Red Wings-Ducks Game 4 Recap

photo: Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press

(2) RED WINGS 6 -- (8) DUCKS 3

Series tied, 2-2

by Andrew Bogusch

Playing Game 4 of a series on the road when trailing two-games-to-one is a daunting task for most teams, but not the Detroit Red Wings. Thursday’s rout of the Ducks was their sixth straight victory in this scenario. That ties an NHL record and, most importantly, this best-of-seven series.

The Detroit offense, spurred by some line-juggling from Mike Babcock, finally overwhelmed Jonas Hiller, who had stopped 104 of 108 shots over the previous two games, both Anaheim wins. Johan Franzen scored at 11:49 and 19:24 of the first period after Corey Perry gave the Ducks an early lead. And after Perry knotted things up at 2-2 midway through the second, Marian Hossa beat Hiller twice in three minutes, two seconds to put the Wings ahead to stay.

All that offense came after Babcock put Franzen and Hossa around Valterri Filppula during the first period. “For whatever reason, we seemed to get a spark from that line,” said Babcock. “I figured it was time to change things up.”

“We played with a high tempo,” Franzen explained. “We need things like that to break down that goalie, so we did a good job tonight.”

Hiller was pulled after goal #5 2:46 into the final period. He called this the Ducks’ worst effort of the postseason. Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle was particularly disappointed with Franzen’s first tally, a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles. Carlyle thinks it should have been an easy save for Hiller. Instead, it kickstarted the Wings after a slow start – not only had Perry scored 42 seconds into the game, but Anaheim was outshooting Detroit, 5-1.

The concern for the Ducks for Sunday’s Game 5 and beyond is the now-awake Red Wing offense. Hiller has to rediscover his magic from Games 2 and 3 while his defense tries to finally limit Detroit’s chances. The Wings have had no less than 37 shots in a game yet, and that’s too many for such a skilled group to be getting nightly.

Odds & Ends…This is the first game of the series decided by more than one goal…Ryan Getzlaf assisted on two Duck goals to extend his point-scoring streak to eight games…Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper and Andreas Lilja remain out for Detroit…Brett Festerling replaced James Wisniewski on the Anaheim blueline. Wisniewski will ride a stationary bike on Friday in hopes of playing in Game 5. He suffered a bruised lung in Game 4.

Dropping the Gloves w/ Andrew Bogusch

AN OPEN LETTER TO JIM BALSILLIE

May 7, 2009

Jim Balsillie

Research in Motion

295 Phillip Street

Waterloo, Ontario

Canada N2L 3W8

Dear Mr. Balsillie:

Thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to read this letter, part of which I wrote on my Blackberry Curve 8310 this morning on the train into work. Great phone, but I certainly wouldn’t mind a new Bold.

I am reaching out to you today to ask a small favor. The National Hockey League needs more owners like you – a true hockey fan with deep pockets willing to spend the many dollars in said pockets – but you are going about this the wrong way. Put the pirate costume back in the closet and please stop trying to hijack an organization. Not even Gary Bettman is short-sighted enough to keep you out of the owners’ club if you would simply follow normal procedure here.

You could not build and run North America’s preeminent cell phone company without the ability to massage personalities and situations to fit your objectives. Your millions and millions of dollars did not find their way into your bank account(s) solely through maverick acquisitions. Somewhere along the way you had to play by the rules, subjugating your ego to do so, to accomplish a goal. Try that approach again.

Remember how things went in Nashville? You probably would own that franchise today had you not taken deposits on seats at Copps Coliseum before you had control of the Predators. Commissioner Bettman and his owners did not let you barge into their fraternity then and will do everything possible to do the same now in Phoenix.

Which is disappointing because the Coyotes need to leave Phoenix/Glendale. And because the NHL needs another team in Ontario, whether that be in Hamilton or another Toronto squad. You can make this happen. But not by setting up a behind-the-scenes deal with Coyotes CEO Jerry Moyes.

Mr. Balsillie, the Coyotes may end up under your control and may end up in Hamilton. If so, congratulations and I look forward to seeing what you do with your franchise. But this also may blow up in your face since the team’s Chapter 11 filing may be invalid under League bylaws, and thus foil your master plan. That would be horrible news because it would push you farther away from being part of the NHL.

No matter which scenario plays out, please start factoring the game’s best interests into your actions. Find a happy medium between your desires and the etiquette Mr. Bettman wants prospective owners to have. The NHL needs you as an owner, but it does not need the headaches you continue to cause.

Sincerely,

Andrew Bogusch

FromTheSlot.blogspot.com

As always, please send all questions, thoughts, critiques to boguschhockey@gmail.com

Ducks-Red Wings Game 3 Recap

photo: Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press

(8) DUCKS 2 -- (2) RED WINGS 1

ANA leads series, 2-1
by Andrew Bogusch

Brad Watson’s whistle is now the lead character in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal. With 69 seconds left in this game and Anaheim leading, 2-1, Watson lost sight of the puck as it went under Jonas Hiller so he blew his whistle – just as the puck came out from underneath the Duck goalie and Marian Hossa tapped into the net. No goal and no tie game, though, since the play is dead once the ref’s whistle is heard.

“We should still be playing obviously right now,” head coach Mike Babcock said in the Wings locker room. “We’ve just got to make sure we stay determined and stay focused.”

That’s because Anaheim now leads this series, two games to one, with Game 4 coming Thursday night in southern California. Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer scored Tuesday night. The veteran winger got behind Chris Chelios to take a long pass from Ryan Carter and beat Chris Osgood with a backhand deke at 12:49 of the opening period. The veteran defenseman scored on the power play midway through the second. It was the 24^th postseason goal of his career.

Henrik Zetterberg scored with the man-advantage for Detroit late in the second, but Hiller stopped the other 45 shots he faced, including 18 in the final period. He has now faced 108 shots over the last two contests, with just four beating him, allowing the Ducks to win both.

Odds & Ends: Anaheim defenseman James Wisniewski spent the night in the hospital after taking a slapshot to the ribs. He suffered a lung contusion and needed to be carted off the ice…Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper and Andreas Lilja missed another game for Detroit…Ryan Getzlaf assisted on Niedermayer’s tally, extending his points streak to seven games (two goals, 12 assists total)…This game got nasty late as the Red Wings realized there would be no comeback. Pavel Datsyuk and Chris Pronger received roughing minors at the 20:00 mark, while Getzlaf and Zetterberg traded punches.

Capitals-Penguins Game 2 Recap

Washington Capitals (2-0) over the Pittsburgh Penguins (0-2) 4-3

Hat Stuff! Ovechkin and Crosby notch hat tricks.

(Photo Credit: AP)

by Chris Carrano

It was a landmark night for the NHL as two of its biggest stars, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, put on an offensive show for the ages. Both had hat-tricks, Crosby’s a mere consolation prize as Ovechkin helped lead his Caps to a 4-3 victory in front of 18,277 red-rocking fans at the Verizon Center. Super Mario himself, NHL legend and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, was on hand and watched as his Penguins came up short once again.

"Sick game. Sick three goals by me and Crosby," said Ovechkin, who celebrated by bouncing his body high off the glass after both of his third-period goals. "It's unbelievable to see how fans react, how fans go crazy. The atmosphere right now, it's unbelievable in town. You see all the red, and -- probably I'm afraid to go home right now."

Two of Ovechkin’s goals came within a span of two and a half minutes, as he notched the game winner and an insurance goal. With Evgeni Malkin in the sin bin for tripping David Steckel, Nikolas Backstrom won a face-off in the right circle and dished the puck backwards to Mike Green. Green slid a pass to Ovechkin who rifled a one-timer over a sinking Marc Andre Fleury at 12:52 to give Washington a 3-2 lead. Shortly thereafter, Ovechkin found himself in a one on one situation with Sergei Gonchar and he launched the puck right over Fleury’s glove to give him his first career playoff hat trick at 15:22. Ovechkin’s first goal came at 2:18 of the second period. Sergei Fedorov swung a back spin pass to Viktor Kozlov who then dished out to Ovechkin. Ovie then fired a one-timer past Fleury that tied the game at 1. David Steckel scored the other goal for Washington.

Once again however, the Penguins hit the ground running as they blasted Washington goalie Simeon Varlamov with six shots in the first six minutes of the game. Varlamov was able to stop five of them and the one that got by him was a power play goal scored by Sidney Crosby. Crosby set himself up in front of Varlamov and was able to stuff in a tight rebound to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 6:38 into the game. His second goal was much like his first, where Crosby positioned himself in front of Varlamov and stuffed in a tight rebound after Chris Kunitz directed a shot towards the net. Crosby’s third goal came with thirty seconds left in the game while Pittsburgh was on a 6 on 4 power play. With a lot of traffic in front of the net, Crosby swatted at the puck four times before it finally made it’s way past Varlamov. It was too little too late for the defending Eastern Conference champions, as Washington rides into Pittsburgh on Wednesday night enjoying a 2-0 lead in the series.

"It's nice to score," Crosby said. "But it's better to win. As a player, you don't like when the guy on the other team gets a hat trick. That's usually not a good sign." Crosby, also took issue to all the hats being thrown on the ice in reaction to Ovechkin’s hat trick. "People kept throwing hats," he said. "I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop. I mean, the first wave came and then I think they were all pretty much picked up, and then more started coming. So for us, we just wanted to make sure we kept kind of moving and kept the game going, wanted to try to get back in it. So I wasn't complaining about anything."

There is certainly no love lost between these two teams. The first period was full of penalties and mini skirmishes. The Capitals wasted a chance at a power play when Chris Clark decided to punch Kris Letang in the face after the whistle had stopped play for a Pittsburgh penalty. Ovechkin got sandwiched along the boards and was shoved around whenever possible; he and Chris Kunitz traded blows in period's final minute. An exchange between Washington's Alexander Semin and Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik resulted in three penalties -- two of them on Semin. Both teams combined for 18 penalty minutes in the period. Towards the end of the game, Kunitz delivered a "vicious" cross-check to Varlamov in the game's final minute. "We hope the league takes a long look at that," Bruce Boudreau said.

Odds & Ends…Will the real Evgeni Malkin please stand up? Malkin has been absent from these first two games and with this series heading back to the Igloo, he has to step up if the Penguin’s are going to get back in it. The last thing Pittsburgh needs is Ovechkin and Co. going up 3-0. The league’s leading scorer has to step up because Cindy, I mean Sidney, can’t do it all by himself. So far, this looks like an old WWF handicapped match: Hulk Hogan vs. Macho Man Randy Savage and Sensational Queen Sherri. And how much help was she?…Washington has found a rare gem in Simeon Varlamov so far. Despite giving up five goals to the Penguin’s in two games (as opposed to seven for the Rangers in six games), Varly does not seem to melt under pressure. He is still making great saves and manages to keep his team in the game. That is going to be necessary heading into Pittsburgh…Ovie isn’t the only one who can score. David Steckel has been lighting the lamp and there’s it goes with out saying that Federov and Semin are excellent puck movers and can score also. Bottom line, Crosby’s supporting cast is going to have to step it up a notch…Crosby’s first goal broke an 0 for 17 slump for the Penguins power play…

Title Fight: Crosby vs. Ovechkin
Round 2
Crosby- 3 Goals, 0 Assists, +1, 5 Shots on Goal, 21:55 Time on Ice
Ovechkin- 3 Goals, 0 Assists, +2, 12 Shots on Goal, 23:01 Time on Ice

Result: Another evenly matched round, but the edge goes to the Great 8 as he threw more punches (shots on goal) and even got physical when he had to. Oh yeah, he also didn’t complain about hats being thrown on the ice. (Granted it was his hat trick on home ice and only about six hats landed on the ice for Crosby, but still). After two rounds, Ovie leads 20-18 on the cards.