The Red Wings started the busy period ending the season with a combination of bad luck and bad showing against the Florida Panthers on their way to a 3-1 loss. Everything about this game sucked.
Neither team scored on the power play (3 chances for Florida and 2 for Detroit). Shots were 32-26 in favor of the Panthers. Also, the reffing in this game was as awful as I’ve seen in any game over the last decade. A player got a penalty for being slew-footed in this game.
Looks like Petr Mrazek isn’t the savior, y’all. Sorry.
Guide to plus/minus adjustments
The Goals
2nd Period 10:55 – Florida Goal: Jaromir Jagr (wrist shot) from Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov
Jagr breaks the goose-eggs more than halfway through the game as the Panthers get a rush up ice that gives Jagr room to snipe it in from near the dot. The play starts off well as Detroit gets an offensive zone faceoff and forechecks well for a time, even getting a couple shot opportunities. Things come apart when Cole jams a puck from one corner around the boards to the other. Gudbrandson is able to poke it around Ericsson pinching deep and then Huberdeau plays it to the middle around Zetterberg pressuring him. The puck comes into no-man’s land for a bit, but Cole is moving away from the Florida zone and the turn back in gives Barkov the time needed to skate into the puck first and sweep it back u to Huberdeau now moving up ice. Kronwall is back and Zetterberg is skating in the right direction, but the Panthers enter the zone 3-on-2 as Huberdeau is on the left wing side, Barkov is in the center lane, and Jagr is going to Barkov’s right. As Huberdeau gets down to the circle, Kronwall has to close the gap on Barkov while Zetterberg is just passing off that responsibility to get back on Jagr who is now trailing in the middle lane. Ericsson is pushing hard to get back and gets his stick in the lane for the centering pass as Huberdeau backhands it toward the high slot, but Riggy’s stick ends up barely deflecting it, allowing Jagr to gain complete control by the time he coasts into the left dot. Jagr doesn’t miss from here as he snipes it inside the far post. I’m only clearing Abdelkader on this play. The inability to stop either the pass or the man when Barkov beats him to the puck will earn Cole a minus. Ericsson is going to earn a minus for the collection of things here. I don’t mind the idea to pinch, but he needs to make that decision sooner. He also pauses on the race for the puck in the Florida end. This is why he isn’t back on time to stop this pass. Kronwall and Zetterberg keep their minuses for being part of the play, but they don’t make extra mistakes.
2nd Period 14:42 – Florida Goal: Brandon Pirri (jam-in) from Brandon Pirri and Aaron Ekblad
The Panthers make it 2-0 on a net-front scramble as two Panthers get to a rebound first. Jagr and Barkov get into the Wings’ zone and start a low cycle with Pirri as Quincey and DeKeyser get caught out on a long shift. Eventually, the play comes from the right low corner up to Brian Campbell at the high left point. This stretches out the Wings’ defense as Campbell quickly passes back across the ice to Ekblad above the right circle. There’s nobody within 15 feet of Ekblad as he brings it five feet inside the top of the circle and waits for Jagr to cross Mrazek’s field of vision before firing a slapper on net. The puck hits Mrazek in the armpit and trickles behind him. Jagr redirects it on net and Pirri comes crashing in to finish the slam-in before any Wings can get in to stop it. I’m not clearing anybody on this play. Tatar is the closest to getting cleared, but he gets caught hanging low just a tad too long and this gives Campbell an opportunity to freeze the defenders before the pass to Ekblad. Sheahan will get a minus for a collection of small coverage mistakes, including not releasing on Jagr sooner and helping the Ekblad screen a bit. DeKeyser will pick up a minus for abandoning the far post where Jagr gets to the puck on what would have been his goal if not for Pirri. Quincey will get a minus for not picking up Pirri as he cuts down the center lane which Quincey should be covering.
3rd Period 06:50 – Florida Goal: Scottie Upshall (wrist shot) unassisted
Upshall makes it 3-0 on an odd-man rush where he gets far too much space to the middle. With Zetterberg fighting behind the net, Nyquist gets a puck down low and tries to play it over to Abdelkader in the opposite low corner, but puts too much mustard on it. The puck goes up the boards the half-wall where Zidlicky pinches in on it and Abdelkader starts skating back to cover the pinch. Zidlicky expects Abby to get straight to the point, so he plays it back there for him, but Abby isn’t hustling and the play back is a bad pass. Abby and Kopecky tie up for the loose puck as it crosses out of the Florida zone. Kopecky masterfully interferes with Abelkader, taking both of them down. This gives Upshall space to pick it up and speed up the left wing side against Brendan Smith with MacKenzie joining him. As Upshall and MacKenzie enter the zone, the keep wide spacing to trap Smith in the middle of the ice trying to protect the passing lane. This gives Upshall space to walk to the dot and snap it top shelf past Mrazek. Smith is a victim of being put in a bad spot, but he’s going to keep his minus as the lone guy back. I think this would be an appropriate time for him to have gambled and moved to keep Upshall away from the dot. Abdelkader will get a minus for how he gets back on the pinch. He needs to hustle back more and not allow himself to get taken out of the play. Zidlicky will get a minus for a turnover after a bad decision to get fancy by playing a puck back to the point he just abandoned. Nyquist will keep his minus as the play with the puck in Florida’s end is not an ideal play, although he wont’ get extra punishment because it took a lot more screwing up to turn that into a goal. Zetterberg will be cleared. He’s covered by two people when Nyquist plays it and then is always the trailer coverage behind the play.
3rd Period 10:08 – Detroit Goal: Erik Cole (wrist shot) from Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan
Detroit breaks the shutout as Cole gets a feed in front and jams it up above Luongo right after a penalty expires. Ekblad races back into the play to get involved after getting out of the box and manages to help create a turnover as he hits Cole away from the puck and bodies off to take it when Tatar is forced to try a pass around Barkov. Ekblad mishandles to the corner though and Sheahan gets in to lift his stick and then poke it back to Tatar behind the net. This time, Barkov is too far away and Tatar quickly makes a pass to Cole with some space in front to roof it over Luongo. I’m going to give Sheahan a plus for the good work to get it from Ekblad.
The Penalties
1st Period 06:17 – Drew Miller (hooking) against Tomas Kopecky: The Wings can’t keep the zone and Smith gets dangled by Kopecky, leading to Miller hooking a guy in front of the net trying to prevent a scoring chance. Miller will get a minus. He can’t keep it in the zone and is partially responsible for the break. Smith and Zidlicky will each get a half-minus here as well for getting themselves caught and then not playing the ensuing rush very well.
2nd Period 00:58 – Alex Petrovic (interference) against Tomas Tatar: The Wings are battling in the zone when Petrovic lays a late hit on Tatar in the corner. The refs send Petrovic to the box and the Wings to the PP. This is just a bad decision by the Florida player, not a drawn call. No adjustment.
2nd Period 19:16 – Gustav Nyquist (cross-checking) against Erik Gudbrandson: Nyquist gets himself sent to the box by giving two chops in the back to a guy behind the play. Minus for Nyquist. Pretty stupid penalty to take, even in a game that’s being badly reffed.
3rd Period 07:55 – Aaron Ekblad (hooking) against Riley Sheahan: Sheahan gets to the front for a loose puck and gets hooked by Ekblad for his troubles. Sheahan will earn a plus.
3rd Period 16:02 – Teemu Pulkkinen (hooking) against Scottie Upshall: Detroit goes shorthanded as Pulkkinen gets busted for a hook in the offensive zone after a faceoff win. The problem here is that Pulkkinen gets slew-footed and taken down away from the play. There’s absolutely no reason for Pulkkinen to get this call. no adjustment.
Total Adjustments
| Player | GP | Official +/- | Adjusted +/- | G+ | Cov- | Turn- | Plty- | Plty+ | Chg+ | Chg- | PP+Lost | PK-Clear | GA-Clear | GSaved+ | Adj Diff |
| Tomas Jurco | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Joakim Andersson | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Teemu Pulkkinen | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Justin Abdelkader | 1 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||
| Tomas Tatar | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Riley Sheahan | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Henrik Zetterberg”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | -2 | -1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Gustav Nyquist | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | ||||||||||
| Erik Cole | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | ||||||||||
| Darren Helm | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Luke Glendening | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Drew Miller | 1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | |||||||||||
| Niklas Kronwall”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Niklas Kronwall | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Jonathan Ericsson”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Jonathan Ericsson | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | ||||||||||
| Brendan Smith | 1 | -1 | -1.5 | -0.5 | -0.5 | ||||||||||
| Marek Zidlicky”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Marek Zidlicky | 1 | -1.5 | -1 | -0.5 | -1.5 | ||||||||||
| Kyle Quincey”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Kyle Quincey | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | ||||||||||
| Danny DeKeyser”]” style=”padding: 0px 3px 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;”>Danny DeKeyser | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 |
| Player | Screener’s Assists |
| Justin Abdelkader | 10 |
| Darren Helm | 5 |
| Riley Sheahan | 4 |
| Luke Glendening | 4 |
| Johan Franzen | 2 |
| Tomas Tatar | 3 |
| Drew Miller | 2.5 |
| Tomas Jurco | 1.5 |
| 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 | CP60 |
| Justin.Abdelkader | RL | 1 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 83.33% | 14 | 81.4 | 34.3 | 115.6 |
| Petr.Mrazek | G | 0 | 10 | 7 | 20 | 12 | 62.50% | 48.5 | 56.9 | 44.5 | 101.4 |
| Henrik.Zetterberg | CL | 3 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 83.33% | 15.2 | 67.3 | 31.7 | 99 |
| Gustav.Nyquist | LR | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 70.00% | 13.5 | 71.1 | 35.6 | 106.7 |
| Marek.Zidlicky | D | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 13.5 | 66.7 | 44.5 | 111.2 |
| Brendan.Smith | D | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 66.67% | 14.4 | 62.6 | 41.7 | 104.3 |
| Kyle.Quincey | D | 3 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 61.54% | 16.9 | 67.6 | 49.8 | 117.3 |
| Erik.Cole | LR | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 75.00% | 12 | 65 | 40 | 105.1 |
| Joakim.Andersson | C | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 50.00% | 12.2 | 59.1 | 34.5 | 93.6 |
| Teemu.Pulkkinen | LR | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 57.14% | 11.1 | 64.9 | 54.1 | 118.9 |
| Tomas.Jurco | RL | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 9.2 | 52.3 | 39.2 | 91.6 |
| Luke.Glendening | C | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 9.9 | 48.5 | 36.4 | 84.8 |
| Danny.Dekeyser | D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 66.67% | 14.7 | 65.3 | 57.1 | 122.4 |
| Drew.Miller | RC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 10.1 | 53.2 | 47.3 | 100.6 |
| Niklas.Kronwall | D | 4 | 1 | -1 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 18.7 | 41.6 | 38.4 | 80 |
| Jonathan.Ericsson | D | 2 | 0 | -2 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 18.3 | 39.4 | 39.4 | 78.8 |
| Tomas.Tatar | LR | 1 | -3 | -3 | 5 | 3 | 62.50% | 13.7 | 35.1 | 48.3 | 83.4 |
| Darren.Helm | C | 2 | -4 | -5 | 6 | 3 | 66.67% | 12.5 | 43.1 | 62.3 | 105.4 |
| Riley.Sheahan | C | 1 | -6 | -7 | 7 | 3 | 70.00% | 12.9 | 42 | 70 | 112 |
The Wings’ second line couldn’t handle their matchups against Florida. I liked the Andersson line and wanted to see more from Zetterberg’s group.
| Name | Pos | iCF | C+/- | F+/- | ZSO | ZSD | ZS% | TOI | CF60 | CA60 | CP60 |
| Justin.Abdelkader | RL | 1 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 83.33% | 14 | 81.4 | 34.3 | 115.6 |
| Henrik.Zetterberg | CL | 3 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 83.33% | 15.2 | 67.3 | 31.7 | 99 |
| Erik.Cole | LR | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 75.00% | 12 | 65 | 40 | 105.1 |
| Gustav.Nyquist | LR | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 70.00% | 13.5 | 71.1 | 35.6 | 106.7 |
| Riley.Sheahan | C | 1 | -6 | -7 | 7 | 3 | 70.00% | 12.9 | 42 | 70 | 112 |
| Brendan.Smith | D | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 66.67% | 14.4 | 62.6 | 41.7 | 104.3 |
| Danny.Dekeyser | D | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 66.67% | 14.7 | 65.3 | 57.1 | 122.4 |
| Darren.Helm | C | 2 | -4 | -5 | 6 | 3 | 66.67% | 12.5 | 43.1 | 62.3 | 105.4 |
| Petr.Mrazek | G | 0 | 10 | 7 | 20 | 12 | 62.50% | 48.5 | 56.9 | 44.5 | 101.4 |
| Tomas.Tatar | LR | 1 | -3 | -3 | 5 | 3 | 62.50% | 13.7 | 35.1 | 48.3 | 83.4 |
| Kyle.Quincey | D | 3 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 61.54% | 16.9 | 67.6 | 49.8 | 117.3 |
| Marek.Zidlicky | D | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60.00% | 13.5 | 66.7 | 44.5 | 111.2 |
| Niklas.Kronwall | D | 4 | 1 | -1 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 18.7 | 41.6 | 38.4 | 80 |
| Jonathan.Ericsson | D | 2 | 0 | -2 | 7 | 5 | 58.33% | 18.3 | 39.4 | 39.4 | 78.8 |
| Teemu.Pulkkinen | LR | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 57.14% | 11.1 | 64.9 | 54.1 | 118.9 |
| Joakim.Andersson | C | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 50.00% | 12.2 | 59.1 | 34.5 | 93.6 |
| Tomas.Jurco | RL | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 9.2 | 52.3 | 39.2 | 91.6 |
| Luke.Glendening | C | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 9.9 | 48.5 | 36.4 | 84.8 |
| Drew.Miller | RC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 20.00% | 10.1 | 53.2 | 47.3 | 100.6 |
Not a lot of defensive zone starts to go around, but the fourth line took them on.
Check out more from war-on-ice.com, including the visualized shift chart here.
Final Say
The Red Wings getting outshot was largely a factor of a penalty kill that allowed too many shots and a power play that put up too few, as the overall even strength shot differential was -1 for the Wings. It also doesn’t help that the four hit posts didn’t count as shots (three of them were at even strength). The reffing standard was extremely bad in this game. The more I think on it, the less angry I am with the Wings. I’m not letting them off the hook for not getting the job done, but taken out of the overall bad feelings about the team lately, this one may truly be one you just shrug at because of shitty luck.
Corsi Timeline from Hockeystats.ca
