Wings Know series rests on Starting and Finishing
In Helene St. James’ article this morning there’s a quote from Kirk Maltby about how the slow start to Game 4 ended up being costly for the Red Wings.
“We didn’t like that we spotted them a 3-1 lead,” Kirk Maltby said, “but we battled back. We had some good chances — we definitely had opportunities to score more goals. It was just the [way the Wings started].”
Todd Bertuzzi commented on the differences between the way the team played in Game 3 and Game 4. It involves finising by knocking home rebounds.
“We’ve got to get a little bit dirtier, get in to those rebounds and put those ones in, too,” Todd Bertuzzi said. “We’ve got to get in there for those second and third opportunities, and I don’t think we did enough of that. That’s up to guys like myself and Homer and Franzen…[to]…get those second and third chances.”
Bert actually mentioned getting “in the paint” but doing so would likely result in a goalie interference penalty. But he generally has the right idea and you have to believe that head coach Mike Babcock has been highlighting that as a key if Detroit is to take two out of the next three games. Tomas Holmstrom is amongst the best players in the league when it comes to “cleaning up the garbage” and the more players you have who can finish when things get messy around the crease the better.
You could also include Dan Cleary in that group as both of his goals on Thursday night came from right in front of the net. One was a tap in from a Chris Chelios pass but the other was as dirty as they come with Giguere helpless on the ice while Cleary lifted the puck over him in a goalmouth scramble. Dan Cleary fits in perfectly with how Mike Babcock wants his team to play.
John Niyo of the Detroit News also highlights another benefit Dan Cleary brings to the team: he can take the faceoffs for the line that is centered by Robert Lang.
Dan Cleary took the bulk of the faceoffs for Lang’s line in Game 4, winning four of seven draws while Lang lost the only two he took.
Lang won 49.4 percent of his faceoffs during the regular season, but since the first round of the playoffs, he’s winning fewer than one-third of the draws he takes (24-for-77)
He also included a quote from former captain Steve Yzerman on this ESPN article from Scott Burnside. Yzerman said there is no question his health is what kept him from coming back but called questions about him being any sort of hindrance in the locker room as being “completely inaccurate or ridiculous”. Try both! Completely inaccurate and ridiculous.
Valtteri Filppula’s game seems to be improving each and every game. Expected to be held back in Grand Rapids since he wouldn’t have to go through waivers to be called up, he has been one of Detroit’s pleasant surprises during the playoffs. He has been solid fighting for the puck along the boards, is an excellent defensive player who can force turnovers on a consistent basis, and now he seems to be developing as a threat on offense. He had at least one excellent toe drag to get past an Anaheim defender before putting a shot on net that beat J-S Giguere but hit the post. He has been so solid and reliable that he has been paired up with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom. Don’t be surprised if he makes some big plays for Detroit in the upcoming games.
Ansar Khan of MLIVE writes in this article that, despite not being able to take win Game 4, the momentum seems to be swinging in Detroit’s favor:
The Wings believe they’ve gotten better as the series has progressed. Momentum, however, has been unsustainable as the clubs have alternated victories. The desperate Ducks faced a virtual must-win situation in Game 4, but now the pressure shifts to the Wings…They’ve responded brilliantly thus far in the playoffs [when heading to JLA after being tied in a series 2-2], defeating Calgary and San Jose by a combined score of 9-2 in Game 5 of their previous two series.
I suspect that both teams have put in a less than complete effort once in this series. Anaheim did that in Game 3 and lost 5-0. The Wings did so in Game 4 and fell behind 3-1, got back into the game to force a tie, but ultimately lost 5-3. Detroit has the chance to get back on the right side of the ledger tomorrow and head back to Anaheim with the same 3-2 lead they had when they played Calgary and San Jose on the road in Game 6 during the previous two series. But the Ducks proved during Game 4 that in order to do so it is going to require that the Red Wings give their best effort for the full length of the game.
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