Thursday, September 30, 2010
Total Blog Revamp
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Round 1 Game 3- Preview
(Best-of-seven series tied, 1-1)
COYOTES at RED WINGS
Big Story -- The series now switches to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively. After losing Game 1 at Jobing.com Arena, the Red Wings responded with a 7-4 victory against Phoenix in Game 2. Henrik Zetterberg, a former Conn Smythe Trophy winner, had a hat trick for Detroit.
Team Scope:
Coyotes -- Phoenix had a chance to grab a 2-0 series lead on Friday night against the defending Western Conference champs, but came up short. Keith Yandle gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the team allowed seven goals over the final 40 minutes and was forced to settle for a split on home ice.
"That's not our game, and we know that and we have to play a simpler game," captain Shane Doan said. "We played into their hands for the most part. Halfway through the second (period), we started thinking that we could trade (goals) with them and we were doing OK. But when we make that many mistakes, they're going to beat us."
Red Wings -- Detroit needed a victory in Game 2 to have a realistic chance at winning this series, and it got it behind a phenomenal performance by Zetterberg. The Swedish star erased a 1-0 deficit with a power-play goal 6:27 into the second, then scored what proved to be the game-winner with 6:06 remaining in regulation. He later added an empty-net goal for his third goal of the game and the playoffs.
"It's only two games in and you've got to keep going and play good for a longer period of time," Zetterberg said. "Nothing is done yet. We stole one game. That's what we wanted to do."
Who's Hot -- Yandle has two goals in as many games for Phoenix, while Wojtek Wolski had a goal and an assist on Friday and has three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in this series. … Besides Zetterberg, the Red Wings have received solid performances from Valtteri Filppula, who had a pair of goals and an assist in Game 2, as well as Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, who each have a goal and an assist in the series.
Injury Report -- Kurt Sauer (neck) and Scottie Upshall are both out for the Coyotes, while Robert Lang (upper body) is inching closer toward returning. … Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby (shoulder) is likely done for the season.
Stat Pack -- The only other time Phoenix allowed seven goals this season -- a 7-2 loss to Buffalo on Jan. 18 -- it won seven of its next eight games, and allowed two or fewer goals in six of them.
Puck Drop -- "It was a step for our team tonight because it looked like we've not engaged in the playoffs. Until you do that, you'll have a hard time winning." -- Red Wings coach Mike Babcock after Friday's win
2010 Quaterfinals Standings as of Today
Eastern Conference
Washington Capitals Vs. Montreal Canadians
Game 1: 3-2 Montreal in OT
Game 2: 5-6 Washington in OT
Series tied 1-1
New Jersey Devils Vs. Philedephia Flyers
Game 1: 2-1 Flyers
Game 2: 3-5 Devils
Series tied 1-1
Buffalo Sabres Vs. Boston Bruins
Game 1: 1-2 Buffalo
Game 2: 5-3: Boston
Series tied 1-1
Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Ottawa Senators
Game 1: 5-4 Ottawa
Game 2: 2-1 Pittsburgh
Series tied 1-1
Western Conference
San Jose Sharks Vs. Colorado Avalanche
Game 1: 2-1 Coloradio
Game 2: 6-5 San Jose in OT
Series tied 1-1
Chicago Blackhawks Vs. Nashville Predators
Game 1: 1-4 Nashville
Game 2: Today @ 8:30pm
Nashville leads series 1-0 in best of 7
Vancouver Canucks Vs. Los Angeles Kings
Game 1: 3-2 Vancouver in OT
Game 2: 3-2 Los Angeles in OT
Series tied 1-1
Phoenix Coyotes Vs. Detroit Red Wings
Game 1: 2-3 Phoenix
Game 2: 7-4 Detroit
Series tied 1-1
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Round 1 Game 2- Recap
7-4 
GLENDALE, Ariz. – To say the Red Wings are comfortable in high-scoring games is
an understatement. And in the postseason, scoring a lot of goals usually works
just fine.
Henrik Zetterberg collected his first playoff hat trick, including the game-winner with 6:06 left, and linemate Valtteri Filppula added two goals and an assist as the Red Wings lit up Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for six goals and evened their Western Conference quarterfinals series with a 7-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday night.
The Red Wings scored all seven of their goals in the final 35 minutes of play and won their 50th consecutive playoff game when scoring at least four times. But even with
Zetterberg, Filppula and linemate Todd Bertuzzi combining for eight points, No. 50 took a while to salt away.
"We know they are good in front of their goalie, they are taking a lot of ice away and it's tough to get pucks on the net," Zetterberg said. "You just have to find ways to do it from different angles and go in for second chances. It was nice to see the puck bounce off (Bryzgalov) a few times."
The Coyotes led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 in the second period, but Detroit answered each time during a wild flurry that featured five goals in a span of 3:58. But during the flurry, Zetterberg found his stride and the Red Wings took off.
Justin Abdelkader scored early in the third to put Detroit in front for the first time. Phoenix captain Shane Doan tied the game for the fourth time when he scored with 10:36 left in the regulation, but Zetterberg pounded home a rebound off a Todd Bertuzzi shot to put his team ahead for good.
"He probably got tired of the guy across from him (Doan) competing," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of Zetterberg. "He's a proud guy and he thinks he's a good play, but if the guy across from you plays harder, he's going to have success. But if 'Z' plays, he can play, and he's a world-class guy, he's going to have success. In the second and third period, I thought he took over the game."
Filppula added a power-play goal with 2:06 left before Zetterberg hit the empty net to complete his hat trick.
The Coyotes not only lost the game and home-ice advantage in the series, they lost center Vernon Fiddler to an upper-body injury late in the third period. He's listed as day-to-day and is questionable for Game 3 Sunday afternoon in Detroit (3 p.m. EDT, NBC).
After a solid defensive effort in a 3-2 win in Game 1, Phoenix paid a big price for trying to play run-and-gun with a team as skilled as the Wings.
"We played into their hands for the most part," Doan said. "Halfway through the second period, we started thinking that we could trade (goals) with them. But when we make that many mistakes, they're going to beat us."
The Coyotes, who were 36-3-3 when scoring first during the regular season, got the early goal they were looking for 10:23 into the game when defenseman Keith Yandle scored his second goal in as many games. But that was lost in a White Out blizzard of goals in the second period, with the teams trading tallies and like championship fighters trading punches.
Zetterberg got the Wings even with a power-play goal at 6:27 on Detroit's first shot of the period. Wojtek Wolski answered just 38 seconds later for Phoenix, pouncing on a misplay by Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard at 7:05. The Red Wings needed only 1:10 to strike back, withPavel Datsyuk smacking home a pretty feed from Johan Franzen at 8:20 as the game's throttle opened to full bore.
A mere 49 seconds later, Phoenix regained the lead 3-2 with Doan sending Matthew Lombardi in for a backhander that slipped neatly between Howard's pads. That lead lasted all of 1:16 before Filppula chased down Bertuzzi's floater and beat Bryzgalov to pull the Wings even once more.
"It seemed like every opportunity that was going at the net was going in," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said.
The teams traded goal one more -- Abdelkader stripped the puck from Wolski just inside the Phoenix blue line, raced in and beat Bryzgalov up high at 2:32 and Doan tucked in a 2-on-1 pass from Fiddler just over eight minutes later -- before Zetterberg and the Red Wings finally pulled away.
"It was a step for our team tonight because it looked like we've not engaged in the playoffs," Babcock said. "Until you do that, you'll have a hard time winning."
Three star selections
1st: HENRIK ZETTERBERG
2nd: VALTTERI FILPPULA
3rd: SHANE DOAN
Source: http://redwings.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009030182
Friday, April 16, 2010
Round 1 Game 2-Preview
Please play a good game. Through your bodies around, win faceoffs and drive the net. The puck will go in eventually if you keep shooting the puck.
Sincerely,
Miss NHL
RED WINGS at COYOTES
(Phoenix leads best-of-seven series, 1-0)
Big story: Playoff hockey returned to the desert in grand fashion on Wednesday as the upstart Coyotes scored three power-play goals and got the early edge over the two-time defending Western Conference champions. Phoenix looks to protect home-ice advantage and put Detroit further behind the eight ball in Game 2 at Jobing.com Arena.
Team scope:
Red Wings: Despite entering the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the No. 5 seed, Detroit is as feared as any team in the Western Conference bracket because of its pedigree and the way the Red Wings played following the Olympic break. They took a pair of one-goal leads Wednesday as Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom lit the lamp, but were ultimately undone by a penalty-killing unit that had allowed just six goals in 59 previous shorthanded situations.
"Our PK kind of let us down tonight," defenseman Brad Stuart said. "(The Coyotes) won some faceoffs and really put the puck on net. They had some good results, and we have to find a way to counteract them."
Coyotes: Winning in much the same way it did during the regular season, Phoenix got a pair of goals from defensemen and another from trade-deadline acquisition Wojtek Wolski to go with solid goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov (38 saves) in its first playoff game since 2002. Keith Yandle scored in his playoff debut, while the winner came from veteran Derek Morris, in his second tour of duty with the club.
"I'm not a goal scorer, let's be honest," Morris said. "But when the opportunity arises, I can still wind it up."
Who's hot: Lidstrom not only scored his 47th career playoff goal, he tied Mark Messier for second all-time with 236 games played in the postseason. That's still 30 behind former teammate Chris Chelios, who tops the list. … Morris also contributed two assists and Yandle one to give the Coyotes five points from their blueliners in the opener. Matthew Lombardi added a pair of helpers.
Injury report: Phoenix forward Robert Lang, sidelined since March 4 due to a lower-body injury, will be a game-time decision, coach Dave Tippett said. Lang had a stint in Detroit from 2004-07.
Stat pack: Sometimes it's not all about the goals and assists -- sure, they stand front and center when looking at the scoresheet, but there are a lot of little things that go into winning games as well. Coyotes captain Shane Doan didn't register a point in the opener, but he screened Jimmy Howard on Yandle's goal and delivered a team-high nine hits as Phoenix more than doubled up Detroit, 43-20, in that category.
"We recognize if we give them a lot of room and space to make plays, it's going to be difficult," Doan told the Arizona Republic. "But if we can get on them as quickly as we can, we've got to take away their time and space."
Puck drop: In search of a more physical presence, the Red Wings will play Justin Abdelkader in place of Jason Williams on Friday. According to the Detroit Free Press, the rookie forward, who scored goals in the first two games of last season's Stanley Cup Final, skated at practice Thursday with Kris Draper and Drew Miller on his wings. He hasn't played a game with the big club this season since Jan. 27.
"He played well for us earlier in the year," coach Mike Babcock told the newspaper. "We sent him down because of (salary) cap issues. We feel that our bottom six needs to be more physical than we were (in Game 1), and he gives us a chance to do that. I think he's still one of the top finished-checks guys on our team in playing half the games."
Source:
http://redwings.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009030182&navid=DLDETPlayoffCentral