The Red Wings systematically demolished the Coyotes on Monday night, scoring three power play goals and getting huge plays. The Wings got outshot 34-23, but still probably had more quality scoring chances as they put three off the post in the third period after drawing Phoenix out of their 1-2-2 defense.
Special teams certainly made the difference as the Wings went 3-for-5 with the man advantage and held the Coyotes scoreless on their four chances.
CSSI Methodology Explanation here
Goalie Ratings
Jimmy Howard will get a +1 in the head-to-head battle for pitching the shutout against Mike Smith. he’s also going to get a +2 overall. The Wings were really up against it for a long stretch in the first period and again in the second where he really bailed out some mistakes with excellent positioning and rebound control.
The Goals
1st Period 02:37 – Detroit Goal (PP): Johan Franzen (tip in) from Damien Brunner and Henrik Zetterberg
The Wings get a quick zone entry on the PP and Brunner makes a great slap pass to Franzen’s stick in the middle of the ice for the tip past Smith. Datsyuk will get the third assist and Kronwall a fourth. The movement on the passing by these two to help Z gain the zone and to get it back to Brunner at the point is very good.
1st Period 19:24 – Detroit Goal (PP): Damien Brunner (wrist shot) from Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall
Another quick zone entry with good passing leads the puck to Brunner wide open on the back door for the quick snap put-away. Datsyuk again will get the third assist. He brings it into the zone and springs Zetterberg. Franzen will also get a half-assist (no-touch) for keeping the defensive coverage low. Klesla’s inability to get his stick in the passing lane is because he’s so low in the zone covering Franzen. Zetterberg will get a bonus assist. Much of this is because he’s moving at full-speed the entire time he’s in the zone, which leaves him with too many options for the Coyotes to cover effectively.
Goal-Saved Plus: 2nd Period 08:36 – Danny DeKeyser
The Coyotes get a break on a bounce off the end-boards that creates a chance for Vermette and a rebound shot for Doan. As the Coyotes captain is backhanding the puck to an empty net behind Howard, DeKeyser gets his stick in and the puck deflects up and over, saving the 2-0 lead.
2nd Period 16:09 – Detroit Goal (PP): Valtteri Filppula (wrist shot) from Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall
The Wings get their third power play goal off a good zone entry as Z feeds the puck low to Filppula who quickly snaps it short-side on Smith. Franzen and Datsyuk will each get a half-assist. The Coyotes get a clear, but these two combine to get the puck back quickly, which allows Kronwall to start it back the other way.
3rd Period 18:38 – Detroit Goal (EN): Johan Franzen from Jonathan Ericsson
A few moments after Pavel Datsyuk passes the puck off instead of burying it, Franzen pots the empty-netter with a flip-in from the blue line. I’m going to give Abdelkader back the plus that Cleary got for jumping on right as Franzen is letting the shot go. Abby is involved in what makes this play happen. I’m also going to give Zetterberg a plus for helping pressure this play, although Franzen (who was his replacement) will obviously keep his.
Penalty Adjustments (pluses and minuses only)
1st Period 01:53 – Antoine Vermette (holding): Filppula shows some good hustle after a loose puck and Vermette uses a free hand to slow him down. Filppula will get a plus.
1st Period 07:46 – Brendan Smith (hooking): Smith gets his money’s worth on about six hooks, one of which is called. Minus for Smith.
1st Period 16:31 – Brendan Smith (hooking): This one is soft, but it’s made easier to call by Smith being behind his man and reaching out with his stick. Still a full minus for Smith.
1st Period 18:50 – David Moss (elbowing): Pavel Datsyuk changes gears on Moss at center ice and catches him by surprise. In a bit of a panic move, Moss goes up high on Pavel and goes to the box. Plus for Datsyuk.
2nd Period 01:56 – Danny Cleary (tripping): Cleary takes an offensive zone penalty as he trips Oliver X-Man Larsson. Minus for Cleary.
2nd Period 04:12 – Danny Cleary (tripping): Danny Cleary the Trippening Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. Minus for Cleary.
2nd Period 14:53 – Antoine Vermette (hooking): Franzen earns a plus for some dazzling stick control which gets him to a scoring area. Vermette prevents the chance by cheating.
3rd Period 08:17 – Shane Doan (roughing): Abdelkader will get a plus as he’d been getting under Doan’s skin for a while by going after Michalek. Abby goes too, but Doan gets the well-deserved extra penalty, so the Wings are on the power play.
Bonus Ratings
+1.5 to Danny DeKeyser: Oh man it is fun to watch how mature he plays in the defensive zone. he’s eventually going to have a stretch where he struggles and I’m going to gift wrap this performance in my head and save it for then.
+1 to Jakub Kindl and Kyle Quincey: I was very happy with how well they played the body in the defensive zone against Phoenix’s big forwards.
+0.5 to Niklas Kronwall: The toughest competition and the lowest corsi, Kronwall held his own very well and got the Wings out of trouble several times.
+1 to Joakim Andersson and Cory Emmerton: The plus for these two on penalty killing was earned through the combined nine minutes of SH ice time they played and did so very well.
+1 to Justin Abdelkader: Abby was a physical force for the Wings tonight and it created chances for his linemates. More of this, please.
+0.5 to Pavel Datsyuk: Three steals for Pavel led directly to scoring chances. I’d like to see him finish those, but he was doing defense right.
+1 to Henrik Zetterberg; Outsanding game for Hank in this one to keep the puck moving in the right direction on the power play and to stop rushes effectively at even.
Honorable Mentions:
The fact that Ericsson and Smith are the only D-men to go without bonus adjustments is as close to a minus as I can give to a defenseman on a team coming off a 4-0 shutout. Ericsson had a really bad turnover in the first and Smith didn’t play well enough to make up for the penalties he took.
