The Red Wings got one back last night, winning in OT on this goal:
The headline on NHL.com was, of course, FRONT BRUNNER (despite the fact that his name is pronounced BROO-ner). I like the passing on this play, first to get the puck out of the zone, as well as the second pass to Nyquist. That pass to Nyquist from Andersson had a high degree of difficulty too, leading him while he was sandwiched between 2 defenders. If he was able to control it better, Nyquist might have gotten his 2nd OT game winner in this Stanley Cup playoffs. As it was, he was still able to keep it alive for Brunner to clean up.
The goal of the game was easily Datsyuk's tying goal. The Wings went most of the game trailing 1-0, not tying it up until the beginning of the 3rd period. About halfway through, the Ducks scored to make it 2-1 (Howard was victimized by his defense on both goals, the first on a BAD giveaway right by the goal, the second when his own defender tripped him up). About three minutes after the Ducks took the lead, this happened:
There's so much to like about this - the deke to get by Sbisa, the laser shot going short-side, Hiller reacting WAY too late (the puck was in & out before his shoulder even STARTED going up), and of course the water bottle. Who doesn't love a shot that hits the water bottle? Classic.
One thing several people brought up was the line that scored the game winner was essentially Detroit's rookie line. Nyquist is 23, has played less than 50 NHL games & is considered a rookie. Andersson is 24 and he's a rookie. Brunner is 27, and while he's not considered a rookie (played pro hockey in Sweden), this is his first NHL season. Lashoff is 22 and a rookie, and the most seasoned guy on the ice was Kindl in his 3rd year in the league at the age of 26. Often in the past, the biggest critique of the Wings was their age. Well, this is a young and talented team.
Missing Justin Abdelkader is going to hurt the Wings this series. His absence in game 3 due to a game misconduct contributed to the shutout loss. The Wings clearly overcame it in game 4 and will have to do the same in game 5 if they're going to win the series. He comes back for game 6, which hopefully is when the Wings will be wrapping it up. Abdelkader has had problems taking dumb & costly penalties in the past. I thought those days might have been behind him (he took no penalties & actually drew a couple in the first 2 games), but in the 2nd period of game 3 he took a game misconduct when he left his feet to deck Toni Lydman. Anaheim scored the first goal of the game on that powerplay, and never looked back. Lydman is still out, by the way.
With DeKeyser out of these playoffs, the other defenders (especially Lashoff) have to step up. Lashoff contributed to the game winner by checking Winnik off the puck (which started the break), but he's also the guy that accidentally tripped Howard which led to Anaheim's second goal. In the first period, Brendan Smith mishandled the puck and the Ducks pounced. With rookies you have to take the good with the bad & hope you come out ahead, and in this one they came out ahead.
The Tigers were off and the Pistons haven't hired or drafted anyone yet, so the only other Detroit team in the news was the Lions. Supposedly the Lions tried to trade back in the draft with Buffalo, but Buffalo wasn't having it so Detroit settled on Ansah. Buffalo had the 8th pick (before trading back themselves), and players available then were WR Tavon Austin, CB Dee Milliner, OG Chance Warmack and OT DJ Fluker. Fluker is a RT, which is a need but you can't feel good about trading back for one when you need an edge rusher BADLY. I'm thinking Mayhew was looking at either Milliner or Warmack, and HOPING he wasn't looking at Austin.
The Lions' 2nd rounder, CB Darius Slay, just had surgery for a torn meniscus. It sounds like it isn't serious (he should be playing in 10 days), but don't they always say that? Slay was considered a reach by most (with 2 higher-rated CB's available as well as a decent OT), and given the Lions' injury issues with their higher picks, I was surprised to see them take Slay. Speaking of injury issues with higher picks, Broyles is HOPING to be ready to play by week 1, which means he won't be 100% for the first couple games at least. Great.
The Lions still have a hole at OLB. They may try Ashlee Palmer there (yes, that's a guy), or they could go with one of the free agent vets still available. Jeffri Chadiha wrote an article covering some of the still-unsigned vets, and Daryl Smith looks like the best OLB available. He got around 100 tackles and 3 sacks from 2009-2011, but missed most of last year due to a groin injury.
As far as my own stuff, I did pretty good on my long run this past Saturday, averaging an 8:30 pace for 5 miles. The Saturday before I decided to skip my long run to save my legs for basketball. It paid off. I probably scored 10-15 points off of cuts (that's cumulative, not in one game), I was able to put the ball on the floor & get my own shot, and I played solid D and got a couple blocks. It was the best I've played since I used to hoop over at MSU's IM West back in 2002. I can't run quite like I did back then, but I'm doing everything else. I've dropped 14 lbs since January 1st, that's gotta help.
I'd like to get a little more explosiveness back, since the SOS-NOAR Soccer Tournament is coming up next month, and I'd like to dunk some day. Leg Day, here I come.
One thing several people brought up was the line that scored the game winner was essentially Detroit's rookie line. Nyquist is 23, has played less than 50 NHL games & is considered a rookie. Andersson is 24 and he's a rookie. Brunner is 27, and while he's not considered a rookie (played pro hockey in Sweden), this is his first NHL season. Lashoff is 22 and a rookie, and the most seasoned guy on the ice was Kindl in his 3rd year in the league at the age of 26. Often in the past, the biggest critique of the Wings was their age. Well, this is a young and talented team.
Missing Justin Abdelkader is going to hurt the Wings this series. His absence in game 3 due to a game misconduct contributed to the shutout loss. The Wings clearly overcame it in game 4 and will have to do the same in game 5 if they're going to win the series. He comes back for game 6, which hopefully is when the Wings will be wrapping it up. Abdelkader has had problems taking dumb & costly penalties in the past. I thought those days might have been behind him (he took no penalties & actually drew a couple in the first 2 games), but in the 2nd period of game 3 he took a game misconduct when he left his feet to deck Toni Lydman. Anaheim scored the first goal of the game on that powerplay, and never looked back. Lydman is still out, by the way.
With DeKeyser out of these playoffs, the other defenders (especially Lashoff) have to step up. Lashoff contributed to the game winner by checking Winnik off the puck (which started the break), but he's also the guy that accidentally tripped Howard which led to Anaheim's second goal. In the first period, Brendan Smith mishandled the puck and the Ducks pounced. With rookies you have to take the good with the bad & hope you come out ahead, and in this one they came out ahead.
The Tigers were off and the Pistons haven't hired or drafted anyone yet, so the only other Detroit team in the news was the Lions. Supposedly the Lions tried to trade back in the draft with Buffalo, but Buffalo wasn't having it so Detroit settled on Ansah. Buffalo had the 8th pick (before trading back themselves), and players available then were WR Tavon Austin, CB Dee Milliner, OG Chance Warmack and OT DJ Fluker. Fluker is a RT, which is a need but you can't feel good about trading back for one when you need an edge rusher BADLY. I'm thinking Mayhew was looking at either Milliner or Warmack, and HOPING he wasn't looking at Austin.
The Lions' 2nd rounder, CB Darius Slay, just had surgery for a torn meniscus. It sounds like it isn't serious (he should be playing in 10 days), but don't they always say that? Slay was considered a reach by most (with 2 higher-rated CB's available as well as a decent OT), and given the Lions' injury issues with their higher picks, I was surprised to see them take Slay. Speaking of injury issues with higher picks, Broyles is HOPING to be ready to play by week 1, which means he won't be 100% for the first couple games at least. Great.
The Lions still have a hole at OLB. They may try Ashlee Palmer there (yes, that's a guy), or they could go with one of the free agent vets still available. Jeffri Chadiha wrote an article covering some of the still-unsigned vets, and Daryl Smith looks like the best OLB available. He got around 100 tackles and 3 sacks from 2009-2011, but missed most of last year due to a groin injury.
As far as my own stuff, I did pretty good on my long run this past Saturday, averaging an 8:30 pace for 5 miles. The Saturday before I decided to skip my long run to save my legs for basketball. It paid off. I probably scored 10-15 points off of cuts (that's cumulative, not in one game), I was able to put the ball on the floor & get my own shot, and I played solid D and got a couple blocks. It was the best I've played since I used to hoop over at MSU's IM West back in 2002. I can't run quite like I did back then, but I'm doing everything else. I've dropped 14 lbs since January 1st, that's gotta help.
I'd like to get a little more explosiveness back, since the SOS-NOAR Soccer Tournament is coming up next month, and I'd like to dunk some day. Leg Day, here I come.
No comments:
Post a Comment