Red Wings: 1-0 In November Off 2-0 Shutout

By Adam W Parks

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Bruins 0 @ Red Wings 2

The Hottest Wing?

Chris Osgood has gotten about as much respect in the city of Detroit as that piano-playing, happy feet-having, Rachel Ray sidekick. Certainly he won over most fans (again) in 2008 when he played outstanding in the playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals after coming off the bench to replace six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek. Osgood has never won and has scarcely shown signs of deserving the Vezina, an honor awarded to the best goaltender in the regular season.

After winning his third Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008, he followed up with his worst statistical season of his career, but bounced back brilliantly during the playoffs, taking the Wings all the way through seven games in the Finals. Sorry to bring it up. All of that positive karma that Osgood ever earns always seems to rapidly dissipate after a few bad starts. On a recent flight to Boston, a good friend from college and a fellow avid Wings fan asked me to bring a starting goalie back to Michigan. I joked and said that I would gag, tag, and bag Bruins' goalie and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas, and throw him into the cargo hold of the plane before the flight back to Lansing.

So Osgood has had some shaky moments this season, some costly bad-angle goals, and that debacle in Buffalo, but overall he has been solid in net. Glaring giveaways and a lack of scoring early in games has really hurt him. But the team has tightened up in front of him and has offered plenty of scoring support. Oh, and Al, if you didn't notice last night, he outplayed Thomas to the tune of a 29-save shutout. It was his 50th shutout of his career. Check this out for a little perspective on the meaning of that number. If you are too lazy, he's in pretty good company sitting at #23 all-time in shutouts; second amongst active goalies. What is even more impressive about Osgood is this. Barring an injury, he will hopefully celebrate his 400th career victory before Thanksgiving, but certainly before Christmas.

Isn't winning what really counts from a goalie anyway? In his words: "I don't put much merit in shutouts. The only thing they're good for is that you know you have a great chance of winning the game." Tuesday's shutout over Boston was his second straight victory after being pulled in the first period against Vancouver. In the last two games he has stopped all but one of the 50 shots thrown his way, and for the second night in a row he made unbelievable saves in the first minute to keep the opposition off the board early in the game, a habit the Wings had recently been suffering from. Say it with me now...OZZIE! OZZIE! OZZIE!

Dats Hot Too, No Matter What John Says

It was the same old story, the same old song and slow-start to the season dance for Pavel Datsyuk. Missing two games with an undisclosed upper body injury and only tallying two points, both assists, in the first five games of the season had some people wondering if John Buccigross was right.

Well, John, Datsyuk picked up a pair of assists last night against Boston and is currently on a six-game, ten-point scoring streak. During that same stretch he has totaled at least two points in four of those games. His twelve points in eleven games this season gives him a better than point-per-game average so far, and ties him for the top spot on Detroit's roster with...ahem, John? Henrik Zetterberg. Can Datsyuk keep up that same pace? He did finish fourth in points last season with 97 in 81 games. In fact, the last Wing to lead the league in scoring in a single season was Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, with 86 points in 70 games 47 years ago.

Superstars do not stand out in Detroit the same way they do in, say Pittsburgh or Washington. Scoring is well-dispersed and Wings forwards are always held accountable for their defensive play. Here are a few Detroit-style, Selke Trophy-winning superstars: Sergei Fedorov (1993-94 and 95-96), Steve Yzerman (99-2000), and Datsyuk has taken honors the past two seasons, beating out Zetterberg in 08. What the Hell, let's throw Kris Draper (03-04) in there as well. Datsyuk (31) may be past the prime age of the NHL, but he is not past his prime.

Hey Bucci, better get your teat ready, I think I hear Sydney Crosby crying somewhere.

I Would Title This Segment Old School Vs. New School, but Zdeno Chara Ain't That New, and Nicklas Lidstrom Still Kicks Ass

Two of the leagues top defensemen went head-to-head last night: Nicklas Lidstrom and Zdeno Chara. One is the reigning Norris Trophy for the best defesneman in the NHL. The other has owned the same trophy six times in the last eight seasons. Both are captains of their respective teams.

Let's size these combatants up, shall we? Lidstrom stands at 6'1" and 190 pounds, is still priming at the ripe age of 39, and is arguably the best defenseman of all time. His six Norris Trophies is third all-time behind the great Bobby Orr (8) of the Bruins, and Doug Harvey (7) of the Montreal Canadian and New York Rangers. Harvey dominated the blue line during the 1950s and 60s, while Orr racked up eye-popping statistics during the 70s. Lidstrom ruled the 90s and continues to torment opposing offenses today. Lidstrom leads both in career point totals with 1,000 and is currently in his 18th season: Orr finished his career with 915 in 12 seasons, Harvey totaled 540 in 19.

Chara is a prototype of a hockey player, perhaps better suited as a defensive end in the NFL. At 6'9" and 255 pounds, he is the tallest person to ever play in the NHL and is considered around the league to be the most intimidating man on skates. The 32-year-old Chara has 325 career points, but will never come anywhere near Lidstrom's accumulation. However, he does prevail over Lidstrom in the 'being naughty' category. Chara has spent 1,232 minutes in the penalty box in 781 games played, an average of almost 4:00 per game for his career. Lidstrom on the other hand is about as familiar to the sin bin as Neil Patrick Harris is to a woman's vagina: just 444 PIM in 1,343 games played, an average of 0:40 per game.

On the season, Chara has 22:00 PIM, six assists, and a plus-2 rating. Lidstrom has just three points with one goal but has a team-leading rating of plus-7, and just 2:00 PIM.

Griffin Eggs

Way To Step Up-Doug Janik did not have high expectations of getting in the boxscore when he got the call in Grand Rapids that he was needed in Detroit on Tuesday, but he played a damn good game. The 29-year-old veteran of the NHL and AHL stepped into the lineup as both Ericsson and Brian Rafalski were out with the flu. Janik logged 13:56 minutes of ice time on 18 shifts, more than fellow defenseman Derek Meech, and also got some important penalty-killing time. His day in Detroit was short lived however, as he was sent back to the Griffins after Ericsson and Rafalski returned to practice today.

Back In, But Possibly Not For Long-Ville Leino was back on the roster last night, but he only registered one shot and was knocked around the ice playing on the fourth line. Probably not the best place for him, but nothing else seems to be working for the guy. Brad May (eye) is hopeful to return soon which might make Leino the odd-man-out again.

Nugs and Notes

Ping!-Even though Osgood got the shutout last night, he did get beat, twice. Michael Ryder and Marco Sturm each clanked pucks off the goal posts. Luck has not been on the Bruins side lately as they have struggled to score goals with the absence of goal-scoring threats like Marc Savard (foot) and Milan Lucic (finger). Tuesday's shutout loss to Detroit, the lone matchup of the season for these Original Six teams, is their second scoreless game in a row.

Continuing The Odyssey-Tomas Holmstrom scored in the first period off a drop pass from Datsyuk just a few minutes after Zetterberg made it 1-0 off a Datsyuk faceoff win. It was Holmer's team-leading eighth goal of the season. Great to see him healthy again! Zetterberg's third goal ties him in second for the Wings with Jonathan Ericsson and Kirk Maltby.

Carhartting-Despite being on the injured reserves, Valterri Filppula won a prestigious, sponsor-soaked award from his coaching staff. The Carhartt Award goes to the 'Hardest Working Player of the Month,' and fortunate recipients get...wait for it...Carhartt merchandise. True story. True award. Now he can go back to Finland and look like an American. Maybe Carhartt has a new line of fire-retardant casts for broken wrists.

Peace.