It's been awhile since I've posted postgame thoughts and this game has a lot to talk about, so might as well give it a shot. Handling things somewhat chronologically...
Detroit came out with a solid first shift and then it was all Chicago for the next five minutes. Red Wings passes weren't connecting and they couldn't clear the zone. Both of those issues bit them in the ass when Troy Brouwer held the puck in at the blue line and worked it down to Jonathan Toews right on Joey MacDonald's doorstep. I don't really blame Ruslan Salei for not being tight to Toews just then as the puck should have been cleared. Quick release by Toews, he didn't have a lot of time there, nice shot.
Todd Bertuzzi's hit on Ryan Johnson a couple minutes later was not something I wanted to see. He deserved the penalty. He probably deserved the misconduct. I'm not sure about a suspension. On one hand, it was a hit to the head. On the other hand, first contact was with Johnson's shoulder. On yet another hand, Todd Bertuzzi is an acceptable target to make an example of. It was a stupid play so I don't think I'll complain if Bertuzzi does get a couple games. Anything more than that and I'll have a problem. That said, if I were the Wings and there was a hearing on this, I'd take the clip of Martin Erat's elbow to Justin Abdelkader in and say "We'll take the same punishment this guy got."
Nicklas Lidstrom's goal to tie the game was a great shot through a screen but was also blown defensive coverage by the Blackhawks. That's why everyone loves four-on-four so much, you just can't make a mistake like that or it ends up in the back of your net.
Similar is Brent Seabrook's goal to make it 2-1. Detroit never got properly set up off the faceoff in their own end and no one covered Seabrook. Somewhat understandable while down a man but painful to see on replay.
Funny thing about the second period is that, at the time, I remember thinking the Wings had a bit of control back. It was the period with no scoring, no penalties, and the only full period in which Detroit was outshot but I feel like they were getting back to playing their game, just not getting anything from it.
As I said at the time, Danny Cleary deserves a lot of credit for Henrik Zetterberg's third period goal. Zetterberg wouldn't have thrown that puck to the front of the net had Cleary not gotten to the top of the crease, something Detroit wasn't doing a good job of earlier in the game.
As for the end of the game, it's not hard to guess my thoughts on that. No doubt that Chicago executed extremely well on the four-on-three in overtime. They deserve credit there. The power play itself was a gift, though. Tomas Holmstrom tripped on a breakaway in the second period is no call but a tap to the hip of Patrick Kane sends Zetterberg to the box with four seconds left in regulation.
That said... Had Detroit taken advantage of more of their power play chances (not that I think one-for-four is bad), that never would have come up. It's not like each team didn't get chances, I just think the calls were inconsistent, which is always my complaint.
Overall, my takeaway is that the Blackhawks were the desperate team tonight and played like it. The Red Wings did not, and Joey MacDonald kept them in this one so that they could get the point from it.
Detroit hosts Chicago tonight in an Original Six matchup with playoff implications.
The 'Hawks are barely holding onto the Western Conference's eight seed while Detroit is tied with the San Jose Sharks for the second spot.
Much is being made of Chicago's injuries, as they're missing top scorer Patrick Sharp and third-liner Dave Bolland. Detroit, meanwhile, is missing Pavel Datsyuk and Jimmy Howard but will get Johan Franzen back in the lineup.
Joey MacDonald starts in Howard's absence, to be backed up by Thomas McCollum. Corey Crawford will be in the Blackhawks' crease.
Ugly start, Wings with one good shift, then the 'Hawks take over and get on the board.
Joining for the DET CHI game
And Lidsy puts it in!
Lidstrom had all kinds of time there.
And as I tweeted, Bertuzzi deserved the penalty for that hit but it wasn't called that way in Nashville.
They never discussed the Helm penalty
Wings never got setup after the faceoff. Not good at all.
They never discussed the Helm penalty
That's because it wasn't a Detroit penalty, it was a Chicago power play.
Maybe it's just as well they gave Bert a game misconduct; the way he was turning over the puck.
How did the referee not see that?
How did the referee not see that?
Gonna be that kind of night.
What does Chicago have to do to get a penalty?
Nicely done boys!!!
Needed that goal. It was starting to look like Crawford would seal this game up.
Wings finally got to the front of the net. Went off Chicago but it was Cleary getting to the top of the crease that made it an option.
Total defensive breakdown. Looks like we were lucky on the wave-off.
Ref made the right call. Wow.
Nice PK so far. Looks like there's three Helms out there again.
Fantastic PK but Chicago with a ton of pressure. Can't believe some of these calls though.
Well, the refs seem to find their whistles just fine for Detroit.
That was a hook? Are you kidding?
Jesus. Bad feeling about the four-on-three to start OT.
Hossa sure is good at scoring when there's no one out there to defend him.
f*ck it, it's a point in a game the Wings were a little lucky to get one in. I'm skipping postgame to watch Being Human.
f*ck it, it's a point in a game the Wings were a little lucky to get one in. I'm skipping postgame to watch Being Human.
I was at the game, but we couldn't see the Bertuzzi hit, so I found it on YouTube after the game. It doesn't look like an elbow to the head to me. What do you think? (Actually, I recently went back to look at the infamous incident he was involved in with Steve Moore, also....)
The game was exciting...totally agree with your comments re: the referees and calls and non-calls. I love watching Darren Helm...if the Wings don't keep him, I'll be disturbed. The Wings had lots of chances (although they were outshot, it's true), but they just couldn't connect. That seems to me to be an ongoing problem. Joey MacDonald was amazing.
Turns out that Zetterberg says the hooking call was good, that the hook was intended. Given that he knows his intent better than I do, I'll back off on the "gift" call. I still think it was inconsistent with the Holmstrom non-call but that's nothing new.
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