Big Red Machine

This was reminiscent of Game 7–in an elimination game, the Wings really have brought it.  The question is now, can they keep it up for 3 more?  Each game from here on out is a Game 7.

The Wings proved that they’re not done yet, but realistically, it’s one game.  And a blowout, no less.  It’s not abnormal to get that in an elimination situation.  It’s keeping it up and not losing in San Jose for Game 5.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi (pp; Franzen, Zetterberg); Johan Franzen (Zetterberg, Lidstrom); Johan Franzen (Bertuzzi, Lidstrom); Johan Franzen (unassisted); Valtteri Filppula (Holmstrom, Datsyuk); Brian Rafalski (pp; Bertuzzi, Franzen); Johan Franzen (Bertuzzi, Lidstrom)
San Jose: Dany Heatley (pp; Thornton, Marleau)

+ Holy. Johan. Franzen.  He was saying he hasn’t felt 100% yet.  We’ve all been saying “where’s the post-season Mule?”  Mule got hit with a too many men on the ice penalty a minute into the game, and Babcock was clearly unhappy with him, since it took about 4 minutes after that gaffe for him to see ice.  But boy oh boy did he make an effort to get out of the doghouse, with a hat trick.  Franzen recorded the 2nd fastest hat trick in playoff history in 3:26, only 2 seconds off the current record by Tim Kerr from 1985 (source: ESPN).

Welcome back, playoff Mule.  It reminded me of the 2008 Colorado series.  TSN showed a shot of Mule on the bench and he just looked so focused, and in the zone, it was incredible.  Utter domination.

+ Clearly, making the line changes up top helped.  Bertuzzi, Zetterberg and Franzen all combined for 13 points.  All three of them had a fantastic game.

+ 5 goals in the first period.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Hilariously, SJS actually outshot Detroit in the first, where all the scoring happened, 11-9.  For his services, Nabokov sits on the bench with a .444 SV% after 20 minutes.

+ Also, aLOL (™ Tyler) at Dan Boyle.  He tried to pass to Douglas Murray, who was camped out right in front of Nabokov, and the puck bounced off Murray’s skate, and slid past Nabokov, who wasn’t very aware.  That’s pretty much the second time this post-seaon that Boyle has, for all points and purposes, scored in his own net.

– I hate how GameCenter Live never shows the full feed from TSN–they cut to reruns of commercials and filler from NHLN during TV time outs and intermissions, and then I miss information.  Like Brad Stuart getting hit hard in the 1st and not coming back.  Good news is, he’ll likely be back for Game 5.

– Pot, meet kettle. Joe Thornton was making diving motions with his hands when he got sent to the box for knocking over Holmstrom, and has been quoted as saying “I thought they were diving around there pretty good.”  Just… shut up.  Seriously.  Now, I don’t condone the Wings stooping to their level, but the Sharks do deserve a taste of their own medicine, so to speak.

+ I love seeing Abdelkader being gritty and mixing it up.  He owned Nichols in their “fight,” just dropping him to the ice.  I’ve said it before, but he’s becoming the next Kirk Maltby in terms of agitating, and playing a simple, solid defensive 4th liner role.

What needs to be kept in mind is that this is one game–a game that several are calling an outlier because it was such a blowout.  And many are also quick to point out that the Wings haven’t strung together two strong games back to back in this post-season yet.  But Saturday’s another Game 7.  And from what we’ve seen, the Wings have done pretty well in elimination scenarios.

First things, sorry for neglecting the blog for the last few days, though I’m sure not many noticed.  Due to so-called “cost cutting” and saving, my company decided to eliminate my job.  So I’ve joined the not so envious ranks of the unemployed.  It’s been interesting to say the least–vacillating between being pissed off as shit and being really motivated to find something else–better, and infinitely more awesome, where I won’t be bottle-necked.  Ahem.  Anyway, onto the game…

Are we ever going to win another game this season?  Is Chris Osgood ever going to play another game again?  Will we ever win in the shootout?  These are life’s big questions right now.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Johan Franzen (pp; Zetterberg, Lidstrom); Jason Williams (Lebda, Holmstrom)
San Jose: Joe Thornton (Wallin, Boyle); Dwight Helminen (Mitchell, Nichol)
Shootout: SJS – Patrick Marleau

= FS Detroit has started doing the digital advertisements on the back glass behind the nets now.  It was funny because there were a ton of people on Twitter who were in an uproar over people “paying good money” for those seats, only to have an ad plastered in front of them.  People, they’re digital.  They’re not actually, physically on the glass, they’re slapped on by FSD for television.  MSG has been doing them for a while, and you really get used to them and start to notice them less.  But, I can see were people are annoyed.  I don’t really care one way or another.

+ The Wings looked like they had more jump than in other games, with some more crashing and banging around than we’ve seen.  I still don’t understand why they can get up for these games against San Jose, which mean nothing in terms of tangible points and standings, but they let teams like Anaheim and Los Angeles walk all over them.  This season seriously makes my brain hurt.

+ Franzen got his first goal since coming back, the first of the game, and on the Power Play.  Shortly before that, he’d sort of whiffed on a shot and it looked like his timing was still a work in progress.  But that PP goal was a beautiful snipe over Nabokov’s glove hand.  Welcome back, Mule.

– Poor Nick, a linesman got dumped over the boards and into Nick’s lap.

= Meech gets a pass for missing on what looked like a stupidly easy shot on an open net, but upon replay it was revealed that his shot was redirected by a Shark player.  Otherwise it really would have gone in.  But he’s right back on my shit-list the minute he screws up again.

– Way to get up a goal about 35 seconds after scoring.  Not exactly the type of shift you’re hoping for after scoring.

+ No shit, Holmstrom beat out Dan Boyle to negate an icing.  Really.  Boyle must have had dead legs, because otherwise there’s no way Homer outskates him.

+ Pavel was really riled up tonight.  He may not have scored, and he did have two giveaways, HOWEVER, he was still everywhere, all over the ice, and playing physical.  He had some chances, played gritty, and was just a beast all around.  Would have been great to see him score–but then again, I want Pavel to score every single game.  Unfortunately the world and the game doesn’t work that way.  He’s still been one of the better Wings forwards, if you ask me, regardless of the lack of goals (so there, Brian).

– Nabokov is usually a sieve.  Why not tonight?  He’s usurped Turco for sole ownership of worst SV% versus the Wings.  Except today he actually had to play fairly well.

+ Williams had a pretty little toe drag on his goal.  I bet you he gets traded tomorrow.  According to Ken Daniels, Holland is definitely making a roster move before the Olympic freeze, and I’ll just bet it’s Williams.  Maybe he just upped his market value?

– I friggin hate the shootout.  We’d have several more wins if it weren’t for finishing the game in such an artificial way.

I said in my preview they have enough talent to beat this team, no question.   And the Wings showed it.  They put the foot down after a bad start and roared back with 4 unanswered goals.  What a great game.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Dan(ny) Cleary (Filppula, Holmstrom); Henrik Zetterberg (pp; Holmstrom, Datsyuk); Derek Meech (pp; Bertuzzi, Filppula); Patrick Eaves (Rafalski, Draper)
San Jose: Joe Thornton (Heatley); Joe Thornton (Heatley, Demers)

– The first two goals were awful.  Jimmy has got to do something about those rebounds. Both goals were because he didn’t completely corral the puck after making the save. It wasn’t even juicy rebounds; they were fairly close to him.  Yeah, Rafalski could have backchecked a little harder on the first, or whatever, but still, it’s a pretty big weakness in Howard’s game right now.  It was pretty much a wide open net both times for Thornton.

+ That being said, I like that he didn’t have a meltdown after letting in 2 in about three and a half minutes.  He pulled himself up by his big-boy pants and played pretty well for the rest of the game.

= In what was only funny after the fact, Kronner was sliding around the ice during the PK with one knee on the ice.  At first blush I was horrified and thought his knee or leg was completely messed up.  Thankfully it was revealed that the blade on his skate fell out and he literally didn’t have an edge to stand on.  It was initially terrifying watching him wobble and fall back down like a young fawn.

+ It pays off to go to the net.  Cleary was in the perfect position, right in front of Nabovok and tipped in Filppula’s pass.  Similarly, Zetteberg was hanging out at the side and had all the time and space in the world to get the rebound after Nabokov made a pretty great save on Homer.   Eaves also camped out at the side of the net and banged it home as the recipient of a gorgeous long pass by Rafalski.  Being in the right places really helps, eh?

+ Welcome back Homer.  2 assists for Demolition Man, and I wonder if his return didn’t play a little in sparking the team and giving them some jump.

+ The best part about the game was that the Wings didn’t look defeated after the 2 early goals.  They didn’t slow down or get frustrated.  They just charged themselves back up and really took over after Cleary’s goal.  The two penalties by the Sharks also helped, leading to Zetterberg’s power play tally.  They got outshot terribly in the first, 18-11, and then they took it in the second, 13-8.  They still let more shots through than I would like to see with 34, but they also got 37 off, which is big, after two games of barely scrapping over 20.

- About 5 minutes into the 3rd Ken said that Kronwall wasn’t on the bench (that was why Meech was out on the PP).  Turns out Kronwall “tweaked” something, nothing serious, but wasn’t going to return.  And he’s not going to be playing against Anaheim tonight.

+ Meech… scored?  Hey, Meech scored!  I honestly didn’t notice him until he scored, and I didn’t notice Lebda very much either.  In terms of the two of them, and their games, that’s what I like from them.  I don’t want to notice them, because it means they haven’t made an egregious error.

- Anyone else have another moment of fear shoot through them when Eaves missed on the breakaway and slammed ridiculously hard into the boards?

= What a crazy last few minutes. Ken and Murph made a comment that it looked like 3rd down, and with the amount of stoppages and time it took to play the last minute or so, it was apropos.  Joslin had an open chance for the Sharks, slid the puck straight through the crease behind Howard, but a hooking call on Lidstrom and a quick whistle saved us.  I’ll take the penalty in that case.

- I almost had a heart attack when Thornton slid into Howard, who went crashing into the net and laid on the ice like he was dead for a few minutes.  All the while Thornton’s yelling that he was tripped.  I love when the mics pick up sound.

Now we hope that they didn’t burn up all their energy last night and that they have enough for tonight.  I want to see the same amount of effort that they brought in San Jose against the Ducks.

An interesting discussion on the new episode of TOV about this week’s “must win”. Casey mentioned that he wouldn’t be that upset if the Wings lost tonight’s tilt against San Jose. And it sounded like the general consesus was that it could be something of a throw away game.

I’m all about focusing on the teams right ahead and in back of us. But let’s not forget the most important thing for the Wings right now and that’s points. Regardless of the opponant.

Kyle made the point that yes, they can skate with the Sharks, and there’s no reason to think that they can’t win this game. It shouldn’t be about whether a team is on their radar, as Joe said. The Sharks may be unreachable in terms of points, but that doesn’t mean they should toss the game away, or not work to play their best. The Wings are a good team too. Look at the roster–top end skill even with Franzen still out. Babcock said it’s all mental problems and I agree with his statement that you don’t suddenly forget how to make a tape to tape pass or how to shoot. It’s mental, and if the challenge of the Sharks will shake the Wings from their stupor, all the better.

There is zero reason why the Wings shouldn’t win this game. They won the last meeting 4-1, without Zetterberg, without Filppula, Kronwall and more. We know what this team is capable of; don’t discount their skill level. Being in 9th seed and looking up the standings is not an excuse to lose against the team currently residing in 1st. Not for this team. They need to play hard every single game.

Anyway. Ericsson is a healthy scratch tonight.

Why I agree with this: he clearly has struggled all season long, and hasn’t been able to play himself out of whatever funk he’s in. I know the whole defense is a bit messed up but he needs to figure out how to average his playoff performance into an 82 game regular season.

Why I dislike this: it means we’re stuck with both Meech AND Lebda tonight.

Holmstrom is back! It will be refreshing to have that net-front presence back.

Howard is in net.

Great win by the Wings tonight.  One of the more complete games I’ve seen them play this season.  Which begs the question: why can’t they play at least half as well for the others?  Is it just because they’re the Sharks?  We’ll never know, I suppose…

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Pavel Datsyuk (unassisted); Patrick Eaves (Janik, Helm); Dan(ny) Cleary (Filppula, Miller); Darren Helm (unassisted)
San Jose: Patrick Marleau (Heatley, Boyle)

– Why on Earth would Sharks fans even think of booing Brad Stuart?  He was traded; it’s not like he asked to leave or anything.  Sure he went to Detroit and won, but still.  I don’t even pretend to understand what goes through the minds of the fans out in California.

+ Speaking of Stuart, another amazing desperation save, diving across the crease to keep the puck out.  Keating joked that they were going to nominate him for Vezina at this rate.  Keating may be a terrible interviewer, but he does make a point that Stuart’s had several such plays this season.

– Also, Sharks fans booing when Meech was holding onto the puck behind the Wings net, waiting for the change to complete.  I guess they got impatient and bored?  That’s what Ken Daniels hinted at.  Do they boo their own team when they do the same thing?  Seriously, they need to learn a thing or two about hockey.

– Wings didn’t seem entirely awake until Pavel scored their first goal.  After that they really seemed revitalized and started taking it to the Sharks.  Still would like to see them play an ENTIRE 60 minutes at some point.

+ Pavel’s goal was just a great all around play–picked off the pass from the Sharks in the Wings’ zone and zipped it into the twine at the other end.  Good things happen when you backcheck.

+ HEY we didn’t get shafted on a goal review!  Eaves’ goal was batted in, and immediately Nabokov was whining to Kerry Fraser that it was a high stick.  It went to review and thankfully stood.

+ Dan(ny) Cleary had an eventful evening: a goal and a quasi sort of fight with Devin Setoguchi, of all players.  He also had a wide open breakaway in which he didn’t get a great shot, and was stopped by Nabokov.  I was briefly worried that he might do something to his shoulder, but he was tussling with Setoguchi, who isn’t exactly a pugilist.  2 goals in as many games for Cleary, since his return.  Let’s hope he can keep it up.

+ Oh Helm.  He’s just completely made of awesome.  Made a move to clear the zone, without a stick, and then managed to score.  He’s really rounding into form, gaining a scoring touch and looking more and more like the guy we’ve watched in the playoffs the past two seasons.  He’s finally learning how to finish around the net when he’s flying in at a zillion mph.

+ Jimmy had a perfectly solid game.  He wasn’t called on to make a ludicrous amount of saves, or stand on his head, but he was simply confident.

This is going to be quick, partially because my apartment is cold and it’s hard to type with cold fingers.

• Leino’s back to the press box and May will be playing on the 4th line.
• Pav and Z will continue to play together, and I can only hope that playing with his Eurotwin will light a fire under Pavel’s ass.  I don’t know what his deal is this season.  He’s playing more of the assists role again, and he’s still playing defensive hockey so it’s not like he’s contributing, but I’d like to see him well, care a bit more.
• Howard’s back in net again after a 51 save performance for his 8th straight start.  Can he keep it up, or will he start to show exhaustion?
• And a quick note on the Osgood/Howard starter argument: it’s a two goalie system, clearly Howard’s the starter for now.  But come the playoffs, Osgood’s veteran experience and past proven track record will get him the nod.  But he’ll have a short leash, and Babcock won’t hesitate to pull like him Hasek in 2008.
• The defensive efforts let up 52 SOG against the Kings.  If that happens against the Sharks, they’re dead.  It cannot happen.
• McCosky seems to think that the Power Play might be on its way to producing again.  Looks like Helm may be getting time on the 2nd unit.
• The Sharks’ top line of Thornton-Marleau-Heatly is pretty scary, and they will all be playing for Babcock on the Canadian Olympic team.  To state the obvious, the key will be to shut them down.
• This is another must-win to keep climbing in the standings narrow the gap between 9th and 8th.