Wednesday, April 15, 2010
Round 1, Game 1: Red Wings 2 @ Coyotes 3
What does playoff season mean to me? It means a couple extra beers and a few less hours of sleep. 7:00 AM came very quick this morning--and grogginess and headaches are always worse to deal with the morning after a Wings playoff loss.
PHONECIANS PLAY PHYSICAL
Detroit did not play a bad game last night, but they did lack playoff intensity and were continuously roughed up, especially late in the game. The Coyotes beat the snot out of the Wings to the tune of 43 hits to 20. 43 is a very high number, though nobody should have been surprised by the discrepancy in that category. The Wings rarely out-hit their opposition and the prototypical game plan against Detroit in the playoffs is to play as physical as possible. Phoenix is a physical team. They're that type of team. They're not the type of team that will go out and score three powerplay goals to beat you...
HOW THE HELL DID THE COYOTES SCORE 3 POWERPLAY GOALS?
Detroit had the tenth best penalty killing unit in the NHL this regular season at 83.9% and gave up only four powerplay goals in the previous 53 shorthanded situations (93%). The Coyotes ranked 28th (that's third-worst) in the league with their 14.7% power play efficiency and had scored just twice in their last 32 man-advantage opportunities (6%).
"Our PK kind of let us down tonight, which is disappointing because we've been so good lately,'' Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart said. "They won some faceoffs and were putting the puck on net.''
They were also putting the puck in net. Shane Doan screened Jimmy Howard on Keith Yandle's shot from the point for the first goal. Wojtek Wolski got a wide-open one-timer for the second. Derek Morris had a clean look off a clean face-off win and got the game-winning slapshot. Three powerplay goals is the surprising result of Phoenix just grinding, hustling, and taking advantage of opportunities. Three powerplay goals is an anomaly.
So was Tomas Holmstrom's wristshot against Ilya Bryzgalov.
BRYZZY'S GIMME
Chances are Holmstrom, or any other Red Wing for that matter, will never score another goal against Ilya Bryzgalov quite like this:
Bryzgalov saw the shot. He reacted to it. His glove tried to close on it. He just missed it.
What was Holmer doing shooting a wrister from the blue line anyway? Kids, this is why you always put the puck on the net...you never know what'll happen.
We better believe that Bryz was embarrassed by that goal. His focus will be sharper from here on out because of that goal. The Phoenicians proved how dangerous they can be when they're down by one, and how difficult they can be when they're up by one. Down by a goal for nearly the entire third period, Detroit got out-shot 20-10 and Bryzgalov swallowed everything up with ease. Detroit will have to be more aggressive in order to create more shots against the Coyotes in Game 2. The Wings lost Game 1 on the road, at least they didn't lose Game 1 at home. San Jose. New Jersey. Pittsburgh.
Peace
Bert, Ericsson, Lilja, Helm, Eaves, and Miller need to lead the charge on pounding Shane Doan into the boards at every possible opportunity. I ESPECIALLY would like to see Bert start to use his size and strength for something other than carrying the puck one handed into the corner.
ReplyDeleteWinnipeg sucks. If I hear one more interview where these crybabies whine about being a 4-seed underdog, I'm going to vomit. Oh well, at least the Sharks lost. That is always good for a laugh.
ReplyDelete"I didn't feel it was that intense at all," Johan Franzen said. "I thought (the stat crew) was very nice to them. Every time the fans cheered, they marked it down as a hit."
ReplyDeleteLove the Mule
Munch Out