Late Holmstrom goal gives Red Wings two huge points
by Casey Richey on Mar 16, 2010 12:04 AM CDT
in Game Recaps
26 comments
Detroit and Calgary faced off for a huge 2 points in the race for the Western Conference 8th seed. With a win, Detroit jumped up 2 points to a 3 point lead on Calgary for that final spot. In a game that could have very easily turned into a 3-point final by way of overtime, the Red Wings found a late third period goal to push them to a 2-1 victory and more importantly, 2 points.
Calgary got on the board first, under 2 minutes into the game. A pass from Andreas Lilja to Darren Helm went through Helm's legs and landed on the stick of Nigel Dawes. Dawes took the puck to the net and put a shot on net. The rebound landed on the tape of Craig Conroy. A handful of Detroit chances and a Brian Rafalski shot off the post were about all that the Red Wings had to show for the first period.
For two teams battling each other for the last spot in the West at the time being, the first period was very tentative and sloppy. Each team registered 10 shots on net but very few were quality scoring chances. The pace picked up considerably in the second period and both teams put their offense on attack. The Wings equaled their first period total in shots with 10 in the second. The biggest shot came with 50 seconds left in the period.
But before that all important shot could be made, another shot had to be saved. Detroit had a power play after Steve Staois was given two minutes for interference on Kris Draper. Curtis Glencross corralled a loose puck and was in on Jimmy Howard with two Detroit players trailing. Henrik Zetterberg got called for hooking and Glencross got a penalty shot out of it. Glencross came in with a ton of speed and didn't deke much, just putting a shot on Howard that he stopped with ease.
Seconds after Howard stopped Glencross' attempt, Pavel Datsyuk picked up a pass from Brian Rafalski and with Tomas Holmstrom standing in front of Miikka Kiprusoff, fired the puck top shelf stick side for a tied game with 50 seconds remaining in the 2nd period. It was Datsyuk's team leading 22nd goal of the season and his 6th in 7 games. The power-play goal continues the team's streak to a whopping 10 games.
The third period was full of chances for both teams. Brian Rafalski took a double minor for high-sticking and it looked to be a crucial turning point in the game for Calgary. Instead, it turned out to be a huge momentum boost for the Red Wings. The Wings killed off the full four minutes and got some spring back in their step. The teams wound up quality chance after chance on net and it wasn't until the dying minutes of the third that the Wings ended the tie.
Detroit managed to keep the puck in the zone on a clearing attempt by Calgary with under 1:30 to play. Even though three of the five Red Wings had vacated the zone in an attempt to get back on defense, Johan Franzen cranked a shot up from the blue line. With Holmstrom in his office in front of Kiprusoff, he deflected a shot that was going well wide of the net into the top shelf for a 2-1 Detroit lead with 1:19 to play.
Holmstrom did what he does best by deflecting the puck and the Wings survived a 6 man attack with Kiprusoff pulled to get the 2-1 win.
Player of the game: Tomas Holmstrom. It was hard not to give this one to Jimmy Howard who played a very solid game for Detroit. But if it weren't for Homer's derriere blocking Kiprusoff's view all night, the two goals wouldn't have been scored.
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it’s a good thing to wake up to huh? :)
by Casey Richey on Mar 16, 2010 8:10 AM CDT up reply actions
Pumped!
No better way to jumpstart your team like a clutch penalty shot save! I know there are plenty of games to go but Jimmy could’ve very well saved our season with that one.
Oh Yeah
That save won us the game in my opinion. Not only did he save the penalty shot, but we kept our Power Play as well. And Datsyuk had a great shot. Props to Homer as well.
The Penalty Shot
and the double minor PK in full were both game savers for the Wings.
by Casey Richey on Mar 16, 2010 8:11 AM CDT up reply actions
I thought
we were doomed on the penalty shot.I thought glencross didnt really give a solid attempt on it but I could be wrong.
Hmmm....
But if it weren’t for Homer’s derriere blocking Kiprusoff’s view all night, the two goals wouldn’t have been scored.
Do you think NHL goalies have a support group?
Don't Panic!
What a fantastic win
Obviously huge points, and also some good play by the Wings overall. You’re right, the first was a bit tentative, but I liked the puck possession by our boys for the rest of the game. It felt like I was actually watching the Red Wings again. Still a few too many dangerous turnovers, but we are controlling the puck much better.
Oh, and it was Williams who hooked Glencross not Zetterberg. But all that really matters is Tiberius stoned him, solid attempt or not!
Penalty Shot
Wasnt it Williams who hooked Glencross…… either way great save by howie, dude was going WAY to fast for anything spectacular.
yeah it was Williams
but they gave the penalty credit to Henrik.
by Casey Richey on Mar 16, 2010 5:11 PM CDT up reply actions
great win
i like the way we have been playing lately. lets keep it up!
this game was incredibly boring though, minus the last couple minutes of the 2nd and 3rd…..all well 2 points for us 0 for Calgary. thats they way i like it
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Am I the only one who has Howard quickly becoming his favorite player? A lot of my friends (who, admittedly, aren’t huge fans of hockey and give me weird looks when they see my 12 foot shelf of memorabilia in my room) don’t think he is that good and that he is only riding our defense, as they claim Ozzy did for years. Frankly, our defense has been crap this year and Howard is the only bright spot on it except for Rafalski the last two months and Stuart most of the season.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Mar 16, 2010 11:55 AM CDT reply actions
Wow, your friends obviously aren't hockey fans
because Doug Janik and Lebmeech were certainly carrying Jimmy lo these many months with their stellar defensive prowess.
On the penalty shot yesterday, um it’s really starting to piss me off that playing AWESOME DEFENSE has become a penalty. Could we get a little consistancy Gary? Hum? I know it’s the dreaded Wings not your precious, but for the love of all that is holy and the game of hockey, a little consistancy please.
by Wings3_26_97 on Mar 16, 2010 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions
This was a great game. I don’t remember the last time we had a late, clutch, back-breaking goal like Holmstrom’s last night. I feel like we have been constantly giving that kind of goal up all season. This team has turned a corner lately and I think they’ll make a run for the 6th seed and play Vancouver/Colorado.
As bad for us as it is, the Wings need more close defensive games like this. In an offensive shootout, the Wings have proven that they can outscore an opponent if the other team opens their game up and it’s up and down hockey. If the Wings can win more of the defensive struggles, they can beat anyone in the playoffs.
LA a couple months ago
Helm with the winner with under 30 seconds left. But yeah, it feels like forever.
Check out Detroit4Lyfe
by handsomerob1 on Mar 16, 2010 5:57 PM CDT up reply actions
Start on time
Lately, the Red Wings have been improving in pretty much every aspect of the game. But, after a couple games where they started playing on time, they again started late and gave up an early goal. Many of the games recently, they’ve either given up an early goal (Blackhawks, Canucks, Flames) or stopped playing in the second (Avalanche) and/or third period (Flames).
They’ve also been consistently bad at passing. The first game back, they were passing really well and had few turnovers, but since then, they’ve been their usual (this season) turnover machine, with very few takeaways to make up for it (most of them from Datsyuk, who also has way too many giveaways—based on current rates, if the #2 takeaway man, Ryan Kesler, had as many takeaways, he would have half as many giveaways).
Hopefully, they will improve their passing/clearing and reduce turnovers after their mini-break.
Is it just me
or does every team we need to lose always win. i know this has nothing to do about the article but i was looking at scores, and almost every team that we need to lose won. its kind of ridiculous. i guess this is why you take care of your business first and hope things fall into place.
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besides them
if you look on the standings, everyone has basically a win streak.
coyotes – 6 straight wins
avalanche- 3 straight wins
predators- 3 straight wins
i dont feel comfortable in the 8th seed. id like to move up to maybe the 5th or 6th seed but everyone is winning with the exception of kings are are 4-4-2 in the last 10.
it just seems when we start to get hot so does every other team
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i like that we do have the best record in the last 10 games then any team in the league
we are 7-2-1; a possible 15 points out of 20
the next closest is:
canadians
coyotes
predators
blues
all 7-3-0; possible 14 points out of 20
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L10 1 Detroit 7-2-1 2 Pittsburgh 6-1-3 3 Montreal 7-3-0 3 Nashville 7-3-0 3 St. Louis 7-3-0 3 Phoenix 7-3-0
(The nhl.com standings page changed so my script to extract data from it stopped working and I don’t get streaks anymore.) And the Red Wings have managed that without improving the atrocious five-on-five stats.
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