No Dice! Wings fail to gain ground in Central
Vomit. The Wings were shut out for the fourth time this season — one more than they had all of last year. The final score wad 3-0, but it almost doesn’t matter. It didn’t seem like it was to be as soon as the puck dropped. The Hawks dominated almost every aspect of the game: out-shooting the Wings 35-20, winning 65% of the faceoffs, and ultimately winning the game 3-0.
For a more complete write-up, check out my recap at Winging it in Motown.
TPL’S TAKE
1. The Blackhawks first goal, scored by Duncan Keith from the blueline, was a bomb. It’s kind of a long way to feel good about it, but it was certainly the most forgivable of the goals allowed by Osgood. Which isn’t saying much.
2. It took thirteen minutes for the Red Wings to register their first shot. They had trouble getting in the zone (and staying in the zone) all night. They ended the night with 20 shots, and very few of them were dangerous.
3. There was a flurry of penalties early (on both sides), but only Chicago benefited from their power play. Todd Bertuzzi took a hooking penalty (more on that later) that seemed really close to being a penalty shot.
4. Right before the second period, we learned that Patrick Eaves was getting x-rays as the result of a blocked shot. They weren’t even done talking about him being gone when a camera shot showed that he was making his way back to the bench. Phew, dodged a bullet there.
5. At one point in the second period, Doug Janik was beaten BADLY, and looked like he was skating in mud. It was a near breakaway, until Chris Osgood pulled a Hasek, meeting the Hawk at the blueline to poke the threat back into the neutral zone.
6. There were questionable calls all night: first, Bertuzzi’s “hook” wasn’t really much of a hook. Later, it was a too many men call that really could have been ignored. Finally, Justin Abdelkader was the lone player to go to the box after some post-whistle festivities. I’m not about to blame the officiating, because the Wings lost all on their own.
7. Whoa – is that Darren Helm on the power play? Go get it, kid.
8. The second Hawks goal was extraordinarily soft (Osgoodesque, if you will). Brian Campbell floated one through the wickets, which for some reason were spread like butter.
9. Make that two in a row: the final Hawks tally came from about 65 feet away, and off of the stick of Best Name Nominee Dustin Byfuglien. Osgood must have been thinking about Spongebob or something. As I said in the WIM Game Thread, he looked like a goalie from NHL 94 on Sega Genesis…shooting out a leg, pretending he was paying attention, and missing it badly.
10. Missing Z and Flip on the draws is starting to show. The Wings had only won nine faceoffs through two periods, and were right around 35% for the night. That’s dreadful.
REVISITING THE PRE-GAME QUICK THOUGHTS
1. I thought Hossa would have a big game, but he was a relative non-factor. I only saw him a handful of times, and he didn’t look particularly dangerous. Must have been Playoff Hossa.
2. At the same time, no one laid the body on Hossa, like I was kind of hoping for.
3. Osgood could have used a strong showing, and the Wings could have used a big win. We got neither.
4. After a great game from the top line on Saturday, they — like the rest of the team — laid goose eggs. Honestly, though, the effort was there from that line, and they were the closest to netting one.
5. Abdelkader certainly wasn’t invisible. He’s mucking it up a bit, almost got into a fight, laid a big hit on Patrick Sharp. The kind of effort we’ve grown to expect from Gator.
What’s next?
Re-match. The Hawks visit the Joe on Wednesday.