All Your Defensemen are belong to Dan Cleary
Kid Rock [upper left in Tigers hat] has a good angle on Cleary’s penalty shot goal
Dave Sandford - Getty Images
Dan Cleary played a key role once again in helping Detriot beat Calgary 5-1 to take a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of seven series. The forward scored Detroit’s first goal off a penalty shot after Roman Hamrlik dragged him down when he was going in all alone for a shot on Miikka Kiprusoff during a penalty kill. The goal came at the 3:32 mark of the second period. Shortly after scoring that goal he went off the ice after crashing hard into the boards.
Cleary returned late in the second period. Shortly after an interview clip that ran early in the third period - where he said he goes after Dion Phaneuf every chance he gets - he drew a penalty along the boards in the offensive zone. On the power play Henrik Zetterberg potted his second goal off a nice centering pass from Pavel Datsyuk to put Detroit up 4-0 to all but ice the game.
Detroit played inspired hockey, not the least bit worried about how bad their special teams had been throughout the series. It’s not what I suggested they needed to do, but it worked as it carried over to their penalty kill and power play units. The Wings potted three power play goals, one short-handed goal, and one penalty shot that was the result of a great scoring chance on the PK. The Flames went 0-8 with the power play this afternoon.
Calgary didn’t score until the game was essentially over, as Andrei Zyuzin redirected a puck at the 10:03 mark of the final period into the Detroit net while the Flames were short-handed. The two teams will meet up tomorrow night in Calgary for what is likely to be a very, very chippy game.
Anyone who expected this Detroit squad to play like the ones that lost to Calgary in the 2004 playoffs or to the Oilers in the 2006 playoffs must have been shocked. But the team played the way they did in the first two games of the series. That included being physical and going into the hard areas in front of the net.
Squatter’s rights: Homer provides a screen outside the crease
Paul Sancya - AP Photo
The first goal came off Cleary driving to the net before he was tripped up by Hamrlik. The second goal came when Henrik Zetterberg moved towards the net with Holmstrom providing a screen. Hank’s movement forced Kipper to move and open up the five hole,which is where Zetterberg beat him for the goal. The third goal came when Chris Chelios went towards the area in front of the crease and received a centering pass from Franzen on the PK to beat Kipper. The fourth came when Zetterberg took that pass from Datsyuk and beat Kipper up high as he skated towards the net. The fifth and final goal came after Nick Lidstrom shot the puck off the end board so that it carromed in front of the goal. Datsyuk, stationed to the side of the net tucked it in behind Kipper for the score.
Calgary coach Jim Playfair removed Kiprusoff with about 3:00 left in the game. The NBC announcers hailed it as a brilliant move to protect Kiprusoff. Pierre McGuire bought what a frustrated Calgary bench was saying about Detroit running Kipper, which was complete nonsense. Each goal came with a Detroit player clearly outside of the crease area.
It was priceless the way Jamie McLennan completely destroyed their harebrained theory. With Detroit on the power play he put a big slash on Johan Franzen almost immediately after going into the game. The slash drew a penalty. But once the whistle was blown to send someone to the box for McLennan he took a large swing with his goalie stick and hit Franzen in the midsection. Yeah, Calgary was trying to protect Kipper. It was blatantly obvious why McLennan was put out there.
It became even more obvious what was going on when when the NBC broadcasters wondered what Jarome Iginla was still doing on the ice with the game clearly over. With less than a minute left he hit Mathieu Schneider with the butt-end of his stick in his midsection as they were coming up the ice. Then, as they entered the Calgary end of the ice Iginla cross-checked Schneider in the small of his back. Schneider was no where near the puck.
Hank and Homer have come to JLA to pump (clap) you up
Dave Sandford - Getty Images
I’ll say it again: Detroit’s play was inspired. Mikael Samuelsson put a good hit on Iginla late in the second period that opened up a gash on the Calgary forward’s head. Samuelsson also blocked shots. Robert Lang won 71% of his draws. The Wings just beat Calgary every conceivable way in this game and the Flames’ emotions got the best of them. You have to wonder if the league will do anything as a result of McLennan’s and Iginla’s antics. Of course they won’t, but with the way the game ended - with Kris Draper and Marcus Nilson staring one another down with their sticks at the ready in their hands after Nilson cross-checked Draper - the league will take a lot of heat if something really bad happens in Game 6.
Detroit has completely dominated Calgary in all three games at JLA. The Flames have squeaked out two 1-goal wins in Alberta. Detroit will have a chance tomorrow night to win their first game this season at the Saddledome, with the prize being to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
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[…] Update (8:47 PM): Be sure to check out Dave’s game recap over at Gorilla Crouch. […]
[…] I was critical of the way the NBC broadcasting team handled their reporting on how Calgary reacted when their emotions got the best of them late in Game 5. Calgary coach Jim Playfair removed Kiprusoff with about 3:00 left in the game. The NBC announcers hailed it as a brilliant move to protect Kiprusoff. Pierre McGuire bought what a frustrated Calgary bench was saying about Detroit running Kipper, which was complete nonsense. … It became even more obvious what was going on when when the NBC broadcasters wondered what Jarome Iginla was still doing on the ice with the game clearly over. […]