Red Wings Blog

The Calgary Flames were tonight’s opponent for the Red Wings. Osgood was Detroit’s goalie and Kiprusoff was in net for the Flames. The Red Wings were on a stretch of games where they’ve been playing pretty well but not scoring. They hoped to snap that streak tonight.

It only took 28 seconds for the Calgary to score on the Red Wings. The Red Wings were all hanging around in front of their net. Jokinen got the puck and passed it to Lundmark in the slot. He was wide open for the tap in. The Red Wings just didn’t seem ready; it was like they hadn’t really got going yet.

In the first period it looked as though Detroit had finally broken their streak of bad puck luck when they appeared to score a power play goal. The goal was waived off though because they said Cleary had interfered with Kiprusoff’s ability to do his job. It was a terrible call. Cleary was on the edge of the crease. He may have brushed up against Kiprusoff a little bit but that didn’t stop him from being exactly where he wanted to be and doing what he wanted to do. Cleary didn’t prevent him from doing anything. It was par for the course though the way things have been going lately for the Wings.

Near the end of the first period Moss and Dawes entered the Red Wings’ zone with Ericsson back. Moss tried to pass across but Ericsson broke it up. Then Ericsson tried to gather the puck and Dawes poked it back into the slot. Datsyuk was there by that time and took the puck. Dawes poked it again, off Datsyuk’s stick this time, it went into the net. It was a really crazy play. That made it two to nothing Flames. The bad luck just continued to pile up. It was almost becoming comical. How much bad puck luck can one team have?

After two periods the Red Wings still hadn’t scored even though they had 32 shots on goal to Calgary’s 11. And don’t forget they even had one shot go in the net but even THAT didn’t earn them a goal. I suppose that one didn’t count as a shot on goal since the play was disallowed. I don’t know what more they can do. They’re playing well, they’re shooting from everywhere, and they’re even putting the puck in the net once in a while. Eventually they’ll have to get a goal. I have a feeling that when they start scoring it’s going to be a flash flood of goals.

Just 25 seconds into the third period the Red Wings were caught off guard again. Lundmark passed it to Jokinen who ripped it from the faceoff circle and beat Osgood high on the short side. That made it three to nothing Flames.

Nothing changed throughout the rest of the third period. The Red Wings lost three to nothing and were shut out for the second game in a row. It’s frustrating to watch and I’m sure way more frustrating for the team but there are always periods like this in a hockey season. It makes for a pretty boring game when the game winning goal was scored just 28 seconds into the first period. The Red Wings are trying to stay positive and they’re shooting the puck like crazy. Those are both good things. They’ll come out of this slump soon and score a ton of goals. They’ll have another chance to score tomorrow night when they play in St. Louis.

This 3-0 loss brings us to:
11-9-4
26 points

The Red Wings wrapped up their five games road tonight with a Halloween game against the Flames in Calgary. The goalies were Osgood and Kiprusoff. Leino was a healthy scratch and Ericsson was out because he wasn’t feeling well. Uh oh, put him in quarantine! Also out was Filppula who, as it turns out, broke his wrist on the play where he left the game in Edmonton. He won’t need surgery but will miss about six weeks with a cast on his wrist. In were Meech, Maltby and Abdelkader. Datsyuk and Zetterberg were on different lines for this game because Filppula was out. Babcock didn’t want both Datsyuk and Zetterberg to be tired at the same time if there was no Filppula to put in. That kind of implies that Babcock puts Filppula in the same category as Datsyuk and Zetterberg. That’s quite an implied compliment! Lidstrom and Rafalski were paired up tonight to try to shut down Iginla.

As has become the (very disturbing) custom, the Wings were caught off guard at the beginning of the game. Right off the opening puck drop the Flames starting taking it to the Red Wings. The Wings were on their heels for the first 30 seconds and the Flames came inches away from scoring. Osgood saved at least one golden opportunity from happening for the Flames.

In the second minute of the game Lebda flipped the puck over the glass attempting to clear it down the ice. He got the automatic two minute penalty for delay of game. The Red Wings did a good job killing off the penalty against the most potent power play in the league.

Just as the first period ended Kiprusoff made an amazing save to stop Draper who had received a pass from Eaves on a two on one breakaway. Thanks to that save, and several other great ones by both Kiprusoff and Osgood, the first period ended with no goals.

Late in the second period Calgary scored the first goal of the game. Bourque got the puck down low and worked it around behind the net. He threw it towards Osgood and it popped up in the air, hit somebody in front of the net and bounced in. There wasn’t anything Osgood could have done about that one. Even in slow motion I couldn’t tell exactly how the puck ended up in the net.

Just 35 seconds later the Wings tied it up. Draper dropped one off for Stuart at the point. Stuart brought it to the top of the circle and ripped it. He just flat out beat Kiprusoff.

Less than a minute later Datsyuk passed one across the ice to Holmstrom in the high slot. Holmstrom ripped one and burned Kiprusoff again. That made it two to one Red Wings.

That score held until the end of the period despite some really good last second chances by the Flames. Osgood stopped them all and held the lead.

In the third period Jason Williams’ stick came into the bench area and caught Brad May in the face while he was just sitting there minding his own business. The way he reacted looked pretty bad. It seemed to have caught him right in the eye with end of the stick blade. Hopefully, it’s just a cut around the eye and not an injury to the actual eye.

With just over a minute to go in the game Kiprusoff left the ice for the extra attacker. The Flames turned the puck over to Maltby and he put it into the empty net from the blue line to wrap up this one.

The Red Wings played a really good game tonight after the opening 30 seconds or so. The goal of the road trip was to win three out of five games. Well they only won two of them but two of the losses were overtime losses so they still ended up with six out of ten possible points so this was a very successful road trip.

This 3-1 win brings us to:
5-4-3
13 points

Detroit travelled to Calgary for tonight’s road game against Flames. Osgood was our goalie and Kiprusoff was in for the Flames.

The Flames opened the scoring in the first period. Osgood was beaten by a shot from Dion Phaneuf. Osgood was in position, and had a good view of the puck but he just missed it with the glove hand. He got a piece of it but not enough.

The first period ended with Detroit behind one to nothing. They had some good chances but just couldn’t get it to go in.

In the second period Lundmark took a shot from the goal line. Osgood pulled slightly away from the post and the puck dropped in front of the goal line behind him. He reached back and pushed it into the net giving Calgary their second goal.

A few minutes later Samuelsson nearly scored on a breakaway. He hit the post with his shot and it slid across the goal mouth right on the line.

Then the Flames scored again by getting the puck in the corner of the net behind his skate. It clearly wasn’t Osgood’s night so Mike Babcock pulled him and put Conklin in. All three of the goals allowed were ones that Osgood probably should have stopped. It was just one of those days.

Later in the period the Flames also had a puck that sat on our goal line and nobody could put it in. I guess that evened up the bad luck a little bit.

A few minutes later the Wings were buzzing and getting a lot of shots. The puck came out to Datsyuk at the bottom of the circle. He pounced on it, turned and scored. It was a great play and a great shift all around for that line.

In the third period Conroy dug the puck out from along the back boards and passed it to Glencross in the slot. He shot quickly and beat Conklin. That extended the Flames lead to three goals again.

At about the halfway point of the third period Franzen scored a great goal to pull back within two. Franzen brought the puck into the zone, made a few moves on the defenders and ripped one by Kiprusoff. It was another awesome individual effort by Franzen.

A few minutes later Rafalski sprung Hudler with an incredible outlet pass. Then Hudler made a sweet move tapping the puck around the defenseman and then getting it back. He shot and scored to pull within a goal.

The Red Wings tried to tie the game but Calgary scored the empty net goal with about 30 seconds left. This one ended three to five. The Wings actually played pretty well in this game but they just gave up too many easy goals. It’s hard enough to score on Kiprusoff without needing four just break even. Also, the officials were almost invisible in this game. Usually, that would be a good thing but it seemed like they missed a lot of calls. The Red Wings only had one power play the entire game. There were also a few goals that didn’t count because of quick whistles. Oh well, time to forget about it and think about Edmonton.

This 3-5 loss brings us to:
48-16-9
105 points

The guests of honor for tonight’s game were the Calgary Flames. Kiprusoff was the goalie for the them and Conklin was in for us for the second game in a row. This was supposed to be Osgood’s night to start but Babcock decided that it would be better to start him in the next game instead since that’s a road game.

A bit past the five minute mark Calgary scored first from a really unlikely angle. Jokinen got the puck way down below the goal line and swept it towards Conklin. Somehow the puck got between the post and Conklin’s skate and ended up in the net. I’m sure Conklin would want that one back.

Later in the first period Detroit went on the power play. Datsyuk took a great shot that got up over Kiprusoff but it hit the crossbar and dropped down. Zetterberg jumped on it and pushed it in behind the goalie to tie the game at one.

A few minutes later Phaneuf hit Cleary in the lower back as he was heading into the boards. Cleary lost his balance and crashed heavily. He had to be helped off the ice. Phaneuf got a five minute major on the play. It wasn’t a hard hit but it was just enough to throw off Cleary’s balance and make him lose an edge.

With 3:52 left in the major, Leopold shot the puck over the glass from his own zone so the Wings had a 5 on 3 for a full two minutes. During the 5 on 3 Sarich took a penalty for crosschecking. His penalty couldn’t start until the second one ended so it ended up being nearly four minutes of 5 on 3. At that point the game turned ugly. There was a big scrum in front of the net and Franzen and Aucoin started pushing and shoving in front of the net; they both were getting penalties. Then Vandermeer came in and started exchanging punches with Franzen. He nailed Franzen in the back of the head with an elbow and Franzen went down hard. Ken, Mick, and Larry didn’t notice that it was an elbow but it really looked like it was. Vandermeer got a 10 minute misconduct so I’m pretty sure it was an elbow.

Kiprusoff made brilliant save after brilliant save throughout the 5 on 3. Finally, when the 5 on 4 was down to a minute and change Samuelsson got a quick pass and roofed it before Kiprusoff could get over. That made it two to one Red Wings. It was an incredible performance by Kiprusoff to allow just one goal through all of that power play time.

Cleary returned in the second period. That was a big relief.

Also in the second period Detroit ended up with a 4 on 3 power play. On top of that, one of their players had a broken stick. Rafalski and Lidstrom were trading passes and eventually Lidstrom ripped one that got by Kiprusoff. Holmstrom was in front of the net making life miserable for Kiprusoff. That goal made it three to one Red Wings.

Halfway through the second period they announced the shot totals were 35 to 7 in favor of the Wings and that’s not counting the three or four posts and crossbars. Part of the reason that it was so lopsided was that the Wings had so much power play time.

Later in the second period there was some 4 on 4 play. Lidstrom sprung Filppula who took it into the zone and shot one that got between Kiprusoff’s legs. That gave the Red Wings a four to one lead. Mike Keenan was livid because before the goal he thought the Wings should have been called for tripping.

A few seconds later, still 4 on 4, Calgary scored. Aucoin shot the puck and Langkow redirected it right in front of the net. Conklin didn’t have a chance of stopping that one. That made it two to four.

With only 3:22 left in the third period Calgary scored to come within a goal of tying the game.  Vandermeer shot it and the puck bounced around in front of the net. Lundmark was there to pick up the bounce and put it in the net. At that point Detroit had not had a single shot on goal in the third period.

Less than a minute later the Flames scored to tie the game. Glencross shot from the faceoff circle. The puck hit Jokinen and then went between Conklin’s legs. He got a piece of it but it still got through. It bounced between his skates and into the net. Once again the Wings had blown a lead. At that point the shots on goal in the period were 14 to nothing in favor of the Flames.

About a minute after that goal the Flames took the lead scoring their third goal in 3 minutes and 22 seconds. Lundmark wrapped around the net and put the puck past Conklin. This was looking like another epic collapse by the Wings.

With 42 seconds left Datsyuk shot and the puck and it hung on the goal line. Cleary was there to poke it in and tie the game up again. That goal sent the game into overtime on their first shot of the period.

After two periods Detroit thought they had won the game. But after the third period they were lucky to have salvaged a tie. It was still quite an epic collapse even though they managed to tie it up.

Nobody scored in the overtime.

In the shootout Datsyuk went first and made it look easy. He went to his backhand and put it up high on Kiprusoff. Cammalleri came out next and did almost the same thing. His move was more pronounced than Datsyuk’s but it had the same effect. He froze the goalie and scored up high. Zetterberg was the next shooter. He made a move but Kiprusoff stayed with it and stopped the puck. Iginla went next and hit the post. Then came Hudler. Kiprusoff stopped him. Jokinen came out next for the Flames. He scored the winner.

The Red Wings played a great two periods tonight. Unfortunately this type of play isn’t going to get them very deep in the playoffs. At some point of the goaltenders need to be able to steal a game. Maybe it’s time to call up Jimmy Howard.

This 6-5 overtime loss brings us to:
44-15-9
97 points

For tonight’s game the Flames faced the Red Wings in Detroit.  Conklin was given the starting goalie job again for the Wings and McElhinney was in for the Flames.

Everyone in attendance at this game received a replica of the 2008 Red Wings Stanley Cup ring.  That’s a great giveaway for the fans.  I’ll be looking for those on ebay this weekend!

The Red Wings got off to a slow start.  By the middle of the first period they were being badly outshot by Calgary.  WIth about five minutes left in the period the Flames were pressuring and Conklin made several great saves in a row.  Then Conroy got the puck in front of the net and shot it.  It seemed to deflect off of Datsyuk’s stick and went into the corner to give the Flames a one nothing lead.

In the final minute of the period the Flames scored again.  There was some action in front of Detroit’s net and Conklin stretched out on the ice.  Langkow shot the puck up and over him into the net.  

In the second period Detroit got into the act.  Draper ripped a shot / pass to the corner of the net were Filppula was waiting.  It was probably going just wide of the net but Filppula redirected it perfectly in.

Overall the Red Wings looked a lot better in the second period.  They got more shots on goal and had some good scoring chances.  McElhinney made some great saves to maintain the Flames lead.

Near the midpoint of the third period Moss scored for the Flames to regain the two goal lead.  The original shot came from the point but it didn’t get to Conklin.  It hit somebody near the net and dropped down near Moss who grabbed it and shot it in from a bad angle.

A few minutes later Detroit got that goal back.  Cleary shot the puck and the rebound dropped in front of McElhinney.  Zetterberg pounced on it and chipped it in before the goalie could react.

A few minutes later Holmstrom passed the puck across the ice to Rafalski at the point.  Rafalski walked it up to the top of the circle and ripped it.  McElhinney couldn’t see it because Franzen was screening him so it got past him to give Detroit the tying goal.

There were some very exciting chances at both ends to break the tie but it held until the end.  Both goalies came up big at the end.  McElhinney was especially impressive both at the end and throughout the game.

As the overtime was winding down Lidstrom ripped a shot and hit the top corner of the net to win it for the Wings.  Datsyuk provided a screen so McElhinney didn’t see the shot until it was too late.

The Red Wings started out pretty poorly in this game but they really buckled down after the first period.  It was a great comeback win.

This 4-5 win brings us to:
19-4-4
42 points

The Red Wings were in Calgary tonight to play the Flames.  Conklin was the goalie for the Wings and Kiprusoff got the start for the Flames.  Holmstrom was out again with back spasms.  Meech was playing forward to take his place.

I missed the first four and a half minutes of the game because the previous game went to a shootout and the NHL Network stayed with that one until it ended.  They switched to the Red Wings just as Maltby drove the net and scored to give the Wings the early lead.  Good timing there!  The goal was set up by a nice feed from Lilja.

There was a lot of action but no more scoring in the first period.  Detroit was playing pretty well.  The Flames got few scoring chances and when they did Conklin was there to make the save.

About halfway through the second period Lebda skated the puck into the zone and let go a quick wrister from above the top of the of the circle.  It was a great shot that I think surprised Kiprusoff.  That was Lebda’s first goal of the season.

A few seconds later the Flames answered with a goal of their own.  Glencross brought the puck out from behind Detroit’s net and Conklin was kind of hunched over.  Glencross put the puck up and over Conklin’s shoulder into the net.

There was some great end to end action through the rest of the second period but no more scoring.  There were lots of big saves especially by Kiprusoff.  Conklin had his share as well but since the Flames had fewer chances he didn’t have as much work.

In the third period the Flames had a power play in which they controlled the puck almost the entire time but never got a single shot on goal.  A few minutes later they got another power play and Giordano scored to tie it up at two.  Calgary had all sorts of momentum after that goal.  They continued pressuring hard.

A couple of minutes later Zetterberg was tripped in the offensive zone.  The Red Wings had control so there was a delayed whistle.  Hudler was the extra man who came off the bench in place of Conklin.  Just as he was streaking into the zone to join the play Zetterberg passed it to him.  He released a bomb of a slapshot that beat Kiprusoff.  It was a great shot and a very opportunistic play by the Wings.

As the third period wound down the Flames were pressuring big time.  Datsyuk got the puck and skated into the zone with no other Wings and two Flames covering him.  He made a great move to beat his defenders and released a shot that slipped past Kiprusoff into the net.  That gave Detroit their two goal lead back.

Calgary pulled their goalie at the end and Hossa scored an empty net goal.

This was a good solid road game.  The only negative was that the Flames seemed to have the puck a lot more than I’d like to see.  It was a good battle though and a great win for the Red Wings especially when dealing some key injuries.

This 5-2 win brings us to:
14-2-3
31 points