Well, the Red Wings didn’t want to disappoint the people who had gotten used to these games ending 3-2 and they didn’t. Unfortunately, they let Nashville win the race to 3 after falling behind and being unable to catch (or create) the bounce that would tie it. Some idiot joke added the third before Detroit could get the 2nd and that’s all she wrote.
Reffing is certainly a thing in this series. Power plays were even at 4-4 in this game, but I don’t think a sane person could watch it and think that they should have been. When one team dominates puck possession as much as Detroit did on Sunday, you should expect they would draw more penalties. However, the refs didn’t see it that way. That isn’t what lost the game for the Wings, but it sure as shit didn’t help. Shots were 43-22
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Goalie Ratings
Jimmy Howard did not stop enough pucks and Pekka Rinne stopped too many. Head-to-head, I’m actually considering giving Howard a -2 somehow. That’s not how the scoring system works though, so it will be -1 head-to-head for Howard. Overall, I don’t think Jimmy did a bad job and he had to stop some big and rare flurries of activity, but ultimately, I wanted to see him stop two of the three goals he allowed and he didn’t. Howard’s overall rating will dip to -1.
Scoring and plus/minus analysis after the jump
The Goals
1st Period 02:48 – Nashville Goal (PP): Shea Weber (wrist shot) from Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexander Radulov
The Penalty – Drew Miller (goaltender interference): Miller has the puck as he tries to turn the corner on Weber and drive the goal. He ends up driving right into Rinne without enough of an excuse to have done so. I can see this as a good call. Miller will get a minus.
On the power play, Nashville moves the puck around the perimeter until Legwand gets it in the high corner. When Kronwall goes out to challenge, Legwand gets it by him to Radulov in the middle. Stuart steps up to challenge and keep him from turning to his forehand, but Radulov feeds it through him to Kostitsyn on the doorstep for a jam attempt. Howard stops this, but the puck stays loose as a net-front scrum forms. Datsyuk is just on the outside without a stick, so he can’t clear it away before Weber picks up the rebound on the outside of the scrum and puts it in. No adjustment on this play, the broken stick has as much to do with it as anything.
Other 1st Period Penalties:
08:56 – Niklas Kronwall (hooking): This is a brutally bad call by the refs. No adjustment.
12:53 – David Legwand (tripping): Valtteri Filppula gives Legwand the okie-doke as he enters the Nashville zone and draws a penalty when Legwand gets turned around and wildly swings his stick into Flip’s legs. Filppula will earn a plus.
2nd Period 03:50 – Nashville Goal: Kevin Klein (wrist shot) from Martin Erat
Pekka Rinne kicks a low Danny Cleary shot behind his own net where Kevin Klein gets to it first and clears it up to the half-boards. As the play develops, Klein gets his own pass and gets it forward only a few feet to Erat as the speed of the Nashville breakout catches Jonathan Ericsson flat-footed at the Nashville blue line and Brad Stuart at the Detroit blue line. As Klein skates past Erat after passing to him, he receives a two-foot pass back and makes a very simple inside-out move on Brad Stuart to get around and go in on a breakaway. Stuart hooks him from behind, but doesn’t do enough of it as Klein is still able to lift the puck over Howard’s glove. The forwards here will be cleared of their minuses (Bertuzzi, Abdelkader, Cleary). This is a partial change (Flip-for-Bert) and not and odd-man the other way. The play is caused by both defenders getting caught flat-footed. Ericsson’s initial mistake at the blue line does effect Stuart down the line, but Stu completely whiffs on a mediocre move by Klein. Ericsson will get a half-minus and Stuart a full minus.
2nd Period 15:03 – Detroit Goal: Pavel Datsyuk (wrap-around) Unassisted
With the teams skating 4-on-4, Pavel Datsyuk skates deep into the Nashville zone to forecheck when he catches Roman Josi napping behind his own net. Datsyuk catches him on the blind side, lifts his stick, and has tucked the puck into the near post by the time Pekka Rinne knows what’s happened. Datsyuk’s going to get a bonus plus on this play and a self-assist. This play could not have been executed any more perfectly.
2nd Period Penalties:
01:21 – Jordin Tootoo (roughing): Zetterberg frustrates Tootoo and draws a call when the six-minute terror punches him in the back of the head. Plus for Zetterberg
08:06 – Johan Franzen (Slashing): Bullshit stick-slashing penalties get called when the guy’s unlucky enough to have a stick break. No adjustment.
09:43 – Kyle Quincey (Cross-checking): Alex Radulov is already falling down when Quincey pushes him. Shameful play here by the Preds. No adjustment.
14:33 – Patric Hornqvist (interference) and Johan Franzen (slashing): Mule gets held by a guy (Legwand) sitting on the Nashville bench and retaliates, taking them both to the box and leading to the 4-on-4 on which Datsyuk scores. No adjustment
17:46 – Mike Fisher (roughing) and Todd Bertuzzi (roughing): Fisher is stupid and he drags down Bertuzzi. Both guys go to the box, but no adjustment.
19:49 – Sergei Kostitsyn (high-sticking): Datsyuk and Cleary are buzzing in the Nashville zone when Cleary wins a positional battle against Kostitsyn only to find himself dragged down by his neck. Cleary will earn a plus here, as his great board-battling helps create this
3rd Period 16:30 – Nashville Goal: Sergei Kostitsyn (wrist shot) from Mike Fisher and Kevin Klein
Niklas Kronwall leads a rush into the Nashville zone and puts a low slap shot on Rinne that’s kicked to Klein at the front. Klein bodies off Kronwall as he gets it to Fisher to work on transition. Fisher passes off to Kostitsyn at the top of the zone as they exit. Here, Valtteri Filppula tries to step into the pass as he’s covering the point for Kronwall, but he whiffs. This sends Kostitsyn down ice on a 2-on-1 with Martin Erat joining against Brad Stuart. Technically, this is really a 3-on-1, as Fisher also has a step on Kronwall as they come back, but it doesn’t matter. Brad Stuart blocks the passing lane and Kostitsyn fires it through Howard from the right side of the slot. Kronwall is going to keep his minus, as the shot may not be problematic, but the inability to dispossess Kevin Klein is. Stuart, Hudler, and Zetterberg will have their minuses cleared, as they are skating on an offensive rush when the transition catches them. It’s not their fault here and they are covering back on the guys they’re supposed to. Valtteri Filppula’s step-up and miss is a horrible mistake. I’m going to give him an extra -1.5 for missing this pass and creating the odd-man rush that iced the game for Nashville.
3rd Period 19:06 – Detroit Goal (PP): Henrik Zetterberg (wrist shot) from Pavel Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall
The Penalty – David Legwand (holding): The only penalty call of the third period because by now the teams have learned how to play cleanly, right? This penalty is too little, too late, and it’s not more drawn than any of the other missed calls. no adjustment.
The Predators get a clear with just about a minute left in the game as Kronwall collects at center. The Wings’ D-man crosses the blue line himself before feeding it to Datsyuk on the Wing as the defense collapses to the middle. Pavel collects it and feeds it forward to Zetterberg, who entered the zone in front of Pavel and is just down the boards from him. The defense gives Z a bit too much room and he steps out to the faceoff dot, looks off Rinne with a glance at Johan Franzen on the far side, and snaps it short-side over his shoulder. No adjustment on this play. The power play did their job, but there were no extra touches or away-from-the-play bonuses which helped out here.
Bonus Ratings
+1 to Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg: These two were good and helped create chances. They played solid defense and drove possession remarkably against Nashville’s top forwards.
-0.5 to Johan Franzen: I like that he’s angry and playing big and mean, but he’s got to stop getting caught retaliating for things. Just focus that anger into goal-scoring, Mule.
Honorable Mentions:
Every single Wings player was on the positive end of the corsi chart, but there were also too many breakdowns. More people need to step up. The Wings have done a good job to produce a lot of shots, but they still need more in-zone movement to stay open and get to rebounds.
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