Game 3 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
Joe here, with a heads up that I’ll be live blogging game 3 tonight at 7:30 p.m., if you’re so inclined to stop by. Providing, of course, I finish writing my 100 sentences of “The captain of the Detroit Red Wings does not have an ‘n’ in the middle of his name: Lidstrom.”
See if they go three-for-three after the jump.
Postgame - Well, the Wings simply blew it. They had it in hand, and simply folded up the tent. If you’re the Predators, it has to be totally validating that you were able to score two goals in nine seconds to bury them. That shouldn’t take anything away from Nashville, who played their hearts out in the third, especially after a first period where they were so physical.
The three stars: Arnott, Suter, and Legwand.
Where do the Wings go from here? Well they have to get back in gear in 48 hours, and I think they can do that, and I don’t think this game in and of itself means we need to panic. It was a good strong wake-up call. We’ll see what changes Mike Babcock has in store for Game 4.
A couple other numbers: Lidstrom (27:09), Rafalski (25:53), and Datsyuk (23:24) were the ice time leaders for Detroit. Hamhuis (23:31), de Vries (21:31), and Erat (21:14) for Nashville. Legwand came back strong with five shots tonight (one going in), and I’m sure Trotz will go hard with him on Wednesday night.
Babcock on FSN:
“I thought both times when we were up we got defensive for some reason and didn’t push the pace and go after them.”
“For whatever reason, whether that be the situation or what, we weren’t as good that way. We didn’t spend time on top of their D, they spent more time on top of our D tonight, and you can’t win like that.”
“I thought they had more speed and more tempo to their game tonight… Obviously we’re in a series here: we knew that. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy from the get-go, so we’re in for a real battle.”
“(Hasek) was fine. I thought we gave up too much. You know, we’re up 3-2, and we give up a four-on-three rush there and they score a goal.”
That’ll do it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks again to Christy for letting me in. Be good, and good night.
0:00 - End of Period 3. If you’re holding tickets to Round 1, Home Game 3, you’re going to Joe Louis Friday Night.
0:20 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 10 Erat (1) from Hamhuis (EN).
0:37 - Hasek back out.
0:45 - Hasek goes out, but has to come back out for a faceoff.
0:50 - It’s so loud, they’re struggling with the clock and the whistle.
0:52 - Another face off in the neutral zone. Hasek can’t leave.
1:00 - He stays out there.
1:00 - Time out Detroit. No word yet if they’re going to leave Hasek out there.
1:10 - Tootoo takes a shot, Hasek makes the save, but inexplicably decides not to freeze it and keeps it going, and almost turns it over.
1:43 - Zetterberg tries to dump it in front, but misses and the Preds clear it.
2:13 - Faceoff to the right of Dominic. The Wings look exhausted…panting as the camera pans across the bench.
3:00 - The wings are pressing now, but the Preds keep it in their end. Hasek has to make a quick save.
3:44 - Well, the Wings have their work cut out for them now. The building is extremely loud now, and the Wings can’t keep the puck in their zone.
3:48 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 19 Arnott (1) from Radulov. Right off the face off, Cleary turns it over in the neutral zone, Arnott gets the pass from Radulov, and the Preds score again. It’s 4-3. Oy gevault! And Hasek was beaten again.
3:57 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 20 Suter (1) from Hlavac and Zidlicky. Suter fires a blast from the blue line from the pass from Hlavac, and Hasek is partially screened. We’re tied up again 3-3.
4:22 - Final TV timeout. Shots are 25-24 Red Wings.
4:48 - Erat pulls down Rafalski in the corner to the right of Hasek and the officials’ whistles. The same, however, cannot be said for those train whistles.
5:34 - Lilja does a nice job of breaking up a three-on-two Predators rush.
5:55 - Tootoo hits Chelios hard behind Hasek.
7:20 - Lidstrom and Arnott tied up with each other in the crease while Hasek makes the save.
8:09 - Ken, on the Grand Rapids Griffiths not making the playoffs: “It was a good learning season.” Well, I’d hope so, since they aren’t learning anything sitting at home.
8:38 - We hit the second TV timeout. It’s slowed down quite a bit, and as it’s done so, the fans in Nashville have quieted as well.
10:15 - The Wings are only three games behind the Maple Leafs in all-time postseason games played (524 to 521).
10:29 - Arnott sets up Radulov with a pass as Radulov came to the right side of the goal, but Radulov can’t do anything with it.
12:06 - Stuart with a shot that went off the post, but he raises his stick as if he thought it was in. They go up to Toronto for the review, which confirms it goes the post.
12:15 - Datsuyk with a great shot, but Ellis makes the save.
13:20 - Lidstrom (as Ken noted) is one game behind Steve Yzerman for career Red Wings post-season games (195 for Lidstrom, 196 for Yzerman).
13:28 - TV Timeout.
14:39 - A backhand shot from Holmstrom is pushed aside by Ellis. No one’s really keeping the puck in their zone.
15:53 - Tootoo with a quick shot that goes high over Hasek.
16:16 - A great example of how a mistake can snowball: Stewart tries to clear, but does it by passing it through the crease, where Hlavac intercepts, sets up a teammate, who fires a lame duck 60 footer that catches Hasek off guard, though he makes the save.
16:30 - Franzen and Holmstrom each has three hits tonight, leading the Wings.
17:09 - Arnott gets his stick up and hits Datsyuk in the head, but play continues.
18:05 - Tootoo tries to get Chelios into the boards, but Chelios sees him coming and skates out of the way and Tootoo goes right into the boards.
19:20 - GOAL DETROIT: 13 Datsyuk (1). A turnover in the neutral zone by the Preds gives it to Pavel along the far boards. He uses Filppula as a decoy, and gets a great shot off! 3-2 Wings, and the building deflates.
20:00 - Start of Period 3: They’ve changed the first Nashville goal: it went off Radulov’s stick on the way to the net, so it’s now 47 Radulov (2) from Suter and Zidlicky.
:00 - End of Period 2: The worst period of the series for Detroit. The shots are 19-18 Nashville for the game, 10-8 Detroit in the second.
Time on ice: For Nashville, Dan Hamulis leads the team with 15:34. Legwand is at 9:18, with almost six of those minutes in the second. Trotz may ride him a little harder in the third. No surprise for the Wings: Lidstrom (18:32) and Rafalski (17:03) lead the team.
The faceoffs are 22-20 for Detroit.
Going to the third, the Preds haven’t scored a third-period goal, and have been outshot 26-10.
1:17 - Brian Rafalski takes his time behind Dom to try to get set up. The Wings are frazzled.
2:13 - Fiddler breaks away from two Wings, gets the shot past Hasek, but posts it!
3:17 - Samuelson and Dumont get into some pushing, which causes the fans to boo for a totally non-existent penalty.
3:30 - The “Let’s Go Preds” chant goes up.
3:50 - Fiddler and Bonk go in two-on-one, and Dom makes the nice save. The Wings have absolutely fallen asleep defensively.
4:32 - The Wings didn’t just let the team into the game: they woke up the fans in Nashville.
4:59 - That was Kronwall’s fault on the two-on-one miscue, but also put some blame on Kris Draper, who came out of the play to make a check on Hlavac which led to the two-on-one.
4:59 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 11 Legwand (1) from Dumont and Hlavac. A pretty two-on-one: when Kronwall committed to Dumont, he passed it across to Legwand, and Hasek couldn’t move in time. The joint is jumping now: it’s a 2-2 game.
5:39 - The fans are awakened in Nashville. It sounds loud.
6:22 - Hamhuis gets a blue liner off, capping a strong 30 seconds for the Predators.
7:00 - A helpful hint to the Nashville fans: the “We’re gonna beat the crap out of you” line to Rock & Roll Part 2 is so IHL (and not in a good way).
7:07 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 20 Suter (1) 47 Radulov (2) from Zidlicky and Erat Suter. A shot from Dom’s right about forty feet away deflected off Arnott Radulov, into the net, and it’s 2-1.
7:22 - The power play runs out.
8:34 - Datsyuk with a silly turnover, right onto a Predator’s stick.
9:22 - Penalty Nashville: 19 Arnott (High Sticking). He put Holmstrom face-first into the corner of the net to the left of Ellis. After a first period where the Preds seemed to be getting away with stuff, the stripes are calling it tonight.
9:50 - Zetterberg tries to take a shot, but it’s deflected twice, and Ellis doesn’t have to play it.
10:48 - That’s Hudler’s first career playoff goal.
10:48 - GOAL DETROIT: 26 Hudler (1) from Cleary and Kronwall (PP). A nice set up from the blue line! Kronwall takes a shot, through traffic, which goes off Cleary to the left of Ellis. Hudler’s right there, puts it in the open net, and it’s 2-0 Detroit, and that’s gonna leave a bad taste in Trotz’s mouth. If you think they complained about the officiating before, I’m thinking you ain’t seen nothing yet.
11:35 - The Wings can’t get anything going on this power play.
12:36 - Penalty Nashville: 47 Radulov (Slashing). And the fans in Nashville are livid, as they get the slash, but not the Kronwall elbow to the head of Bonk where he also left his feet. The Nashville fans have every right to be upset. Me thinks Pollock and LaRue can go ahead and make tee times for May.
12:43 - OUCH! Niklas Kronwall with a big shoulder into Radek Bonk who is sluggish to get up. Then Radulov gives a two-hander across the wrist to Zetterberg. Any time Pollock and LaRue want to take control of this game, feel free.
13:16 - Weber with a blue liner that bounces off the boards away from the net, but the crowd ooohs anyway.
13:40 - The other five teams are Calgary, Dallas, New Jersey, Ottawa, and San Jose.
13:48 - TV timeout. Depending on how you want to classify it, these two teams are either (a) playing it cautiously or (b) are as sluggish as dirt.
14:33 - It’s interesting that only seven teams in the NHL have made the playoffs each of the past four seasons, and the Wings and Preds are two of them.
15:42 - Samuelsson with a shot that Ellis swats up into the netting.
16:14 - I’d love to see a hockey game where the officials call it the way Mickey Redmond would want them to call it. Just saying.
17:41 - I’d like Miss Hammond to note that I am following her instructions as I hear those train whistles they blow when Tootoo is on the ice.
18:11 - Hamhuis with a blue-liner that Hasek swats aside. It’s end-to-end.
19:08 - We’re back to five-on-five action.
19:38 - J.P. Dumont with a closed hand with stick strike on Dallas Drake, and still no call.
19:52 - Change on Detroit’s first goal: Make it Rafalski instead of Cleary on the second assist. So it now reads Draper (2) from Hudler and Rafalski.
20:00 - Start of Period 2: Let’s see if Nashville’s gonna be just as physical.
:00 - End of Period 1: Shots are 11-8. Nashville has the chances, but keeps on shooting themselves in the foot. 26 seconds left on the power play.
The Nashville Predators have given back more than seven minutes of power play time over the three games by taking penalties while on the power play. And not great penalties, either.
:08 - Nashville power play
:44 - 4 on 4
1:01 - Lidstrom does a great job of clearing it out of the zone.
1:34 - Penalty Detroit: 40 Zetterberg (Tripping). He sure did: took out Jan Hlavac. We go to four-on-three
2:07 - Penalty Nashville: 10 Erat (Unsportsmanlike Penalty). Incredibly, it happens again! This time, it’s Erat kicking Hasek’s stick away from the crease after Dominic drops it. Sixth time in three games. Trotz is gonna plotz!
2:28 - Suter with a one-timer that Hasek easily handles, and it leaves the zone.
2:45 - Penalty Detroit: 44 Hartigan (Interference). Hartigan pushed Fiddler, who fell into Hasek, which knocked the net off, which stopped play, which caused the arm to go up in the air, which caused the Nashville power play.
2:45 - Fiddler bowls into Hasek, who’s a little slow to get up.
3:30 - A beaut of a defensive play, as Lidstrom reads the play as the Preds enter the offensive zone, try to make the pass, and Lidstrom cuts him off perfectly. There’s a reason the man has to buy a bigger trophy case.
3:42 - Cleary, BTW, is fine and is back out on the ice.
4:40 - Coming out of the TV timeout, they showed Trotz leading his players in some sort of boot camp thing in September. I mention this because you can’t ever imagine any other sport’s players doing something like that.
4:58 - Bonk sets up Radulov with a one-timer, and Hasek makes a nice save as we go to the TV timeout.
5:45 - Ellis is letting go with some long rebounds: 30 feet plus. Dallas Drake nearly cashes in on one.
6:14 - I was wrong: it was Rafalski on the previous one.
6:31 - Nick Lidstrom has twice tonight set up teammates with suicide passes. This time he passes to Filppula, who is blindsided by Dumont.
6:33 - Penalty expires.
7:21 - It’s always interesting to see who advertises on the dasher boards in certain cities. San Jose, for example, has Adobe. In Nashville: Cracker Barrel!
7:52 - Hamuis crosschecked Datsyuk into the boards and got no call. The complaints from Nashville appear to be taking their toll on the officiating, who’s letting the Preds get away with a lot tonight.
8:07 - Someone on the Wings (can’t tell on the replay) nearly gets his head taken off on the boards on a blind pass.
8:55 - Penalty Nashville: 20 Suter (Slashing). A no-doubter when you break the opponent’s stick.
9:32 - Filppula gives up a scoring chance by passing it to Samuelsson, who has it go off his skates.
9:57 - Shots are 7-5 Nashville. I mean, that was a pretty, pretty goal!
10:35 - Ken: Nashville is the worst team in the league when giving up the first goal: 26%.
11:05 - GOAL DETROIT: 33 Draper (2) from Hudler and Cleary Rafalski. A beautiful goal! He holds it, holds it, waits for Ellis to drop, and puts it top shelf with the fine china! 1-0 Detroit.
11:22 - TV timeout time.
11:45 - Back to five-on-five. They replayed the slash: it was a two-hand slash that should’ve been called from mid ice.
11:59 - The Wings are trying to set up the power play, and finally get a shot from Stewart, but Ellis with the save.
12:34 - Fiddler slashes Datsyuk, but no call.
12:48 - Wings power play starts. Zetterberg had three Preds pressuring him against the boards.
13:29 - Mickey says it’s the fifth time. Yipes.
13:54 - Penalty Nashville: 3 Zidlicky (Interference). An odd penalty, but a penalty none the less. That’s the third time this series the Preds have effectively given up a power play with a penalty!
14:31 - Weber with a fast shot from the blue line that Hasek makes a nice save on.
14:51 - Penalty Detroit: 96 Holmstrom (slashing). He got a hold of Dan Hamhuis on his way to the net.
14:52 - Dumont with another high stick, and no call. The refs are letting them get away with stuff.
16:12 - The Predators are really, really physical. Lots of post-pass hits and the like, but no calls.
16:25 - Brad Stuart gets hit open ice by Bonk. Keep your head up, boys!
16:47 - Filppula gets a simple backhander off that Ellis handles off a turnover in the Nashville zone.
17:10 - Lidstrom got away with a high stick on Smithson behind the net.
17:41 - Dan Cleary is slow getting up and will skate gingerly to the bench.
18:09 - Suter shoots it wide of Hasek on Hasek’s left side.
18:18 - Hasek actually stopped it with his left leg. That was a heart-stopper.
18:23 - On a three-on-one, Erat take a shot from Hasek’s right. Hasek stops it, but it lies in front of an open net, and Radulov has a golden chance to put it in, but Dom swings wildly over and stops it!
19:52 - Tootoo hits Rafalski in the Wings zone. That was fast.
20:00 - Start of Period 1: Let’s play hockey!
Pregame - Your officials tonight are Kevin Pollock and Dennis LaRue with the orange armbands, with Brad Lazarowich and Derek Nansen on the lines.
The Predators are unhappy with the officiating: Holmstrom in Game 2, and the non-offsides call in Game 1. Then again, it helps when you score goals.
Some late news: Apparently Barry Trotz will wait until game time to decide what he’s going to do about David Legwand. Legwand didn’t dress for the first two games.
FSN is showing that they’re handing out the headache tubes (rally sticks) at the Sommet Center. Oh joy, oh rapture. And an extra five points if you know what Sommet is (without using Wikipedia).
The NHL made a ruling on the Sean Avery arm-waving incident (YouTube link). If it happens again, it’s considered an unsportsmanlike conduct minor. I love how everyone believes this is some sort of end of civilization moment. It’s Sean Avery, kids! The man’s goal in life is to irritate people.
Ken Daniels noted that Saturday was the first time that Draper and McCarthy both scored in the same playoff game. (I originally said just any game. Oops.) Maltby skated today, but Babcock will hold him until the second round.
Legwand is dressed and will play tonight.
An interesting note from the Nashville press notes: of the eight playoff games in the long, storied history of these two franchises (I’ll pause here while you compose yourself from the laughter), six were decided by two or fewer goals. This means all the stuff I pull up in case we have a snoozer is for naught.
Related Posts
3 Responses to “Game 3 Live Blog: Wings/Predators”
Leave a Reply
April 14th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
[…] (5:21 PM): Joe Hass is liveblogging the game over at Behind the Jersey again. - […]
April 14th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
[…] The Nashville Predators defeated the Detroit Red Wings tonight, 5-3, in Nashville. The final Predators’ goal was an empty netter. For a complete breakdown of what went on during the game, be sure to check out Joe’s live blog here. […]
April 16th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
[…] I can’t promise that my live blog will be as specific as Joe Hass did in the first three games of this series, but I’ll do what I can. The most recent updates can be found at the end of […]