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CSSI Analysis: Red Wings 2 – Oilers 1 (SO)

The Red Wing took a couple days off to get their heads right after falling apart against Columbus earlier in the week. They responded by winning a game, but in a much closer fashion than they should have, as it took a shootout to dispatch the Oilers.

Neither team scored on the power play (Detroit 4 chances to Edmonton’s 2). If you promise not to tell Oilers fans I said this, I’ll tell you honestly the Wings got away with a bunch more than the Oilers did. Little stuff got let go both ways, but I found myself yelling at Wings players to stop holding, hooking, and interfering with players more than I yelled at the refs to call Oilers for doing the same. Shots were 23-22 Detroit by the end of the game.

CSSI Methodology Explanation here

Box score here

Goaltending

Jimmy Howard had an oustanding game, allowing only one goal on a brutal turnover that left him out to dry. Other than that, he was excellent at swallowing rebounds when need be and making the big stops on the chances that Edmonton did create.

The Goals

1st Period 13:53 – Detroit Goal: Riley Sheahan (wrist shot) from Tomas Tatar and Drew Miller
Detroit scores first on a good forechecking cycle low in the Edmonton zone to make a bit of space for Tatar to feed it out front to Sheahan for the quick goal. Sheahan gets the puck into the zone on the left wing side as the Wings begin a change, dumping it around to the far side corner where Tatar and Miller combine on the forecheck against Petry and Lander. Miller pushes it low where Tatar gets it and starts to skate behind the net with it, taking advantage of Riley Sheahan setting up position inside where he can pick Petry. As both Petry and Marincin go below the goal line to chase Tatar, he quickly spins it around behind both and feeds it to Sheahan in front for the put-away. The defensive change behind the play will cost Quincey and DeKeyser their pluses, since neither got involved with the play. However, only Ericsson will earn his plus back. On the play just before the change, Kronwall gets himself caught up ice and were it not for a bad Edmonton pass, this would have been a 2-on-1 against Ericsson, who calmly recovers and resets the breakout. Tatar does excellent forechecking work and will get a plus. Sheahan also does a very good job on his positioning to make space for teammates. Sheahan will get a half-plus.

3rd Period 08:43 – Edmonton Goal: Ryan Smyth (wrist shot) unassisted
Edmonton ties it on a beautiful centering pass to Ryan Smyth off the stick of his brother Brendan Smith and fuck me I’m angry about this goal. After the Oilers get it into the corner, Sheahan, Abdelkader and Smith fight along the boards to get it away from the Edmonton forecheckers. Smith finally gets it with a bit of room to skate to the corner with Gordon chasing him down directly from behind, Hendricks getting set up to cut him off behind the net, and Smyth floating just behind Hendricks in the Red Wings‘ D-man’s blind spot. Instead of making the simple play around the boards, Smith tries to shovel it up through the middle of the ice. Ryan Smyth picks off this pass and has an open lane to the front where he snaps it over Howard’s glove to tie it. This one is all on Brendan Smith, who will get two minuses for a turnover this dumbfoundingly egregious. Lashoff, Tatar, Sheahan, and Abdelkader will be cleared.

Penalty Adjustments

1st Period 10:25 – Nail Yakupov (slashing): The Wings get the first power play of the game because an Edmonton dude cheats. This time it’s Yakupov with a chop on Kronwall in front of the Detroit net. No adjustment. Just a bad decision.
1st Period 20:00 – Andrew Ference & Justin Abdelkader (roughing): Boys will be boys and sometimes boys don’t like each other. Both players get roughing for trying to make one another taste glove. No adjustment.

2nd Period 09:27 – Brian Lashoff (interference): A bit of a lucky bounce gets the Oilers a scoring chance. Lashoff clears out the net a bit too aggressively stepping into the path of an oncoming skater. Minus for Lashoff.
2nd Period 13:57 – David Perron (holding):
The Wings get a scoring chance with Kronwall blasting a shot from the point with Tatar in front. Perron holds onto Tatar to keep him still and goes to the box for it. Tatar will get a half-plus for driving the net and earning the call, but Legwand will get a full plus. He makes a very good zone entry that creates a scoring chance without which this call doesn’t get made. Tatar is doing the right thing here, but this is also partially on Perron for being dumb.

3rd Period 09:33 – Danny DeKeyser (interference): Taylor Hall turns the corner on DeKeyser and draws a call when DK takes him down. Minus for DeKeyser.
3rd Period 17:06 – Boyd Gordon (delay of game):
Gordon gets pressured and flips the puck over the glass, which is not allowed. It’s not a smart play by Gordon, but the forecheck by Glendening on this play sets up Gordon to make the mistake. I’m going to give Glendening a half-plus.

Overtime 01:21 – Martin Marincin (delay of game): Detroit gets their 2nd power play caused directly by an Oilers player shooting the puck out of play. No adjustment on this one. Just a mistake by Marincin.

Bonus Ratings

+1 to Johan Franzen, +0.5 to David Legwand: I thought this line played well in mostly defensive situations. Legwand drove the middle well, and Franzen played physically. Franzen absolutely dominated possession despite negative zone starts while Legwand made space.
+0.5 to Gustav Nyquist:
Nyquist moved the puck very well in this game in the 22:25 he played.
+1 to Riley Sheahan: This was a very solid game for Sheahan, who had been struggling lately. He really cut down on defensive miscues in his own end and forechecked very well.
+1 to Luke Glendening and Justin Abdelkader: Definitely one of Glendening’s better games. Both of these players did a very good job on the penalty kill, coming up big in dangerous situations.
+0.5 to Teemu Pulkkinen: Only 7:36 played, but Pulkkinen made himself known in this game with a fantastic hip check in the middle of the ice in his own zone.
+1.5 to Brian Lashoff: He got sheltered minutes, but he did very well in them. I’m adjusting him up to an overall +0.5 for having a strong game.
+1.5 to Danny DeKeyser, +1 to Kyle Quincey: This pairing played very well in their minutes. They took more defensive zone starts and still helped move the puck the right way, cutting down on turnovers and using the body well.
-1 to Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall: The Riggy/Kronwall pairing ate big minutes in tough situations and I wasn’t thrilled with them. They held their own, but expectations for the top pair against a team like Edmonton are not to simply “hold their own.” Kronwall made mistakes at both ends of the ice and that was not good enough.

Honorable Mentions:

Ericsson was not good and Smith wasn’t noticeable enough elsewhere to earn his way out of the doghouse for such a bad turnover.

Current Game Chart

Season Totals Chart

Screener’s Assist Totals

Player Name Screener’s Assists Totals
Jonathan Ericsson 1
Johan Franzen 2
Justin Abdelkader 3.5
Todd Bertuzzi 4.5
Tomas Tatar 1
Darren Helm 2
Henrik Zetterberg 1
Patrick Eaves 1
Daniel Cleary 1

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