Sunday, April 1, 2012

Weekly Preview: April 1-7th, 2012



Weekly Preview: April 1-7th, 2012
I'm a bit late to the punch here and the Florida game has already happened so this is a Preview/Review post. Other than that this is a big week for the Wings as they have just moved 1 point ahead of Nashville again reclaiming 4th spot in the West and move to 99 points, putting them in place to get their 12th straight 100+ point season.

Game 1:  Florida Panthers @ Home (Win: 2-1 SO)
A tight game from the goal scorers point of view. Detroit had 32 shots to Florida's 28 and both Jimmy Howard and Scott Clemmensen were able to stop all but one shot. Florida's goal came from a Kris Versteeg to Tomas Fleischmann one-timer in the 1st period and Detroit's goal came via some hard work from Valtteri Filppula who brought the puck in fought of checks and shot on net, a big rebound went out to Jiri Hudler who Slapped it in to tie the game and sent it to OT and later a Shoot out.
Pavel Datsyuk  scored as the first shooter but was matched by Wojtek Wolski's goal. Jiri Hudler would be the difference maker as he skated through up the ice slowly and sniped the puck top shelf. This was a big win for the Wings as they reclaimed their home ice advantage in the 1st round. Hopefully they can use this momentum to cary them through the rest of the week.
Game 2: @St. Louis Blues
Detroit takes on the Division Leading St. Louis Blues in Wednesday's contest. The goaltending duo of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott have been lights out, which could spell trouble for this Detroit team whose offence has struggled as of late. If they can score like they did in their 7-2 routing of Columbus and get their Power Play chugging like it was earlier this year they should be fine.
Game 3: New Jersey @ Home
The Devils have locked up a playoff spot of their own it looks like they won't be moving from the 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Currently on a 3 game win streak they could be rolling with some momentum and tuning their game for the playoffs. It would be really nice for the Wings to beat up on the Devils to show Zach Parise how things could be if he signs with Detroit this off-season.
Game 4: Chicago @ Home
Detroit will have their hands full against their long time Division Rivals in this contest to close out the year. Its been full of ups and downs and though things are cool as of late the Wings look to be turning it on for playoff mode. There has been lots of talk of how Detoirt/Nashville will be the first round matchup but Detroit needs to put away Chicago in this matchup if they want to avoid Chicago creeping up in the standings.

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The final week of the season is of course a huge week. Four games against Four Playoff teams. Detroit has been great at home this year and winning all of their games this week will ensure their home ice advantage in the first round - a luxury they seem to need.

Weekly Review: March 25-31st, 2012



Weekly Review: March 25-31st, 2012
Despite a strong start of the week routing Columbus for a 7-2 win, the Red Wings lost both of their other games and handed over the 4th spot in the Western Conference to the Nashville Predators.

Game 1: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Home (Win: 7-2)
Detroit looked like they returned to their old self against the bottom dwelling Blue Jackets as they scored 7 consecutive goals. Tomas Holmstrom scored two Power Play Goals from in front of the net, if he can continue this play it could add a much needed resurgence to the Wings rather pedestrian Power Play. Gustav Nyquist scored his first NHL goal in this game as well, this young guy seems to be the real deal and adds some much needed scoring depth to the Wings. He needs to continue to elevate his game though to remain on the top lines getting the minutes he deserves. Jiri Hudler, Nick Lidstrom, Brad Stuart, and Pavel Datsyuk scored the other goals for the Wings before Mark Letestu and Rick Nash added 2 near the end of the game. This was a good game for the Wings however they didn't cary the momentum from this game through the rest of the week.
Game 2: @ Columbus Blue Jackets (Loss: 4-2)
Detroit gained Johan Franzen back in the lineup but for some reason was unable to play as well they did the previous night. A bright light could be the fact that Detroit was 2-for-5 on the Power Play, but in all honesty, the fact that they failed to score 5-on-5 against Columbus is worrying, especially this late in the season. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall were the goal scorers in this game for the Wings. The one caveat that you could mention is that 3rd string goalie Ty Conklin got the start for the Wings tonight, but that doesn't negate the sluggish offence in this game.
Game 3: Nashville Predators @ Home (Loss: 4-1)
This game was a total heartbreaker. Detroit played great, but Pekka Rinne played better. Tomas Holmstrom had some nice tips from in front of the net, and Zetterberg had a beauty of a chance but Rinne was all over the puck this game stopping 31 of 32 shots. The first goal of the game came in the 2nd period from Gabriel Borque slapping the puck from the point. A weak clearing chance by Nyquist and some effective screening of the goalie accounted for this goal. Francis Bouillon scored with about 30 seconds left in the 2nd period as Detroit failed to clear the puck out of their zone. Early in the 3rd period Detroit let Alexander Radulov sneak out front as Andrei Kostitsyn sent the puck out front to Radulov who got his 2nd of the season. Jiri Hudler was finally able to snipe one past Rinne with about 3 minutes left, right before Shea Weber would ice the game with an empty netter. Detroit looks like they'll have their hands full in the first round against this Nashville team.


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Detroit went 1-2-0 this week and the way they have been playing really scares me for the first round of the playoffs where they will face Nashville, likely in the Preds' home arena.