Game 6 Live Blog: Wings/Predators
It’s Joe again. I’ll be liveblogging Game 6 today at 3:00 ET. As an added bonus, we get the CBC to boot!
See if Christy can make dinner plans Tuesday night after the jump.
Your officials today: Marc Joannette and Tim Peel as the referees, Vaughan Rody and Jay Sharrers as the linesman, and Ayana the German Shepherd as the liveblogger’s timekeeper.
One hopefully-unnecessary comment: if there’s a need for a game on Tuesday, it is a 7:00 p.m. ET start.
George Malik who runs the Snapshots blog over at mlive notes that somehow Nashville drawing 3,000 for showing the game on the big screen at the Sommet Center is cause for some to annoint them with “street cred.” A helpful hint: How ’bout winning a road playoff game, or maybe an elimination game? Any of those things would be swell.
The WDIV preview says that Jason Arnott is not in the lineup. I’m waiting for the NHL site to update the rosters.
An interesting fact: in the second and third periods of this series, the Wings are outshooting the Preds 141-69, but the Preds have scored one more goal (10-9).
They think Arnott may be suffering from post-concussion syndrome from the celebration after the fourth goal of game 3.
From the it’s irrelevant but it’s nice to think about file: Since 1996, the Wings have played 10 Game 6s with a 3-2 series lead. They’ve won every one of them, with 8 on the road.
Legwand is in warm-ups, but he’s still a game-time decision.
Katrina Hancock just informed us that the keys for the Wings are: “Keep shooting the puck, pressure Dan Ellis, win the faceoffs, and take advantage of the power plays.” Your special subject is the bleeding obvious, isn’t it, Katrina?
That 53-shots-in-regulation performance set the Wings record for most shots in regulation in a playoff game in Wings history.
The teams are a combined 5/42 on the power play (11%).
For some reason, WDIV has decided to keep talking while CBC is actually going to show the game! Thank heavens for living near Canada.
The funniest thing just happened on the CBC telecast: Ron MacLean threw it to Scott Oake at Nashville, who was setting the scene in the stands at Sommet. You see a gentleman in a big yellow Preds jersey, and the first thing you hear is the guy asking Oake if he wants a beer! I’m beginning to take a shine to these Nashville fans after all!
Oake did add that the Preds have admitted that Arnott is, indeed, suffering from a concussion, and would also be unlikely to play in a game Tuesday.
They’ve posted the rosters: Legwand will play.
No changes for Detroit. The four scratches for Nashville: Koistinen, Klein, Arnott, Bochenski.
The starters: Detroit - Cleary, Drake, Stuart, Draper, Kronvall, Osgood; Nashville - Zidlicky, Erat, Bonk, Suter, Radulov, Ellis.
Alright: this is starting to irritate me. If you’re going to advertise a 3:00 start, then I kinda expect a 3:00 start, not a 3:25 start. I understand you want to appease your television overlords, but some of us actually, you know, expect you to tell us when the game’s supposed to start.
20:00 - Start of Period 1: Let’s play hockey at 3:20 p.m.!
The lines:
* Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom
* Franzen/Filppula/Samuelsson
* Hudler/Draper/Cleary
* Drake/Helm/McCarty
* Lidstrom/Rafalski
* Kronwall/Stuart
* Lebda/Chelios
19:00 - Legwand in alone on Osgood, and Osgood makes the nice save. He shot it right at Osgood’s stomach.
18:43 - Oh, no…not that whistle again.
17:50 - Lebda dumps it in, and Ellis plays it behind the net. It’s a lot of dump and chase.
16:46 - The Wings have had a couple of careless turnovers in front of Osgood that haven’t burned them, but they’ve gotta be more careful.
16:17 - Legwand gets a deflecting and fires a wrister to Osgood, and gets the rebound but does nothing with it.
15:53 - Weber with a long shot, but Legwand’s right in front with the rebound and Osgood makes another great save. They’re putting a lot of pressure on Osgood, and the Wings can’t get it out.
15:26 - Tootoo and Stuart are tangled up in the corner to the right of Osgood.
14:43 - Helm with a takeaway in the zone, gets off the shot that deflects past Ellis. The Wings had about 30 seconds of sustained pressure, but nothing come of it.
13:58 - Samuelsson skates right in front of the net with it, but just can’t get the backhander off.
13:43 - Filppula puts a lazy shot on Ellis, but Ellis can’t glove it. Fortunately for him, no Wings are behind him.
13:25 - Radulov puts the puck in front, and the Prefs get a couple chances on it. Osgood can’t get his hands on it to stop play.
12:36 - Ellis finally gloves it. We went 6-plus minutes without a whistle!
12:16 - Helm with a slap shot from the blue line and Ellis is screened but makes the save.
11:58 - Stuart tries to setup Hudler on a long pass, but Hudler doesn’t have possession when he crosses the blue line.
11:14 - Rafalski and Dumont exchange stick taps after Osgood holds onto a shot.
9:53 - Samuelson with a shot from the top of the circle to the left of Ellis, and he kicks it away.
9:31 - Smithson is in with Stuart on him, and Stuart breaks it up. Nice job!
9:18 - Second TV timeout: shots are 7-6 Wings.
8:37 - Zidlicky catches a clearing pass, takes the shot that Osgood saves and holds onto. After the play, there’s some feistiness in front of the net: Chelios spears Dumont right in the groin.
7:48 - Holmstrom and Hlavac go into the boards hard to Osgood’s left, and Holmstrom takes the brunt of it.
7:16 - Zetterberg sets up Lidstrom, who fires into a crowd but misses wide.
6:34 - Tootoo and Chelios push each other after Ellis holds a shot. This hasn’t been a pretty first period. Not physical, difficulties in clearing.
5:57 - Chelios has the puck, and the crowd boos. He’s making friends quickly around here.
5:36 - Penalty Nashville: 11 Legwand (Cross Checking). Helm and Hudler are working the puck in the corner, and Legwand gives Helm a swat in the back. Let’s see if Detroit can get the power play going.
5:08 - Rafalski with a shot from center ice that Ellis has to knock away.
4:40 - Holmstrom with a shot from the left faceoff that hits Ellis in the mask.
4:10 - This has been a big bust of a power play so far. Almost as much time in front of Osgood as Ellis.
3:41 - And it almost got a whole lot worse: Hlavac gets a turnover, goes in all alone on Osgood, and misses wide! Thank heavens this power play is over.
3:05 - Legwand with another takeaway, he goes in alone, and Osgood holds it. The Wings are playing like crap, and Osgood is keeping the Wings in this thing.
2:57 - Legwand from six feet out posts it!
2:43 - The Preds slide the puck right in front of Osgood, who doesn’t see it, but there’s no one who can take advantage of it.
2:35 - Now it’s a two-on-one for the Wings and Zetterberg tries to skate cross-ice, but he loses the puck and Ellis makes the easy save. This is insanely frustrating for Wings fans.
2:00 - Shots are 9-9.
1:56 - McCarty with a great set up to Hudler, who can’t get the shot off.
1:38 - Filppula has a wide-freaking-open net and doesn’t get it in…shoots it wide. I can hear the expletives from the neighbor’s house.
0:55 - After Lidstrom dumps in the puck, the Wings get a chance but Ellis holds on. Holmstrom and de Vries get into it to Ellis’s left.
0:12 - Weber and Franzen both go for the puck, and Franzen gets sent for a ride and falls to the ice.
0:00 - End of Period 1: But before we go to the lockerrooms, Radulove and Samuselsson get into a shoving match, which brings all the boys on the ice to the scrum. Sticks are raised, there’s pushing. Kronwell has Bonk by the scruff.
0:00 - Penalties: Detroit: 37 Samuellson (4 Minutes Roughing); Nashville: 47 Radulov (Roughing). The Preds will start the second on the power play.
The shots are 10-9 Detroit. Hits are 13-7 Nashville. Faceoffs are 9-8 Nashville.
If you’re the Wings, it was an ugly period. They didn’t look composed, they turned the puck over a lot. It was a bad 20 minutes.
20:00 - Start of Period 2: Helm will sit in the box with Samuelsson.
18:34 - The Preds can’t get anything going on the power play. Dumont has one shot that goes high, but they can’t keep sustained pressure.
18:00 - Penalty expires. They try to set up Erat, but he can’t fire.
17:26 - Lebda takes a shot from in front of the blue line, Ellis stops it, but there’s no one there to get the rebound.
17:07 - Penalty Nashville: 5 Zanon (Slashing). When you break your opponent’s stick with yours, you’re gonna get that call. Wings are 0/1 on the power play.
16:00 - Wings are doing a lot of setting up, but not a lot of shooting.
15:20 - Zetterberg was trying to do something fancy, and allows Ellis to set up. To make matters worse, it was a tired Preds line that was in no position to do anything about it.
15:08 - Back to five-on-five. And Tootoo takes a shot and Osgood saves and holds.
14:50 - They just shared the fact that they sell those train whistles at the rink. So the NHL has no problem with a team selling whistles, but heaven forbid a team official touch an octopus.
13:41 - Rafalski is taking his time going up the ice, only to lose the puck nine feet in front of Osgood. Fortunately, the puck goes right back to Osgood for the hold and save as we go to the first TV timeout. Shots are 14-10 Wings.
13:09 - Samuelson takes a shot, it hits a Predator stick, and Filppula has it land on his stick, and guess what he does? Fires a weak shot that Ellis makes the easy save and covers. Good thing I bought extra Maalox after Game 5.
12:12 - Peverley has a clean breakaway with nothing between him and Osgood, and he loses the puck! He’ll have nightmares about that for a couple nights.
11:22- Penalty Nashville: 6 Weber (Slashing). They didn’t show the replay, so we’ll have to take it on blind faith it was a solid call. Wings are 0/2 on the power play with 5 shots.
10:48 - Are the fans there yelling “They still suck?” after the penalty announcement of a Detroit Power Play? Are we playing this at Yost? If so, why wasn’t this part of my Michigan Hockey package?
9:40 - The shots are 11-2 in this period for Nashville. Fat lot of good that’s done for us.
9:15 - Back to five-on-five. Three shots on that power play.
9:07 - Second TV timeout. Shots are 22-11.
8:13 - A scary replay: Erat hit Helm into the boards, which tied up Helm. Helm falls slightly, getting his skates up into Erat’s face.
7:33 - The Wings are getting the shots, Ellis is letting up the rebounds, but the Wings aren’t doing much with the rebounds, and that’s where they’ve gotta capitalize.
6:55 - Nichol gets away and puts a shot on Osgood, but he makes an easy sweep.
6:23 - Penalty Detroit: 24 Chelios (Slashing). He got his stick up into Tootoo, and it’s a Nashville power play.
6:18 - GOAL DETROIT: 5 Lidstrom (2) from Zetterberg (SH). An insanely flukey goal from 120-feet! Lidstrom tries to put the puck in, it takes a bounce, and it goes over Ellis’s left shoulder. 1-0 Wings. And that’s two bad goals in two games off Ellis.
5:17 - Penalty Detroit: 33 Draper (Tripping). He trips Erat, and we’ll have five-on-three for about 50 seconds.
5:06 - Weber with a shot that’s blocked nicely.
4:23 - Back to five-on-four.
3:31 - The Predators are trying to set up, but nothing’s there.
3:14 - The Wings kill the penalties nicely! Great job with your best penalty-killer in the box.
2:49 - A three-on-one for Detroit, and Helm’s shot deflects wide.
2:23 - Helm with a nice open-ice hit on Weber.
2:18 - We’re overdue for the final TV timeout. Shots are 27-13 Detroit, 17-4 in the period. And it really should be no score if not for the ugly goal.
1:39 - Smithson puts Drake into the boards, Smithson follows that up with a push to the back of the head, and they’ll stop play for of all things, a hand pass. Drake’s laughing at the hit.
1:18 - Rafalski with a blue liner that gets deflected wide.
1:05 - Datsuyk gets the shot away, then gets pushed into Ellis to knock off the net.
There’s a review on whether the puck went into the net.
It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think you’re gonna get conclusive evidence that the puck went in before the net came off.
They, indeed, do wave it off.
0:52 - A backhander by Samuselsson is stopped and held by Ellis.
0:00 - End of Period 2: And you’ve gotta feel for Dan Ellis. He’s saved 30/31 shots, and that’s not good enough. Shots in that period are 21-4 Detroit, for a total of 31-13.
Nick leads all for ice time with 17:09 over 17 shifts. Rafalski has 16:23, and Zetterberg with 13:55. For the Preds, Hamhuis with 15:25, Erat with 15:21, and Dumont has the most among non-defenseman with 12:22.
Hits are 17-12 Nashville. Faceoffs are 22-19 Nashville. Lidstrom has the most shots with 4.
Kelly Hrudy thinks the Predators went off the rails after that goal. As I think about it, he’s right. And they’ve got a whopping 20 minutes to get it together.
That goal puts Lidstrom into a tie with Ray Borque for third-most postseason goals by a defenseman with 41. He’s got a ways to go to catch numbers one and two: Paul Coffey at 59 and Dennis Potvin at 56.
20:00 - Start of Period 3: 20 minutes away.
19:10 - Rafalski takes a shot from the blue line that blows up his stick.
18:59 - Penalty Nashville: 47 Radulov (Tripping). He takes out Datsyuk behind Osgood, and the Wings will get the man advantage. They’re 0/3 with 8 shots.
18:37 - Franzen takes a shot from point-blank, and Ellis lies down, slides over and makes the acrobatic save.
17:18 - Wings are putting more pressure on Ellis, buttrying to get a good chance. Zetterberg has an okay shot, but Ellis pushes it away.
17:13 - Legwand goes in one-on-one with Lidstrom, gets the shot away on Osgood, who lets Legwand have the rebound for another shot that he saves again! Hearts start beating again!
16:55 - The penalty expires. They had three more shots on that power play.
16:08 - GOAL DETROIT: 26 Hudler (2) from Helm. A turnover in the neutral zone bites Nashville in the behind, and Helm skates in, sets up Hudler, who beats Ellis on his left side. 2-0 Detroit.
15:02 - The Predators look sluggish. The crowd is quiet. That was a great shot, a legit goal, and the Preds seem on their heels.
14:41 - Bonk blocks a shot, and skates gingerly to the bench. He’s in a bit of pain.
14:04 - Drake tries to set up Cleary in front of the net, but misses him by the width of a puck.
13:24 - First TV timeout. Shots are 37-15.
12:50 - Nashville is getting the puck up, but they’re only getting one shot when they get in the zone (if they’re lucky). No sustained rush.
11:10 - For a team that’s two goals down, they’re not showing any sense of urgency. Then again, we know how quickly they can score two goals.
10:35 - Zidlicky has a chance from the blue line, but Osgood is up for the challenge.
9:07 - Cleary with a 30-footer that Ellis gloves for our second TV timeout. Shots are 37-15. Nashville seems mildly disinterested.
8:02 - It’s end-to-end. Samuelsson has a two-on-one, but simply loses the puck. No one’s doing anything sustained on either team.
7:28 - Harry Neale just nailed it: on the 15-foot rushes for the puck, the Wings are winning almost every one of them. Shots are 40-16.
6:50 - It’s a physical battle now. Three or four hits, including an open-ice shot by Kronwall on Nichol. After Ellis holds the puck, there’s more conversation.
5:40 - Franzen takes a hard shot that goes just to the left of Ellis and hits the boards.
5:16 - We hit the final TV timeout. Legwand has 5 shots for the Preds out of their 16. The Wings have 11 players with at least three shots.
3:58 - Hamhuis just gets out of a way of a hard Holmstrom check into the corner.
3:05 - Nashville tries twice to center the puck in front of Osgood, but it’s blocked twice.
2:28 - The play stays in the Detroit end, so Ellis isn’t going anywhere.
1:50 - Datsyuk fires a great backhander that Ellis stick-saves into the mesh.
1:37 - Empty net, Nashville.
0:34 - A couple chances on the empty net. Nashville can’t do much.
0:05 - GOAL DETROIT: 28 Rafalski (1) (EN).
0:00 - End of Period 3: The Wings the game 2-0 and win the series 4-2! You have to give a big hand to Dan Ellis, who did everything to keep this team into the season. But you’ve gotta give a bigger hand to Chris Osgood, who has taken over the helm in a magnificent manner! And the Wings get to enjoy a couple extra days of rest.
A nice moment: the Predators players go to center ice and raise their sticks to their fans.
The shots end up 43-20 Detroit. They’ll face Colorado or Calgary in the second round.
As stressful as this series wound up being, it worked out really well for Detroit. They were high-pressure games, and the Wings showed they could take it, especially against a hot goaltender.
I have to cut it short tonight. Thanks as usual to Christy for the space. We’ll look forward to seeing you for Game 1 later in the week. Good afternoon.
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5 Responses to “Game 6 Live Blog: Wings/Predators”
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April 20th, 2008 at 11:07 am
[…] (11:07 PM): Behind the Jersey liveblog is here and PredJoe has pregame thoughts here. - […]
April 20th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
We all know I love Kronner, but he has had some crappy passes today. Ozzie is certainly playing well for us and covering when the Wings make those dumb mistakes…
April 20th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Did anyone else feel like they were watching a CCHA college game when they were watching the games in Nashville? They have all the typical college chants going on. The “they still suck,” the “thank you”, etc. Come on now. This is the NHL, we don’t play that way here. I do have to say, I like the stick salute at the end of the game. It shows that the team appreciates the fans, and how the fans are a big part in their success.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:38 am
[…] Behind the Jersey […]
April 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
[…] will have a game recap/roundup later this evening after work, but until then be sure to read Joe’s live blog of Game […]