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Holy shit, the Red Wings did it. They really pulled this series off. Man oh man.
CSSI Methodology Explanation here
Goalie Ratings
Jimmy Howard won the head-to-head battle, despite giving up a goal I wish he hadn't. I'm going to give him an even rating overall for the performance. He was good, but I think his team picked up for him to help repay for all the shit they owe him for keeping them in games all year.
The Goals
1st Period 01:49 - Detroit Goal: Henrik Zetterberg (wrist shot) from Valtteri Filppula and Jakub Kindl
The Wings get on the board first with a good shift by this line, with a few chances culminating in Filppula getting a shot off from just above the circle. Traffic is all over the crease and Zetterberg pots home the rebound. Dan Cleary will get the screener's assist for his work on this play to keep Hiller from ever seeing the puck. Zetterberg will also earn a self-assist for a great pass to Filppula on the doorstep moments earlier. Brendan Smith will also earn a plus on this play despite changing. He gets a loose puck and defeats the Anaheim forecheck at the top of his own circles with what some scary stick-handling which pays off when he shrugs off Cogliano and passes around Koivu to move transition.
1st Period 13:48 - Anaheim Goal: Emerson Etem (wrist shot) from Francois Beauchemin and Jonas Hiller
The Ducks pull even as they transition from their own end all the way up ice on a great Emerson Etem rush. Etem picks up a knocked-down dump-in before dragging it across the ice and snapping it high to the short side. I don't like Howard giving up the short-side goal here. This one wasn't quite the snipe that the Selanne goal in Game 1 was. I'm going to call this one a bad goal. By rule, minuses for Kindl, Cleary, Colaiacovo, Samuelsson, and Filppula will be cleared. Filppula will get his minus back for a bit of soft coverage on Etem moving through center. Colaiacovo will get a half-minus back. He knocks down the dump-in, but knocks it right back to Etem. Kindl will also get a coverage half-minus. He's caught a little off by Bonino driving the center when he has to transition to cover Etem, but he doesn't do a good job to challenge.
1st Period 16:37 - Detroit Goal (SH): Justin Abdelkader (wrist shot) unassisted
Abdelkader gets his stick in the D-to-D lane up top on the PK. As the puck bounces off, Abby heads off to the races before deking Hiller and sliding it 5-hole. Abdelkader will get a bonus plus-and-a-half for creating this.
2nd Period 13:45 - Detroit Goal: Valtteri Filppula (backhand) from Daniel Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg
The Wings pull up 3-1 as good forechecking work in the corner to Hiller's left brings the puck out to Filppula at the dot. Flip wastes no time backhanding the rolling puck past Hiller. First off, Quincey is going to get a bonus plus. On the play prior, he makes a great sweep check on Bonino and then joins a rush to force Hiller to freeze the puck for the faceoff that turns into this goal. Filppula will get a bonus plus on this play for helping win the faceoff cleanly. Cleary will get a half-plus for some great hustle-work to keep the zone.
3rd Period 16:43 - Anaheim Goal (PP): Francois Beauchemin (wrist shot) from Ryan Getzlaf and Cam Fowler
The Ducks pull within one with a late power play goal as Beauchemin chucks a puck from the low corner that bounces off Ericsson's skate and into the net. I'm going to give Ericsson a minus. He's caught a bit off-guard because the guy he has to worry about covering is behind the net, but he has to be ready for the puck to come out front and he's not. Kicking it into your own net is bad.
Penalty Adjustments (pluses and minuses only)
1st Period 11:38 - Daniel Cleary (boarding): Cleary gets a minus for boarding Bryan Allen. This is a hit you just can't make. Allen at no point has his shoulders squared to Cleary. He's got to take a better angle or not finish that check.
1st Period 14:44 - Kyle Quincey (cross-checking): Quincey clears out the front of the crease and clears out everything in Daniel Winnik's kidneys. Quincey will get a minus.
2nd Period 18:30 - Kyle Quincey (slashing): Kind of a weak one, but half-minus for Quincey. Stick-slashes have been the standard for years now.
3rd Period 16:14 - Henrik Zetterberg (delay of game): Automatic minus for Zetterberg.
Bonus Ratings
+1 to Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson: Hardly notice them all game? Good. That was kind of their job and they did it very well.
+1 to Kyle Quincey: Yes. He was good in this game. Very good.
+1 to Gustav Nyquist, Joakim Andersson, and Damien Brunner: Consistently Detroit's most-dangerous looking line, I really liked what they brought in this huge game for the Wings
+1 to Henrik Zetterberg: Easily one of his best performances of the year. What a masterful game by Z.
Honorable Mentions:
I love you all.