Wing defeat Predators, 4-3
The first two periods of tonight’s game were by far the most enjoyable hockey I’ve seen since the Wings started losing a lot in early February. Okay so I really only saw the second period, but from what I heard both periods were great. Plus, the game was sold out and the crowd was noticeably louder, which is always great to hear.
How great is it now that Nicklas Lidstrom is back? Even a rusty Lidstrom makes such a different. Lids got two assists. BTJ favorite Niklas Kronwall earned two assists.
Johan Franzen was named first star of the game after scoring twice tonight.
Defenseman Brad Stuart scored his first goal since joining the Red Wings at the trade deadline and he received a nice round of applause from the crowd when Budd Lynch announced that it was his first goal in the winged wheel.
The third period was definitely not anything to write home about as the team allowed three goals within the last ten minutes of the period.
Dominik Hasek made 20 saves on 23 shots. He was in character tonight between getting a delay of game penalty and then trying to get to the puck behind the net and then getting “hit” upon which we saw a lovely embellishment from the crazy Czech. And while that craziness can sometimes drive you mad, it is when Dom is in his element that he truly shines. That’s the attitude we want in the playoffs. It’s crazy, but it works.
Wings defeat Sharks, 6-3
Last night, the Detroit Red Wings started out their father-son three game road trip on the right foot with a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Jon @ Sharkspage was taking photographs at last night’s game and you can view his great photo gallery here.
Niklas Kronwall - Photo taken by Jon @ Sharkspage
BTJ favorite defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored his fifth goal of the season last night. Last year Kronner only registered 22 points, he’s already up to 25 offensive points this season. His older brother Mattias came along with Kronwall on the road trip.
But Kronvall put Detroit back on top midway through the second when Ozolinsh deflected his centering pass into the net. Detroit added the two power-play goals from Lidstrom and Holmstrom.
“When they tied it up, they kept coming pretty hard,” said Lidstrom, who added two assists. “Once we got that goal I think that settled them down a little bit and got them back on their heels. It gave us a boost.”
As IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman mentioned, the Wings are kind of owning Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov lately. Nabokov is now 0-6-1 against Detroit in his last seven games.
San Jose? You thought the Wings were dancing in Marty Turco’s head? Yeah, but he’s only one guy. The Sharks entire organization is now officially…affected. …
Yeah. You do Nabby. Four straight penalties in the second (even the one resulting from Hasek’s embarrassing tumble to the ice) didn’t help. Look. Hasek’s ours. We appreciate his insanity. It’s grown on us. But there are times you just turn away and pretend thing don’t happen. When Hasek dove, I just kind of started rocking back and forth, thinking of other images that make me happy. Blocks of cheddar, puppies, ships at sea.
And yes, it was a ridiculous tumble. I just laughed and said to myself, “That’s our crazy Czech.” When Hasek is acting insane like that, you know he’s playing in his zone and things are going well.
Wings lose third straight game, 5-1
Well, that sucked.
Detroit lost their third straight game tonight, 5-1, when they faced the Atlanta Thrashers at home.
It’s midnight and I have class at 8am so I will update this post hopefully later Wednesday afternoon. Feel free to leave any comments about the game. And no, the world is not over and I am not freaking out that we have lost three straight. However, I am frustrated by our crappy play.
Update: I got busier than expected this evening so I only had time to post a recap over at Winging It In Motown.
Senators beat Wings, 3-2
In the big game on Saturday evening against the Ottawa Senators, the Wings fell short losing 2-3. While I thought it was an enjoyable game despite the fact the Wings lost, I was disappointed in the team’s play. Yes, the Sens played great and deserved the win, but we didn’t really see the Detroit team we normally do until the third period.
I don’t think I can say it any better than Matt at On the Wings:
Some folks, such as Sherry at Scarlett Ice, and Jes Golbez at AOL Fanhouse, are writing that the game lived up to the hype. I have to disagree and it’s not because the Wings lost. Had they played at a level on par with that the Senators played and still lost, I would, of course, be disappointed, but I’d be right there with the people saying it was as good a game as advertised. But they didn’t play at the same level as the Senators, not for much of the game, anyway.
Whereas Ottawa came out of the gates in all three periods flying, the Wings were flat when they needed life the most. They were able to make it a game in the third period, but they couldn’t keep up in the end. Usually it is Detroit that has the opposition standing around, watching them play. Last night, for too much of the game, the Wings were the observers.
I was pleased to see Dominik Hasek play well in front of the Ottawa crowd as they were hoping to see him struggle in front of his former team’s home crowd.
It’s not the end of the world that the Wings have lost two straight to Minnesota and Ottawa. It is frustrating to see the special teams, particularly the power play, struggle over the last few games. I wanted to see Detroit play its best against Ottawa and I just don’t believe we saw that on Saturday night.
Wings defeat Stars, 3-0
I haven’t had time to write up a game recap of the Wings victory since the game just ended 10 minutes ago in a 3-0 victory. However, I did want to comment on a couple of things before I head out for the evening.
1) FSN Detroit asked viewers to email in their picks for the team’s MVP. With 22 seconds left in the game, the viewers picked Chris Osgood (934 votes) as the team’s MVP. The other top three were Pavel Datsyuk (407), Henrik Zetterberg (277), and Nicklas Lidstrom (138).
2) With the Wings’ victory, it marked the Stars’ first four straight losses in regulation since December 2003.
3) The Wings now have 15 points on their fellow Western Conference franchises (three teams currently have 50 points - Vancouver, Dallas, and San Jose) and nine points on Ottawa, the Eastern Conference leader. They are 25-1-1 against opponents outside the Central Division. Impressive.
Wings 5, Blues 0
The Wings shut out the Blues last night in a 5-0 victory and sent Manny Legace to the bench after allowing four goals on just 16 shots. It was an enjoyable game to watch youngsters like Filppula and Hudler step up with injuries to Zetterberg and Holmstrom.
My game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.
Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1
The Detroit Red Wings won their ninth straight game in a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. My recap of the game is up at Winging It In Motown.
Wings 3, Predators 2 (SO)
My game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.
Wings 4, Flames 1
My game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.
Wings 2, Oilers 1
A game recap is up at Winging It In Motown.