Hank 3 - Columbus 1
Yo Pavs, sorry you had to be the Wonder Twin
with long hair and boobies
With Detroit struggling to score goals over their two game losing streak, it’s got to be nice for Mike Babcock to know he can throw Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk on the ice together and create instant offense. Reuniting Pavel Datsyuk and Hank Zetterberg got the Red Wings back on track, as both players were on the ice for all three Detroit goals although Pavs only assisted on the game winner.
Hank Zetterberg netted a natural hat trick [three goals scored consecutively] as Detroit pulled away from Columbus during the third period. With Tomas Holmstrom, Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula and Kris Draper out of the lineup the team was missing some key contributors. Babcock largely kept Datsyuk and Zetterberg on different lines throughout the game but it wasn’t pretty. The Wings struggled to mount an attack and were trailing Columbus in the shots department for most of the game.
Part of that was due to Detroit being sloppy and taking a lot of penalties early. But regardless of playing short-handed, they still should have generated more chances in the offensive zone. Trailing 1-0 in the final stanza and without even a faint hint of any offense being generated by the home squad, Babcock double-shifted his top two forwards. When they were on the ice with Mikael Samuelsson early in the period the team showed its first really solid pulse while skating at even strength.
Zetterberg’s goal at the 6:43 mark of the period got things started. As I mentioned earlier today, Z has gone through a bit of a dry spell, scoring only 3 goals over the past 17 games. Well, he equaled that production in just under 12 minutes. How much of that was due to playing alongside Datsyuk - Pavel only assisted on one goal - is tough to say. But it does show that they can quickly develop some chemistry and create great scoring chances.
Jiri Hudler drew the penalty that led to the game-winning power play goal. Nick Lidstrom had the puck back at the point and passed it to Datsyuk, who was near the right faceoff circle. Dats quickly passed the puck to Z who was stationed just above the left faceoff circle. BJ goalie Fredrik Norrena was out of position and Z easily beat him for the goal. Those types of cross-ice passes are going to be important when facing goalies who aggressively come out of the net to cut down on shooting angles.
Chris Osgood was great in net, providing reason to believe he’d be a capable backup netminder if called upon during the playoffs. He’s generally been reliable, as he’s only had four really bad starts this season and hasn’t had one - outside of Dallas which I think isn’t entirely his fault - since February 12. He had a .956 SV% tonight.
Chris Osgood Henrik Zetterberg Mike Babcock Pavel Datsyuk Red Wings1 Comment(s)
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[…] The Wings improved to 6-2-0 in March with a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. I missed most of the game because I was watching the Grand Rapids Griffins lose 2-1 to the Toronto Marlies, but I made it back in time to see Henrik Zetterberg score the second of his three goals. From what I saw, the Wings looked pretty good in the third, but from what I read (here and here), it wasn’t so pretty in the first and second. […]