Here is my half-hearted recap. Below you will find a broken man’s words on a game where I watched my favorite sports team play well for most of the game, but get bested by a much better team. I thought about going into heavy analysis, but by the time the Blackhawks scored their third goal, I figured it might be pointless.
The Red Wings hold onto the second wild card spot with the Flyers four points behind. If the results don’t show soon, then you can kiss your beloved playoff streak goodbye. *sigh*
After the first period, there wasn’t much to write home about, so maybe tune me out after that. This loss was on no one but the players. You need to score, guys. Anyways, let’s go!
First Period:
Patrick Kane scored like, as soon as the god damn game started. 21 seconds to be exact. Just a wonderful start by the Red Wings, which led to a two-on-one. Kane sniped it past Petr Mrazek who was about five feet outside of his crease. Gotta stop those. The Blackhawks kept buzzing for some time, which led to a power-play opportunity that they converted on from Duncan Keith. He ripped it from the blue line, and I believe it deflected off of Justin Abdelkader. That ended Mrazek’s day, and Jimmy Howard came in net for relief. If you ask me, Howard should have started the game to begin with. Mrazek does not look himself.
After the Hawks managed to bury the Wings early in the game, the ice started to tilt in the other direction. Detroit ~somewhat~ took over the the remainder of the first period, and managed to pull within one on a nasty snipe by Gustav Nyquist:
That’s good for Nyquist’s 16th of the season, and his second in four games. Let’s hope he starts to heat up because dear god does this team need it.. Also: L O L asshole Blackhawks player tripping over his stick.
Nothing much going on for the rest of the first, but as a side note, Andreas Athanasiou continues to be a complete bad ass, making sick players like this:
Man, he is good. If Teemu Pulkkinen would have scored there, this blog would have changed it’s name to “Winging it in Greektown.”
At the end of 20 minutes, it’s all Chicago across the chart in terms of score, and possession. Score is 2-1, shots are 11-8. 5v5 shot attempts sit at 14-13.
Second Period:
The Red Wings dominated this period, but remained scoreless.
There isn’t much really to speak of from the second period aside from my simple observation that Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader really didn’t look good. Detroit had a look on the power-play in two different occasions, but were held off the scoreboard.
The Red Wings managed to hold the Blackhawks to only three shots, which is an absolute moral victory for this team right now. They dominated possession, but the offense remained to be completely anemic.
No scoring in the second period. Score is 2-1 Hawks, shots in favor of Detroit 18-11, as well as 5v5 shot attempts 37-22.
Third Period:
The Red Wings continued to pelt the Blackhawks with strong puck possession to start the third period, they maintained it through most of it, but a power-play goal by Chicago caved the team.
I could go through each play, each goal, each fuck-up for you all, but does it really matter? The Blackhawks are incredibly good, and the Red Wings are a paper tiger. Despite a strong response in the final 40 minutes, the Red Wings couldn’t score a god damn goal to save their life.
Chicago’s late-game push put this one away, but the Red Wings still came out on top with puck possession. Wings lose 4-1, but control shots on goal 34-26. 5v5 shot attempts also controlled by Detroit, 51-41.
Shot data via hockeystats.ca
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They don’t have a 20-goal scorer.
Their scoring-leading hasn’t had a point in seven games.
They are undoubtedly set to make the playoffs, and get smoked out by the team they draw against. I tell myself that I want them to miss the playoffs, and mainly it’s because I think the streak is annoying. In reality, missing the playoffs does very little in terms of draft stock. I don’t want to overreact. Well, yes I do, but I won’t. They played well and got beaten by a Stanley Cup contender. It’s okay.
Let’s just cruise through the rest of the season and enjoy the game, I guess.
