Wings 1, Columbus 2 (SO)
The Wings lost their third straight game to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a shootout, 2-1. I was only able to watch the first half of the game due to a meeting during the second half, but I wasn’t too impressed. Over the past three games, I’ve noticed some lackluster behavior and sloppiness in terms of losing control and getting penalties.
On a good note, Dan Cleary (#11) returned last night after missing 11 games due to a knee injury. If that wasn’t good news enough, our trade deadline acquisition Todd Bertuzzi played last night. It was great to see Bertuzzi in a Wings jersey and the crowd agreed as you could hear them cheering whenever he touched the puck (at least in the first half). On the other hand, Sergei Federov was consistently booed every time he was out on the ice. I was okay with booing him for the first season after he left us, but it’s getting a bit old now and unnecessary.
It wasn’t a fascinating game to watch and the first goal of the game didn’t even come until 8:30 into the third period when Pavel Datsyuk scored. Rookie Jiri Hudler got the assist. A little less than nine minutes later, defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen scored for the CBJ. Rick Nash and Marc Methot were given the assists.
The third period ended with the game tied at one and a scoreless OT sent the game into a shootout. Federov scored the game winning goal in the shootout over former teammate Chris Osgood.
Detroit outshot Columbus, 36-30, and was able to successfully kill all of its six penalties (including two by Brett Lebda).
Head coach Mike Babcock believes that Henrik Zetterberg could return next week as he’s skated two days in a row as of Thursday. Goaltender Dominik Hasek knows his playing schedule from now until the playoffs between Mike Babcock to prevent further injury.
“We’ve had (the rotation) all along, and it’s always adjustable,” Babcock said. “It’s important heading into the playoffs that we have Dom feeling good but also rested.”
Of course the Detroit columnists wrote about Bertuzzi’s return.
Again, we see a fascinating story of mutual need. Just as Chris Webber needed the Pistons to reclaim his career, and the Pistons needed him to boost their chances, the Wings and Bertuzzi are forging an alliance of necessity. They can only hope it works as well.
Late in the first period, Bertuzzi bled for the first time as a Red Wing. This is a rite of passage for hockey players who get traded — it’s like when a CEO goes to a new company and orchestrates his first stock fraud.
The funny thing is that the man who drew blood was teammate Chris Chelios. Yup, the same Cheli who has sparred with Bertuzzi in the past. Chelios fired a puck up the ice, and it popped up and hit Bertuzzi in the chin. It was an accident, of course, but I guess they’re even now.
While I don’t think any Wings fan wants to see the team lose, Dave @ Gorilla Crouch brought up a great point that we could potentially drop to the sixth seed in the Western Conference if we keep up our losing ways. It’s unlikely with our easier schedule, but if we play like we have over the past few games it is definitely a possibility.
I guess if you want to try and put a positive spin on the way Detroit has played lately you can point out that they should be really well rested when the playoffs start. The downside of only playing a little over one period per game is that Detroit might end up with the 6th seed. Minnesota currently holds down the 5th seed and they are only 5 points behind the Wings.
Matt @ On the Wings posted his game recap. I have to agree with Matt that from what I saw, Ozzie had a great game last night.
Chris Osgood was phenomenal last night. It wasn’t the most offensive game ever, but the Blue Jackets definitely had the advantage in scoring chances. Osgood was essentially perfect in regulation, having only been beaten by a tip-in off his own player (Robert Lang), and he almost stopped that. He definitely kept the Wings in the game while they were sleeping in the first and second periods.
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