SB Nation - Chris Osgood

Coyotes vs. Red Wings - Game #33 Preview - I'm An Anteater!

OdinMercer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:30:17 -0000

Ilya Bryzgalov in Saturday's game against the Sharks... Or really any recent start.

The Coyotes have been on fire lately, getting 11 points of the possible 12 over the last 6 games. The biggest reason for that has continued to be Ilya Bryzgalov who has made a ton of great saves and stonewalled even the best offenses. Bryzgalov continues to get commentators around the league to whisper VEzina in the same sentance with ho good he's been. Credit to the defense for taking away a good chunk of chances over last year's numbers, but the credit still goes to Bryzzie. Even Coach Dave Tippett thinks so as after the San Jose game he asked reporters if he should just put a tape recorder of him saying how Bryz won the game for the Coyotes since it seems to be the same after every game.

Tonight though the Coyotes take on the nemesis Detroit Red Wings. While the Wings may not be the same team they usually are, or at least haven't shown that they are yet, it would still be both 2 points and a feather in our cap to take them down tonight at Joe Louis Arena. More on the Strengths and weaknesses in the Five after the Jump...

FIVE FOR WINNING

Get That Damn Holmstrom Away!
If there's one player on the Red Wings that I simply can't stand it's TOmas Holmstrom. Though I can't really decide if it's him I hate or the fact that the opposing team does absolutely nothing to get him away from the front of the net. Pretty sure that's the frustrating part. Hopefully the energy line is out there against him a good amount, but if not someone has to take responsibility and clear him out so Ilya Bryzgalov can actually see the puck. Holmstrom's net camping has him leading the Wings with 12 goals this season.

Just Get One at the Joe
The Coyotes haven't won a game at Joe Louis Arena since March of 2006. That's insane. If we're going to be contenders these are the types of streaks we need to put an end to. They're also really the kind we shouldn't think much about, but we do, or at least I do. Really we just need to start showing everyone that we're for real just in case they haven't been paying attention.

Play Their Game Better Than They Do
The style of game that Detroit has had lately with a lot of it's offensive players on the shelf has been very similar to the one that Phoenix has. Defensive and not relying on a lot of goals to win games. THe Coyotes have just been slightly better at it at least on the defensive end. The Coyotes are 4th in Goals against with an average of 2.22 a game and Detroit has climbed to 8th with a 2.62. In terms of goals scored, the Coyotes rank near the bottom in goals for at 2.41 (27th) but Detroit hasn't been blowing the doors off either at 2.69 (19th). It seems like the winner tonight will be the one with the better D and not much else.

Get Through the Defense
If the Coyotes can break through the Detroit defensemen Jimmy Howard isn't exactly the best goalie in the world. Before the defensive players got their game together both he and Chris Osgood were getting scored on with consistency. The goals we get tonight are going to have to be on odd man rushes or one timers. We need to start making some of those open chances count.

Don't Plan for Power Play Goals
1-26. That's how successful the opposition power play has been against us over the last 7 games. Unfortunately the same is true of the Red Wings. THey've only allowed one of the last 27 get past them. So I wouldn't count on the power play being a huge advantage for either team tonight with how they've both locked down their PK systems to stifle other teams.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009

Detroit Red Wings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Johan Franzen	knee	10/09/2009
Jason Williams	fibula	11/08/2009
Andreas Lilja	concussion	09/14/2009
Valtteri Filppula	wrist	10/30/2009
Niklas Kronwall	knee	11/22/2009

Post Game Analysis: Bertuzzi wins it again

MrNorrisTrophy — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:22:21 -0000

More photos » by Kate Humphrey - AP

6 days ago: Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi (44) backhands a shot past Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, of Finland, for the winning goal in the overtime period of an NHL hockey game on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 in Nashville, Tenn. The Red Wings won 3-2. At right is Predators defenseman Kevin Klein (8). (AP Photo/Kate Humphrey)

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Todd Bertuzzi wins it again in overtime. Yes you read that right, Todd Bertuzzi won it AGAIN. If he keeps this type of production up then we will be in good shape. Do I expect it to stay like this? No, not really but I'll take it for now. Detroit needs secondary scoring and he's starting to get the confidence needed to do so.
Chris Osgood had some pretty sick saves last night. To quote Winston Churchill (sort of), Osgood is "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." There are nights when he can't stop the easiest of shots but then there are nights when he looks like he should have about 8 Vezinas on the mantle. He wasn't really either last night (why he's an enigma) but he was solid and kept the game within reach for the Wings with some incredible saves.
Remember the time when the Red Wings were absolutely dominant in the circle? I miss those days. We did better last night--winning 29 to Nashville's 28--but I sure miss the days of winning about 75% of the draws taken. Can't wait for Fil to get back in the circle that's for sure.
Drew Miller, you were a quality find. Out shadowed by Bert's 4 in 2, Miller had a goal and an assist last night in 12 minutes of play. Sure, he only has 4 points on the season but he brings more than just points. He has been great on the forecheck, PK, and in the corners. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's room for him when Filppula, Franzen, Williams and Cleary come back.
I'm glad I didn't play a drinking game last night for everytime I heard the word "Smashville" used. I was forced to watch the Nashville broadcast (thanks Center Ice) and every commercial break there was someone saying something or other about Smashville. Yeah, I get it. It's a cool nickname but you can't over do it. If I had played a drinking game for that, I surely would be in the ICU or morgue right now.
Bertuzzi's second goal was a thing of beauty. The play started with Datsyuk forcing a turnover and giving Bertuzzi a great outlet pass. He was neck and neck with Nashville defender Klein and protected the puck on his stick before sliding it past Rinne's poke check attempt and then a backhand into the net for the second straight win for Detroit. Highlights of the goal below.

Price / Halak - The Stats - November 2009

Chris Boyle — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:13:39 -0000

What a difference a month makes.

Thirty days ago the Canadiens were in the middle of a goaltending controversy. Jaroslav Halak's agent was NITWITTERING Carey Price's won/loss record, the fanbase had placed the bus in reverse and were attempting to leave a fresh set of treadmarks on Price's back and the Canadiens were plodding through their schedule at .500.

Outside of the Canadiens still flirting with the .500 mark, the attitude regarding the goaltending situation has changed dramatically. Since this article is a retrospective on November, it is heavily weighted towards Price. Halak's one start didn't offer enough of a sample to legitimately track his monthly progress. What began as an even split in October, turned into a clear separation as Price started 11 of 12 games in November, almost rendering the title of this article, and its point, moot for at least the time being. A solid performance by Halak in Ottawa suggest that the busy month of December may tell a different story.

Surprised by the turn this has taken, maybe you shouldn't be. This has been typical of the story that Price has written over the first two and a half seasons of his career. Somehow, instead of the fanbase observing the roller coaster ride from afar, recognizing that as the roller coaster descends, a peak exists for it to climb, they jump on the roller coaster eyes closed screaming for dear life on its mad descents only to extol the virtues of the ride when they disembark.

Should Price struggle in February again, it is likely that the fresh imagery that exists in everybody's minds right now will once again dissipate in a mad panic

Panic in Montreal is generally followed by the rewriting OR ignoring of history. Even with Price's strong November this controversy is not over, it will continue to bubble just below the surface. Should Price struggle in January, the detractors who are silent right now will re-emerge with the same arguments, their memories will once again be wiped clean. While the starting goaltender in Montreal is one of the most heavily scrutinized positions in sports, the easiest may be the backup goaltender in Montreal. The backup's flaws are always concealed under the their baseball caps, their past transgressions completely ignored. This will never change.

At Eyes On The Prize, we continue try to look past the surface level blame and analyze what is really going on. This month we will compare Price's performance in November to October and also look back and try to clarify the factors that contribute to a team based stat like a win / loss record and how it relates to Price and Halak.

One of the main arguments against Price in October was his inability to win games. With Halak sporting a 5-2 record and Price at 2-5, the most simplistic argument was "Price doesn't make the big saves when he needs to" and "Halak wins games". That argument ignored plenty of factors, most importantly that wins are a team based stat.

While perusing the internet I came across an interesting perspective at Brodeur is a Fraud. While trying to debunk the myth of Brodeur's career, he came up with an interesting statistic that he refers to as Win Threshold. It essentially projects out what a goaltender would have had to do to earn a point (.500) by including the teams performance in front of him. In a 3-1 victory, the assumption would be that to earn a point the goaltender would have to allow no more than 3 goals. Inversely, in a 3-1 loss the goaltender would need to have allowed no more than 1 goal.

We can calculate what I'll call the "win threshold" for the goalies on each team by taking (shots against - goals for) / shots against. This gives us the save percentage that would result in the team ending up with an equal number of goals for and goals against over the course of the season. If the goalie's save percentage is above that number, the team is likely to win more than the lose, while anything below the threshold means that the team should end up sub -.500 (or sub -.550 in the shootout era).

This simple statistic beautifully illustrates the career of Chris Osgood AND his playoff run that allowed the media to begin the "Chris Osgood is a Hall of Famer" nonsense.

In 2008-09, Detroit's win threshold was .873, which was the lowest in the league. The Islanders' win threshold was .928, which was not only the highest mark in the league but also the highest of any team since the lockout......Naturally, comparing win totals on goalies playing on the Islanders to goalies playing on the Red Wings is completely senseless.

Using this as a starting point, I compared how this statistic affected goalies on the same team. Was the Canadiens offense responsible for Halak's inflated win total, or was it his superior goaltending? What would Price have had to do to compensate for the woeful offense in front of him? Was it that Halak was receiving an easier ride?

(Let me preface this by stating that this is judging wins and wins alone. If a goaltender was fantastic and had a .960 SV%, but only needed to produce a .895 SV%, it is not devaluing his performance, only stating that his margin for error was very high. I also understand that early saves can keep a team in a period. Teams play to the score and loosen up when they are up big and that some goals are scored late in a game and alter the margin for the threshold. It is obvious that providing replacement value will never replicate the actual performance that history has provided. This theory is being used only to illustrate that wins are a team statistic and that they are heavily influenced by not only what you save, but what offense your team provides).

To put this in perspective, the league average in save percentage is .910.

In order for Price to gain the majority of his wins, he has had to offer above average goaltending.
His margin for error was slim and when he failed to balance on the high wire, he was open to criticism.
A .915 save percentage is currently good to place 20th in the league.

Halak on the other hand was allowed to navigate with a greater margin of error. He only needed to offer a save percentage of .865 to register his 5 victories. Vesa Toskala's save percentage on the season is .863. So any goaltender slightly more competent than Toskala MAY have registered a similar number of victories as Halak.

Both goaltenders would have had to provide Hall of Fame type performances to avoid the majority of their losses.

How would those statistics translate if you offered up average replacement value? If Jimmy Howard and his .910 SV% replaced Price and Halak, the Canadiens would be in deep trouble. The Canadiens would likely be in the hunt for Taylor Hall, not talking about the importance of their December schedule.

Looking at Price's losses below, it is unlikely that an average goaltender makes any impact on his losses, hell, it's unlikely that Roberto Luongo would have made much of a difference.

Price's threshold in his 11 losses is a SV% of 0.944 and a GAA of 1.69. Numbers that would place him above Ryan Miller as the number one goaltender in the league. Six of those starts would have required a .940+ SV% just to procure a shootout. If the team continues to struggle offensively to this capacity, then it is going to require Jose Theodore 2002 MVP type performances to drag them into the playoffs. With Price and Halak entering their RFA season, THAT is a scary and expensive thought.

You would think with Halak's lack of activity in November, that his stat line would remain unchanged, but with only an 8 game sample, one strong start against the Flames resulted in an 11 point improvement on his save percentage and lopping 1/5th of a goal off his goals against average. In October, Price statistically lagged behind in all the major categories, but with a strong month has lessened the paper gap between himself and Halak. I made the argument in October that Price had a higher ceiling, but was prone to wild swings of inconsistency and the 2009 season has proven that out so far.

Through two months, what has been proven, is that the Canadiens goaltending is in good hands. With the transition of turning over half the team, and the numerous injuries to key personnel, the fact the team came through November at .500 is miraculous. At this moment, Halak's consistency offers the perfect compliment to Price, but due to the idiotic actions of his agent (Halak, Halak it a lot?), it is clear that Halak is eyeing a starting assignment, and will not likely find that in Montreal. You may be reading "Price / Sanford: the numbers" by ~~March~~ December. (note: as I am writing this, Sportsnet has reported that Halak has been placed on the trading block).

The fact that I can even mention a 2002 Theodore-like season is based on the strong November showing by Price. Playing behind an injury ravaged defense that produced roughly the same amount of shots as the previous month, from roughly the same areas, Price's numbers improved across the board. Price also managed to avoid a major meltdown like the Vancouver game, as well as producing a couple of 40+ shot gems against the Bruins and Predators.

With Halak pushing Price for the starting job in October, by all accounts Price responded to the challenge with hard work, which resulted in plenty of positive signs over the last month. With hard work Price's confidence level soared and his return to a hybrid style has allowed his athleticism to re-surface, because of this, Price managed to produce some miraculous saves during November. His patience has also been on display, particularly in shootouts and breakaways where once again he is using his huge frame to his advantage and refusing to commit before the shooter. With his gap control improving, he has been extremely hard to beat in 1 on 1 situations. This is a huge improvement on the tentative approach he used in late 2008-09. Add in his aggressive puck handling and his tenacity in battling to track the puck and the hope in Montreal is that Price has begun turning the corner.

Price's save percentage's also improved in almost every category in November, with his biggest improvement coming in shorthanded situations where his save percentage improved by over .200. His woefully low special teams percentage in October masked the fact that he was producing an elite level even strength percentage. With an improvement to mediocre powerplay standards, Price's statistics all experienced a significant jump across the board.

The question remains, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Did the Canadiens penalty kill improve in November because of Price, or did Price's numbers improve because of the penalty kill? Halak did not suffer the same special teams meltdown. Could that have had anything to do with the power of the opposition, or his own play?

With so many new faces and the loss of Markov, it is no surprise that the PK got off to a slow start. With the return of O'Byrne and Gill and the emergence of White and Pyatt, the October implosion by Price should be avoidable moving forward.

Interesting to note if Price had managed to produce an .878 powerplay SV% in October, his overall SV% would have improved from .889 to .920.

Price and Halak continue to get bombarded by shots and the Canadiens have once again regressed into becoming over reliant on goaltending to win hockey games. With the early season injury to the Canadiens best player (Markov in 2010, Koivu in 2002) and the continual 30+ shot barrages, this season is becoming eerily reminiscent of the 2002 season when Theodore needed to provide the difference every night.

With Price's numbers improving in November, the assumption would be that the Canadiens settled down and began to limit shots and scoring opportunities. The Canadiens actually surrendered an extra two shot attempts per game. Price still is averaging over a shot attempt against per minute on the ice, a trend that will either lead to a statistical regression or an MVP award.

In 8 of his 11 starts in November, Price faced 30+ shots, including a team record tying 53 saves against the Predators and a 42 save gem that was seconds short of his 1st shutout of the season. Only once in his 11 games did he have less than 50 shots directed at him. Price continued to excel on shots outside of 20+ feet as he only allowed 7 of 257 shots to beat him. His SV% below 20' feet drastically improved and is pushing towards the league average.

Price offered up plenty of spectacular saves in November, but also had some concentration lapses that resulted in some questionable goals, something that had been absent from his game in October (only 5 of 25 came in as questionable, with zero registering at fault). Although his statistics drastically improved over the month of November, with the Canadiens lack of scoring ability (25th in the NHL) and his unbelievably tough win threshold (see above), his margin for error was slim. This can be witnessed by his 0-4 record in the 4 games I credited a bad goal. In two of the games (Detroit and Atlanta) the margin of victory was one goal, the other two (Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh) were decided by two goals. As he matures, these goals should occur less frequently allowing him to become even more of a game changing player. He isn't yet ready to carry a team, but it seems the Canadiens have given him little to no choice in the matter presently.

Looking at the zones where Price has given up goals, his glove hand continues to be much maligned even though he has only been beaten high glove side 11 times through November (11/53). The reason for the questions lies in the amount of bad goals high glove side. Out of the 12 goals categorized as suspect or bad, 6 have been high glove side, making it much easier to understand AND defend the criticism.

Looking at his November chart also gives the impression that he is very vulnerable low stick side, but looking at the video below shows that a lot of those goals came as the result of cross ice passes in which Price was not able to square up and were the result of him in transition. A small concern for me through two months has been his vulnerability through the 5-hole, an area he has not been able to cover with his stick either in transition or static and squared up.

Goals deemed questionable or bad are marked in bold.

26. Rich Peverley feeds it in front and it deflects off Bryan Little by a moving Price beating him 5-hole. 10 ft.
27. Pass from behind the net to a wide open Peverley in the slot, snaps a shot by Price low-stick side. 14 ft
28. Point shot by Mark Popovic that knuckles by Carey Price beating him high glove side. 59 ft.
29. 5 on 4 PP. Cross crease feed to a wide-open Pavel Kubina who directs it pass Price into an empty net. 5 ft.
30. Kane cross crease pass to a wide open Colby Armstrong who beats Price low stick side. 8 ft.
31. 6 on 5. Point shot. Price makes the initial stop, Patrice Bergeron rebound beats Price low-stick side. 5 ft.
32. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble. Price makes 2 saves but cannot stop Ryan Malone as he beats him five-hole. 11 ft.
33. Price, big rebound and Alex Tanguay alone, chips it over Price beating him high glove side. 14 ft.
34. 2 on 1. Scramble. Wright beats Gorges to the puck and slides it into an empty net. 6 ft.
35. Price highsticked in the throat by Mara falls down leaving an open net. Robert Lang puts it top shelf. 15 ft.
36. Point shot wide deflects into an open net off Bissonnette's skate beating Price low glove side. 12 ft.
37. Price makes initial save, Steve Sullivan all alone finishes off his rebound beating Price 5-hole. 7 ft
38. 5 on 3 PP. Point shot stopped, Sullivan at the side of the net beats Price low stick side. 14 ft.
39. Odd man rush, cross ice feed to the slot. Brandon Sutter chips it over Price, high glove side. 14 ft.
40. 3 one 2, cross ice feed one timed by Jussi Jokinen beats Price low glove side. 32 ft.
41. Eric Fehr snaps a shot from the face-off dot beating Price high-glove side. 25 ft.
42. Morrison takes a pass in front and moves opposite to Price's momentum beating him low glove side. 6 ft.
43. 5 on 4 PP. Brad Stuart point shot handcuffs Price and trickles in. 55 ft.
44. 5 on 3 PP. Brian Rafalski point pass tipped home by Pavel Datsyuk at the side of the net. 12 ft.                         45. Nash behind the net finds Vermette who one-times it past Price beating him high blocker side. 11 ft.
46. 5 on 4 PP. Rick Nash centers it, Stralman cheating off the point beats Price low blocker side. 24 ft.
47. 5 on 4 PP. Antoine Vermette's shot stopped, rebound back to him, beats Price low blocker side. 20 ft.
48. Sidney Crosby snap shot from the top of the faceoff circle beating Price high glove side. 38 ft.
49. Bill Guerin from the corner. Price makes initial save, doesn't hold the post as he beats him 5-hole. 8 ft.
50. Crosby with a beautiful pass to a streaking Sergei Gonchar who beats Price 5-hole all alone. 8 ft.
51. Point shot deflected in front by Brooks Laich beats Price low blocker side. 18 ft.
52. Alex Ovechkin one timer from the top of the faceoff circle beats Price low blocker side. 38 ft.
53. 6 on 4 PP. Price stops a one-timer by Ovechkin, Fehr slides home the rebound beating Price 5-hole. 10 ft.

The November verdict: You have to be encouraged by the performance of Price and Halak through November and the improved penalty kill is a positive sign and a factor in Price's improved numbers. The volume of shots and scoring opportunities remain a major concern. In October I preached patience because of the integration of 10-12 players and the introduction of a new system. With injuries creating a revolving door of players it is likely that this team has still not properly gelled. The Canadiens have fallen into a pattern of struggling to produce offense and relying on Price and Halak to bail them out, and this is a dangerous game to play with developing goaltenders. They have been able to provide some fantastic results through November, but if this continues they will struggle to make the playoffs. To provide room for improvement moving forward, the goaltenders get a B+ for November.

To view the October Price / Halak analysis, click here.

December 8 :: Numbers and Awards

mpetrella — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:25:56 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Even in a draft-centric team re-creation, here's your backup goaltender. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

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Much is made of the Red Wings' ability to built a championship team while never selecting very high in the draft (**cough**Pittsburgh**cough**). People point to Jonathan Ericsson (the 291st and final selection of the 2002 Draft), Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999), and Tomas Holmstrom (257th in 1994) are glowing examples of a draft science that has been perfected by the organization. Sometimes, they pick up guys that haven't lived up to their draft pick, like Dan Cleary and Patrick Eaves, but have you ever wondered what the Red Wings would look like if the team was formed -- and the line combinations were made -- based solely on their draft selection? Well, it would look like this:

Cleary (13) -- May (14) -- Bertuzzi (23)
Eaves (29) -- Ferraro (32) -- Emmerton (41)
Abdelkader (42) -- Tatar (60) -- Draper (62)
D. Axelsson (62) -- Maltby (65) -- Nestrasil (75)
TOP CALL-UPS: Joakim Andersson (88), Valtteri Filppula (95), Johan Franzen (97)

Stuart (3) -- Kindl (19)
B. Smith (27) -- Kronwall (29)
Lidstrom (53) -- Lilja (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Doug Janik (55), Gleason Fournier (90), Max Nicastro (91)

McCollum (30)
Osgood (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Jimmy Howard (64), Daniel Larsson (92)

AFTER THE JUMP, some more numbers and award updates

Justin Abdelkader is going to get the opportunity to center the second line against the Blues, but he's the only Red Wing faceoff-taker with a percentage below 50 (minimum 100 faceoffs). He's currently winning only 42.8% of his draws.

The Red Wings have only scored the first goal of a game ten times this season, with Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary each netting that goal twice. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Brad Stuart, Drew Miller, and Justin Abdelkader each have the distinction once.

Kris Draper and Niklas Kronwall co-lead the team in goals against division opponents (3 each). Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom co-lead in goals against opponents from other divisions (9 each). Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in points at home (16) and on the road (14).

The only players to have negative +/- both at home and on the road are Dan Cleary, Derek Meech, Brett Lebda, and Todd Bertuzzi. On the contrary, the only players to be positive both at home and on the road are Kris Draper, Patrick Eaves, Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Kirk Maltby is the only Red Wing with a point while shorthanded -- an unassisted goal.

Justin Abdelkader leads the way with 78 hits, followed by Brad Stuart (75), Darren Helm (73), Dan Cleary (50) and Patrick Eaves (50).

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defensemen with the fewest goals scored in the most games played. The player must have played in at least 3/4 of the team's games. The award is named for Chris Chelios, who scored 23 goals in his final EXACTLY 600 games as a Red Wing (regular season and playoffs).*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal in 29 games)
2. Brett Lebda (1 goal in 26 games)
3. Brad Stuart (2 goals in 29 games)
4. Brian Rafalski (2 goals in 26 games)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (3 goals in 27 games)

DANNY CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots. Award is named for Dan Cleary, who is used to becoming synonymous with "black eye" and/or "broken jaw."*
1. Darren Helm (20)
2. Danny Cleary (15)
3. Henrik Zetterberg (14)
4. Pavel Datsyuk (13)
5. Justin Abdelkader (9)

DEREK MEECH AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box. Award is named for Derek Meech, who was a healthy scratch 35 times last season.*
1. Derek Meech (15)
2. Brad May (8)
3. Patrick Eaves (7)
4. Kirk Maltby (5)
5. Brett Lebda (3)

GREG STEFAN AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't. Award is named for Greg Stefan, who played nine seasons for the Red Wings, but only three that had a goals against average under 4.*
1. Chris Osgood (6-5-4, 2.75, .896)
2. Jimmy Howard (8-5-1, 2.55, .910)

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most shots to miss the net. Award is named for Mikael Samuelsson, who literally must have been aiming for the 11th row.*
1. Henrik Zetterberg (52)
2. Todd Bertuzzi (29)
3. Tomas Holmstrom (28)
4. Ville Leino (27)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (21)

PAST AWARD WINNERS
Patrick Eaves Goodfellas Award: Patrick Eaves (last player to be penalized)
Aaron Downey Award: Derek Meech (last player to score a goal)

New Jersey Devils Give Up 2 Goal Lead, Pull Out Win over Detroit Red Wings in Shootout

John Fischer — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:09:07 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Patrik Elias showed up in the shootout and scored the shootout winning goal to give the New Jersey Devils the win. Chris Osgood is frozen at this point in time. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Last Saturday, the New Jersey Devils snowballed their way to a huge 6-1 win over the New York Islanders. As the game went on, the Devils played better and went on to dominate on the ice and on the scoreboard. Tonight, the opposite happened as the Devils hosted the Detroit Red Wings. The Devils started off great, slowed down a bit in the second period, and then reverted to how they looked last night in the third period. In the process, the Devils conceded a two goal lead and the game was forced into overtime and followed by a shootout. The Devils won there, the final became 4-3, and so NHL.com has your recap complete with the relevant stats.

The Devils prevailed there, but I can't honestly say I'm pleased with the performance. I know, I know, it's a results-oriented business and the Devils just picked up 4 points in 48 hours. Fine. But the Devils could have and should have done better tonight, especially because they played so well and worked so hard in the first period. Credit the Detroit Red Wings for responding after being beaten on first twenty minutes, they eventually took the game over and made it a game.

Winging it in Motown has their recap up and joehass wonders why Patrick Eaves wasn't used in the shootout for Detroit given that he had a goal and an assist. Read on my extended thoughts on tonight's game.

Let's talk about the goaltenders first. Martin Brodeur and Chris Osgood, I felt, played well. Both goaltenders had to come up huge at various points. Brodeur bailed the Devils out of the third period, whereas Chris Osgood robbed the Devils a few times earlier - most notably Ilkka Pikkarainen's backhand. A bit odd to say given that both gave up 3 goals each. However, only one of the six goals scored in regulation was really a soft - Johnny Oduya's individual effort sliding right through Osgood's legs. The other goals were off rebounds where the goaltender had no chance on (Jamie Langenbrunner, and one deflection by Patrick Eaves. Here's a video of the game's highlights from NHL.com. See for yourself:

Now, you can see where the momentum lied in the shots by period. The Devils' first period was very strong. They bossed the Detroit skaters around, they moved the puck up ice at will, they owned the neutral zone, and outshot the Wings 11-7. They were doing what I said I wanted them to do in the game preview - be aggressive on offense. If you had seen that period, then you became increasingly amazed at how the Devils took their foot off the proverbial pedal. In the second period, Detroit pulled one back (Kris Draper on a rebound), the Devils responded with a goal of their own (Rob Niedermayer on a rebound created by Vladimir Zharkov), and then Detroit capitalized on a power play near the end of the period (Thomas Holmstrom on a tip). Sure, the Devils were leading after the period, 3-2; but the Red Wings clearly made adjustments that the Devils didn't have many answers for and so outshot the Devils 11-9. No longer was Detroit being outworked, no longer was Detroit constantly giving away the puck in the neutral zone.

And then the third period came and it reminded me so much of last night, it was sick in retrospect. It started off well enough. Jay Pandolfo nearly had a goal when his shot from the high slot was stopped by Chris Osgood. The puck bounced up, over Osgood, and was about to slide in only for Brad Stuart to swoop in and clear it off the line. From that point on, Detroit took over in pinning the Devils back, forcing them to clear the puck right back to Detroit, and repeat. Patrick Eaves got the equalizer off a deflection and Martin Brodeur should be thanked for keeping the score tied. After all, the Devils only put 3 shots on Osgood in the third (11-3 Detroit in terms of shots). Where were the Devils of the first period? Where was the aggressive offense? Truthfully, the Devils escaped the third period and were fortunate to earn a point with that kind of "offense."

Overtime saw the Devils actually make an effort to score a goal and came close when a deflected shot by Travis Zajac beat Osgood, but was denied by the post. Alas, this game needed a shootout and the Devils pull out a win. The fans (it was a very good and loud crowd at the Rock) were real happy with the win, nearly everyone standing for every shot and Devils attempt. Exciting stuff, but I can't help but think that most would have liked to have seen the Devils continue to do what they did in the first period and put the game out of doubt. But Detroit responded real well and the Devils wilted. I also can't help but think of the following cliche: good teams know how to win games that they perhaps shouldn't have. The Devils did just that in the last two games. So I guess they are a good team.

A few Devils stuck out tonight, in my opinion. I felt Jay Pandolfo (17:58, 1 A, 2 SOG) and Johnny Oduya (21:01, 1 G, 3 hits) had good games. I was a bit concerned with how they would look after not playing for at least a month, and my concerns were quickly erased. Both hustled pretty well and didn't make too many noticeable mistakes as they played significant minutes. Well, Oduya did jump up on offense, got caught, and didn't really recover well as Darren Helm unloaded a shot that Kris Draper eventually knocked in. But Oduya was just a part of that, the other Devils should have helped out in recovery; so I wouldn't kill him for that one. Rob Niedermayer had a good game, he had 3 shots on net and went right to the net at the right time for the Devils' third goal. He played just over 19 minutes (19:17) and statistically I can only fault him for going 5 for 13 on faceoffs. I also felt Colin White (21:00) and Mike Mottau (24:57) had a solid game on defense. This is especially good news for White as he left Friday's game early due to "lower body soreness." Tonight, he stayed in and feels pretty good afterward according to Gulitti's postgame report.

In terms of Devils who stuck out for not being noticeable (this makes sense, hear me out), I'd have to point the finger to Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston. Last week, they were a dynamite duo. Tonight, they weren't really there. Rolston had 3 shots on net and played 14:57. None of those shots were of particular importance and he managed to get blocked twice and miss the net three times. I didn't think he had an impact. Elias got the win-clinching goal in the shootout, but he did little else in the game. He also played far less than I thought, only 14:05, put 1 shot on net, and was thoroughly beaten at the faceoff dot (3 for 11). The offense has a whole suffered as the game went on, and these two really do need to take more initiative to prevent this from happening in future games.

I do have to credit Detroit's defense in part of stifling New Jersey's offense. Nicklas Lidstrom is an absolute joy to watch on the blueline. He knows where to position himself, when to step up on a player, when to drop back, and he is so slick with the puck. A few times in the game, a Devil forward would have the puck and carry it over the blueline only to just dump it away because he knows he can't beat Lidstrom in a one-on-one battle. It's no wonder he's known as a dominant defenseman. Naturally, he played 30:48 for Detroit because he really is that important. Jonathan Ericsson also came back from injury and put in a good (not perfect, but good) effort in playing 28:24 (!!), often along side Lidstrom. Overall, the Red Wings' D cleaned up a lot of rebounds and Lidstrom alone made things difficult for the Devils' offense after the first period. Not that the Devils' offense was particularly interested in attacking them by the third period.

So what's next? The Devils have four games in the coming week and they really need to be more consistently positive on offense. That means putting shots on net through all three periods. That means not allowing the opposition to dictate the play when up with a lead. That means not giving up a two goal lead in a game. I think it'll get better, hopefully by Monday when they go up to Buffalo. Thanks to Steve and commenters in the GameThread, as well as all of the readers. Feel free to leave your thoughts, questions, complaints, stats I missed, and anything else you feel about tonight's shootout win in the comments.

Red Wings Lose 4-3 in Shootout To Devils

joehass — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:31:16 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

13 days ago: Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood makes a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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When you're facing the best goaltender in the modern history of the National Hockey League, facing him in a shootout is a daunting task.

Having come back from down two goals, the Red Wings were seemingly charged up entering overtime against the New Jersey Devils. Unable to settle it in the extra five minutes, they had to go to the shootout where they could only get one shot out of four into the net. Patrick Elias managed to beat Chris Osgood in the fourth round to give New Jersey the 4-3 victory.

Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist, while Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for the Red Wings. Chris Osgood made 23 saves, but let in a couple of softer goals.

In the first, Zach Parise went to the right of Osgood, bringing three Red Wings with him. Meanwhile, Jamie Langenbrunner came in stealthily to Osgood's left, and Parise set him up beautifully. With a wide-open net, he did not miss to hit his seventh of the season.

Just under two minutes later, Johnny Oduya led a three-on-two for the Devils. Holding onto it, he put it between Osgood's legs to make it 2-0. It was Oduya's first goal of the year in his first game back since being injured on October 28.

That first period looked suspiciously like Detroit's Thursday night egg against Edmonton: slow playing, lethargic, and generally without a lot of energy.

The Red Wings struck back in the second period. Darren Helm skated in along the near-side boards. Using Mark Frasier as a screen, he put the puck towards the net, where Kris Draper knocked in his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1.

Five minutes later, New Jersey set up another three-on-two. This time, James Pandolfo brought the puck up the right side, passed it across to Vladimir Zharkov, who shot it towards a scrum in front of Osgood. Rob Neidermayer happened to be in the right place at the right time and got it in to reset the two-goal lead.

With 30 seconds left in the second and Elias in the penalty box, Brad Stuart passed to Tomas Holmstrom, who was camped out in his usual place in front of the opposition goaltender. Holmstrom got it past Brodeur to make it back to 3-2.

In the third period, Justin Abdelkader had the puck while being draped by Bryce Salvador. Dumping it towards the net, Patrick Eaves just tipped it, causing it to go past Brodeur to tie the game at three.

In the shootout, Pavel Datsuyk and Zach Parise scored in the first round. Henrik Zetterberg, Jamie Langenbrunner, Todd Bertuzzi, and Travis Zajac all missed to go into bonus shootout. In the fourth round, Mike Babcock sent out Ville Leino, whose shot was saved nicely by Brodeur. Patrick Elias went backhanded, froze Osgood, held the puck for one more beat, then put it underneath Osgood's outstretched left arm.

The Wings will stay in the Tri-State area to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night. The Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night in Buffalo 2-1.

Player of the game: Patrick Eaves. Here's the question no one seemed to ask Mike Babcock after the game: why did he send Ville Leino (1 shot, 2 giveaways, -2) out for the fourth round of the shootout and not Patrick Eaves (1 goal, 1 assist)?

Game 27 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Detroit Red Wings, 12/5/2009

John Fischer — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Martin Brodeur and Andy Greene consider the puck. They consider it a friend that really needs to be placed in it's proper home - behind the opposition's goaltender. Will Greene get to do this for 30 minutes again against Detroit? Will Brodeur even play against Detroit? (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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The Time: 7 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: MSG+ for the TV, 660 AM WFAN for the radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (18-7-1) vs. the Detroit Red Wings (13-10-4)

The Last Devils Game: The Devils somehow and someway pulled away with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning despite a poor offensive effort from the home team. Jamie Langenbrunner's tip-in of Andy Greene's shot was the difference maker, and, hey, it's a win. I recapped the game just last night (or a few hours ago, really).

The Last Red Wings Game: The Detroit Red Wings hosted the then-worst-in-the-Western Conference Edmonton Oilers prior to traveling to the NJ metropolitan area. As further evidence that Detroit isn't having the best of seasons, the Oilers outplayed and outdid the Red Wings in their own building, going on to win 4-1. Joehass of Winging It in Motown summarized the loss as a poor one. I can't disagree, honestly.

The Goal: Show some aggressive offense. I want to see the Devils do the opposite of what they did against Tampa Bay. I want the Devils to press the issue. I want the Devils to not sit back or let Detroit dictate how the game will go should the Devils take the lead - in fact, I want the Devils to keep attacking until they build a sizeable lead. I want the Devils to continue battling for pucks and forechecking for more than a period. I want to see shots put on net, instead of missing because players want to try and pick out the far post on a shot. Not even the 1995 Stanley Cup Championship Devils team - who is being honored tonight - would have succeeded against Detroit with offensive performances like that. While the Red Wings aren't the powerful force that they have been for much of the last 15 years, I don't see how the Devils can beat these Red Wings if they put up an offensive performance like the one they gave to Tampa Bay.

Read on for further thoughts about the game.

First, there's the line up issue. Now, as reported by Rich Chere on Friday, Johnny Oduya and Jay Pandolfo should be in tonight's lineup. They were kept out of the Tampa Bay game, but Jacques Lemaire said they would be ready this weekend, so by logic, they're in:

"No one is coming back," Lemaire said. "It was either tonight or tomorrow night, so we figured tomorrow night. It's hard to play two games in two nights when you haven't played for a while. The games are so intense. They didn't have a lot of practices."

Now, before last night's game, the Devils would have had to send someone down to Lowell to make space on the roster for both Oduya and Pandolfo to be activated. However, it appears that Colin White is now questionable with "lower body soreness" as both reported by Chere and Gulitti. More information will come out later today, so keep checking Chere and Gulitti for updates on his status and if anyone is sent down. I really hope that it is not a significant injury, in that I hope he won't be out for a significant amount of time.

By the way, Matthew Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, and Matt Halischuk can all be sent down to Lowell without going through waivers, so I would expect one of those three to be sent down. If it were up to me, I'd move Corrente down. Johnny Oduya can ease back into the lineup on the third pairing and start with limited minutes. Though White's injury may force Lemaire to keep Corrente and send down Zharkov or Halischuk instead. It also leads to this difficult choice. To replace White's minutes, Lemaire may either have to give Andy Greene (who played 30:11 last night and earned deserved praise from the head coach per Gulitti), Mike Mottau (27:21 last night), and Bryce Salvador (22:41 last night) even more minutes; or force Fraser, Corrente, and Oduya to play more minutes. The first option can lead to an already fatigued blueline absolutely gassed by the third period tonight; and the second could lead to some issues in the back that Detroit can exploit.

All the more reason for the Devils offense to step up, in my opinion. Jay Pandolfo won't necessarily do that, but he should be useful in spelling forwards on checking and PK duty. It's not certain who will be the goaltender, but I wouldn't fret if it's Martin Brodeur again. It's not like he was bombarded by the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he only faced 24 shots on Friday. I think he'll get the start and Danis can get starts next week. Of course, it's all a gameday decision. Which should make this guess at the lineup quite incorrect come gametime (I'm assuming White will be OK).

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Niclas Bergfors
Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Jamie Langenbrunner
Jay Pandolfo - Rob Niedermayer - Matt Halischuk
Dean McAmmond - Rod Pelley - Ilkka Pikkarainen

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Mark Fraser - Johnny Oduya

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

Now, in my view, Detroit has always been a powerhouse. Remember how I keep pointing out that the New Jersey Devils are the second best team across the last 15 seasons? Well, Detroit is the only franchise that can claim superiority. Both in the regular season and in the playoffs. So it's really shocking to me to see them at 13-10-4 and currently 11th in the Western Conference.

I look at the team stats and I'm further confused. The Red Wings are excellent at putting shots on net, as they average 34.2 per game (2nd most in NHL) and a decent power play at 21.1% (12nd in NHL); but they only put in an average of 2.72 goals per game (19th in NHL). The Red Wings have been solid in preventing shots hit the net, allowing only an average of 27.8 per game (6th in NHL); but they aren't so solid in goals against, allowing an average of 2.78 per game (14th in NHL) and awful on the penalty kill with a 76.9% rate of success (26th in the NHL). Is this the fault of the skaters, or the goaltenders? There doesn't seem to be a definitive #1 goaltender, as Jimmy Howard and Chris Osgood have been splitting time. Howard's got a statistical advantage which meant nothing to the Oilers.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Jimmy Howard	14	810	7	5	36	2.67	381	345	.906	0
2009 - Chris Osgood	15	829	6	5	38	2.75	369	331	.897	1

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are leading the offense, but the points come from varied sources outside of those two forwards. Was losing Johan Franzen to injury that big of a deal? Perhaps? In fact, Detroit is pretty banged up right now and that could be a source for the muddled set of results they got going. While they'll get Jonathan Ercisson back tonight according to Ken Holland via Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press; they're still without Niklas Kronwall, Patrick Eaves, Brian Rafalski (questionable per Ansar Kahn at MLive), Valterri Fippula, and Jason Williams.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Henrik Zetterberg	27	10	17	27	0	6	1	0	4	0	106	9.4
2009 - Pavel Datsyuk	25	6	14	20	3	2	4	0	1	0	69	8.7

Of course, no one can discount a defense led by the brilliant Nicklas Lidstrom or an offense that still features Zetterberg and Datsyuk contributing regularly. At least, I wouldn't. But I'm still surprised that they haven't succeeded more. Not on the road (5-5-2) or overall (13-10-4). Old biases die hard, I suppose. That just makes this game more interesting than that the Devils will honor their 1995 Stanley Cup Championship winning team. Will we see the same Detroit team that thoroughly defeated New Jersey last season; the same Detroit team that has been successful all these years? Will we see the same Detroit team that got beaten decisively by Edmonton in their own building? Will we see a Detroit team somewhere in the middle of those extremes?

I truly do not know and the Devils don't even get the benefit of a full day to fully prepare for what to expect. In my opinion, I think the Devils should expect a difficult opponent regardless of their record (like, say, Vancouver) and should make a point of it to attack early and often. With a likely tired team, including two players returning to hockey after a long period of time after injury, the Devils won't likely benefit from chasing Detroit around. They need to set the tempo. Not just to be quick and constantly rushing forwards up ice, but should the Devils maintain the puck on offense, they can slow it down when necessary and take their time. Aggression isn't always about being intense, it's more about taking initiative and constantly attempting to take control of the puck, and by extension, the game.

I'll be at the game (Sec. 1, Row 16, Seat 5 as usual) and likely with a hoarse voice due to West Virginia coming to the Banks of the Raritan, a.k.a. the Birthplace of College Football to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Follow that at Protect R Turf and Bleed Scarlet if you support the Block R (like me). Either way, join us in the comments on the GameThread later in the day. If you want to learn more about Detroit, check out Winging it in Motown. If you have something to add - a thought, a question, a concern, some praise for the 1995 Stanley Cup Championship team, some news update from Gulitti/Chere/elsewhere - please share it with the rest of us in the comments. Go Devils!

Bertuzzi's two points, Howard's 29 saves leads Wings over Stars 4-1

joehass — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:18:15 -0000

On a night that saw the Red Wings snap a 157-minute scoring drought at home, have a balanced scoring attack, a stretch of 10:18 without a stoppage in play, and their first opening goal in five games, what may be the most interesting takeaway from their 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars was the 29 saves of Jimmy Howard, making back-to-back wins for himself.

While his four-game stretch earlier in November showed what he could do with Chris Osgood out of commission, it's in the last two nights, where head coach Mike Babcock had the option of going with either goalie but has chosen Howard, where Howard has shone, putting Babcock in an embarrassment of riches situation heading into Thursday night's game against Edmonton.

In addition to the balanced scoring attack, the Red Wings penalty kill continued their streak, with eight straight penalties killed including the four tonight.

In the first period, after going over 10 minutes without a stoppage in play, the Red Wings shot a puck down the ice in what appeared to be an icing call. But the Stars miscommunicated, failing to touch the puck. Drew Miller, who was skating down the ice at the time, quickly jumped on the untouched puck and took a shot, that went off Trevor Daley's arm and past Marty Turco to make it 1-0 Red Wings.

With 15 seconds left, just after Tomas Holmstrom left the penalty box, Stephane Robidas fired a 60-foot shot that went off Brenden Morrow and got past Howard to tie the game at 1. It was Morrow's 11th goal of the season.

In the second, Kris Draper got Turco to go down on his shot, only to pass the puck to Darren Helm. With a wide-open net, Helm didn't miss, and the Red Wings were back on top 2-1.

Later in the period, Henrik Zetterberg put the puck on Dan Cleary's stick behind the goal line. Cleary brought the puck up in front of Turco, then put the puck into the net to make it 3-1 on his sixth of the season.

Finally, in the third period, Todd Bertuzzi came in to the left of Turco and fired a 35-footer that bounced off Daley. That turned the puck into a knuckler, which just went off the elbow of Turco and into the edge of the net to wrap up the scoring.

Player of the game: Todd Bertuzzi. With his goal and assist, he seems to be awakening very nicely.

Flames and Kiprusoff continue Detroit's scoring woes

MrNorrisTrophy — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:18:41 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff (34), of Finland, deflects a shot in front of Detroit Red Wings right wing Todd Bertuzzi (44) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Kiprusoff made 40 saves for his 32nd career shutout in the Flames' 3-0 victory. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Twenty eight seconds into the first period is all that it took for Calgary to get on the scoreboard. Jamie Lundmark scored his first of the season on a pass across the crease from Olli Jokinen. That goal was all that Calgary needed as Miikka Kiprusoff blanked the Red Wings on 40 shots. It was the second consecutive shut out of the Red Wings and the second consecutive game with 40 shots and nothing to show for it.

Lundmark scored on a pass from Jokinen along the boards as Chris Osgood tried to stand back up, leaving the net wide open. Detroit seemingly tied it with power play goal from Brad Stuart at 5:27 of the first period but the goal was waved off for goaltender interference. Dan Cleary, positioned barely in the crease, "prevented the goaltender from doing his job" as he slightly brushed Kiprusoff's blocker as the puck went glove side--clearly preventing him from doing his job, right? Nevertheless, the officials called it as they saw it and Calgary maintained the 1-0 lead as "boos" greeted the ears of the officiating crew.

That lead would grow to 2-0 as Nigel Dawes scored at 18:29 of the first period on an odd turnover frenzy in front of Osgood. The chance started on a weak shot from Brett Lebda in the offensive zone that lead to a Calgary rush with David Moss and Dawes up against Jonathan Ericsson, Pavel Datsyuk, and a trailing Lebda. Ericsson stopped a cross from Moss, only to have Datsyuk whiff on a clear leading to a poke from Dawes past Osgood for a 2-0 lead heading into the first break.

Detroit fired 17 shots on goal in the second period--as many as Calgary had in the whole game--but could not register a goal. Another controversial moment happened with an early whistle while the puck was loose in Kiprusoff's crease before Ericsson scored. Once again, the goal was waved off at the discretion of the officiating crew and jeers yet again rained down on Brad Meier and his fellow crew members. Numerous chances in the second period by the Red Wings were unrewarded and a 2-0 deficit with the way Kiprusoff was playing made the outcome more or less decided at the end of two.

Olli Jokinen scored just 25 seconds into the third period--deja vu anyone?--to put the game at an unreachable 3-0 for the sputtering Detroit offense. This time, it was Jokinen who received the pass from Lundmark (reverse of goal number one) and he wasted little time firing a beautiful shot above Osgood's glove side and into the net. Lundmark's pass was a wobbler that Jokinen caught perfectly on the tape and ripped into the top shelf to solidify the 3-0 win for Calgary.

Calgary filled the shooting lanes and blocked 17 shots, taking any quality chances away and leaving Kiprusoff with mainly routine saves. The powerplay sputtered again, going 0 for 6 on the night. Detroit's offensive struggles can be summed up in one stat: 1 goal on the last 119 shots.

Detroit faces fellow Central Division opponents St. Louis tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. ET and Calgary faces Columbus.

Casey's Wing of the Game: Once again, I'd rather not choose. Darren Helm is who I've got though: 9 hits, 4 shots, 9/14 (64%) in the dot. He also showed his incredible speed with a burst past a Calgary defender.

Darren Helm

#43 / Center / Detroit Red Wings

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Jan 21, 1987

Flames vs Red Wings coverage, Matchsticks and Gasoline

Wings fall to Predators 3-1

Christy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:30:29 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

25 days ago: Detroit Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) scores a goal against Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35), of Finland, in the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Nashville, Tenn. Also defending for the Predators is Kevin Klein, center. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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After escaping Montreal with a narrow 3-2 shootout victory on Saturday, the Wings headed to Nashville with the hopes of earning their first win streak on the road. Unfortunately, it was not to be as the Wings dropped the game in a 3-1 loss to the Predators.

Chris Osgood got the start in goal, making allowing three goals on 25 shots while the Wings got off 31 shots in their losing effort.

The Wings' penalty kill woes continued, allowing two goals on four penalty kills. Jason Arnott got Nashville on the board first with a power-play tally at the 10:24 mark in the opening period.

The Predators grabbed a two-goal lead just 1:21 into the middle frame with another power-play marker, but this time from Martin Erat. He scored Nashville's insurance goal with 2:20 remaining in the contest.

Once again, the Wings stumbled out of the gate before firing on all cylinders in the third period just a little too late. Detroit's lone tally came at the 6:38 point in the second stanza when former Spartan Drew Miller registered his first goal as a Wing. According to MLive.com, "it was his first goal in 20 games this season, his first in 27 games dating to last season when he played for Anaheim."

The Wings now have lost the last three of four games. Detroit returns to play on Wednesday against Atlanta at Joe Louis Arena at 7:30 p.m. EDT.