Wow, that sucked. The Wings lost Game 1 of the Western conference playoffs last night, 3-2. The Coyotes scored 3 power play goals and held the Wings scoreless after the first period to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The Yotes really took it to the Wings physically, more than doubling them up in hits.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy scapegoat for last night’s loss. Jimmy Howard was solid in net, once again reinforcing the belief that Mike Babcock has held in him throughout the year. He made a couple of great stops (including a sick glove save that I’d like to find video of) to keep the Wings in the game. On the other end, Ilya Bryzgalov was good but not unbeatable. The first goal of the game was a Tomas Holmstrom wrist shot from about 50 feet that Bryzgalov just whiffed on with the glove hand. He faced 40 shots, but really only made a couple of good saves.
The reason the Wings lost this game is plain and simple: effort. The Wings were hit in the mouth (both figuratively and literally) and they didn’t hit back. The physicality got to nearly everyone on that roster, save maybe Pavel Datsyuk, and it showed. There was zero offense to speak of after the first period. The Coyotes’ forecheck didn’t allow Detroit to get anything going, completely shutting down the Wings’ puck-possession attack. The penalty kill was nonexistent, a scary proposition from a team that was locking down their opponents on the kill for the last couple months.
THE SKY ISN’T FALLING
The biggest message to take out of last night’s game is that it’s still a seven game series. Phoenix came out and did what they were supposed to do in their building. Their joint was rocking with bandwagon fans in oversized white t-shirts and the team fed off of it. All the Wings need is one win in Phoenix in seven games. Despite what we saw last night, I don’t think Phoenix has what it takes to winat the Joe.
RED WINGS REACTIONS
It seems appropriate that NHL.com’s “Frozen Moment” of the day involves Shane Doan running Brad Stuart into the Red Wings bench, because it symbolizes both the Wings’ seeming inability or unwillingness to fight back–or maybe the Wings just forgot that, despite their strong post-Olympic run, post-season intensity is a whole different animal…
The Production Line:
All three Phoenix goals came on the power play, which was a juxtaposition from the post-Olympic Wings special teams, which have been phenomenal. I blame Brad McCrimmon. Because that’s what we do around here.
The Scrappy Octopus:
Its the god damn playoffs….
….play like it. Not fucking good enough tonight sirs.
Fight Night at the Joe:
Speaking of which, losing tonight was not a crisis. That’s the good thing about starting on the road. It’s okay. Now they have gotten their wake up call and should be ready for game two.
The Triple Deke:
…I don’t even know what to say differently, and now I’ve got all this free time. I guess I can go make a sandwich now. But what kind of sandwich? Probably ham. I fucking love ham.
At least that last one made me laugh.
HOW WAS HOWARD?
Like I mentioned above, Jimmy Howard was solid in his first career playoff start. The only goal he allowed that he actually could see (from what I can tell) was the third goal. Unfortunately for him, Derek Morris ripped a slapshot high and to his stick side, a very difficult shot for any goalie to defend. The shot came off of a faceoff won by Phoenix. Darren Helm was the Wing responsible for covering Morris on the play, but he fell down (with some help from a Coyote forward) and Morris was left wide open. Howard made a couple of great stops and generally looked like the guy that went 16-2-2 after the Olympic break.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
The Penguins got off to a similar start on their mission to get to a 3rd straight Stanley Cup final, losing to Ottawa 5-4. The Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche both pulled 2-1 upsets over the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks, respectively.
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