Staying Positive

By Adam W Parks

Thursday, October 22, 2009 Detroit 2 @ Phoenix 3 OT

The Wings played there best game in a week on Thursday against Phoenix, though their only other game in the past seven days was the shootout loss to Colorado. This defeat was just as crushing. For the fourth time this season the Wings turned a lead into a letdown, but at least they did not squander another two-goal advantage against the Coyotes. Stay positive. Alas, Detroit remains winless outside of Joe Louis Arena, and with the longest road stretch of the season looming directly in front of them, they really could have used this win, for their record and their psyche. Stay positive. With the extended time off (Sunday through Wednesday) the Wings needed to regroup, find their focus, and play a good game, which they did. But they fell into familiar pitfalls with turnovers and mucky play in the defensive zone, and they flat-out got out-played in the third period. However, Detroit did get Pavel Datsyuk back and he was the best skater on the ice for either team. Stay Positive.

Russian Back

Datsyuk’s status for Thursday’s game was probable all week and did not become certain until close to game time due to an undisclosed upper body injury that kept him out the past two games. He came back just in time to face a Coyotes team that he has absolutely torched in recent seasons. With two assists he extended his point streak to 17 games against Phoenix and is averaging two points per game during the run. Playing left wing opposite Tomas Holmstrom with Henrik Zetterberg at center, Datsyuk took 25 shifts for 18:30, second amongst Detroit forwards behind Valterri Filppula (19:46). It did not take long for Datsyuk to find his legs and cripple his opponents’. About eight minutes into the first period he swiped the puck from Scottie Upshall alongside the boards, skated into the Coyotes’ zone, looked off one defender and tip-toed around salty veteran Ed Jovanovski for an excellent one-on-one scoring opportunity against Ilya Bryzgalov. Jovanovski looked like a drunkard on a Slip n Slide with broken ankles after that Datsyukian deke. He looked like the Dallas Cowboys defense attempting to tackle Barry Sanders. He looked like Jacque Vaughn after an Allen Iverson crossover. And Datsyuk looked like himself skating with Zetterberg and Holmstrom again as the line combined for five of six points earned by Wings skaters.

A Tale Of Two Lebdas

The sixth point came from Brett Lebda’s layup goal in the second period. Zetterberg dropped the puck to Datsyuk who pulled up short along the boards and slid a pass cross-ice to a wide open Lebda. Bryzgalov had no chance on the play as all Phoenix defenders' eyes were on Datsyuk. Credit Lebda, who has struggled to stay in the lineup, for his first goal of the season. Right place, right time. He was so open he could have sneezed the puck in the net. Lebda has wheels and is great pinching in with speed from the blue line, but his decision-making in his own zone is what keeps the question marks swirling around. He never seems to be in synch with his defensive partner, Jonathan Ericsson. His no-look, reverse pass behind Chris Osgood to Ericsson trailed around the boards for a, ahem, turnover, and set up the game-tying goal for Petr Prucha with less than three minutes left in the third period.

Yeah, But...

Okay, the Coyotes might have gotten away with one on that goal. Zbynek Michalek and Martin Hanzal picked up assists on Prucha’s goal, but Radim Vrbata deserves an ‘interference assist’ as he pushed Osgood, and the puck, into the net. Ozzie looked like a child who just had his living room fort invaded. Mike Babcock was furious on the bench and had a good argument. The whistles were late on several occasions, and there were several other occasions when the Coyotes collapsed on top of Ozzie. On this occasion he did not have the puck located and Phoenix took advantage. Deal with it. That situation should never have happened. It is a situation that the Wings are beginning to make a trend of. Take a look at all of Detroit’s losses, minus the Buffalo game. It becomes obvious that when the Wings have a lead, particularly late in games, they are having trouble matching the energy and intensity of their opponents. Lackadaisical hockey becomes hazardous, especially when you are a team that has gone to the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row, ie opponents really want to beat you. Babcock needs to find an answer to this equation before it disrupts the confidence of his team.

Griffin Eggs

Darren Helm, Ville Leino, and Justin Abdelkader were left off the box score, but each continued their solid play combining for five shots on goal. Helm and Abdelkader totaled seven hits with five credited to Helm.

Ericsson needs consistency from his partner, whoever that might be. He was a minus-2 with only one hit.

After a tough start on the road (1-4), the Griffins are in Grand Rapids for the first time this year with games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Swede forward Dick Axelsson and American defenseman Doug Janik lead the Griffs with three points each. Goaltender Thomas McCollum, Detroit’s first round pick in the 2008 draft, is 1-2 with a nice 2.92 goals-against average and a not-so-nice 0.883 save percentage.

Notes and Nugs

Osgood Gets A Pass-Adrian Aucoin’s goal in overtime was by all accounts a horrible goal. An unscreened shot from a bad angle. Ozzie wanted to steer the puck away and into the boards, but it ricocheted off his pad and his arm and into the net. No excuse. Stay positive. The game should not have even reached overtime, and Osgood is the main reason for that with 30 saves. He played a near-flawless game up to that point. Thursday was his sixth start in a row; look for Jimmy Howard to get the nod Saturday night in Colorado.

700 For Rafalski-He had an assist taken away from him on Holmstrom’s goal in the first period, but Brian Rafalski would rather have the win in his 700th career game. He looked great teamed with Nicklas Lidstrom on the power play and was buzzing around the puck, firing blue-line shots left and right in the vicinity of Bryzgalov. Hopefully #701 will have a better outcome for him.

Lebda or Meech or...-Derek Meech was a scratch on the roster in favor of Lebda. The two are a combined minus-5 with one point in eight games splitting time. Neither one is a strong candidate to hold onto a sustained starting spot, which begs the question...where the Hell is Andreas Lilja? He has not been on the ice for the Wings since February 28 when he got concussioned by Nashville’s Shea Weber. Lilja was never Mr. Consistency, but he was playing much better last season before he got his brains bashed around. Him and Ericsson would make a formidable third defensive pairing, but as of last week Lilja was still suffering from punch-induced headaches.

Out Performed-The game was Detroit’s to lose, which they did, but Phoenix out-performed them in several key categories that the Wings normally dominate. Shots were 33-27, faceoffs 34-27, and takeaways 7-3, all in favor of the Coyotes. But the Wings almost won. Stay positive.

Peace.