Anaheim stood tall, coming back [...]]]> Thanks to a Dan Cleary goal with 3 minutes left in the third period, the Detroit Red Wings finally closed out their series against the Anaheim Ducks. It was a series as close as expected and the first seven game series since the Wings closed out the Colorado Avalanche in 2002.

Anaheim stood tall, coming back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits with goals by Teemu Sellane, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. But even with the stellar play of Jonas Hiller, the Ducks could simply not stop the Wings.

It’s obviously great to see the Wings advance, but I can’t help but think that this was the real series that determined the team who would ultimately win the Stanley Cup. Obviously, there are eight more games to win. But few of the remaining teams posess the depth and strength of the Ducks.

For the Wings, there is still an opportunity to play better. The Datsyuk-Hossa-Holmstrom line was offensively offensive but defensively delightful in the Ducks series. Their defense has been stellar and effectively neutralized Anaheim’s best players. Role players like Darren Helm and Clearly have effectively closed some of the gap in scoring and have significantly outplayed the third and fourth lines of Anaheim, but the Datsyuk-Hossa-Holmstrom line will need to find some of their scoring touch if the Wings wish to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yahoo! Sports: Game 7 Recap

The local media has talked, with great obviousness, about how the Wings don’t want to go down 3-1 to the Ducks. Over ninety percent [...]]]> The Wings played exactly the kind of game they had to last night, crushing the Anaheim Mighty Ducks by a score of 6-3 in order to tie their second-round series at 2-2.

The local media has talked, with great obviousness, about how the Wings don’t want to go down 3-1 to the Ducks. Over ninety percent of the teams who take a 3-1 lead go on to win a series. Given the small margin of error in playoff hockey, along with the Ducks ability to clamp down and shut off a team’s scoring, it’s hard to say that the Wings could pull themselves out of that hole.

But more than the stats and likehood of a series win, what most impressed me about last night’s win was something intangible — the urgency of the team.

Hossa, who scored his second and third, oh wait, first and second goals of the series, was obviously motivated by the bad call that ended game 3. And Johan Franzen, who continues the tear he went on in last year’s playoffs, is solidifying his reputation as “Mister April,” a team leader who steps up when the team’s first-line scoring threat is smothered by an opposing defense.

Franzen and Lidstrom congratulate Osgood after the Wings' 6-3 in Anaheim.

I think this win is a sign of good things to come. It shows that the Wings are poised and able to overcome adversity. This is something that we rarely saw from the team in the 90’s and the earlier part of this decade. As talented and as skilled as that team was, as a fan I couldn’t help but think that they needed to occasionally toughen up.

Looking forward to Sunday’s game 5 in Detroit.

Recap: Yahoo! Sports

The Red Wings dominated the play for much of the third period and overtime in today’s second round game 2. And still, they skated off the ice with a loss after an opponent’s role player scored the winning goal.

I don’t know what the root cause is here, but I do know [...]]]> Detroit, we’ve been here before.

The Red Wings dominated the play for much of the third period and overtime in today’s second round game 2. And still, they skated off the ice with a loss after an opponent’s role player scored the winning goal.

I don’t know what the root cause is here, but I do know this: this is going to be a long series, unless the Wings’ stars continue to disappear. Anaheim is all over Zetterberg and Hossa and Datsyuk, but if we’re going to have a chance in this series, these are the players that have to get it done.

Yahoo! Sports:Ducks’ Marchant scores in 3rd OT to beat Red Wings

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2009050305

1) Anaheim is a cheap team. Mike Brown’s hit to Jiri Hudler was a hit to the head and appeared obvious to anyone watching. While it’s likely that Brown won’t be suspended for [...]]]> The Wings took the first game of their second-round series with Anaheim last night. My brief thoughts on the game are as follows:

1) Anaheim is a cheap team. Mike Brown’s hit to Jiri Hudler was a hit to the head and appeared obvious to anyone watching. While it’s likely that Brown won’t be suspended for the hit, if Hudler had been injured, he likely would be suspended. The Ducks, especially Chris Pronger, have a reputation for this kind of nonsense.

2) The Wings came out of the gate a bit slow, probably from their week-long layoff. Their energy in the third period is probably a more accurate barometer of where the series will go.

3) The biggest danger to the Wings in this series is not the risk of running into a hot goalie, but injuries. Let’s hope the Wings play with their heads up and avoid missing any key players at the hands of an Anaheim cheap shot.

4) Lidstrom is fershizzle. His game-winning goal is just one example of how he keeps delivering for this team. His cool head will provide leadership through what’s sure to be an emotionally charged series.

Here’s an excerpt of some coverage of the game from the CBC and a link:

Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom’s second goal of the night with 49.1 seconds left in regulation time not only gave Detroit a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Friday’s opener of their Western Conference semifinal series, it added to one of Lidstrom’s many playoff marks.

The goal was his 11th career game winner in Stanley Cup play, the all-time record for defencemen.

via 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog – Sports – Savvy Lidstrom bails out Wings.