Gorilla Crouch

Homer does his part to keep Columbus clean by putting away the garbage
Jay LaPrete - AP Photo

Mike Babcock juggled his forward lines once again and it paid off for Detroit. Thomas Holmstrom was moved to the top line and responded by scoring two goals. Brett Lebda and Pavel Datsyuk added the other goals to help Detroit build up a 4-0 lead before Rick Nash spoiled the shutout by scoring with 59 seconds left in the contest.

Here are the lines Babcock used in this afternoon’s game:

Franzen - Datsyuk - Holmstrom
Calder - Lang - Bertuzzi
Cleary - Draper - Maltby
Samuelsson - Filppula - Hudler

The top line was effective, scoring 3 goals, although Homer’s goals came when Hudler was on the ice with top line and when he was on a line with Kris Draper and Dan Cleary. Here were the defensive pairings:

Schneider - Markov
Lebda - Lilja
Chelios - Quincey

Robert Lang had a big assist to help Detroit score the first goal at the 1:57 mark of the second period. He was on the forecheck and forced a turnover before driving hard towards the net. He forced Rostislav Kleska to take a hooking penalty and Detroit would waste little time capitalizing on the man advantage. Mikael Samuelsson passed the puck to Brett Lebda, who shot the puck from the rightside point. His shot was a high one-timer that beat Fredrik Norrena to give the Wings a 1-0 lead.

The Wings must have felt that forechecking in the neutral zone would be effective as Detroit generated several breakaway attempts in doing so. Following up on the success Robert Lang had, Johan Franzen got in on the act and broke in all alone on Norrena. He lifted the shot high so the score remained 1-0.

Detroit wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the next trip Columbus made to the penalty box but the fact they had an established presence in the offensive zone helped them take a 2-0 lead at the 10:27 mark of the second period. The penalty expired at at the 10:06 mark but Pavel Datsyuk threw the puck back to the point when Columbus brought heavier coverage down near the net. Lebda took the pass and put the shot on net. It was stopped in front of the net but Tomas Holmstrom was able to get the rebound and wrap the puck around Norrena to give the Wings a two goal lead.

Detroit forced the third turnover in the neutral zone when Pavel Datsyuk played the passing lane and got behind everyone for a breakaway attempt. Fredrik Norrena got a piece of the shot but it still found it’s way past him and into the goal to give the Wings a 3-0 lead at the 17:26 mark of the third period. The Wings went into the second intermission up 3-0, the same lead they had against Dallas on Friday before losing in the shootout.

Columbus never seriously threatened to get back into the game and Detroit all but put it away when Tomas Holmstrom scored on an incredibly weak goal. Kris Draper’s shot from the leftside point was deflected and carromed in Homer’s direction. Kleska had good coverage on Holmstrom so all he could really do is make a poke check to try and push the puck towards the net. It looked like it bounced off Kleska’s skate and went into the net.

Valterri Filppula had the last great breakaway attempt on the day on a neutral zone turnover but the puck wouldn’t settle down. He put a weak shot on net that Norrena stopped. Wings fans probably collectively held their breath when Danny Markov went head first into the endboards during the 3rd period. He was slow to get up but looked okay and didn’t miss a shift.

An octopus ended up on the ice, even though the game was in Columbus. When the calamari hits the ice you know the playoffs are at hand.

Brett Lebda Pavel Datsyuk Red Wings Tomas Holmstrom

April 1st, 2007
Categories: Red Wings . Author: Dave

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