up on the blueline on the power play very much this season, but that’s exactly what they did here, and it paid off.

– I don’t know what the hell Howard was thinking by not covering up the puck right in front of him when Kopitar scored.  He made the initial save, but didn’t cover the rebound and with the Kings all crashing the crease they scored.  A bunch of people on Twitter all got on Ericsson for the goal because he didn’t control the puck in the zone which led to the turnover and the chance by the Kings.  I’m not going to disagree that it was his fault on the play, but it’s not like it isn’t Howard’s, either.  I just don’t get why Howard seems to get the benefit of the doubt on goals like that when all I can think of is, if he’s covered the puck, it never would have happened.

– And has been a disturbing trend all season, the Wings didn’t have a very strong shift after the goal and allowed the Kings to carry most of the play.

– Mickey Redmond made a comment about Lilja coming back “as soon as next week.”  I don’t know if he’s been hanging out with Murph and John Keating (who I’m convinced is actually sounding drunker than Murph, if that’s even possible) at the bar beforehand, but Holland says it’s not true.

+ Stuart’s made at least 3 amazing saves this season, and he did it again tonight.  The play went to review and shocker, we actually came out as benefiters of the call.

+ I like the Miller-Filppula-Cleary line.  McCosky thinks Miller might be sticking around a bit longer, in favor of Leino.  I would certainly like to see that happen.

+ Because I’ll never stop harping on about how I think the Western Conference is tougher and deeper than the Eastern, I was amused how Babcock said in an interview “the parity on our side” when talking about the Western Conference, rather than the parity in the league.  Babs knows what’s up.  The East is a joke, as a conference.

– I saw the Harold and Richardson goals coming from a mile away.  When Harold scored the second for the Kings, all I could think was “here we go again.”

– That being said, what the hell happened to the shutdown 3rd period that the Wings used to be known for?  What happened to the vaunted defense?  They just are seemingly incapable of putting the skate to the throat and pressing down hard on games that matter.  They know these are important, right?  Why are they able to get up for games like San Jose, which, in the long run, don’t matter in the least, but they can’t things going for teams that maybe aren’t as acclaimed, but are a current challenge?  They’re not chasing SJ, not by a long shot.  They need to stop looking so far ahead and up the standings and put aside the notion that they need to show up San Jose, and instead focus on what’s right in front of them.  Which was Los Angeles.  Until they gave them a 3 point margin.  60 minutes, boys.  Come on.

– I’ve decided I don’t like it when we score a few goals early on.  The Wings just seem to sit back after that happens, and then the opposition inevitably mounts a comeback to either win or take it to OT, both of which are entirely unnecessary.

= I read an article long ago that said when people talk about their sports teams and it’s about something positive, they tend to use inclusive pronouns, like We and Us.  When they’re complaining or discussing something negative they switch to They.  It was really interesting, and I totally see myself doing it within the same paragraph (see last point).

A major improvement over the pasting received by the Islanders.  They were able to play much more of a game typical of the Red Wings.

And wait, do I see what I think I see?  Do mine eyes deceive me?

Ladies and Gentlemen, let it be known that Nicklas Lidstrom, The Perfect Human, has scored a goal.  On the Power Play.

The the goals were as follows:
Detroit:  Nicklas Lidstrom (pp; Filppula, Miller); Drew Miller (pp; Filppula, Cleary); Henrik Zetterberg (Bertuzzi)
Carolina: Tom Koustopoulos (Sutter, Tlusty)

+ Nick’s first goal in 42 games was exactly the type that we needed–it kicked off the goal scoring, after being shutout last game, and it was a classic bomb from the blueline on the PP.  Vintage Lidstrom.

+ Two power play goals!  We’re going to get spoiled at this rate.  Miller was awesome on the PP, assisting then perfect in screening Ward on Nick’s goal, and scoring the second himself.  Miller hadn’t played on the PP until this point, so maybe he’s the spark it needed.

+ Staying on the special teams theme, what a kill by Eaves.  He’s a beast.  He got hit up high with a puck and just popped right back up to block another shot and later clear the zone.  I want this kid resigned as soon as possible.

+ Defense was much improved.  Drastic difference in the speed, the willingness to go after pucks.

- With that said, they still let up 38 SOG.  Wings need to cut down on the amount of shots allowed–it’s been extremely high as of late, and they can’t keep relying solely on Howard to save all of them.  The weird part is that I honestly don’t even remember that many shots by the Hurricanes.

- Oh, Jimmy.  That goal was not a good one.  The minute I saw him fumble the puck I knew it was going in.  He still needs to work on not coughing up big rebounds like that.

+ Datsyuk didn’t hit the score sheet, and ended the night with 0 shots, but he made several great passes and moves, along with his usual backchecking and defensive awesomeness.  Which brings me to my next point…

- Ken Daniels commented that Bertuzzi’s become more of a pass-first guy these days, looking to defer the shot to Datsyuk or Zetterberg.  Well, that’s problematic because we all know that Datsyuk loves to pass, and looks to do that before shooting.  And while Z should be the sniper on that line, he’s not doing it.  He hasn’t really looked like himself yet, after returning from that shoulder injury, so it’s possible he’s still being plagued by it.  So with the three of them just passing until the chance is gone, they’re turning into a glorified checking line–great defensive play (yes, even by Bertuzzi), but no finish and not enough points for a top line.

Lastly, it appears that Howard will be starting on Saturday against Dallas.  Does this mean he’ll be playing back to back in Dallas and then against Chicago?  It’s an interesting can of worms.

After the game was over, my Twitter feed exploded in statements of disbelief.  I think we are all convinced we must be living in some sort of alternate universe where Bertuzzi scores 2 beautiful goals, and the Red Wings don’t blow it on a Saturday night.

Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi (Miller, Osgood); Drew Miller (Datsyuk); Todd  Bertuzzi (Datsyuk)
Nashville: Ryan Jones (pp; Sullivan, Franson); David Legwand (Dumont, Jones)

Pluses
+ This might be horrible, but I was actually glad that Tootoo left the game, solely because it meant not having to listen to those horrid train whistles.  They are on my Top 5 list of Things I Severely Dislike.
+ Was very much surprised (which is sad), and pleased that the Wings started on time tonight.  Great first period, even though they were getting jobbed with lame penalties, they held the Preds to zero shots on the first two kills.
+ We had the PK streak broken on the Preds’ first goal, but I’m still really impressed that they went 27 straight kills through 8 games successfully.  The PK really has been lights out recently.  Babcock talked to the DetNews about it earlier today, and how he took a lot of ideas from Devils’ coach Jacques Lemaire.
+ Bertuzzi.  Wow.  I was so convinced he was going to flub the puck on his spin-around backhand shot, and I just gaped at the TV for a few moments afterwards when I realized he’d scored.  4 goals in 2 games, and he looks confident.
+ Drew Miller had yet another strong game, finishing with 2 points.  Great hand-eye coordination batting in the shot by Datsyuk.
+ I can’t really express how much I wanted Osgood to win tonight.  And I don’t really have a good reason for it, other than I’m tired of people saying he sucks.

Minuses
- Wings shot less and less through each period–14, then 8, and finally 6.  They had 1 shot in OT, but I don’t care because they scored on it.
– Nashville’s 3rd jerseys are really kind of ugly.  All that white at the bottom has the unfortunate diaper effect.
– There’s a guy who plays for the Predators whose name is Franson.  I had to listen to the Nashville feed, and every time they said his name I thought of Franzen.  Which just served to make me horribly sad.
– Dear Henrik Zetterberg, please stop going to your backhand every single time you have a chance to shoot the puck.  Thanks, Big Red Machine.
– Our power play sucks.

It was nice to close out the month of November with a tidy win by the Wings.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Drew Miller (Lebda, Draper); Darren Helm (Draper, Bertuzzi); Dan Cleary (Zetterberg, Holmstrom); Todd Bertuzzi (Datsyuk)
Dallas: Brenden Morrow (Robidas, Daley)

Pluses
+ Young Howard looks confident, and he looks like an NHL-level goaltender.  Maybe he’s finally realized that he is capable of playing in this league, or maybe he’s getting Zen tips from Ozzie, who knows.  And I don’t care as long as he keeps playing like this.  He’ll get his third straight start on Thursday against Edmonton, and I’ll assume he’ll get one of the starts this weekend, as it’s a back-to-back versus New Jersey, then New York Rangers.  Like a few others, I’m cautiously optimistic about Howard.  I like that he’s getting chances and getting rewarded for good play, because that can do nothing but boost his confidence even further.
+ Young Miller also has been a pleasant surprise.  I certainly knew nothing about him when we picked him up from the waiver wire, and I’m not convinced that anyone actually thought he would do much other than fill an empty slot in the 4th line.  But his goal was a relief, and the Wings seemed to settle down a little bit after it.  I remember thinking shortly before he scored that it’d be nice to see some sustained pressure on the offensive.  I know it was a questionable icing call, but I’ll take it.  He and Helm had a few strong shifts that were spent crashing and banging around the boards, and it was also nice to see Helm finally get one.
+ Bertuzzi scored, and ended the night with a goal, and assist, and +2.
+ Having Mary Turco in net for Dallas.  Maybe it was coincidence that the Red Wings played a much more Wing-like game.  Maybe they would have scored 4, or at least played that well of a game against a team other than the Stars.  Regardless, I say “Thank you,” Marc Crawford, for playing Marty Turco at the Joe.  Red Wings Nation rejoices.  Also, I wish I had that graphic that FSD showed, with the 6 goalies who all had win % below .400 against the Wings.  They flashed it twice, briefly, and because I was watching online via GameCenter I couldn’t pause.  All I know was that it made me gleeful to see that Nabokov owns a .333 win % against Detroit.

Minuses
– The power play.  Four chances with the man advantage, zero conversions.  During the power play in the 3rd (Ribeiro in the box for slashing Holmstrom), Ken Daniels mused, “nobody’s heading towards the net.”  Yeah, story of the PP, Ken.  Too much perimeter passing and shots from the outside.  The power play is clipping along at 21.3%, good for 13th in the league right now.  Guess who’s first?  Columbus.  Yes, that’s right, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who had the worst PP overall last year, now have the best at 24.8%.  I mean, I realize we lost some power on the point and all that, but come on.

Is it just me, or do the Wings seem to keep coming up against hot goalies recently?  Or at least goalies who really grab the opportunity by the throat.  Recently it’s been Auld, Price, Clemmenson, and now Rinne who have had really good games against the Wings.

Also, news that Georges Laraque got a 5 game suspension for his knee-on-knee hit.  I don’t think that’s really sufficient enough if the league wants to “make an example” of Laraque.  Nor does it even really punish the Habs–in fact, it probably helps them because he’s been dead weight the entire season.  So they get temporary relief while we lose our 3rd best defenseman.  Awesome.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Drew Miller (Cleary, Ericsson)
Nashville: Jason Arnott (pp; Sullivan, Weber); Martin Erat (pp; Ward, Legwand); Martin Erat (Tootoo, Hamhuis)

Pluses
+ Darren McCarty was a guest studio analyst on Versus.  After looking nervous for the first segment, he was smooth and did a great job.  I hope they have him back–he’s certainly more lively than Brian Engblom (who must get dressed in the dark), and Keith Jones.  That suit was a definite minus, though.  Draper joked that he must have rented it.
+ Chris Osgood played extremely well.  It’s unfortunate that the defense didn’t really get up for this game, because he’s the reason the score wasn’t worse than 1-3.
+ Hooray for Drew Miller, who scored his first goal of the season, and his first as a Red Wing.  He’s been playing well, albeit not all too noticeable, but he’s a solid 4th liner, and it’s great to see him contribute.  He was rewarded by being moved up mid-game to play with Zetterberg and Cleary.
+ I love it when Pavel decides he’s going to play physical and dish out a few hits.  He had two nice ones, an open ice shoulder, and another along the boards.
+ This isn’t really plus or minus, but it was entertaining so I’m putting it here.  Pekka Rinne tried to come out of the crease and slide-tackle Darren Helm.  It looked like he was channeling his inner Hasek.  Except he missed.
+ And a plus for Nashville, for pretty much smothering Pavel Datsyuk.  He got one shot on goal and missed on another.  They really made an effort to shut him down.

Minuses
- I haven’t the faintest idea what the PK thought they were doing on that first goal by Erat:

via Fanfeedr

– John Forslund and Darren Eliot were horrendous as the Versus announcers.  Forslund does play by play for Carolina and Eliot is the color guy for Atlanta.  Maybe you need to make obvious, pointless comments for those markets, I don’t know, but this was one of the worst broadcast games I can recall.
– Nashville fans are hilarious.   They do the “Os~good” chant like every opposing arena does, but they also add the collegiate “You suck, it’s all your fault” part.  Someone also threw a hat onto the ice after Erat got the 3rd goal of the game, and his 2nd of the night.  I mean…
– Todd Bertuzzi.  You need to move to a different line.  Unfortunately I don’t know where.  Just take a seat on the bench for a while.  I get the feeling that Babcock was trying in a way to replicate the Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom line from last year, but the major, glaring difference is that Franzen has finish.  Lots of finish.  And of the clutch variety.  Bertuzzi?  Not so much.  Damnit, I miss having the Mule in the lineup.

I’ll be honest, I sort of zoned out halfway through this game.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Tomas Holmstrom (pp; Zetterberg, Datsyuk); Henrik Zetterberg (Stuart, Kronwall); Niklas Kronwall (EN; Howard, Stuart)
Vancouver: Mason Raymond (pp; Bieksa, Kesler)

Pluses
+ Jimmy Howard.  He had a good game.  I didn’t feel confident, per se, but I also didn’t have a miniature heart attack everytime he went to make a save.  He played back to back for the first time… ever? and managed to come out with a win both times.  Granted, he could have fallen asleep in the crease against Columbus and it wouldn’t have mattered.  More importantly, he kept the Red Wings in the game in this one.  He was easily the only player awake in the first period, at any rate.  Jim’s looking like an NHL goaltender.  Sort of.
+ Brad May had a much better fight tonight against Rick Rypien, until he got his sweater yanked up over his head.
+ Very glad that Eaves was able to come back after crashing into the boards awkwardly.  Last thing we need is yet another forward out.
+ This doesn’t really fall under plus or minus, but it’s more of a plus because he didn’t suck–Drew Miller wore #20 (also worn by Luc Robitaille, Aaron Downey, and Brad May, briefly) and played fine.  I didn’t notice him a ton, which is really neither here nor there.
+ What a shot by Zetterberg.  According to Kevin Allen of USA Today, Luongo said of the goal: “Not many guys can do that, only a handful of guys in the whole league.”

Minuses
– The guys had no legs for most of the game.  It took until the 3rd to get cranking, but prior to that they looked like they were skating through mud.
– Shots on goal were pathetic.  At one point in the 1st period they were 12-4, Vancouver.  They ended the period 15-5.  The game totals were somehow 32-29, advantage Canucks.  I was afraid that the Wings had used up all their offense on Wednesday.  Through at least 2 periods both Datsyuk and Zetterberg had zero shots.  Total.  No shots on net, no missed shots, no blocked shots.
– I had to watch the CanucksTV PPV feed, and they had a 2-part feature on Mikael Samuelsson.  I get that they’re a little infatuated with the guy since he’s been putting up decent numbers, but sheesh.  Man crush, much?
– The refs sucked.  Gord Dwyer and Dave Jackson had a  field day calling weak penalties against Detroit in the 2nd.  Conversely, Vancouver only got tagged for 3 minors, even though I saw several plays for which Detroit was called.  Totally weak.

According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Detroit has picked up winger Drew Miller off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Twitter: “Detroit claims Drew Miller on waivers from Tampa.”

I know absolutely nothing about Miller, other than he’s related to Ryan Miller.  And he won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 07.

Here are his career NHL stats, via hockeydb.com: