Wings 3, Ducks 4
Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks, your 2007 Western Conference champs. Game #1 of the SCF will begin Monday night at 8pm (EST) in Anaheim. I’ll have more on that series and predictions in the next couple of days. Interestingly enough, the last time the Sens and Ducks played one another was 16 months ago! I will definitely be rooting for the Senators because I can’t stand the Ducks particularly Chris Pronger.
The Ducks dominated all but the last ten minutes of the game. They definitely earned tonight’s win and played some solid hockey much to my dismay. This post will be brief as I have a German final tomorrow morning. I promise to post more postgame analysis, reaction, as well as an overall look at the Wings’ postseason tomorrow and Thursday.
After an incredibly poor start by the Wings and a strong start by the Ducks, they jumped to an early 1-0 lead. They hit the goalpost twice. They were outhustling, outhitting, and outshooting the Wings. They were winning in all areas. If it weren’t for Hasek, the score could’ve been much higher in the first period.
The Wings only had one shot in their first four power play opportunities according to the Versus broadcasters. Our special teams in the first two periods really hurt us as Anaheim took advantage with both a shorthanded goal and a power play goal as well. At one point, we had just finished killing off a penalty and we got a too many men on the ice penalty. The Ducks promptly scored on that power play opportunity.
The first 40 minutes of the game were incredibly frustrating to me as I felt I wasn’t seeing much intensity or heart/grit from the guys. They definitely showed up in the remaining ten minutes with three goals (two on the power play) and a chance to send the game into overtime in the remaining seconds of the game. Henrik Zetterberg got the first goal 3:15 into the third for the Wings and his Eurotwin, Pavel Datsyuk, scored the other two goals with less than 11 minutes remaining. They pressured JS Giguere a lot in those last ten minutes and he had to make some huge saves to maintain that Ducks’ lead.
Selanne earned another offensive point tonight, an assist on Getzlaf’s goal, giving him six points this series all which came in the last three games (3 goals, 3 assists). Both teams had 29 shots tonight with Giguere making one more save over Hasek. It was Hasek’s first playoff series loss with the Red Wings organization.
While I hated to see that loss (especially since I had bought tickets to the SCF Game #5), I don’t feel as awful as I did in between the second and third period. Let me tell you, that was a sad, depressed, and frustrated Christy. Right now, I’m disappointed and frustrated that the team showed up with a little over ten minutes left in a series eliminating game. But I don’t want to throw anything or hurt anyone so that’s a nice improvement.
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8 Responses to “Wings 3, Ducks 4”
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May 23rd, 2007 at 12:36 am
At least they gave us that last ten minutes. I can’t even imagine how I’d be feeling if the last period looked like the first two. And then at the same time don’t you just want to slap them around and ask what took them so long?
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:51 am
At least they did not get shutout. I was living in fear of that. Just sorry that it took them so long to show up tonight. Sigh.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:52 am
I will be rooting for the Senators too. I just can’t root for Chris Pronger.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:12 am
Ugh. Now I have to root for the Sens? Man, I just can’t think of another time when I’ve cared less about who is in the finals.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:47 am
I’ll hold off on the post mortem until Christy posts it later, but I figure as a hockey fan, you have to root for Ottawa, if only because the thought of the Stanley Cup going to California is as repulsive as it going to Florida and North Carolina.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:44 am
Well I can’t say I am disapointed the wings lost, okay I am ecstatic they lost.
The silver lining to the Wings even getting this far was it allowed me to discover your very nice blog. Even if you are my mortal enemy, it’s okay for me to respect you (kinda like I respect Yzerman, and Lidstrom).
So as a fan I give you my condolances, it’s tough for a dedicated fan to take.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
You can’t root for Pronger, but Bertuzzi is OK to root for? (Not that I’m a huge Pronger fan, but the point still stands).
I have to side with Jibble, overall I’m happy the Red Wings lost, but the Wings made a good couple of series - I got to yell at the screen quite a lot!
Also have to agree with Joe, especially since it’s been 14 years since Canada has had the Cup. Go Ottawa.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Steph- I was so happy that the Wings decided to show up even if it was too late. At least we lost on a “good note” and that the game didn’t end after the first two periods. Our season really would’ve ended on a sour note.
Hockeychic- I was happy the Ducks didn’t get a shutout as well and even happier that it became a close game at the end. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Jenn- Unfortunately, I don’t think this SCF will be as “popular” among fans even though it should be a great matchup between the strong defensive Ducks (Pronger and Niedermayer) and the top offensive line of the Sens (Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson).
Joe- I definitely want the Sens to win, but not for the same reasons. I just don’t like the Ducks namely Chris Pronger. My post mortem piece will hopefully be up sometime tomorrow. Friday at the absolute latest. I might do it in parts and thus, one would be up tomorrow for sure.
Jibblescribbits- Thanks for the nice compliment & coming from an Avs fan, that means a lot!
AvsFan- Thanks for leaving a comment! I have never encouraged any dirty behavior out of Bertuzzi and have made it well known that what he did to Moore was inexcusable. That being said, it was a one time deal and he has expressed deep sorrow and regret for that event. Pronger, on the other hand, has found a way to get under most Wings’ fans’ skins whether it was that hit on Homer and then not taking the blame (instead blaming the law of physics and the Canadian media) and when he tried to hurt Yzerman (but ended up tearing his own ACL). Plus, it also helps when the player is on your own team. If for some reason Pronger ever came to Detroit, I might be able to find a place in my heart to forgive him. Might.