Red Wings Blog

The Red Wings were on the road tonight playing the Predators in Nashville. Pekka Rinne was the goalie for the Predators and Osgood was in for the Wings.

The first period was pretty uneventful. Detroit drastically outshot the Predators and out chanced them. Both teams traded power plays, with two each. Even with all the chances though, neither team was able to score so the first period ended zero to zero.

Early in the second period Drew Miller passed up ice to Bertuzzi who entered the zone with speed. He brought the puck in, did a spin-o-rama and backhanded a shot that beat Rinne to give the Red Wings the lead one to nothing. It’s encouraging to Bertuzzi score a goal. If he gets hot that could really turn things around for the Red Wings. It’s definitely a morale boost to see him score like that.

Later in the period Helm took a stick in the face. It was a similar situation to the one where Brad May was hit in the face a few games back. It was a follow through on a shot so there was no penalty. That probably didn’t make it feel any better though. Helm is a tough kid and he wasn’t off the ice for long.

A bit past the halfway point of the second period Datsyuk brought the puck in to the zone and shot it. Rinne got a piece of it and it popped up, hit the crossbar and started to drop down. Drew Miller was right on the doorstep and he swatted it out of the air and into the net giving the Red Wings a two to nothing lead.

Later in the period the Predators were on the power play. Sullivan ripped one from the top of the circle. Either Jones or possibly Rafalski tipped it in front and it changed direction. There was no chance for Osgood to react that quickly.

By the end of the second period the Predators had turned things around. They were outshooting and out chancing the Red Wings.

The Predators tied the game early in the third. Legwand scored the goal. He got the puck up and over Osgood’s shoulder. Osgood had been scrambling just prior to the shot and wasn’t really set.

The score was still tied at the end of regulation so they headed to an overtime period.

Early in the OT Datsyuk stole the puck just as the Predators were entering the Red Wings zone. Bertuzzi was already heading up ice and Datsyuk hit him with a perfect pass. Bertuzzi took it to the net. He made a move that got Rinne down and then put it around him into the wide open net for the win. That was the second time in as many nights that Bertuzzi got the game winning goal in overtime.

Bertuzzi had another great game tonight. Hopefully, he’ll stay hot because it sure does help!

This 3-2 win brings us to:
16-11-5
37 points

Tonight the Red Wings travelled to Nashville to face the Predators. Pekka Rinne was the goaltender for the Predators and Osgood was in net for the Wings. The Wings were in an extra tough spot having lost so many players to injury especially now with a lot of games packed into a short time. Meech was in as a defenseman because of the injury to Kronwall.

In the first period Bertuzzi was called for interference and Nashville went on the power play. Arnott ended up with the puck in front of the Red Wings net. All of the penalty killers were right there but nobody stopped him. He had one whack at it that bounced back to him so he took another whack at it and scored. I’m not sure what they were thinking there on the PK; they looked like they were just standing around. I’m guessing everybody thought somebody else was going to stop Arnott. In any case it was one to nothing Predators.

At the end of the first period Holmstrom was called for hooking. It wasn’t much of a hook, but there you go.

The first period ended with no additional scoring.

The Predators started the second period on the power play. The Red Wings killed off most of it, but with one second left Erat scored with a hard one-timer from the top of the circle that beat Osgood to put the Predators up two to nothing.

Later in the second period the Red Wings were being outworked and outplayed by the Predators. Finally Drew Miller had had enough. He got the puck in the corner, muscled his way along the goal line to the front of the net, and jammed the puck in to put the Wings on the board. It was an awesome play by Miller who’s been fairly quiet since joining the Wings a few weeks ago. I’d love to see him keep making plays like that! That play really seemed to spark the Red Wings and they played a lot better from then on.

In the third period the Wings continued to play with a lot of jump. They had many good scoring chances but Rinne stopped them all.

Late in the third period Osgood made an incredible save with his stick. On the next faceoff though, Erat struck again. Once again it was a shot from the top of the circle. This time it beat Osgood low. That made it three to one Predators with only a few minutes left.

The Red Wings pulled Osgood for an extra skater and generated a few more good scoring chances but weren’t able to get a goal. Zetterberg hit a post with a bad angle shot at a mostly wide open net but that’s as close as they came.

This was a really exciting game that was hotly contested by both teams. Although the Wings lost I think they learned a lot about who is stepping up to fill the skates of injured players. Drew Miller had a great game as did Stuart, Ericsson and Helm.

The bottom line is the Wings were outplayed in this game thanks in large part to a great performance by Pekka Rinne and a team effort for a full sixty minutes by the Predators. The Wings didn’t look bad especially in the third period but it just wasn’t enough.

This 1-3 loss brings us to:
11-7-4
26 points

Tonight the Red Wings faced the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. The Predators are another team fighting for a spot in the playoffs. They pretty much need a win tonight or they can forget about it. The Wings were hoping to foil their plans. The starting goaltenders were Chris Osgood for the Wings and Pekka Rinne for the Predators.

In the first period Detroit got a power play thanks to a delay of game by the Predators. Kronwall got the puck at the top of the slot and fired it on net. It changed direction after hitting the stick of a Nashville player and got by Rinne to give Detroit the one nothing lead.

That was the only goal in the first period but the Red Wings were out-shot 10 to 4 which is not good. The Predators also won 10 face-offs to the Wings 4. That’s very unusual.

In the second period Nichol scored for the Predators at even strength. Osgood was screened and nearly interfered with so he never had a chance to stop that one. That tied the game at one.

Hossa left the game in the second period. Of course, they said it was because of a “lower body” injury. Let’s hope that it’s nothing. They showed a replay where his foot got sort of caught on the skate of a Nashville player and it looked like his leg might have stretched out awkwardly. Hopefully, it’s not a gr0in injury.

Near the end of the second period Detroit scored a power play goal. The Wings were moving the puck well and Lidstrom shot it from the point. Holmstrom was in front of the net and then Datsyuk moved in with his stick to try for a redirection. It looked like Rinne got a piece of it but it got by him and into the net. Datsyuk didn’t touch the puck but he distracted Rinne with his stick. The power play was created because of a terrible penalty that Nichol took. It was a crosscheck that happened after the play. It was completely pointless and the Red Wings made him pay for it.

Early on in the third period Zetterberg won the faceoff but they lost it to Nashville. Cleary forechecked and knocked Arnott off the puck. Zetterberg took it and sent it to Franzen in the slot. He snapped a quick one that made it three to one Wings.

With 6:42 left in the game Arnott ended up with the puck in the slot. He shot once and it hit the post. It bounced right back to him and he shot it again and beat Osgood to pull within a goal of tying the game.

As time was winding down Nashville pulled their goalie plus Kronwall was in the box so it was six on four. With just under a minute left they scored to tie the game at three and send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, even the single point will be helpful to Nashville’s playoff hopes.

With about 45 seconds left in the overtime Zetterberg was called for a hook so the Predators went onto a four on three power play. The Wings killed off the penalty so the game went to a shootout.

Datsyuk shot first in the shootout but he was stopped by Rinne. Fiddler shot next for the Predators and missed the net. Then Zetterberg came up and Rinne stopped him as well. Sullivan shot and Osgood stopped it. Hudler was up next. He did a kick fake and beat Rinne for the first goal of the shootout. Koistinen went next and scored on Osgood. Then Cleary was up and he was stopped by Rinne. Finally it was Arnott who shot the puck into the net to win the game and earn two points for the Predators.

I thought the Red Wings played a pretty good game tonight but the Predators were just too desperate. If it weren’t for the six on four at the end of regulation they wouldn’t have even gotten a point and I’d have been a lot happier.

This 4-3 overtime loss brings us to:
51-19-10
112 points

This afternoon the Predators were at Joe Louis Arena to face the Red Wings. Nashville was coming off a game the night before. This game had an early 5:00 P.M. start which for the folks from Nashville felt like 4:00 P.M. so they had to be careful to keep their shifts short in this game.

Pekka Rinne was the goalie for the Predators and Osgood was the starter for the Red Wings for the second game in a row. Filppula, Cleary and Samuelsson were the starting line. Kronwall and Ericsson were the starting defensive pair.

Early in the first period Chelios took a penalty. On the ensuing power play Sullivan walked in with the puck. He passed it off, skated through the defense and got the pass back. He made a move around Osgood and scored. It was a classic give and go. That gave the Predators the early one nothing lead.

The Red Wings looked to be having some bad luck early on in this one. The puck was jumping over sticks and Datsyuk even missed the net by a wide margin on one shot.

It didn’t take long for the luck to change though. After the Red Wings took another penalty, Lidstrom sprung Zetterberg for a shorthanded breakaway. He skated in and blasted one that beat Rinne to tie the game. That gave Zetterberg 30 goals on the season joining the ranks of Franzen, Datsyuk and Hossa.

Osgood had a couple of great saves early on in this one. It looked like he was in the zone.

Late in the first period there was a big scrum in front the Nashville net and Detroit banged the puck in. However, it went in off of Franzen’s skate and he clearly used a kicking motion. The issue was whether it went in off of anything else after the kick. The ruling was that it was indeed kicked in so the goal was waived off.

In the second period Detroit ended up with a 5 on 3 power play. After a faceoff win Datsyuk made a perfect pass through traffic to Samuelsson who one-timed it for a goal. There was one second left on the 5 on 3 so the Red Wings stayed on the power play but didn’t score again.

In the third period Ericsson got crossed up with Kopecky and turned the puck over to Dumont. He got it back to Klein at the point. Klein shot the puck into a big scrum in front of the net. The puck bounced around in front and Ward poked it in to tie the game.

Then, while they were still announcing the goal, Nashville scored again to take the lead. The puck was hit with a high stick which might have caused the Wings to let up a little expecting a whistle. There was no whistle because Stuart played it. He didn’t control it though and Nashville got it back. It came to Smithson who took the shot. It went between Osgood’s legs to give the Predators the lead. The Red Wings took their time out at that point. They had about eight minutes left in the game.

With about five minutes left Detroit tied the game. Datsyuk brought the puck into the zone and passed across to Franzen in the high slot. Franzen shot it between the defenseman’s legs which made it hard to Rinne to see. That made it three to three.

A few seconds after that Chelios was called for crosschecking. The penalty was both obvious and pointless and cost the Red Wings a goal and, in my opinion, the game. On the power play Sullivan got the puck to Suter. He shot from the point and beat Osgood. There was some traffic in front but it didn’t look like it changed direction at all. I would blame this one on Chelios. His penalty erased the great goal by Franzen. It also stopped the Red Wings momentum and ultimately, cost them the game. Two of the Predators goals in this game, including the game-winner, were scored on power plays created by Chelios’ penalties. Talk about the walk of shame back to the bench!

This was their second loss in a row, both at home. We need to turn this around quickly if we want to enter the playoffs on a hot streak. Like Babcock said, it’s impossible to manufacture the kind of intensity that Nashville is playing with. No matter how much they try to talk themselves into getting up for the game the Wings know that these games don’t really matter. It’s a bad habit to get into though at this point of the season because I’m sure it’s hard to turn it back on again when the time comes.

This 4-3 loss brings us to:
49-18-9
107 points

The Red Wings were on the road tonight for a game against the Nashville Predators. Conklin was the starting goalie for the Wings and Pekka Rinne was in net for the Predators. Detroit was playing for the second night in a row after beating Los Angeles at Joe Louis Arena on Friday night.

The teams seemed pretty even to start the game. Nashville was pressuring a little harder than the Wings were but not by much. The Predators had the puck in Detroit’s end and they were moving it very well. It came back to Weber near the blue line. He one-timed it and Koistinen redirected it in front of the net. Conklin didn’t have much of a chance. That gave the Predators the early lead.

Just a few seconds after the first goal it started to look like the wheels might be coming for the Wings in this game. The Predators got the puck to the front of the net. Legwand was there jamming away at it while Brad Stuart just stood there. I think Stuart was trying to pin the puck against Conklin’s pads. It didn’t work. Legwand pushed it past Conklin and the Wings were down by two.

A few minutes later the troubles continued. Brad Stuart had the puck behind the Red Wings net and lost it to Ward. He tried to pass it to the front of the net. The puck hit Conklin in the back of the head and dropped down behind him. He tried to kick it away as it fell to the ice but it trickled into the corner of the net for the Predators third unanswered goal in less than ten minutes. Obviously, when something like that happens you know it’s not going to be your night.

Only a few seconds later Pihlstrom was sprung on a breakaway. Conklin stopped his shot but the puck dropped down to the ice in front of him. Pihlstrom took another whack at it and pushed it by Conklin. Four nothing Predators.

That was it for Conklin. He gave up four goals on nine shots in ten minutes. He obviously looked really shaky but the defense didn’t help him much. He wasn’t the only one playing poorly. Osgood was called in to try to get things under control.

Within the first few seconds of Osgood coming in the Predators proved that it wasn’t all Conklin’s fault. Meech and Lilja ran into each other next to the Red Wings net and neither one could get control of the puck. One of the Predators took it away and a few passes later Arnott buried it in the net. That made it five nothing Nashville.

The Red Wings just couldn’t seem to get control of the puck. They kept giving it away and letting Nashville drive their end. The Predators were beating the Wings to every loose puck. They were faster and had a ton more jump in their game. They were obviously encouraged by the early success and just continued taking it to the Wings once they smelled blood.

The Red Wings managed to go the final five minutes of the period without giving up a goal. They reached the end of the first period down five to nothing. It would have been interesting to hear the conversation in the dressing room after that period. It’s probably the worst period I’ve seen them play all year. Nashville outshot Detroit 14 to 11, out chanced them 9 to 5, and they had 8 takeaways to Detroit’s 1. Very uncharacteristic of the Wings.

In the second period Lilja took Weber hard into the boards and then pulled him down backwards by the face. Weber got up swinging and started fighting with Lilja. Weber clearly won the fight. Lilja never threw a punch. Weber pretty much wailed on him. Lilja got an extra penalty for holding so the Predators went on the power play.

During the Predators power play they were buzzing around the Red Wings net. Sullivan took the puck to the net and Osgood stopped his shot. The rebound came back out to him as he went past the net. He swatted the rebound out of mid-air back to Arnott in front of the net. Arnott put it by Osgood to make it six to nothing.

That was the end of the damage in the second period. By that point Detroit was outshooting the Predators 25 to 20. The problem was Nashville had 14 takeaways and Detroit had 2. Nashville had also blocked 11 of Detroit’s shots.

In the third period the Predators scored their seventh unanswered goal. Weber released a slap shot from the near the blue line. Arnott was near the front of net providing some distraction but he didn’t touch the puck. The shot beat Osgood on his glove side.

A few minutes later Arnott got his third goal of the game making it eight to nothing Predators. Who really cares how the goal was scored?

The game ended (finally) with a final score of eight to nothing. I can’t remember the last time I saw the Red Wings play so badly. I can’t imagine what the reason could be for the sudden poor play. Playing the night before can’t have had THAT much of an impact. Some of it was just bad luck but they never really seemed to care very much. I wonder if maybe this was a psychological defeat. They just weren’t into it. Let’s put this one behind us and move on.

This 0-8 loss brings us to:
41-14-8
90 points