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Bounces go Wings way, down Penguins 3-1
by Tony on 05/30/09 at 10:37 PM ET
Comments (19)
If the Penguins play every game in Detroit like they did in Game One tonight, I’ll take my chances.
The hockey gods were sure as hell smiling on the Red Wings tonight. The Red Wings were the recipients of not one, not two, but three fortunate bounces of the puck, which resulted in all three Wings’ goals in a 3-1 win over the Penguins in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Game Two is Sunday night back in Detroit.
Marc-Andre Fleury was the tough luck losing goalie, stopping 27 of 30 Red Wings shots on goal. On the other end of the ice, Chris Osgood saved 31 of 32 Penguins’ shots.
The outcome of the game is sure to be frustrating for the Penguins, who spent many portions of the game as the aggressor and controlled the play. The Wings’ offensive stars did relatively nothing. Johan Franzen got one of the lucky bounces to get credit for a goal, while Henrik Zetterberg had one assist.
There was no “feeling out” timeframe in this one, both teams started driving to the net hard and playing physical right away.
Brad Stuart was credited for the first goal of the game with about six minutes left in the first period, as his wrister to the trampoline-like boards bounced to the edge of the net, where it squirted behind Fleury’s pad and deflected into the net to give the Wings a 1-0 lead.
Ruslan Fedotenko got the only goal for the Penguins with 1:23 left in the first after an Evgeni Malkin steal was followed by a Malkin slapper that Osgood stopped but left a rebound that Fedotenko was able to pry away and backhand it into the net to make it 1-1.
It stayed that way until late in the second period when a flurry in the Pens’ zone resulted in an icing call on the Pens. After a Pens’ timeout, the Wings’ pressure continued and got a slapper from Brian Rafalski that Rob Scuderi blocked. But once again, the springy boards deflected the puck to the goal line, where Franzen backhanded a shot that deflected off the skate of a prone Fleury and went into the net to make it 2-1 Wings with only 58 seconds remaining in the period.
If that wasn’t bad enough, only a couple minutes into the third period, Justin Abdelkader fired a wrister that Fleury stopped, but the rebound deflected high into the air. Jordan Stall, defending Abdelkader, lost track of the puck, but Abdelkader was able to find the puck, put it to the ice where it bounced like a basketball, then bang the puck out of the air to the top shelf past Fleury to make it 3-1 Wings.
Outside of the terrible luck, the Penguins shot themselves in the foot in a couple of other ways. The Wings beat the Pens in the faceoff circle by a huge 39-16 margin. Zetterberg won 15 of 20 faceoffs, while Darren Helm won 11 of 15. In addition, the Penguins’ powerplay looked horrible. Not that they went 0 for 2, but that they only got two shots on goal, and could barely get the powerplay set up. They continually forced the puck to the blue line, where most often it was simply swatted away, instead of dumping the puck and retrieving it.
Other notes:
- The officials certainly put the whistles away tonight. Lots of non-calls that were penalties otherwise weren’t called on both teams.
- Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi were both a game-low -2.
- 5 blocked shots by Kris Letang.
- 20 giveaways by the Wings tonight, 13 by the Pens.
- 6 hits by Matt Cooke.
Tough loss tonight, I actually think playing back-to-back should help the Pens in hopefully tying the series tomorrow night.
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Tags: Detroit+Red+Wings, NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
Comments
Yeah, I’d have to concur with most of that….
Stuart kept the puck in the zone before his bank shot…. The Wings won the faceoff after the timeout to keep it in the zone before Franzen’s backhander…. And Abdelkader showed good hand/eye coordination on his goal….
Doesn’t alleviate that they were 3 lucky goals, but yes, they worked for them….
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 05/30/09 at 10:54 PM ET
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I really liked the way the officials called the game tonight. The only penalties called were obvious ones. I thought they could have called a trip on Malkin’s breakaway, but other than that, no complaints whatsoever. Well done, zebras… keep it up.
Posted by Incognetis from Delaware... Hi... I'm in... Delaware on 05/30/09 at 11:00 PM ET
Hmmm. Let’s see. A Pens blogger thinks the only reason the Wings won tonight was because of not one, not two, but three lucky bounces. Damn. If it wasn’t for three bad breaks, the Pens would have killed the Wings tonight. Damn!
I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, but don’t confuse me with my fellow Chief at A2Y.
No problem there, Tony. We know you’re the one who should have stayed in the Navy and actually continued to do something productive with your life. But, hey, thanks for your past service.
The officials certainly put the whistles away tonight. Lots of non-calls that were penalties otherwise weren’t called on both teams.
Really? On both teams? Say, you aren’t a Pens blogger are you? Because it sounds like you only saw a small portion of the Ducks-style crap that the Pens got away with tonight. Oh, wait. You are a Pens blogger. Right. Got it. Forgot you had those Bettman-styled blinders on for this game.
Just a thought here. Take them off next game and try watching what actually happens on the ice. You probably won’t enjoy it, but you’ll at least be dealing with reality for a change.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 05/30/09 at 11:01 PM ET
we will lose
Posted by Evil pens on 05/30/09 at 11:07 PM ET
The first Wings goal was pure luck plus maybe a little overplay/sprawl by Fleury. The Franzen goal took a lot of skill.
I have seen many goal scorers try to intentionally bank shots off of a goalie when they are down low and in close. This seems to happen a lot during the playoffs when the defense collapses into the slot and there is no one to feed the puck. I agree its a low percentage play but its smart hockey when there is no better option.
Posted by kman76 from Brooklyn on 05/30/09 at 11:09 PM ET
As a Wings fan, I think this is a pretty fair assessment actually.
I’d disagree with the Red Wings stars doing “relatively nothing”. I thought Zetterberg, Franzen, and Hossa all played great. I also don’t think you can call that 3rd Wings goal luck. That was an athletic play by Abdelkader. Fleury gave up that rebound. He has to take a little responsibility for that.
That said, I thought the Pens played really well tonight. They certainly did carry the play in the 2nd and did get some bad bounces.
I still think the Wings outplayed them though, but not by all that much.
Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 05/30/09 at 11:10 PM ET
I loved the way Staal (didn’t) react to the high-flying rebound, yet Abadabadoo followed it perfectly.
I thought the battle between Crosby & Zetterberg was fun to watch.
The fourth line for the Wings had a helluva game.
Malkin had a strong game. You got to give him props for getting out of the way of the Kronwall hit.
Posted by Does it matter? from Nowhere on 05/30/09 at 11:22 PM ET
Tell your goaltender to learn how to play fundamentally and the first two Wings goals don’t go in. Stuart’s goal was poor positioning and MAF was off balance as the puck hit off the boards. The second goal he was flopping around like a fish. Third goal was a heads up play and a great shot, no one stops that.
Thought the Pens D was very average and weren’t nearly physical enough to win any battles. This keeps up on the blue line for the Pens and it may be a short series.
Posted by OHWingsFan40 from Oregon/Bowling Green, OH on 05/30/09 at 11:25 PM ET
Yes, this was a game of bounces. To be exact, three of them. All leading to Detroit goals. I believe that this game will prove to be the easiest for the Wings. They will see a whole new level of tenacity and drive in game two tomorrow night. I also don’t see too many changes from our perspective. I like how we played. I don’t like the back to backs, but it is out of our hands. I have confidence that the Pens will prevail. Don’t worry.
Read more » http://www.everythingpittsburgh.net/blogs/EP.php/2009/05/30/a-game-of-bounces#more139
Posted by Justin from Monroeville on 05/30/09 at 11:32 PM ET
Crosby is getting frustrated:
Kirk was doing what he does, he was giving guys lip service and stuff like that and so I two-handed him on top of the foot, he felt like it was necessary to keep talking after the game and I felt I’d whack him and that was it.
Pressure is on - Pens have to get a split. Mark my words - there will be more calls in Game 2 than Game 1. And Sid will take a bad penalty.
Posted by CJBear71 on 05/30/09 at 11:35 PM ET
bouncing the puck off of a goalie is a “fortunate bounce”? I’m sure you’d say the same thing if it were Crosby who did it, right?
yeah, right.
not like you’d call it one of the most creative, amazing goals you’ve ever seen or anything.
and the Abdelkader goal wasn’t even close to a lucky bounce. great pass out from behind the net by Leino, a high quality scoring chance that resulted in a rebound that Abdelkader corralled and buried in the back of the net. how is that a fortunate bounce?
so isn’t Fedotenko’s goal a fortunate bounce? the original shot broke Osgood’s stick - which is why the puck dribbled off to the left. isn’t that fortunate, as well?
and when a player tips the puck into the net from a point shot, that’s not fortunate?
wait, I think I’m seeing a pattern here…75% of NHL goals are fortunate bounces. glad we cleared that up.
Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 05/30/09 at 11:37 PM ET
Lucky bounces or not, that game was a heck of a lot closer than the 3-1 score let on (even closer than the should-have-been 4-1 score thanks to the Wings screwing around with the empty net)
I said it before the series. I think this one goes six again, but a much closer six than last year’s finals which wasn’t as close as the number of games made it look.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 05/31/09 at 12:28 AM ET
Seriously, it’s wonderful having these Detroit asshats coming out of the closet for the finals again.
I’d suggest having a look in the mirror and feeling shame after the frankly retarded comments that have been made above. I can’t stand Detroit, but surely hockey knowledge among the fan base should be a lot higher than what’s been expressed so far.
Detroit played well, but they benefited from the bounces without a doubt (as well as Fleury not playing smart to reduce the impact of lively boards…don’t get anything outside the goal frame if the boards are lively FFS). If Hossa popped in one off Fleury’s ass, I’d give him full credit. If Brad Stuart shoots one wide and it does the same, I’d say it’s a fluke. If Fleury decides to stick a leg out while facing the goal and it goes in for Franzen, I’d say it was a fluke…
I was really pessimistic about this series before tonight. Now, I think Detroit is ripe for the taking…
Posted by catz27 on 05/31/09 at 12:49 AM ET
I was really pessimistic about this series before tonight. Now, I think Detroit is ripe for the taking…
Good luck.
Posted by Mandingo from The Garage on 05/31/09 at 12:58 AM ET
Okay; so you want to call the Wings’ goals flukes? fine.
Attack the Wings goals. But, keep this in mind, Pens fans: You scored one goal. Where was your offense? Stymied by the defense of the Wings, no?
You aren’t going to win the Cup by scoring just one goal against this Detroit team.
Also, you’ll find it tough to win a Cup by getting absolutely demolished in the face-off circle.
So, attack the opposing teams goals all you want- at least Detroit scored more than one.
Posted by Does it matter? from Nowhere on 05/31/09 at 01:30 AM ET
It’s not like the penguins didn’t have any lucky breaks go their way
Z hit the post in the 1st
Malkin was not called for the trip on Kronwall that lead to his breakaway
According to Osgood, his stick broke on Malkin’s shot and the puck should have deflected into the boards instead of flopping in front of him for Fedentenko to put in.
The wings missed wide open nets at the end of the 3rd period with the empty net and with Fleury out of position following the near breakaway for Sammy when Fleury came out to challenge
This was one of the best games I’ve seen all playoffs, but more than luck had to do with the wings win.
The wings depth, defense and goaltending certainly played a huge role.
-Depth: 4th line goal. Again. Nuff said
-Defense: Crosby had 2 shots, no points. Malkin had 4 shots, 1 assist. Damn good work to shut them down. IMO, the Penguins need Crosby and Malkin producing on separate lines to compete with Detroit’s depth. Unfortunately, one superstar+ 2 friends lines usually disappear when playing against Detroit. Tonight continued the trend.
-Goaltending: The wings almost always outshoot and outchance there opponents. Kudos to the Penguins to keep the wings on their heels in the second period and outshooting the Wings through the game. The only problem is Osgood was huge again, with his second consecutive 30+shot 1GAA performance. Between the last two series the wings have won two games where they were outshot by their opponents, both times thanks to great performances by Osgood. I’m not sure they ever won games were they were outshot last playoffs (or if that ever happened). The wings had their lucky goals, and the Penguins got one (if Ozzie is telling the truth about his stick). The Pens still got stonewalled.
16 hours till we see what happens next.
Posted by UMcastaway from Florida on 05/31/09 at 01:42 AM ET
I am a uge Wings fan and agree that we got some bounces tonight, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles you pathetic, winers from PA.
Posted by Swifty26 on 05/31/09 at 01:51 AM ET
I think it’s a good assessment. Territorially, I think the teams played almost dead equal. Wings carried the first ten minutes. Pens carried the next 20. Wings carried the next 20. Pens carried the final ten.
As for luck… this wasn’t really about luck, it was about making good on opportunities. It was luck when Ozzie didn’t realize he hadn’t fully covered his save on Malkin. Talking about the “lively boards” at the Joe, it was luck when Stuart ripped the puck off the wall to clear it, but it sprung back to the high slot for Malkin to take that shot. It was luck that Malkin clearly tripped Kronwall in order to get a breakaway, but it wasn’t called. It was luck that Zetterberg beat Fleury underneath early in the game, only to have the puck whiz off the pipe.
And yes, the first Wings goal was lucky. I don’t think the other two were lucky—they were a direct result of outplaying the opposition. The Franzen goal was a result of the Zetterberg line dominating the Crosby line for an entire shift, then winning the face-off, and further dominating on the cycle for another shift. The Abdelkader goal was similar—the Wings outworked the Pens along the walls, Abdelkader was able to get it off the boards for a shot, and Staal, who should’ve been facing Abdelkader, had his back turned, making it easy for Abdelkader to take his own rebound and fire it in.
That said, the Wings did get their fair share of luck, just like the Pens did. The Wings were lucky the refs didn’t call Zetterberg for delay of game when he covered the puck on Ozzie’s back. Not sure what the rule says on that… a penalty shot would seem harsh, but a delay of game would seem in order. They got lucky on what appeared to be some pretty generous icing no-calls in the final 8 minutes when the Pens were scrambling to find two goals and were building a bit of pressure.
There’s luck all over the place. The better team in game one won the game. Wings capitalized on their scoring chances, had dominant shifts at the most important points of the game (end of the second period, and last two minutes of the third), and essentially neutralized Crosby and Malkin. Oh, and Osgood outplayed Fleury by a noticeable margin.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 05/31/09 at 07:24 AM ET
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