Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 3: Post Game Snipes...

• I missed the first 50 minutes or so of the game, so I don’t have much to say tonight. I promise that it was worth it though. My reason for missing the game involved swapping Disney war stories and feasting on this. Yes, I’m bragging, but that’s the second coolest thing I’ve ever made in my life and I think I earned it (It’s pretty obvious that I’m no Baroque). I was supposed to be home in time for the game to start, but I just couldn’t bear to leave my Disney people. They’re really some of the most fun human beings I’ve had the chance to hang out with.
• I walked in the door and frantically searched for the second TV remote. I finally got the stupid built-in menu off of the screen just in time to see the Wings tie the game up. I briefly celebrated and then ran back out to my car to bring something in. As soon as I walked into my room, the Wings scored again. Then I made another trip out to the car and the Wings scored again. When I was making my final trip out to the car, I was semi-anxiously anticipating another Wings goal when I ran back inside. However, this time around, it led to a Columbus goal. I hadn’t realized that my newfound power worked both ways. You’ll be happy to know that I stayed put for the rest of the game.
• I really like Patrick Eaves.
• Did Nick Lidstrom really make that play leading to one of the BJs’ goals? I think he was so stunned at making the ugly turnover that he got caught flat-footed and beaten. That’s clearly the only explanation.
  

GP Answers:
1. Hitting 100 points is still a possibility. Can the Wings take another step closer to hitting that landmark?
Well, they picked up two tonight. The dream is alive and well for now. Not that it’s the ultimate goal, but it would be nice to get there.

2. What ridiculous thing is Pavel Datsyuk going to do to amaze us all today?
It’s hard to tell. I really didn’t see much tonight.

3. Is Uncle Mike going to cut ice time to get some of the guys rested up for the playoffs?
Looking at the box score, it doesn’t look like anyone had their ice time dramatically cut. The fourth line looks like it picked up a few extra minutes, but overall it didn’t look like guys were getting rested.

4. The efforts against Nashville and Philadelphia weren’t exactly something to write home about. Will we get treated to a full 60-minute game?
Again, I didn’t see most of the game. This is starting to become a trend, and I don’t like it. I need my hockey.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Tomas Holmstrom
I also love Homer. That is all.

Nick Lidstrom gets the Golden Facepalm
I can’t believe I just typed that. Really. I justified it by reminding myself that if anyone else on the team made that play they’d be a shoo-in for this.

What I Learned:
Apparently I have magical powers that cause goals to be scored by the mere act of walking in and out of my back door.

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

1. Hitting 100 points is still a possibility. Can the Wings take another step closer to hitting that landmark?
2. What ridiculous thing is Pavel Datsyuk going to do to amaze us all today?
3. Is Uncle Mike going to cut ice time to get some of the guys rested up for the playoffs?
4. The efforts against Nashville and Philadelphia weren’t exactly something to write home about. Will we get treated to a full 60-minute game?

Hey We Made It...

I still haven’t actually seen most of the Flyers game. It’s stored on my DVR, but I haven’t quite gotten around to actually sitting down and watching it. That explains the lack of a recap. I really just prefer to pretend like it didn’t happen. The part that I did catch led to a heated Easter-dinner-buffet-line conversation with my brother about the difference between being a bunch of worthless goons and playing tough hockey. He actually dared to defend Chris Pronger. I was aghast.

Anyway, the real event on Sunday was the fact that the Wings managed to clinch their 19th straight playoff berth thanks to Calgary losing. I was out in the backyard playing with my little cousins when I got the score update on my phone and everyone was pretty confused when I broke out into a happy dance right in the middle of the chaos. I did, however, find it ironic that a couple of weeks ago we were making fun of Washington for clinching the conference by losing and waiting for another team to do their dirty work for them. The Wings are home free now and I could not care less about seeding and first round matchups. There are definitely teams that worry me out there, but truth be told, all of the teams worry me. I never think about teams I want the Wings to face because I live in fear of some sort of be-careful-what-you-wish-for comeuppance.

The bottom line is that we made it. The Wings are in the playoffs, and, to the best of my knowledge, all of the 19 survived. And just a note of warning to friends, family, co-workers, and roommates: if you thought I’ve been obnoxious and insane for the last six months, just wait until the puck drops on the first round.

Red Wings vs. Flyers GP...

1. Ozzie’s getting the start today. I’m going to avoid making any really bad jokes about laying an egg on Easter and skip straight to the part where I say that I have absolutely no idea what to expect from the guy after he’s gone so long without starting. Is he going to be able to shake off the rust and look halfway decent?
2. This is the Wings’ last game against the East. Can they continue to prove that the Leastern Conference is a joke?
3. Today’s the day the Wings can hit the magic number to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. Are we heading to the promised land? I know I should be over this by now, but it makes me barf a little that we’re talking about things like this this late in the season.
4. We get to see our old friend Ville Leino today. Will we be treated to the version of Ville that we all dreamed about over the summer or the one who ended up benched even though half of the team was out with injury? I’m guessing the former, just because that’s the way this season has gone.

I would be shocked if I get to see any of this game. I blame NBC for picking up the game. Between noon mass and heading to relatives’ house, this looks like one for the old DVR. Grrrrr…

Red Wings 3, Predators 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• This game was right out of the How to Beat the Red Wings textbook. I hate outings like this.
• Of course, it didn’t help that the Wings completely went to sleep during the second period. I guess they were bound to have a bad effort after they’ve been on such a roll.
• I really hate these “At least we got a point?!” games. They’re no fun at all.
• On one shift Shea Weber had both Lilja and Filppula limping after blocking his shots. Ken Daniels (I think it was him.) called Lilja a tripod, which is something I’m just going to leave alone. Surprising absolutely no one, the Predators scored shortly afterward. I really think the boys should be discouraged from trying to block his shots. It rarely works out well.
• The Preds’ first goal bounced in off of Homer’s stick. They’re second bounced in off of Z’s skate. It was a typical stifling trap game capitalizing on a couple of lucky bounces.
• Nick Lidstrom wiped out and got walked around for a great scoring chance during the third period. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do that before. He almost looked human for a fraction of a second there. It was weird.
• It’s really exciting that Datsyuk is starting to take more shots like the one that sent the game to overtime. We’ve been talking about the need for more shoot all season long, and these last few games have showed why that’s so important.
• Sixteen seconds into overtime? Seriously? At least they got a point.
• During the post-game, Mickey York made fun of Barry Trotz’s lack of a neck. Then he called Erat a figure skater. My appreciation for him rose infinitely.
• In other news, I went to the scavenger hunt this morning. My mom and I teamed up with high hopes for a victory, but we were derailed by a failure in communication. I jumped in the car and yelled for her to drive to Hockeytown Café, which she interpreted to mean Hockeytown Authentics. I was so busy eating the Stanley Cupcake we had made at the bakery that I didn’t notice that we were going the wrong direction until three miles later. Once we finally made it to the right Hockeytown and realized that we had been eliminated, we tried to help my dad and sister by googling things on our phones. It didn’t help. They were busy driving up and down Jefferson in Grosse Pointe. When they finally did find the Timmy’s they were looking for, my dad couldn’t drink the iced coffee fast enough anyway.
• I’m really in love with the cupcakes we got at the start of the scavenger hunt. They totally made getting up early worthwhile.
• We seriously debated letting the air out of my dad’s tires and stealing his spark plugs before we left for the scavenger hunt. That would’ve been pretty awesome.
• Congrats to Sara and Greta for winning the suite tickets. I was really glad that they went to folks that I know.
  

GP Answers:
1. The Wings need three points to clinch a playoff spot. These two points are huge in terms of securing a place in the postseason and trying to pass Nashville for the fifth seed. Are they going to bring themselves that much closer to where we all know they belong?
Well, they got the one. Now they just need one more victory to guarantee a spot. Or, they could wait for Colorado or Calgary to lose, but I like my first idea better. They still have two games in hand on Nashville, so fifth place isn’t out of the question, but it would’ve been nice to pick up the points in the head-to-head matchup today.

2. Again with the sixty minutes thing. Babcock has pointed out that the last two games haven’t been ideal efforts. Now’s the time to get that sorted out and back on track. Can the boys play a complete game?
The first and third periods weren’t terrible, but the second was a nightmare. Not only was it dominated by Nashville, but it was also boring.

3. Is anyone going to score a goal this time around?
There were plenty of goals to go around. They just didn’t quite fall to the right side. Although to be fair, most of the scoring was technically done by the Wings, as two of Nashville’s goals went in off of Detroit forwards.

4. What ridiculous thing is Bertuzzi going to do in an attempt to score? On Thursday, he spiked the puck into the net, put one in with his skate—an extremely borderline success, and smacked the goalie in the face with his stick. I’m telling you, there’s a header coming.
He didn’t do anything special that I noticed. He did look like he was about to kill Dan Hamhuis at one point. That particular altercation led to Bertuzzi in the box negating a Wings powerplay. I’m still not sure why coincidental minors weren’t handed out there, but I suspect it had something to do with the fact that Bertuzzi was trying to murder someone again.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
See, Pav? This is why we need more shoot! Aside from that goal, he was all over the ice this afternoon. He set up one goal while sitting on his butt on the ice after falling down. He’s been displaying a lot of Dangle Dangle magic over these last couple of games.

Composite Sticks get the Golden Facepalm
Draper’s broken stick led to one of Nashville’s goals, and later on Franzen’s stick literally disintegrated in his hands to negate a brilliant scoring chance. I have a sneaky suspicion that Mickey Redmond’s going to break into the Wings’ locker room tonight and replace all of their sticks with wood ones.

What I Learned:
There should really be a federal law banning the trap. This goes beyond the scope of the NHL. It needs to be an act of Congress.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

1. The Wings need three points to clinch a playoff spot. These two points are huge in terms of securing a place in the postseason and trying to pass Nashville for the fifth seed. Are they going to bring themselves that much closer to where we all know they belong?
2. Again with the sixty minutes thing. Babcock has pointed out that the last two games haven’t been ideal efforts. Now’s the time to get that sorted out and back on track. Can the boys play a complete game?
3. Is anyone going to score a goal this time around?
4. What ridiculous thing is Bertuzzi going to do in an attempt to score? On Thursday, he spiked the puck into the net, put one in with his skate—an extremely borderline success, and smacked the goalie in the face with his stick. I’m telling you, there’s a header coming.

More Statistical Awesomesauce...

I was going to include this table in my last post, but I liked it too much to just lump it in with everything else. In fact, I liked it so much that I typed it up in Excel just so I could post it, only to find out that blogger doesn’t agree with that. So here it is, in all its screencapped glory.


I think my favorite part of the breakdown is the way the special teams look now. Both the powerplay and the penalty kill have been ridiculously better pretty much from the Olympic Break on. I didn’t take the time to calculate the percentages for the last seven games (they’re not included in the table I was given) even though I popped in the team’s record and goal counts to date. I would imagine that they’re somewhat similar, though. Anyway, if there was one stretch of the season in which I’d want the special teams to be peaking, it’s these last 20 games heading into the playoffs. The average goals for and goals against both saw marked improvements from games 51-60 to 61-70, and it’s gotten even better in the last seven games.

I’m going to stop pretending to offer insightful analysis now and head home to enjoy my break from school. If anyone wants to take the time to calculate the missing stats, let me know and I’ll update the table. I hope you enjoy the table as much as I did.

Red Wings Stats and Trivia Geekfest...

I’ve never been much of a stat-head before. I think people tend to put too much stock in them a lot of times. I am, however, absolutely enthralled with the game notes packet I got when I was covering the suite event on Tuesday (and that Drew was kind enough to leave for me). I know it’s a little weird, but it is what it is. These were current at the start of the Edmonton game, so the numbers may have changed a little bit, and I’ve updated things like their record and points. I’m not messing with the percentages and decimals and things like that, though.

• In one-goal games, including the one against Edmonton, the Wings are an impressive 19-6-13 (Well, not so much the 13, but you get the idea.). Being able to win tight games like that is going to serve them well down the road. They don’t fare quite as well in two- and three-goal games (10-7 and 11-10 respectively).
• The Wings have a 22-29 record all time in the shootout. That’s one that I will never understand.
• This season, the Wings are 25-14-7 when outshooting their opponent. They’re also 13-7-6 when being outshot. I know at least a couple of those 13 wins that were Jimmy specials.
• They have almost identical records against the divisions in the Western Conference: 10-6-3 in the Central, 10-6-4 in the Pacific, and 11-6-3 in the Northwest. That’s consistency.
• This is one of my favorite breakdowns: March was their best month by far with 25 points. Next was November (Remember when we all thought that would be the turning point of the season?) with 17 points. December and January each brought 16 points (Side note: Edmonton didn’t have a single win in January. Ouch.). They only got 13 points in October. They picked up 6 points in February, but that was the Olympic Break so it doesn’t really count. I guess it’s good that they’re peaking at the right time.
• The boys have scored 62 first period goals, 70 second period goals, and 71 third period goals. In contrast, opponents have scored 59 first period goals, 67 second period goals, and 62 third period goals. (This one was updated to include the Edmonton game.)
• The Wings had outshot opponents 827-695 in the third period prior to the Edmonton game. The other period breakdowns aren’t that interesting. I like the third period shot differential though.
• The Wings rank second in the NHL in terms of penalties taken.
• The boys have been outscored 5 on 5 this season 130-140 (updated to include Edmonton). They’ve also been outscored 6-7 4 on 4. They’ve also scored ten empty net goals.
• Z is only 2 for 11 in the shootout. Even Jason Williams (Who?) is 3 for 8.
• Nik Kronwall leads the team in shorthanded points with four. Darren Helm leads them in shorthanded goals with three.
• As of Tuesday, the Wings had lost 300 man games to injury this season. Edmonton, in contrast had lost 464. That divides out to more than 5.5 whole seasons for the Oilers. Ouch.
• Jimmy Howard’s starting streak is the longest for a Detroit goalie since Tim Cheveldae started 29 in a row in ’91-’92.
• Prior to the Edmonton game, the penalty kill had been clicking at a rate of 94%. They’d killed off 63 of 67 penalties in that span. In the previous twelve games, they’d killed off 33 of 34 penalties for a rate of 97%. Where were those numbers during the playoffs last year?
• Datsyuk has had the team’s longest point streak this season. It lasted six games from February 13th to March 9th.
• Homer had the team’s last hat trick on the road in February of ’07 against Nashville.
• Brendan Shanahan was the last Wing to have a four-goal game in March of ’01 against Calgary.
• Sergei Fedorov was the last Wing to have a five-goal game the day after Christmas in ’96. That event was near and dear to my heart because I’d unwrapped a spiffy new #91 jersey the day before and was wearing it as I sat on the floor and watched that game. It was my first moment of belief in the Hockey Gods, as I was sure that he was scoring all of those goals for me. Little did I know that just a short while later he would fall from my favor. No Red Wing has ever had a five-goal game on the road.
• Valtteri Filppula has taken the team’s last home and last road penalty shots. He scored in December ’07 at the Joe, but missed this past October in Buffalo.
• Kirk Maltby is the last Wing to have scored two shorthanded goals in a road game. He did it against San Jose all the way back in October of ’02.
• The Wings are ranked 2nd in the NHL in shots on goal per game, averaging 33.3.
  

And now for the fun player facts:

• Chris Osgood likes the Black Eyed Peas. He’s got some pretty questionable taste in music.
• Dan Cleary, on the other hand, likes The Killers, which I can at least respect.
• Derek Meech idolized Steve Yzerman growing up.
• This one is one of my favorites: Patrick Eaves lists Five Guys Cheeseburgers as his favorite food. I would have to agree with him that they’re quite delicious.
• Kirk Maltby likes Metallica. Bring on the jokes.
• Jason Williams (Who?) and Brett Lebda both list sushi as their favorite food. Ew.
• Lebda’s idea golf foursome would include Tiger Woods, Megan Fox, and Robin Williams. Go ahead and make your jokes now.
• Kris Draper’s favorite food is steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Now that’s a meal I could enjoy. Not only are we name twins, but we’re apparently food soulmates as well. Mmmm steak and potatoes…
• Henrik Zetterberg’s favorite sport other than hockey is kite surfing. He also likes steak and Bob Dylan. I’m not 100% sure what kite surfing is, but I can definitely get behind the steak and Dylan.
• Darren Helm’s ideal golf foursome would be Tiger Woods, Shaq, and Mike Myers. That’s quite an eclectic group.
• Todd Bertuzzi’s favorite musical artist is James Taylor, which I find surprising (assuming I’m thinking of the right James Taylor).
• Nik Kronwall’s hockey superstition is that he always puts his skates on in the same order. This amused both Drew and me because, well, there are really only two options for the order in which one puts on skates or shoes.

Red Wings 3, Blue Jackets 2: Post Game Snipes...

• This was a good win, but there were way too many scary moments—Filppula and Franzen, I’m looking at you—when we were all crossing our fingers hoping the guys weren’t hurt. I could really do without that kind of stress in my life.
• It was kind of weird watching this game alone at home. I’d watched three in a row (H2H, post H2H, and the alumni suite) out and about with real people. It was like I actually had a life for a while.
• Henrik Zetterberg somehow ended up nearly getting a piggyback ride on Rick Nash. I still haven't quite figured out the physics involved, but it made me laugh.
  
• At one point, Bertuzzi spiked the puck into the net like he was playing volleyball. He must have been hanging out with Helm, whose favorite sport other than hockey is apparently volleyball. Bert followed that up later by deflecting a puck in with his skate. I was fully convinced that his next attempt would be a header.
• I was shocked that they overruled the no-goal call on Bert’s goal. That’s three calls in a row that have gone in the Wings’ favor—one against the Wild, one against Edmonton, and now this one. Those are the kinds of things you need to have going in your favor if you’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs. The kinds of things that were going against them early in the season.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was everything that a goal should be. There was a little bit of dangle and a whole lot of snipe. I don’t think watching that will ever get old. Ever. He made all three Jackets trying to defend against him look ridiculous, and Mason never had a chance on the shot. Nobody stops that one.
• I think the general consensus is that Mule isn’t allowed to remove his skate until after the playoffs are over. It wouldn’t be hard. It would be just like those fake Zetterberg commercials last season.
  

GP Answers:
1. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but are the Wings going to play a full sixty minutes tonight? There should really be a sign in the locker room reminding the team of the length of a typical NHL game. Maybe by the “To whom much is given, much is expected” sign, which has always bothered me on some level. There’s something wrong with the grammar, but I can’t figure out how to fix it. It drives me crazy. Really.
I don’t know anything about the beginning of the game since my professor decided to keep us late tonight, but aside from the first few minutes of the second, what I saw looked pretty solid. They gave Columbus more chances than I would like, but there weren’t many stretches when the BJs were dominating.

2. The Wings are riding a season-high six game winning streak. Can they “make it seven?” See what I did there?
Don’t look now, but the Wings have now won seven games in a row. I’m so glad that my lame attempt at being punny wasn’t a jinx.

3. Can the boys contain noted destroyer of Wings, Rick Nash?
His only appearance on the scoresheet was for his trip to the penalty box in the third. He didn’t even get a hat trick tonight. spectacular.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
That was one of my favorite goals of the season. He also assisted on Homer’s early goal.

An Extra Stick Tap for Tomas Holmstrom
He was all over the place tonight. I love that guy.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
You’re carrying a stick for a reason, sunshine.

What I Learned:
Maybe, just maybe, the Hockey Gods are starting to come back around to the Wings’ side.

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

1. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but are the Wings going to play a full sixty minutes tonight? There should really be a sign in the locker room reminding the team of the length of a typical NHL game. Maybe by the “To whom much is given, much is expected” sign, which has always bothered me on some level. There’s something wrong with the grammar, but I can’t figure out how to fix it. It drives me crazy. Really.
2. The Wings are riding a season-high six game winning streak. Can they “make it seven?” See what I did there?
3. Can the boys contain noted destroyer of Wings, Rick Nash?

Three of the Wings’ last six games are against the Blue Jackets. That’s half, for you mathematically challenged folks. Half. Who thought this was a good idea? I think it’s Gary’s last little dig at the Wings for the season.