Wings Keep Warming Up, Put Sharks On Ice

By Adam W Parks

Thursday, November 6, 2009 Sharks 1 @ Redwings 2 SO

For the first time this season the Wings won a game in a shootout and are finally starting to resemble the Wings of old with their calm, comfortable, confident play in the third period and overtime session against the Sharks. Detroit out-shot San Jose in overtime 5-3, though the Wings had plenty of more scoring chances than that. Pavel Datsyuk opted for a fake during the shootout, a dazzling backhand to forehand displaying the fastest hands in the NHL, and beat Evgeni Nabokov stick-side. Zetterberg made a similar move, not quite as quick, and provided the insurance shot in the shootout, leaving the Sharks in an ocean of regret, caught in a wave of emotion.

Don't Look Now, But...

The Wings are on a three-game winning streak and are 4-0-1 in their last five. Chris Osgood has only allowed two goals in three-straight victorious starts. Detroit has battled back from an ugly beginning of the season that was full of inconsistency, injury, and doubt from fans and media alike. Talking heads, opponents, and fans outside of Hockeytown love to jump upon any sign of blood leaking out of Detroit, and in the first month of the season there was more than enough chum on the ice to attract the haters. Enter the Sharks, a team that had won its previous six including two shootouts against Columbus and Los Angeles. The defending Presidents Trophy winner, San Jose was just one point behind the Colorado Avalanche for the lead in the Western Conference heading into last night's game at Joe Louis Arena. With a trio of deadly forwards, Patrick Marleau (22), Joe Thornton (21), and Dany Heatley (18), the Sharks have three guys in the league's top-ten in scoring. Detroit's leading scorer, Henrik Zetterberg, has 13. Needless to say, if the Wings truly were looking to turn a corner, they needed a really big win against a really good team, and last night's shootout victory might have been it.

No Longer Treading Water, Detroit Shores Up Defense

Once upon a time, in mid-October, the Wings were handing pucks over to their opponents on a silver turnover platter. Even the Captain Nicklas Lidstrom looked like a waiter serving scoring opportunities in his own zone. Over the past decade Detroit has been the best puck-controlling team in the NHL, but it is hard to maintain possession when you give it away all the time. A good portion of Osgood's struggles early on can be attributed to the poor play from the defense in front of him. The lack of goal-scoring early in the season revealed a deficiency on defense, exposed a weakness in the Wings that opponents were able to take advantage of. However, going back to the game in Edmonton when Detroit went down 4-0 in the second period, the defense has clamped down, and Osgood and the team have benefitted.

Against the Sharks the Wings gave their greatest defensive performance of the season, limiting San Jose's dangerous threesome to a combined five shots and just one point (Thornton, assist). Brett Lebda has offered stronger, more consistent minutes of late, and Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall have been more responsible with the puck without out sacrificing their punishing, physical style of defense. Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski returned to the lineup after missing time with the flu and played healthy minutes; Rafalski was second only to Nicklas Lidstrom with 26:09 of ice time. The game was a virtual shooting gallery, Osgood had 33 saves and Nabokov had 35, but the Wings were able to limit the Sharks quality scoring chances and rebound opportunities. With the offensive weapons lost from last year, Mike Babcock believes this is the style of hockey the Wings will have to play the entire year: "We have a veteran core here that understands...we're not winning the way we did in the past. With the group we have right now and the injuries we have, this is how we have to play."

Don't Fall Asleep On Zzzzzzzz

You may not have seen this article from ESPN's John Buccigross, but something tells me Zetterberg and Mickey Redmond caught wind of it. During the broadcast last night, Redmond made a point to say that Datsyuk and Zetterberg are both still in the prime of their careers, despite being 29 and 31 years of age respectively. Both skaters proved Mickey right and showed the league that each is still a force to be reckoned with. Datsyuk has been the hottest Detroit forward since his return from injury, but Zetterberg took top honors against San Jose.

His game-tying goal in the third period was his fifth of the season, but it was not his most impressive play of the game. In the first period, Zetterberg put an absolute ankle-breaking move on Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle, not to be confused with Academy Award-wining director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). Boyle's skates were so crossed he appeared as if he was Trainspotting on the ice. He was still looking for Zetterberg 28 Days Later. He was wishing he was on The Beach enjoying some Sunshine after that move.

What Mr. Buccigross does not grasp, or chooses to ignore, is that you do not need to be under the age of 25 to be in your prime in the NHL. Are all veterans past their prime? Was Lidstrom over the hill when he won three-straight Norris Trophies after his 35th birthday? Forget Buccigross and all the others in the national media who are just hoping to see a dynasty come to its demise in Detroit. You can always find other writers who will give a fair, objective view of the greatest sports team in the history of the universe.

Griffin Eggs

Talking About How F***in' Awesome Helm Is-I have to admit, I set the DVR last night to record the game so I could go see the Black Crowes at the Orbit Room in Grand Rapids. During a nasty Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) guitar solo, I received a text message from a friend of mine and former standout for the Grand Rapids Christian varsity hockey team. He wrote, "I hope you blog about how f***in' good Helm is." I'm guessing this came shortly after Darren Helm's tenacity on the forecheck led to the Zetterberg goal in the third period. With a combination of speed and determination, Helm reminds me of a more gifted Kris Draper. Last night he was the best skater on the ice, constantly pressuring the Sharks defense and working hard on the penalty kill. He finished with 14:57 of ice time on 24 shifts, four shots, two hits, two takeaways, one blocked-shot, and had two excellent chances to end the game in overtime.

You are right Jeff, Helm is f***in' awesome. Curious though...what are you up to at the University of Michigan that it takes you until 2:30 PM to respond to my text message? Better keep that GPA up kid!

Wake Up Call?-Ville Leino, suffering from an annoying slump, absorbed a huge hit against the boards early in the first period. Working on the fourth line, Leino has to keep his head on a swivel and his feet moving. The hit seemed to wake him up a little as he was able to generate several scoring chances with three shots on goal. Hopefully he will be able to find the back of the net before he finds himself back in Grand Rapids.

Nugs and Notes

Do the Drapes Match the Datsyuks?-At the end of overtime, Draper and Datsyuk were out on the ice together and nearly ended the game. Datsyuk disrupted the play at the San Jose blue line and Draper picked up the puck and was all alone on Nabokov. A poke-check secured a point for the Sharks, but the play might have revealed something: combining the crafty elusiveness of Datsyuk with more speed on the line could create a whole mess of problems for the opposition.

Mickeyism!

It has been a while since we heard a good Mickey quote, what with the recent road trip and Versus coverage of the Bruins game, so here are two gems from last night. When Zetterberg put the moves on Boyle, Mickey said, "Zetterberg just undressed somebody down there. Oh boy!" And in the post game, in reference to the Wings catching a rare break from the refs on Z's goal, Mickey said, "If you keep going to the bar, you're going to get served sooner or later." Thank you Mick, we missed you!

Peace.