Wings knock off Flames 4-2
Z and Datsyuk were scoring threats all game long
Photo: Jerry S. Mendoza - AP Photo
The Red Wings have relied on their top power play unit to score goals in their first three games. So it was a good sign that they were able to score even-strength goals and get a goal from their second power play unit en route to a 4-2 win. With the win the team is now 3-0-1 and has gained 7 out of a possible 8 points.
Detroit’s top line got the team on the board at the 8:08 mark of the first period when Tomas Holmstrom scored his league-leading 4th goal while the team was skating with the man advantage. A little over 5 minutes later Kristian Huselius tied the score with a nice deke where he held the puck before lifting the biscuit past Detroit netminder Chris Osgood. The Flames got the odd-man advantage after Andreas Lilja was knocked off the puck in the offensive zone and there wasn’t a forward back to break up the 2-on-1 advantage that Huselius capitalized on.
Pavel Datsyuk was dangerous all game long, with several quality scoring chances. He had the primary assist on Hank Zetterberg’s goal to put Detroit up 1-0 and almost had another assist on a great scoring opportunity for Brian Rafalski that would have put the Wings up 2-0 if not for a fine save by Mikka Kiprusoff. He also had a great scoring opportunity with the score tied 1-1 while skating short-handed. His shot hit the post so the first period ended with the score tied 1-1.
Dats had another great scoring chance inside the first 20 seconds of the second period. And shortly after that the newly reunited top line got its first even-strength goal of the season. Pavel Datsyuk was playing on the right wing and sent a pass to Tomas Holmstrom in front of the net that got past Kiprusoff and trickled into the Flames goal. Hank was there to bury the puck if necessary but Homer was credited with the goal.
Huselius tied the score a little under three and a half minutes later before the Wings scored two unanswered goals to put the game away. The Red Wings got their next even-strength goal at the 16:59 mark of the second period when Andreas Lilja’s shot from the point - with Chris Osgood off the ice due to a delayed Calgary penalty - was re-directed by Kris Draper. Detroit’s final tally came on the power play when Mikael Samuelsson’s shot from the point was screened by Dan Cleary and beat Kipper for the final tally of the game.
Chris Osgood looked a little rusty but got his first win in nearly seven months. Here is how the lines looked to start the game:
Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom
Hudler - Filppula - Samuelsson
Cleary - Draper - Drake
Ellis - Kopecky - Maltby
Mike Babcock juggled the lines a bit early in the third period. Here were some of the combinations that I noticed:
Hudler - Datsyuk - Samuelsson
Cleary - Zetterberg - Homer
Drake - Draper - Maltby
Filppula - Zetterberg - Kopecky
The third line of Cleary - Draper - Drake has been the least effective at even-strength as they’ve allowed two goals in each of the last two games. Juggling that line might not be a bad idea and a line of Cleary - Draper - Maltby might be a good combination for the checking line. That would create a fourth line of Drake - Kopecky - Ellis.
All in all tonight was possibly Detroit’s best game of the very early part of the season. Pavel Datsyuk was extremely dangerous, drawing the primary assist on two scores, and nearly drew an assist on a great pass to Rafalski. Z was great too as he scored a goal and drew the penalty that resulted in the power play goal that gave the Wings the insurance goal that closed out scoring. As a result the team has their first win streak of the season and will look to build on that win streak when they host the Blackhawks on Friday night.
The forward lines aren’t the only lines being juggled. Based on time on ice, the second pairing is starting to look like it will be Kronvall and Cheli with Lebda and Lilja being on the third pairing. Cheli and Kronvall were on the ice together for 9:42; Lebda and Lilja were on the ice together for 6:24.
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