SB Nation User Blog: joehass

Red Wings beat Sharks 2-1 in Shootout

joehass — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:21:24 -0000

Henrik Zetterberg scores the game-winner in the shootout against San Jose.

On Budd Lynch bobblehead night, it was Henrik Zetterberg's who helped put away the San Jose Sharks.

Zetterberg scored the lone Detroit Red Wings goal with 14:22 left in regulation, then scored at the end of the shootout to seal a 2-1 win over San Jose. It broke the Shark's six-game winning streak and extended the Wings winning streak to three games

Zetterberg took advantage of a shot by Darren Helm. Evgeni Nabokov seemed to cover the puck, but did not get a whistle, Zetterberg kept charging towards the net and swatted the puck into the net to even the score at one.

In the second period, Logan Couture netted his first NHL goal off a nice setup from Joe Callahan (who picked up his first NHL point) and Joe Thornton.

In overtime, Darren Helm had two incredible chances in overtime on a two-on-one, but couldn't put either shot past Evgeni Nabokov. The Red Wings put heavy pressure on the Sharks with five shots in the overtime period.

The shootout saw a series of back-hand shots: Pavel Datsuyk opened with one that easily faked our Nabokov. Dan Boyle and Ryane Clowe each tried backhanders that failed to get past Chris Osgood. Then Zetterberg ended the shootout with a simple shot that got past Nabokov for the second time of the night.

Osgood finished the evening with 34 saves; Nabokov ended with 36.

The Red Wings will take on Toronto Saturday night in an Original Six matchup in Toronto.

Catch the high lights below from NHL.com.

[Game Thread] Red Wings vs. Sharks

joehass — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:35:37 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Henrik Zetterberg has nine points over the last nine games and is tied for the team lead with 12 points.

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The Detroit Red Wings take their two-game winning streak against the red-hot San Jose Sharks at Joe Louis Arena tonight. The Sharks are on a six-game winning streak, leading the Pacific Division with 23 points and trailing only the Colorado Avalanche (24 points) in the Western Conference.

San Jose comes in having beaten the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday night 3-2 via a shootout. 8-2 in the last 10 games, Patrick Marleau has scored a point in his last nine starts for the Sharks. Dany Heatley is tied for sixth in the league in goals with 10. Meanwhile, Evgeni Nabokov has a sparking 10-3-1 record in 2009, with a 2.38 goals against average.

It's the first meeting of 2009-10 for these two teams: they split the regular season series last year, with the home team winning every game.

The game is on FSN-Detroit and CSN California. Comment away below!

Wings Blow Two-Goal Lead, Lose In Shootout

joehass — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:43:44 -0000

More photos » by Jerry S. Mendoza - AP

Justin Abdelkader celebrates his first NHL goal.

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After two strong periods, the Detroit Red Wings looked like they were on fire against the Colorado Avalanche.

But two goals from Cody McLeod gave the Avalanche life, and put the game into a shootout. There, Ville Leino missed on the third shot to give the Avalanche a 4-3 win at Joe Louis Arena.

With Pavel Datsyuk out for the second straight night with an upper-body injury, the Wings got off to a strong start. Justin Abdelkader scored his first regular-season NHL goal early off of Darren Helm. The Wings extended that lead just 1:16 into the second period, when Todd Bertuzzi took advantage of a Matt Hendricks hooking penalty and fought off Adam Foote in front of the net, taking a Henrik Zetterberg pass and put it past Craig Anderson to make it 2-0 entering the third.

But Cody McLeod lit the lamp at 9:06 on a pretty shot through Chris Osgood's five-hole. Three minutes later, Matt Duchene scored the first goal of his NHL career when he put a 40-footer just past Osgood on the far side. The game was tied, and the Red Wings seemed to fall into a rut. Fortunately for them, less than two minutes after that, Valtteri Filppula takes advantage of a scrum in front of the net, finds the puck, and puts it into a wide-open net to give Detroit the lead back.

But McLeod wasn't done. With 2:32 left in regulation, the Red Wings were caught on a line change. Taking advantage, the Avs pushed the puck off the boards, and McLeod put it past Osgood to tie things up at three.

After both teams couldn't take advantage in overtime, Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk each put backhanders past Chris Osgood. Zetterberg tried to go right but instead went into Anderson's left pad. Finally, Ville Leino's weak backhander was easily blocked by Anderson to give Colorado the win.

The Avalanche continued an interesting streak: they have been outshot in all eight of their games, but have managed to win seven of them. Detroit had a 31-29 shot advantage.

The Red Wings are off until Thursday, when they begin a five-game, west-coast road trip, starting with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Player Of The Game: Todd Bertuzzi. He gets his first goal as a Red Wings on four shots and a hit. He looked sharp thoughout the game, and seems to be finally settling into his role with the Red Wings

[Game Thread] Avalanche vs. Red Wings

joehass — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:02:51 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Nicklas Lidstrom acknowledges the crowd after scoring his 1,000th career point Thursday.

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The Red Wings come off their strong 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings with the very hot Colorado Avalanche. Joe Hass will be live blogging...follow along below!

Avalanche vs Red Wings coverage

Wings beat Kings 5-2; Lidstrom Nets 1,000th Point

joehass — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:07:32 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Chris Osgood stops Justin Williams as Brad Stuart looks on.

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A balanced attack, with five goals from five different players, helped the Red Wings defeat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena.

After spotting the Kings an early 1-0 lead on Derek Brown's first goal of the season, Detroit roared back with two goals in the second. Jonathan Ericsson lit the lamp past Jonathan Quick at 3:33. Five minutes later, with Los Angeles a man down for too many men on the ice, Nicklas Lidstrom's shot was tipped off the stick of Tomas Holmstrom to make it 2-1.

In the third period, the Red Wings were down a man when Jarret Stoll pulled down Kris Draper. The official waited a beat to make the call, infuriating Stoll, but off the ensuing faceoff, Lidstrom set up Henrik Zetterberg for his first of the season. It was Lidstrom's 1,000th point, earning him a standing ovation at the TV timeout. After Justin Williams brought Los Angeles back to within one, Kirk Maltby's slapper from Todd Bertuzzi put Detroit back up by two. With Quick pulled for the extra attacker, Brian Rafalski exited the penalty box and put the puck into the empty net for the final goal of the night.

Player of the Game: Nick Lidstrom. Two assists tonight, the second making him the eighth defenseman in NHL history with 1,000 points, gives it to him.

Red Wings Lose Stanley Cup

joehass — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:13:38 -0000

The puck came to Nicklas Lidstrom with two seconds left. No pressure. Make the shot, we go to overtime.

He didn't make it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, on the strength of two goals from Maxine Talbot, stunned the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena.

Make no mistake: the Penguins deserved to win this game. Their effort was incredible, making brilliant plays, and with Evgeni Malkin's Conn Smythe performance, there is no doubt that the right team skated away with the Cup.

Talbot spent the first period constantly skating past Red Wings defensemen, which set an ominous tone. In the second, he capitalized: after a sloppy play behind the net by Stewart, Talbot swiped the puck away to Malkin, who put the puck back to Talbot.

Osgood didn't stand a chance.

Talbot did it again nine minutes later: after Stuart tried to make something out of nothing in a pinch in the Wings end, it set up a two-on-one. Talbot skated in and beat Osgood wide, putting the puck up in the top right corner. The crowd was deflated.

Jonathan Ericsson's goal in the third gave the Red Wings a chance, but despite the wild finish, the Wings couldn't convert.

So now we reach the end. Banners will be raised next fall, but not the one banner that mattered.

But there are much larger issues coming out of this:

* The non-effort in the first two periods of Games 6 and 7.

* The lack of goals from Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, and Pavel Datsuyk: three leaders of this team.

* The shocking turnovers from a lot of players, including Chris Osgood.

* The boneheaded plays from Brad Stuart that set up both Pens goals.

* And, most of all: Marian Hossa's disappearing act.

No one escapes blame here. It is a bitter ending to a glorious season. One that should leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Ron MacLean and Gary Bettman talk hockey on CBC

joehass — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:16:36 -0000

It's widely known that Ron MacLean isn't exactly fond of Gary Bettman. The two talked on Hockey Night In Canada during the second intermission Tuesday night. For those who didn't see it, it appears below.

A couple things: I'm still not sure I believe this, but I completely agree with Bettman when it comes to Phoenix. As for the head shots: If the league would simply be consistent with the rules currently in place.

[Game Thread] Red Wings vs. Blackhawks Game 5

joehass — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:52:27 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

The last player Blackhawk fans expected to see Sunday: Corey Crawford.

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The Western Conference Final comes back to Detroit for Game 5 tonight, as the Red Wings get their first chance to knock out the Blackhawks and get a rematch against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Eastern Conference playoff champions, sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes).

It would be foolish to assume Chicago will come out the same way they did in Game 4 (Joel Quenneville's now legendary quote notwithstanding). Still, with their backs to the wall for the first time in the playoffs, it will be interesting to see how the Blackhawks will come out.

As of this writing, Pavel Datsuyk and Nicklas Lidstrom for Detroit and Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlat for Chicago are all day-to-day, which means it will be a game-time decision if they'll play; however, Datsuyk and Lidstrom did not skate this morning, meaning it's unlikely they'll play tonight. Chris Osgood will start in goal for the Red Wings.

While Game 4 forcefully answered the "When will Marian Hossa show up?" question, the APB continues for Patrick Kane. Five shots in four games and a minus seven will make him the focus of much attention at the end of this series.

As for Cristobal Huet, his underwhelming performance in Game 4 (being pulled for Corey Crawford after giving up five goals on 26 shots) doesn't give confidence to Blackhawks fans, who are hoping beyond hope to see a 39 behind the pipes instead of 38.

Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET on Versus and CBC. See you back here then.

On Versus, Gary Bettman Can't Follow His Own Advice

joehass — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:42:23 -0000

What you need to do in the future, when you make your reservation, call and say, 'Do you get Versus?' If they say no, then you should say, 'You should get Versus or I'm not coming,' and go to a different hotel.

Gary Bettman, May 12, 2009

The Wings found themselves in the same boat while staying in Chicago when seeking to watch the Eastern Conference final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

"I haven't even seen a game yet" Osgood said. "The hotel we were in doesn't have Versus."

CBC Sports, May 25, 2009

[Game Thread] Wings vs. Blackhawks Game 4

joehass — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:09:41 -0000

The Red Wings and Blackhawks face off in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. Chicago took Game 3 4-3 in overtime, in a game that had absolutely nothing interesting happen (assuming you don't count coming back from a 3-0 deficit or a game misconduct that shouldn't have been or the general crankiness pulsating through the series so far).

Questions coming into the game:

* Will Nikolai Khabibulin start? Our favorite type of injury, lower-body, was the reported reason for his sudden departure in Game 3, and Joel Quenneville wasn't tipping his hand yesterday, simply saying Khabibulin made "good progress" in the Saturday practice. Our guess: unless the lower-body injury involves the loss of limbs (not apparent, but don't put anything past an professional sports team's training staff), he'll be in there today. No offense to Cristobal Huet, whose ~~entire postseason career consists of~~ made his Blackhawks playoff debut in Game 3 (and whose name was clearly lifted from a Family Guy episode).

* Will Martin Havlat make an appearance? This is a little more complicated. Quenneville was even more wishy-washy on his status. If he suffered a concussion after Niklas Kronwall's hit (which it sure looked like, but IANAMD), then Havlat shouldn't be playing. Of course, try telling a hockey player not to play after a concussion (or any injury) in the playoffs.

* How day-to-day is Pavel Datsyuk? He sat out Game 3. Does Mike Babcock sit him for Game 4? And if he does, would it kill him to light the lamp?

* Can ~~Martin~~ Marian Hossa break through and score after two nice assists in Game 3?

Scheduled start time is 3:00 P.M. ET (though with NBC covering the game, it'll probably be closer to 3:20). NBC (ugh) has the game in the U.S., while CBC (yay!) has the coverage in Canada. See you back here then.