Game 5 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
Joe here. A heads up that I’ll be live blogging tonight’s elimination game! I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to get the score of Game 4, but I’m sure the Wings buried them and Hasek stood on his head. In fact, let me go grab a look at Christy’s Game 4 live blog…
Hmmm…two quick Nashville goals…Hasek pulled…team unnerved. I’m suddenly very itchy…what are these red spots all over me…numbers in my eyes…2003…2006?
Well, stop by at 7:30 as Chris Osgood tries to apply the metaphorical calamine lotion to the annual case of Red Wings playoff collapse fever.
Remember: do not take internally. Follow along after the jump.
Pregame - One internal change: I liked Christy’s flow better than mine, so I’ll be putting the latest entries at the bottom of the blog, so it flows chronologically.
One roster change: Mark Hartigan is out. Darren Helm is in.
Babcock was on Red Wings Live: “The other night, we dominated at the start of the game and, boom, it didn’t go our way. It’s a 60-minute plan, or whatever it takes, you’ve gotta find a way to win.”
Brett Lebda on the pregame: “A lot of people outside this room are pushing the panic button a little bit, but in here, we have veterans who have been in this situation before. Most of us have been in the situation before last year when we played Calgary.” Right, Brett, but those of us who remember Edmonton and Anaheim a few years back have earned the right to hover our finger over the button.
A couple of late scratches for Nashville, and some pretty big ones to boot: Jason Arnott and David Legwand. Legwand only played Games 3 and 4 after the foot injury, and he’s apparently reinjured it. As for Arnott: he has some sort of stomach bug. We’ll see how the Wings react.
And apparently the NHL has handed down yet another late-season interpretation: Al Sobotka is forbidden from waving an octopus over his head after picking it up off the ice. Remember that the NHL technically prohibits this, and the referees are supposed to call a delay-of-game penalty. Wonder if they’re going to be more aggressive about that as well.
No pressure: in NHL history, the team that wins Game 5 to go up 3-2 in a series wins the series a mere 81% of the time. Ha! No pressure at all!
Your officials tonight: Dan O’Halloran and Eric Furlatt with the arm bands, Mike Cvik and Steve Miller on the lines.
I keep hearing over and over again about how the Predators have never won a road playoff game. Having a wife who is a huge Packers fan, let me tell you: streaks break. Quit talking about them.
Late update: Andreas Lilja is also a scratch for the Wings.
The Wings officially have 13 scratches: Emmerton, Lilja, Quincey, Abdelkader, Meech, Maltby, Downey, Ritola,Hartigan, Kindl, Ericsson, Kopecky, and Howard.
The starters tonight: Zanon, Weber, Tootoo, Smithson, Fiddler, and Ellis for the Predators; Cleary, Drake, Stuart, Draper, Kronvall, and Osgood for the Wings.
20:00 - The last time Osgood started a playoff game for the Wings: April 23, 2001 vs Los Angeles. Let’s play hockey!
The Wings lines: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom; Franzen, Filppula, Samuelsson; Hudler, Draper, Cleary; Drake, Helm, McCarty; Lidstrom, Rafalski; Kronwall, Stuart; Lebda, Chelios.
18:47 - Rafalski with a rip from the blue line and an easy save by Ellis.
18:35 - Datsyuk dumps it to Holmstrom who’s right in front of Ellis, but can’t put it away.
17:59 - Ellis channels Hasek, comes out to the left faceoff circle to knock away the puck, but is out of position, leaving a wide open net, but the Wings can’t get the puck to Filppula who’s closest! Ouch!
17:46 - Franzen with a hard shot from the corner of the crease, and Ellis holds it. The Wings are definitely charging the first two-plus minutes.
16:37 - Hordichuck hits Stuart awkwardly in front of the Wings bench.
15:54 - The Wings fans are noticably alive tonight, and without prompting to boot.
15:40 - GOAL DETROIT: 51 Filppula (1) from Kronvall and Franzen. Filppula with a shot from the right face-off dot that goes over the left shoulder of Ellis. Mickey says it’s a bad goal, and I can kinda agree with him. Play continued for a moment or two as the puck went in and bounced out quickly, but the ref was pointing immediately. 1-0 Wings, and the crowd’s really alive!
There was a review, but it was called good.
14:43 - Penalty Detroit: 22 Lebda (Tripping). Fiddler was skating behind Osgood, and Lebda got his stick in there. Nashville goes on the power play: let’s see if they can get two minutes out of it.
13:52 - Cleary with a great breakaway, had Ellis all alone, but Ellis makes the save and holds on.
13:19 - Nashville, BTW, is 2/17 on the power play, which is 14th out of 16 playoff teams.
12:33 - Dan Cleary had his head down and almost paid the piper with a hit, but he gets his stick up to negate it while we go to our first TV timeout.
11:54 - Shots are 6-4 Detroit.
11:27 - Erat and Rafalski collide to the left of Osgood and exchange pleasantries.
10:06 - Zidlicky, near the boards gets hit first by Helm, then by Drake.
10:01 - I think advertising Game 7 tickets when the series is tied 2-2 is like buying Conference Champions t-shirts before the Finals start.
9:25 - The shots are 8-6 Detroit. Samuelsson had a nice shot on Ellis, which he covered without knowing it. If they keep peppering him, they’ll get another one through: Ellis doesn’t look particularly strong.
8:50 - Penalty Nashville: 7 de Vries (Hooking). He hooked Datsyuk. The Wings are 3/19 on the power play, good for 10th in the NHL.
8:00 - Samuelsson with a pretty set up. Unfortunately, it’s to the invisible man.
7:36 - Zetterberg with a quick shot in, Holmstrom swipes away at the rebound, it’s covered by Ellis, and Holmstrom’s reward is a cross-check to the small of the back by Hamhuis.
7:27 - Datsuyk sets up Zetterberg, but he swings and misses.
7:10 - Jerred Smithson had Datsyuk lined up, locked in, but missed and knocked Datsyuk’s stick away from him.
6:52 - I was wrong; Smithson lost his own stick, and Datsyuk had an open net from the side of the goal and couldn’t put it away.
6:36 - We’re back to five-on-five.
6:27 - Suter hip checks Cleary, which should be interference, but isn’t called.
5:57 - de Vries has a chance from the blue line with people screening Osgood, but shoots it left of the net.
5:22 - Zidlicky with another blueliner, this one saved by Osgood.
4:47 - The best part of the game so far: no (expletive deleted) train whistle for Tootoo.
4:16 - Our final TV timeout of the period.
3:38 - Helm is tripped up behind the net, and again no call.
3:19 - Penalty Detroit: 26 Hudler (Interference). A helpful hint to young hockey players: if you’re going to interfere with another player, make sure you don’t do it in the middle of the ice directly in front of an official. Hudler tangles up with Hamhuis, and it’s a Nashville power play (0/1 tonight).
2:35 - Nick Lindstrom with a 135-footer that Ellis has to make a save on.
2:03 - Nashville hasn’t done much with this power play.
1:18 - Back to five-on-five, and Hudler makes a fast shot that Ellis saves.
:19 - Filppula blocks a shot, stays standing, but is wobbly.
:00 - End of Period 1. Bonk held the puck for the last eight seconds, but can’t get a shot off as the green light goes on. It’s 17-8 Detroit on the shot board as we hit the intermission.
Some other stats: the faceoffs are 14-7 Detroit. For Nashville, Jerred Smithson was 0/6 on faceoffs. The hits are 11-6 Nashville: Zanon has 4. Lidstrom is the time-on-ice leader for both teams with 9:35, for Nashville, it’s Martin Erat with 7:36.
20:00 - Start of Period 2. Let’s see if the Wings can keep it going.
19:50 - That’s a good start: Cleary with a quick shot that Ellis has to make a pad save on.
19:37 - Penalty Detroit: 17 Drake (Hooking). Tootoo is skating behind Ellis, and Drake hooks in the midsection. Completely unnecessary. Pointless. And Drake knew it as he skated to the box, looking sheepish. Nashville is 0/2 on the PP.
18:40 - The Wings and Chelios are keeping Nashville from setting anything up. A great penalty kill.
18:17 - Filppula set up by Drake, with a shot that Ellis has to react quickly to for the save.
17:37 - Power play’s over, and I don’t think Nashville got off a shot.
16:54 - Nope…they didn’t.
16:00 - This period definitely has a lower energy level than the first. But Holmstrom shoving Hamhuis into the Wings bench helps perk them up.
15:05 - Nothing’s more exciting than dump and chase hockey, my friends. ::sigh::
14:20 - Cleary with a nice shot from the top of the circle that Ellis stops, then covers up.
13:12 - Fiddler elbows Filppula, and no call. The officials are letting a lot go tonight, which I don’t think helps the Wings that much.
12:36 - Helm sets up Filppula, who gets a shot off that Ellis holds onto as we hit the TV timeout.
12:18 - Smithson passes it up to Bonk to Osgood’s left. Bonk gets off a quick shot that had Osgood fooled, but can’t put it on the net. It passes safely across.
11:30 - For what it’s worth, the FSN guys didn’t do a good job of white balancing the camera in the right corner., so everything looks muddy.
11:07 - Penalty Nashville: 6 Weber (Kneeing). He went knee-to-knee on Franzen, so the Wings will get their second power play of the night.
10:43 - Holmstrom is really close to Ellis, and after Ellis makes three strong saves, Hamhuis starts shoving, and then Fiddler and Datsyuk dance.
10:00 - Halfway through the penalty, and the Wings are applying the pressure.
9:07 - The penalty ends with Bonk putting a rebound back to Osgood, and Chris makes a nice save. Shots are an astounding 28-10 Wings, but as Wings fans are more than aware of, they’re still only one goal up.
8:44 - Coming out of the last time out, I think they’ve announced that Lidstrom takes over the record of most playoff games by a Red Wing, and he gets a nice round of applause.
7:56 - Chelios had his stick up with Hordichuk, puts both hands up, and there’s no call.
7:27 - Hudler to McCarty, and his shot goes just wide. It’s all Red Wings except on the stinking scoreboard.
6:25 - Holmstrom with a nice check into Hamhuis in the corner.
5:27 - Mickey keeps mentioning how the crowd is into it tonight, and I have to agree. Anybody can cheer when the scoreboard tells you to. It’s nice to hear the “Let’s Go Red Wings!” chant in the middle of play. A reminder of how good this town is when it wants to be as we go to the TV timeout.
Nashville has 2 shots this period. Detroit has 16.
4:46 - Franzen is down. He went nose-first into the partition, and he’s on the bench being taken care of for a fat lip. He wasn’t moving much for a moment or two there.
3:43 - McCarty takes Zanon into the boards hard, Zanon loses his stick, and the fans enjoy it.
3:14 - Filppula puts the puck to the net, Samuelsson swats away at Ellis while he tries to cover the puck, and then Franzen gets Weber’s glove in his face with Dumont helping. Filppula and Zidlicky are grabbing hold of each other. No penalties.
2:51 - Smithson gets hit by Stuart open ice.
2:38 - The Wings have a great 2-on-1. Draper goes boring in on Ellis, but doesn’t seem to notice Hudler and puts a shot right on Ellis. And this gets more and more frustrating and nerve-wracking for Wings fans.
2:22 - Lidstrom shoots, Ellis saves, Holmstrom winds up on top of Hamhuis.
1:28 -Nashville hasn’t had a shot in at least 10 minutes. They still only have two shots this period.
:52 - Nashville’s last shot: 9:04 left by Bonk.
:07 - They finally get a shot after an ugly series in which a Wings player loses a stick, and it’s just frustating.
:00 - End of Period 2. And it’s gotta be insanely frustrating for Detroit. They put 20 shots on Ellis, and they come away empty. The shots are 37-11 Detroit for the game.
Meanwhile, there’s that sick feeling in your stomach that we’ve seen this episode before: the Wings will outshoot the opponent by an outrageous amount, but…
Faceoffs are 29-17 Wings. Zetterberg is 11/15 on faceoffs. Lidstrom leads time on ice with 17:07, followed by Rafalski with 14:54 and Zetterberg with 14:23. For Nashville, it’s Hamhuis with 15:05, de Vries with 14:22, and Zanon at 14:06
Bonk has 4 shots for Nashville, while three Wings have 4 shots each: Holmstrom, Franzen, and Rafalski. The hits are 23-18 Nashville.
So the question becomes: which team has the other right where they want them? Do the Wings have the Predators on the ropes, unable to land the knockout? Does Nashville, having held off 37 shots and Ellis starting to have that shine that gives Wings fans chills, know they’re just one flurry away from taking this game back (and knowing they’ve had that furry in every game of the series)?
20:00 - Start of Period 3: I wonder how Christy’s doing at the game?
19:18 - Datsyuk has a magnificent shot, but Ellis gets his pad down and stops it!
18:12 - The fans start the Let’s Go Red Wings chant again, with an air of desperation. Shots: 42-11.
17:06 - Hordichuck puts the puck on the doorstop of Osgood, who thinks about it a beat before putting a pad on it. They replayed the Datsyuk shot: it went through Ellis’s five hole but hit the far post.
16:26 - Zidlicky had a shot that did something weird, and Osgood jumped up to play it. And Mickey nails it: the Wings fans aren’t used to seeing a 1-0, grind-’em-out game.
15:30 - Holmstrom ends a three-on-two with a shot that Ellis has to make a fast save on. And the fans are silent…on edge…you can hear the tension in the building.
14:35 - Franzen to Filppula, who can’t get the shot away. The shots are 45-13. I’m getting sick. Nashville is doing nothing but dump-and-chase.
13:23 - Icing by the Wings brings a TV timeout, and no change as we go to break.
Quickly: shots 46-13 Detroit, hits 25-18 Nashville, faceoffs 32-20 Detroit. Franzen and Holmstrom each have six shots.
12:42 - The Wings have a 9-3 shot advantage in the third.
12:05 - Fiddler hits Stuart, and Stuart wasn’t expecting it, almost turning the puck over in the process.
9:35 - This is as tense as I’ve ever seen…the Wings just can’t put them away, and the fans must be choking on tension in the building.
9:11 - Samuelsson has two great chances, but Ellis stops the first and the second goes away.
8:47 - The puck is lying in front of a tied-up Osgood, and someone swipes it away. The “Oz-zie” chant starts up. 46-15 the shots.
8:02 - Smithson hits McCarty, who pushes him back, and Hordichuk wants a piece of McCarty, who skates away. We’re overdue for the TV timeout
Shots are 47-16 Detroit. Franzen and Holmstrom each with six. I mean, this is just torture.
FWIW: it’s a full building tonight. A really full building.
7:25 - You know, I’m reminded of something Gregg Easterbrook often writes on Tuesday Morning Quarterback: when you’re in the lead, the clock is your friend. And the Preds seem to think they have all the time in the world, which the way they’ve played is both true and false.
6:24 - Datsyuk with a shot at a Predator. A faceoff in the neutral zone.
5:59 - Cleary with quite the hit on Suter, who looks for some sort of acknowledgement and gets none.
4:40 - Dumont with a shot from Osgood’s left, he covers it, and we reach the final TV timeout. Shots: 49-16 Detroit. Lidstrom’s up to 22:33 on ice time.
Faceoffs are 35-21 Detroit.
4:13 - Lidstrom sets up Datsyuk, who hits the outside of the far post beyond Ellis.
3:42 - Penalty Nashville: 10 Erat (Delay Of Game). After two great shots by Samuelsson, Erat drives to the net and very deliberately knocks the net off. The Wings go on their 3rd powerplay of the night.
2:50 - Zetterberg with a shot that trickles past Ellis.
2:06 - Holmstrom misses a shot. Zetterberg has had two great chances! Dear heavens, thank goodness this is almost over!
1:25 - Empty net Nashville.
1:06 - Osgood with a stoppage. A great chance, and the Oz-zie chant continues. Time out Nashville. Deep breaths!
Shots are 53-19.
:44 - GOAL NASHVILLE: 14 Bonk (1) from Dumont and Peverley. From behind the net, they set up Bonk, and he puts it in. I have nothing else to say. The building is almost dead silent.
:00 - End of Period 3. And there are a smattering of boos as the teams leave the ice. The shots are 53-20. It’s extra hockey. And the Predators feel wonderful. And the building is quiet.
I mean, I’m sitting here in front of my computer totally stunned. The Wings put 53 shots on Dan Ellis, and only get one past him (and that was an ugly goal that Ellis should’ve stopped).
Zetterberg during the intermission: “We had the chances, we just didn’t put them away.” And he sounded like a beaten man while he was saying it.
Time on ice: Lidstrom 25:49, Zetterberg 22:58, Rafalski 22:54. Samuelson leads the forwards with 17:47. For Nashville, it’s Erat with 22:12 and Hamhuis with 21:56.
Franzen with 8 shots, Samuelsson, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom each have 6. Bonk leads Nashville with 5.
Faceoffs are 37-26 Detroit. Zetterberg is 13/20. For Nashville, Fiddler is 11/18.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Wings come out for the overtime. How much energy they have in relation to the Preds.
20:00 - Start of 1st Overtime. Here we go.
18:40 - One thing I noted: there was a lot of long stretches of play in the third. We’ll see how that affects the teams here.
18:12 - GOAL DETROIT: Franzen (2) from Kronwell. An incredible play! Filppula uses his stick to take Suter’s stick off the puck, and it goes to Franzen, who’s all alone and doesn’t miss! 2-1 is your final!
And the crowd gives hearty cheers to Osgood (second star), and Franzen (first star). Dan Ellis gets the third star, and you can’t blame him.
The shots are 1-1 in overtime, to end up 54-21 Detroit.
And they showed Franzen’s goal again, and boy, he could’ve done a lot of things that wouldn’t have resulted in a goal, but he used a nice, soft touch.
Osgood: “I had a great feeling all night the way we were playing, grinding away, that we were gonna come out victorious tonight. I don’t doubt us, ever.”
On the chants at him: “That’s special. I always feel like I was… I’m a Detroiter now. Been here for 15 years, plan on living here the rest of my life, hopefully that’s long. I love playing here and just want to get where we want to go.”
And this town loves you, Chris.
I hope Dominic enjoys his seat, because he’s going to be there for the rest of the playoffs.
They replay Franzen’s game-winner in overtime from March on Dan Ellis. Predators are gonna have nightmares on him.
Lindstrom: “It was tough when they got that equalizer late in the third period, but we said here before going out for that overtime period that we have to continue to play like we have. We had a lot of chances pushing their D back, getting a lot of shots on the goalie, and we can’t let up now. We’re so close. Just to go all the way, so we can’t let up, we have to continue to go after them. And that’s how we created that turnover, too.”
When someone said to Nick there was no panic: “I thought it was more determination, or maybe desperation a little bit, too.”
Some final stats: Lidstrom with 26:24 TOI, Stuart with 23:55. For Nashville, Hamhuis was 22:43, Zanon with 22:42. The hits ended up 33-24 Nashville. Faceoffs were 39-26 Detroit.
I’m going to head off, folks. Thanks again to Christy for the use of the space. Finish chugging your Maalox, get to bed, and we’ll regroup Sunday at 3:00 pm ET.
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