Wings torch Leafs 5-1
Well the Red Wing power play had a coming out party at Toronto’s expense. The Leafs scouted the Wings well and knew that being physical is a good way to have success against Detroit. However the Leafs went a bit overboard, resulting in 14 penalties. Detroit took full advantage of those power play opportunities, scoring 5 power play goals. As George Sipple of the Free Press pointed out, the Wings have now scored a power play goal in their last 5 games.
The Wings have scored a power-play goal in five consecutive games; they are 10-for-36 (27.8%) during that stretch.
Head coach Mike Babcock talked about the improved power play and how stuggling with the man advantage helped to improve Detroit’s 5 on 5 play. This quote is from Ansar Khan’s MLIVE article:
“We said all along it’s going to come, now it got a little boost here,'’ Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Early in the year our power play was pretty good and then it went into the tank, then we got it back but we just didn’t score on it. I’ve said all along, we play 82 games, be patient and let guys play and eventually they’ll get their confidence. And it’s pretty obvious they’re getting their confidence.
“The adversity we went through where we couldn’t score on the power play and always had to win five-on-five has been a real positive for our team.'’
Detroit’s top two lines continue to produce a lot of points. Reuniting Pavel Datsyuk and Hank Zetterberg has gotten both players on track, as well as linemate Mikael Samuelsson. The second line of Robert Lang, Dan Cleary and Jason Williams is also starting to make some noise. George Sipple has a good article on Lang in today’s freep. Here are the point totals for both lines over the past two games.
Zetterberg 2g, 0a
Datsyuk 1g, 3a
Samuelsson 2g, 0a
Total 5g, 3a
Cleary 2g, 1a
Lang 0g, 2a
Williams 1g, 0a
Total 3g, 3a
That’s 4 points a night from your top line and 3 points a night from your second line which is very solid. On the Wings has a very good writeup on the game. Here is Megan and Sarah’s take on Samuelsson’s first goal and Zetterberg’s game-winning goal:
Just after the Steen penalty expired, Pavel Datsyuk sent a pass through the crease, which was redirected by Cleary to a wide-open Mikeal Samuelsson, who promptly shoveled it into the net. 1-0 Detroit. Paul Maurice can only chuckle as he finds his team in an all-too-familiar position.
Near the end of the first, Tomas Holmstrom is knocked down to the ice, seemingly taken out of the play. Kilger will take no risks, however, and jumps on top of him to prevent him from … well, we’re not really sure. Standing up? Using his mind powers to put the puck in the net? It’s anyone’s guess, really. Meanwhile, Henrik Zetterberg backhands the puck past Raycroft. 2-0 Detroit.
I wondered yesterday whether the Leafs would start Andrew Raycroft or Jean-Sebastien Aubin in net. Raycroft got the nod and gave up his standard 4 goals but has become more efficient by giving them up over two periods, although there wasn’t much he could do about Samuelsson’s first goal. Aubin got the nod in the third and gave up Dan Cleary’s goal which closed out the scoring.
The AP report mentioned that there were about 2,000 fans at the game from Toronto. This is one of the benefits we would see if the league would reconsider their current scheduling policy. Do you think 2,000 Blackhawk fans or Blues fans or Blue Jacket fans or Preds fans are going to come to Detroit to see a game? The Joe was as crowded and as loud as I’ve heard it this year and sure part of that was due to the fact the teams haven’t played in 3 years. But the league simply has to do something to try and adjust the schedule so we can see more of the types of games that generate fan interest.
Andrew Raycroft Dan Cleary Henrik Zetterberg Jason Williams Jean Sebastian Aubin Mikael Samuelsson Mike Babcock Pavel Datsyuk Red Wings Robert Lang Toronto Maple Leafs1 Comment(s)
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[…] The Wings seemed to really hit their stride when Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk were reunited on the top line in early December. The Red Wings ended the year in the top 10 in both most goals for and fewest goals against. The Sharks did as well, so it should be a very competitive series. […]