Thoughts on Game #2: Wings 3, Pens 0
What a game! The Wings are up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals and it feels amazing to be able to say that. Now the Wings still have two more wins to earn and they are heading to Pittsburgh where the fans at Mellon Arena hope to make it difficult for Detroit. If Detroit can get one of the two games there, I would consider the road trip quite a success. But Game #3 isn’t until tomorrow so let’s take a look back at what happened last night at Joe Louis Arena in the 3-0 Detroit victory.
Impressive. I’m not sure how else to describe Valtteri Filppula’s amazing goal in the third period. Take a look in the clip below.
And who got an assist on that goal? The man, the myth, the legend. Ah yes, Johan Franzen is back ladies and gentlemen.
Filppula had quite a game between an assist on the game winning Brad Stuart goal, a beauty of a goal himself, and I remember him clearing the puck on quite a few key penalty kills as well. In his 15:45 of ice time, Filppula was a +2 and won 53% of his 15 face offs. Not too shabby.
Now onto the goaltender that has Penguin fans all riled up and who causes Wings’ fans to break out in chants after every big save, Chris Osgood. From Pens’ head coach Michael Therrien to the bloggers at Pensblog, they are calling Osgood a diver. Here’s the moment they are referring to:
I see Petr Sykora leaning his shoulder into Chris Osgood causing him to lose his balance. Did he embellish his fall? I think so. Was he hit though by Sykora? Yes.
Here’s what Therrien had to say about the Wings’ so-called obstruction and Osgood’s “dive”:
Question: You had a conversation with Malkin about him being the leader in this game. How do you explain him having zero shots in this game?
Michel Therrien: It’s really tough to generate offense against that team. They’re good on obstruction. It’s going to be tough to generate any type of offense, if the rules remain the same. So it’s the first time we’re facing a team that the obstruction is there, and we’re having a hard time skating to take away ice.
We took two penalties tonight on the goalie. We never take penalty to the goalie in the playoff. I’ll tell you something, I reviewed those plays. He’s a good actor. He goes to players, and he’s diving. Took away our power play. Got to get focused. I know our players are frustrated right now. It’s tough to play the game. But Osgood did the same thing against Dallas under Ribeiro.
Our team never go to goalie. We never did it. And we don’t target the goalie. But this is, want to talk about experience, he goes to players, and he knows what to do, I guess.
I think Therrien needs to focus on why Malkin has only gotten one shot on goal in two games this series instead of worrying about the so-called obstruction.
Is Osgood’s play worthy of the Conn Smythe Trophy?
James Mirtle ponders this very question and notes the following:
Chris Osgood’s GAA, after last night’s shutout, is 1.38.
No netminder, in NHL history, has won eight playoffs games or more and posted a GAA under the 1.61 Martin Brodeur had in 2000.
Osgood’s save percentage, too, is way up there at .939, better than all but three netminders have managed in postseason history among those with eight or more wins. (Giguere’s .945 is the gold standard here.)
Now, there’s no question Osgood’s had a terrific season, the best of his career I would argue (which is interesting given he’s making just $800,000 at age 35), but there’s no question he’s benefited in these playoffs from the fact he sees so little rubber. …
What the question really comes down to is, on a team dominated by defence, puck possession and strong special teams, one that allows as few shots as the Red Wings do, can the goaltender be the MVP?
Obviously Osgood can only stop what’s thrown his way, but at what point are low save totals high enough to warrant the postseason’s top individual honour?
In my opinion, Nicklas Lidstrom is the MVP for this team. But will he win the Conn Smythe? Highly unlikely. Mirtle called him a “boring superstar” last week and it’s so true. He is our best player. If you were to remove one Wing from the line-up, Lidstrom’s loss would hurt our team the most. Despite that, he doesn’t bring enough flash to his game to warrant the Conn Smythe. The only defenseman I could see winning it would be Niklas Kronwall because he leads NHL defensemen in offensive points this postseason and draws attention with those big hits of his.
However, I see either a forward like Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk winning it. If Johan Franzen had not missed six games with the concussion-like symptoms, I would have pegged him as my top choice for the honor. Osgood definitely has a strong chance if he keeps up his strong goaltending, but the number of shots he faces each game may hurt his chances at the Conn Smythe.
Speaking of Pavel Datsyuk…
He played a terrific game and we saw him continue to be physical. Before last night’s game, he surprisingly led the team in hits. Last night? He had three hits, won both of his face offs, finished +1, and had five shots on goal.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Datsyuk throw a couple punches at Gary Roberts (!) in the scrum that ensued after the Sykora and Osgood incident with a little over a minute remaining in the game (see the YouTube clip above).
The guys from Melt Your Face Off wrote this entertaining recap of the scrum in their game review for Deadspin:
Osgood, in turn, one-upped Franzen. With 1:15 remaining in the game and no chance for a Penguins comeback, Osgood pulled a Madame Butterfly and died when Petr Sykora lightly grazed him. Soon afterward, Brooks Orpik tangled with Andreas Lilja, Franzen (still cured!) pounded Malkin, and Roberts lost a quick battle with Pavel Datsyuk. Pens fans, your hero lost to a Lady Byng finalist. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Earlier in the third, Ryan Malone hit his Eurotwin, Henrik Zetterberg, and Datsyuk stepped in to defend his best friend. Just a joy to watch between his fantastic stick work and physical play. He has truly come into his own over the past two seasons.
Bruce MacLeod had similar thoughts on Pavel’s play last night:
What a ridiculous goon cheap-shot by Gary Roberts skating up from behind — from behind — and clocking Johan Franzen. No honor whatsoever. Of course seeing Roberts’ face after Pavel Datsyuk threw punches at him was priceless. Actually, better than Roberts’ face was Brett Lebda’s smile when he saw Datsyuk taking on Roberts. And a beautiful job by Datsyuk of answering Ryan Malone’s late hit on Henrik Zetterberg in the third period. …
I’m still not sure why Datsyuk and Zetterberg didn’t get more MVP attention this season. I’m not just saying this because they’re outplaying Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa in this series. At the end of the regular season I asked why Datsyuk wasn’t an MVP finalist after finishing fourth in the league in scoring and being a finalist for best defensive forward. Three forwards were named as finalists (including Malkin). There aren’t three forwards more valuable than Datsyuk or Zetterberg. And if you’re curious, I gave Datsyuk my first vote for the Selke and voted for Datsyuk as a Hart finalist behind Alexander Ovechkin.
BTJ readers: Who would you select as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner IF the Wings were able to win the Cup?
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One Response to “Thoughts on Game #2: Wings 3, Pens 0”
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May 28th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I agree. I see Zetterberg or Pavel walking away with the honor IF (we’re all superstitious) the Wings win it all. And in a close race I’d give the nod to Datsyuk. Hank has been great this postseason, but it always looks to me as if Datsyuk is constantly making something out of nothing. If you’re not going to give the Conn Smythe to a Wings defenceman (their passes have largely been the reason Detroit gains the zone so easily) I’d give it to him. Throwing his body around, sticking up for his teammates, and being near unstoppable on the puck. He leads by example and always seems to spark everyone else. As they say in the, I think, old Virginia Slims ads, you’ve come a long way baby. If he put the disappearing label to rest last year, then this year he has rubbed salt in the critics’ faces.
Unsung hero? Dallas Drake. I wish he’d played for us all these years. The guy is fearless. He’s like Gary Roberts with talent and class.
And speaking of, could this be the unraveling we’ve come to know so well of past playoff foes the Wings have stymied? It would be hilarious, the whole Wings are obstructing comment, if not for it being the most ironic statement said in the history of the world. I remember the years when there really was obstruction in Wings playoff games. And it was always the opposing team slowing down our players! Sorry but if both teams are getting called for bringing their sticks parallel to the ice and getting nailed for hooking then I seriously doubt there’s much obstructing going on. Guess it depends on your definition of obstruction. You know, playing great positional defense and limiting the other teams chances. By all means then, guilty as charged.