Hi, this is going to be a very long post as we have 13 goals to review. The Red Wings won a game they really shouldn’t have. These things happen.
The reffing was dumb. After the first period, they probably didn’t have a right to call anything, but they had a narrative-reffed game in this one. Both teams scored on the power play with Detroit getting 3 chances to Dallas’ 2. Shots were 36-34 for the Wings.
Jimmy Howard allowed six and got pulled. Jonas Gustavsson got the win for making two saves. Kari Lehtnonen did not get pulled.
Guide to plus/minus adjustments
The Goals
[Ed Note: I’m going with short-version summaries for this one. 13 goals is a bit crazy]
1st Period 12:42 – Dallas Goal: Jamie Benn (wrist shot) from Jordie Benn and Colton Sceviour
Benn knocks in an extremely short rebound as a simple wrister and an uncleared net-front gets the Stars on the board first. Glendening will get a half-minus for the faceoff loss and another minus for the net-front coverage mistake on Benn. Jurco, Ericsson, and Kronwall will be cleared. Kronner is the only player close here and he’s tying up Spezza’s stick when Benn scores.
1st Period 16:57 – Detroit Goal: Gustav Nyquist (wrist shot) from Riley Sheahan and Alexey Marchenko
Detroit ties it as Nyquist puts a seeing-eye wrister through Lehtonen on a rush after a turnover by the Stars at the offensive blue line. Smith will get a plus for breaking up the Dallas play allowing Marchenko to turn it up ice and create the rush that allows Nyquist to score.
2nd Period 09:20 – Detroit Goal: Pavel Datsyuk (wrist shot)
Pavs takes the puck away in the Stars’ zone thanks to Tomas Tatar forechecking and then does Datsyuk stuff to Lehtonen. Pavel will get a plus and Tatar a half-plus for helping dispossess Jokipakka.
2nd Period 15:16 – Dallas Goal: Trevor Daley (wrist shot) from Shawn Horcoff and Jamie Benn
The Stars tie it up on an odd-man rush as they catch the Wings in a change and Daley gets a cross-ice pass that he snaps in past Howard. DeKeyser and Sheahan keep their minuses for being involved enough to have blame. Nyquist and Weiss will be cleared. One had just stepped on and the other was helping the forecheck. Kindl will pull an extra minus. Brendan Smith is already almost sitting on the bench when Kindl jumps on for his shift late, which creates this odd-man situation.
2nd Period 17:02 – Dallas Goal: Cody Eakin (wrist shot) from Trevor Daley and John Klingberg
Dallas takes a lead on a screened point shot late in the second when Eakin plops it in from distance. Nyquist will be cleared as the victimized winger. Weiss is over-chasing on this play and keeps his minus for giving up a zone. Smith will be cleared as his only job is to keep Daley from coming around far post and he does that. Marchenko will earn a coverage minus for giving up both the shot and the shot retrieval to Daly but also for letting the screen develop.
2nd Period 18:16 – Dallas Goal: Erik Cole (wrist shot) from Jason Demers and Ryan Garbutt
The Wings continue to come unglued in the 2nd as the entire defense flies the zone before clearing and Cole gets a shove-in goal at the net-front as DeKeyser is outmanned 2-to-1 down low. Tatar will be cleared as having just come on the ice. Datsyuk keeps his minus for losing the race to Demers to the loose puck. DeKeyser will get a half-minus for not planting Cole on his keister. Helm will keep his minus for not coming back to the middle. Kindl will get an extra minus for leaving his defensive partner out to dry as he simply stands there after Garbutt dumps it in at the half-wall.
3rd Period 00:56 – Detroit Goal: Jakub Kindl (one-timer) from Luke Glendening and Tomas Jurco
The Wings make it a one-goal game early in the third as Kindl blasts a one-timer through the screen in front after Jurco digs one out and Glendening feeds him in the middle. Jurco will get a plus for the forechecking and Miller will get a screener’s assist.
3rd Period 01:41 – Detroit Goal: Jakub Kindl (wrist shot) from Tomas Tatar and Pavel Datsyuk
Less than a minute later, Kindl ties it as he breaks Tatar into the Dallas zone and then follows up to take a pass on the back door for the easy goal. Kindl and Tatar will each get a half-plus for connecting on the great pass to make this play happen. Dallas has no business leaving Tatar this wide open, but it’s a very good pass to take advantage.
3rd Period 04:29 – Dallas Goal: Curtis McKenzie (slap shot) from Jordie Benn and Ales Hemsky
The Stars get another shot through traffic from the top of the zone and Howard has no chance as McKenzie tips the Benn slapper past Howard. Sheahan will get a half-minus for losing the defensive zone faceoff which leads to this goal. Abdelkader will be cleared as the weak-side winger who has nothing to do with this goal. Kronwall will get an extra minus for screwing up his coverage in front.
3rd Period 10:37 – Dallas Goal (PP): Shawn Horcoff (wrist shot) from Erik Cole and Ales Hemsky
Dallas makes it 6-4 on the power play as Horcoff gets left all alone on the side of the net and Cole finds him with a pass. This one is on the defensemen, as DeKeyser can’t block a pass through the one lane he has to be covering and Smith makes it tougher on DeKeyser for chasing too far up the boards on a PK and making him have to worry about the puck-carrier heading to the front of the net from the side. Both DeKeyser and Smith will get a minus.
3rd Period 12:47 – Detroit Goal (PP): Justin Abdelkader (tip in) from Niklas Kronwall
Abby cuts the lead to one by tipping a puck past Lehtonen from the net-front screen on the power play. Kronwall will get a half-plus for keeping the puck in after he catches a clearing attempt, giving himself space to walk to the middle for this shot.
3rd Period 18:12 – Detroit Goal: Pavel Datsyuk (backhand) from Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist
Detroit pulls their goalie and of course ties it because this is a stupid hockey game. Datsyuk finds it on the outside of a scramble and backhands it through the mess into the net. The sadistic part in me wants to give Justin Abdelkader a screener’s assist on this one, but I won’t. Plain and simple, Abdelkader got away with cheating here and if the ref called it right, I might give him two minuses for it. No adjustment.
Overtime 00:36 – Detroit Goal: Niklas Kronwall (backhand) from Darren Helm and Pavel Datsyuk
Kronwall makes some space to dance into the slot and backhand the game-winner through Lehtonen’s arm, giving the Wings a victory. I’m going to give a plus to Kronwall, as he starts the rush from behind his own net and then finishes it. Ericsson will get a half-plus for helping the Wings gain possession behind their own net.
The Penalties
1st Period 06:46 – Jonathan Ericsson and Jamie Benn (fighting): Benn tries to bully the one guy on the Wings as big as he is and gets a couple knuckles for it. No adjustment. I’ll trade Ericsson for Benn for five minutes any day.
2nd Period 03:30 – Jamie Benn (roughing) against Henrik Zetterberg: Benn loses his mind and starts taking shots at Zetterberg’s head right off a faceoff, earning a trip to the box. Zetterberg will get a half-plus for not retaliating.
3rd Period 07:19 – Antoine Roussel (hooking) against Jakub Kindl: Roussel is trying to create a breakout for the Stars and skates directly into Kindl, who leans over Roussel’s stick to get him in trouble. I’m going to give Kindl a half-plus on this. It’s nice gamesmanship in an oddly-reffed game.
3rd Period 09:45 – Luke Glendening (tripping) against Jamie Benn: The Wings finally stop getting away with penalties and Glendening is the lucky recipient, as he pokes Benn’s skate out from under him. Minus for Glendening.
3rd Period 11:01 – John Klingberg (puck over glass): Oopsie! No adjustment.
3rd Period 13:41 – Jakub Kindl (hooking) against Erik Cole: Kindl lets Cole get behind him and brings his stick parallel. This is an easy call to make. Kindl will get a minus.
Total Adjustments
| Player | GP | Official +/- | Adjusted +/- | G+ | Cov- | Turn- | Plty- | Plty+ | Chg+ | Chg- | PP+Lost | PK-Clear | GA-Clear | GSaved+ | Adj Diff |
| Stephen Weiss | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | -1 | -0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | ||||||||||
| Tomas Jurco | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Justin Abdelkader | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Tomas Tatar | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Riley Sheahan | 1 | -1 | -1.5 | -0.5 | -0.5 | ||||||||||
| Teemu Pulkkinen | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Gustav Nyquist | 1 | -1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Darren Helm | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Pavel Datsyuk | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Luke Glendening | 1 | -2.5 | -1 | -0.5 | -1 | -2.5 | |||||||||
| Drew Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Niklas Kronwall | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | -1 | 1 | 1.5 | |||||||||
| Jonathan Ericsson | 1 | -1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 | |||||||||
| Brendan Smith | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Alexey Marchenko | 1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | |||||||||||
| Jakub Kindl | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | -2 | -1 | 0.5 | -2 | |||||||
| Danny DeKeyser | 1 | 1 | -0.5 | -1.5 | -1.5 |
| Player | Screener’s Assists |
| Justin Abdelkader | 10 |
| Darren Helm | 4 |
| Riley Sheahan | 4 |
| Luke Glendening | 4 |
| Johan Franzen | 2 |
| Tomas Tatar | 3 |
| Drew Miller | 2.5 |
| Tomas Jurco | 1 |
| Stephen Weiss | 1 |
| Joakim Andersson | 0.5 |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 0.5 |
| Brendan Smith | 0.5 |
Possession Metrics
Even-strength Corsi numbers provided thanks to NHL.com via War-On-Ice.com.
| Name | Pos | iCF | C+/- | F+/- | ZSO | ZSD | ZS% | TOI | CF60 | CA60 |
| Danny.Dekeyser | D | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 64.29% | 19.5 | 70.8 | 40 |
| Tomas.Tatar | LR | 3 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 16.7 | 82.4 | 50.2 |
| Darren.Helm | C | 3 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 16.9 | 81.7 | 53.3 |
| Alexey.Marchenko | D | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 15.7 | 72.5 | 45.8 |
| Jonas.Gustavsson | G | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 75.00% | 5.2 | 103.5 | 23 |
| Pavel.Datsyuk | CL | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 17.1 | 77 | 52.5 |
| Jakub.Kindl | D | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 69.23% | 15.2 | 67 | 51.3 |
| Riley.Sheahan | C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 25.00% | 12.2 | 63.9 | 54.1 |
| Stephen.Weiss | LC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 33.33% | 9.6 | 56.5 | 56.5 |
| Brendan.Smith | D | 0 | -1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 17.3 | 58.8 | 62.3 |
| Gustav.Nyquist | LR | 4 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 25.00% | 9.6 | 68.6 | 74.9 |
| Drew.Miller | RC | 4 | -3 | -3 | 2 | 3 | 40.00% | 12.3 | 48.8 | 63.4 |
| Henrik.Zetterberg | CL | 4 | -4 | -2 | 7 | 1 | 87.50% | 10.8 | 60.8 | 82.9 |
| Justin.Abdelkader | RL | 5 | -4 | -1 | 6 | 3 | 66.67% | 14 | 68.8 | 86 |
| Tomas.Jurco | RL | 0 | -5 | -5 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 11 | 49.2 | 76.5 |
| Luke.Glendening | C | 1 | -5 | -4 | 2 | 4 | 33.33% | 12 | 45.1 | 70.1 |
| Teemu.Pulkkinen | LR | 1 | -7 | -3 | 6 | 2 | 75.00% | 10.8 | 50 | 89 |
| Jonathan.Ericsson | D | 3 | -7 | -3 | 5 | 8 | 38.46% | 15.9 | 64.2 | 90.6 |
| Jimmy.Howard | G | 0 | -8 | -2 | 14 | 15 | 48.28% | 45.8 | 60.3 | 70.8 |
| Niklas.Kronwall | D | 4 | -15 | -8 | 5 | 11 | 31.25% | 18.3 | 55.6 | 104.7 |
Since the last time we earnestly complained about Datsyuk looking off, his line has been driving play all over. This game was no different. Niklas Kronwall made up for a LOT of substandard play when he netted the game-winner as well.
| Name | Pos | iCF | C+/- | F+/- | ZSO | ZSD | ZS% | TOI | CF60 | CA60 |
| Henrik.Zetterberg | CL | 4 | -4 | -2 | 7 | 1 | 87.50% | 10.8 | 60.8 | 82.9 |
| Jonas.Gustavsson | G | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 75.00% | 5.2 | 103.5 | 23 |
| Teemu.Pulkkinen | LR | 1 | -7 | -3 | 6 | 2 | 75.00% | 10.8 | 50 | 89 |
| Jakub.Kindl | D | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 69.23% | 15.2 | 67 | 51.3 |
| Justin.Abdelkader | RL | 5 | -4 | -1 | 6 | 3 | 66.67% | 14 | 68.8 | 86 |
| Danny.Dekeyser | D | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 64.29% | 19.5 | 70.8 | 40 |
| Alexey.Marchenko | D | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 15.7 | 72.5 | 45.8 |
| Brendan.Smith | D | 0 | -1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 17.3 | 58.8 | 62.3 |
| Tomas.Tatar | LR | 3 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 16.7 | 82.4 | 50.2 |
| Darren.Helm | C | 3 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 16.9 | 81.7 | 53.3 |
| Pavel.Datsyuk | CL | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 17.1 | 77 | 52.5 |
| Jimmy.Howard | G | 0 | -8 | -2 | 14 | 15 | 48.28% | 45.8 | 60.3 | 70.8 |
| Drew.Miller | RC | 4 | -3 | -3 | 2 | 3 | 40.00% | 12.3 | 48.8 | 63.4 |
| Jonathan.Ericsson | D | 3 | -7 | -3 | 5 | 8 | 38.46% | 15.9 | 64.2 | 90.6 |
| Stephen.Weiss | LC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 33.33% | 9.6 | 56.5 | 56.5 |
| Luke.Glendening | C | 1 | -5 | -4 | 2 | 4 | 33.33% | 12 | 45.1 | 70.1 |
| Niklas.Kronwall | D | 4 | -15 | -8 | 5 | 11 | 31.25% | 18.3 | 55.6 | 104.7 |
| Riley.Sheahan | C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 25.00% | 12.2 | 63.9 | 54.1 |
| Gustav.Nyquist | LR | 4 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 25.00% | 9.6 | 68.6 | 74.9 |
| Tomas.Jurco | RL | 0 | -5 | -5 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 11 | 49.2 | 76.5 |
This deployment pretty well matches what Babcock has been doing on the road this season by setting up the lower lines to take more of the defensive zone starts.
Check out more from war-on-ice.com, including the visualized shift chart here.
Final Say
I’m losing count of how many games I’m not drawing conclusions from. The Wings seemed to take the Stars lightly and got away with it. That’s not comforting.
Corsi Timeline from Hockeystats.ca
