Detroit Red Wings
Mark Spizzirri: Answers for the future
In a very entertaining contest, the Detroit Red Wings managed to salvage a point in coming back from a 3-1 second intermission deficit before losing 5-4 to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Despite squandering a 4-3 lead in the final minute of regulation play, in reality the Red Wings feel they were able to squeeze out a point in the standings by taking control of the third period in substan…
Richard Cloutier: Oilers Eat Wings. Could they Finish at .500?
On Saturday, the Oilers beat the very good Detroit Red Wings. This left us Oil fans wondering where the heck this team has been for the last three month. Six wins…if the Oilers would have won two more games in each the months of November, December and January, they’d have six month wins, 12 more standings points, and would firmly be in a playoff position. This team isn’t nearly as bad as standin…
Red Wings-Oilers wrap-up: a messy night and controversy on and off ice, here and in Sweden
The Detroit Red Wings spent Sunday morning flying to Phoenix probably feeling like Ales Hemsky did after he was very cleanly Kronwalled (and even the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples says the hit was clean)—probably a little dazed and confused as to how they’d managed to rally from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to take a 4-3 lead on the Edmonton Oilers…
And yet a three-goal third period wasn’t enough to overcome the team’s defensive miscues or its continued inability to score on the power play (the Wings went 0 for 4 and blew a full two-minute 5 on 3), and in their eighth shootout game, the Wings’ shooters got as cute as they did during the first 40 minutes of play, and as such, they dropped a 5-4 shootout decision to the plucky Oilers.
For Edmonton, which has won four of its past five games, witnessing Sam Ganger keep the good times rolling by registering 3 points in his follow-up to his 8-point game against Chicago and managing to rally from thei…
Red Wings-Oilers quick take: first the shootout giveth, then it taketh away
Updated with highlights, fights, etc.: The Detroit Red Wings’ 5-4 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers was a tale of would’ve’s, should’ve’s and could’ve’s.
What would have happened if the Red Wings hadn’t given up a 2-goal lead? What should have happened had the Wings not allowed the Oilers to take a 3-1 lead on a goal scored with under a second left in the 1st period? What could have happened had the Red Wings scored on their four power plays—including 2 full minutes of 5-on-3 time which involved passing, passing and trying to cutesy a back-door goal into nowhere?
What would have happened had the Red Wings not rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the third, only to surrender a second last-minute goal in the 3rd, and then fell flat as played as flaccidly as they did during the first and the first half of the second periods?
And why did the Wings try to tempt the shootout gods for the sixth time in their last eleven games?
Continue …
Oilers beat NHL-leading Red Wings
Sam Gagner continued to rack up the points and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the shootout winner as the Edmonton Oilers beat the league-leading Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Saturday night.
Gagner had two goals and an assist one night after his eight-point game in Edmonton’s 8-4 win over Chicago. He also scored in the shootout.
The Oilers blew a 3-1 lead in the third period but sent it to overtime when Jordan Eberle scored with 39 seconds left.
Eberle ended up with a pair of goals for the Oilers, who have won three in a row and are 4-0-1 in their last five games.
Todd Bertuzzi had a pair of goals, and Valtteri Filppula and Drew Miller also scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a two-game winning streak and lost for only the second time in 11 games.
Detroit almost got on the board first before the game was 2 minutes old. Darren Helm had a short-handed breakaway, but Oilers starter Devan Dubnyk was able to come up with a clutch save.
The Oilers made good on the power play a minute later as Gagner knocked the rebound of Ryan Whitney’s shot past Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin.
Gagner got his second point of the night just before the 6-minute mark of the first. He put the puck on net, and it slipped beneath Conklin and went to Eberle, who scored his 21st of the seasons.
Edmonton retained the lead after killing off a two-man disadvantage. Corey Potter was given a double-minor for coming to the aid of teammate Ales Hemsky after he was crushed along the boards by Niklas Kronwall. An addition penalty to Edmonton’s Ladislav Smid left the team down two players for a full 2 minutes.
Gagner had a direct result on two more goals to close out the first period, one by each team.
With 37 seconds to play, Gagner coughed up the puck to Filppula in his own zone on the power play. Filppula fanned on his shot but it hit Whitney’s and trickled into the Oiler net, just out of the reach of a diving Dubnyk, for the short-handed goal.
Gagner redeemed himself with less than a second left in the period on the same power play as he tipped in a Ryan Smyth shot for his second of the game. It was the 11th consecutive Edmonton goal that Gagner got a point on, all within a three-period span going back to the second period of the win over Chicago.
Recent call-up Joey MacDonald started the second period in the Detroit net.
Detroit made it a one-goal game 2 minutes into the third as Henrik Zetterberg fed it to Bertuzzi from behind the net and he whacked at the puck under Dubnyk.
The Red Wings tied the game 3-all only 3 minutes later as Helm got the puck through to Miller in front of the net and had an easy redirect for his 10th of the year.
Detroit took a 4-3 lead with just under 4 minutes to go as Bertuzzi showed some skill, passing it to himself through defenseman Andy Sutton’s legs before beating Dubnyk up high.
With Dubnyk on the bench, the Oilers sent it to extra time as Eberle found the puck in a scramble in front and put it past MacDonald.
Notes: It was the third of four meetings between the two teams this season. Detroit won the first two games by 3-0 and 3-2 scores. The Oilers came into the game with seven straight losses to the Red Wings. … Detroit G Jimmy Howard was out with a broken finger. … Dubnyk made his career-high fifth consecutive start in goal for Edmonton. … After an injury-filled season, the Oilers are almost back to full strength as the league’s rookie points leader, Nugent-Hopkins, returned to the lineup after missing the last 13 games with a shoulder injury. D Tom Gilbert, the only Oiler still on the IR, is expected to play early next week. … Bertuzzi was able to play after being listed as questionable going in with a charley horse.
As NHL trade deadline nears, Red Wings should stand pat
Red Wings GM Ken Holland
Numerous General Managers would state that a league’s trade deadline is a great way to spark new life into their clubs. Some of the NHL’s brightest stars have been part of blockbuster deadline deals in recent years. Yet, to the chagrin of the fans, the Detroit Red Wings have watched the deadline deals just pass them by. The usual reason for this has been the notion that Red Wings GM Kenny Holland likes to pinch the dollars right up to the salary cap the NHL imposes annually. This season has been unlike the most recent others. Holland was able to balance a budget during the offseason that left a substantial amount of cap room ($5.5+ million dollars) for the Red Wings to acquire a deadline piece. A mostly injury free season (knock on wood) and superb offensive contribution has made the message transparent. The Red Wings do not need to add another piece to the already formidable puzzle.
As a sports team, building a winner starts from front office al…
Red Wings vs Oilers Recap 2.4.2012
The Red Wings did not play well enough to win tonight. Conklin was bad. The power play and penalty kill were a disaster and the result was a loss.Jump for the recap:
Once the Wings failed to score on that extended 5 on 3, the game was over. Yeah, they still had plenty of chances to come back, but that gave the Oilers a boost that they really didn’t even need. The Wings didn’t even come close to scoring on that 5 on 3. Some credit needs to go to Edmonton, but the Detroit power play is trash right now. Simply embarrassing. I think it’s about time to give Joey MacDonald a shot at starting a game. Only 40 minutes of evidence to work with, but I think it’s clear that he’d give Detroit a better chance to win.Kronwall’s huge hit was clean, yet he was booed by Edmonton fans. I thought they knew more about hockey than us simple Americans. Guess not.No three stars.NOHS Favorite Moment of the Game: Getting confirmation that we have a capable backup goalie in the sys…
Ty Conklin’s job on the goal line
Jimmy Howards broken right index finger will be either the best or worst case scenario for Red Wing backup goalie Ty Conklin. Not that Conklin or anybody else for that matter wanted to see Howard get injured, but in pro sports it comes down to opportunity.
If anybody needs an opportunity to prove themselves, its Ty Conklin.
Since he backstopped the Wings to 3-0 victory at Colorado way back on October 8, the 35-year-old goaltender has looked extremely uncomfortable patrolling the Detroit net.
Conklin has played in 10 games thus far, 8 being starts, and is 3-5 with a GAA of 3.20, a save percentage of .886 and 1 shutout. He has won 2 of his last 3 starts, which has calmed the fears of some within the Detroit organization, but the Wings are still considering adding a netminder at the trade deadline.
Coupled with the news that Howard will be out for more than 2 games that could become a four to six week timeline has me guessing that Ken Holland and company have just moved goaltending to the top of the priority list.
If Conklin didnt feel the heat before, he must certainly be feeling it now.
Despite having a six game losing streak early in the year, a subpar season from Henrik Zetterberg and a .500 road record, the Wings, in a weird sort of way, have put together a terrific season.
Detroit is vying for the best record in the NHL or at the very least the top spot in the Western Conference. Theyve done it with team defense, balanced scoring, a defensive corps that has chipped in offensively and an astounding home record (20-2-1), but the main ingredient to their success has been the play of Howard.
If there was one position that the Wings couldnt afford a long term injury to it was goaltending; unless Conklin can become the goalie he was during his first stint in Detroit.
During the 2008-09 season as a Red Wing, Conklin appeared in 40 games, compiled a 25-11-2 record with GAA of 2.51, a save percentage of .909 and 6 shutouts. He played so well that the Wings were outbid for his services in the free agent market by divisional rival St. Louis.
Playing for the Blues the last two seasons, Conklin played well in his first year, but his second year was less than stellar an 8-8 record, with a GAA of 3.22, a save percentage of .881 and 2 shutouts.
He was signed as a free agent by the Wings in the offseason, only after Tomas Vokoun jilted the Wings in favor of the Washington Capitals. At the time of his signing, there were whispers that Father Time may be catching up with Conklin and his play this season has done nothing to quiet those whispers.
After Saturdays game in Edmonton and Mondays in Phoenix, the Wings return to the Joe Louis Arena for a six-game homestand. Out of their final 28 games, 18 are at the friendly confines of JLA.
Considering the Wings record at home, it appeared likely that Detroit would be in excellent shape to close out the season on a roll. With Howard being out for at least two and perhaps up to six weeks the Wings roll could be all downhill.
Its unclear how long Detroits brass will give Conklin to prove he can be the man between the pipes. My hunch is that it will depend on the severity of Howards injury, but conventional wisdom also indicates not too long.
With that in mind, there are several veteran goalies with playoff experience that Detroit would love to pry loose from their current teams: Jose Theodore, Nikolai Khabibulin, Evgeni Nabokov and my choice, J.S. Giguere, just name a few.
Availability, however, along with contractual status, trade demands and a willingness among other teams to help out the Wings will all be major factors in acquiring a top shelf backup goalie.
For now its all about Ty Conklin. If he can come through, then the goaltending issue is not an issue at all. If Conklin cannot response to the challenge, a possible dream season turns into a horror show on ice.
Wings Pick Up Huge Road Win
The Detroit Red Wings continued their streak of good hockey into Vancouver on Thursday night, and picked up two points in the process. The defending Western Conference Champion Canucks came into this game with the best record in the Northwest Division, and only three points back of Detroit for the most points in the West.
Needless to say, Detroit got what they came for. Detroit never trailed in this one, taking 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 leads before closing it out in the shootout. Vancouver, as usual, was resilient at home, tying the score each time Detroit went ahead. Detroit needed only two shooters in the shootout, as Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler each found the back of the net to give Detroit their 9th win in the last 10 games. The win put Detroit 4 points clear of everybody else in the West.
Dan Cleary opened the scoring for Detroit with a nifty drive through a couple Canuck defenders before beating Roberto Luongo with the backhand. Ryan Kessler tied the game at 1 later in the fi…
Red Wings-Oilers game-day updates: good Howard news is worth jumping the gun
Thus far there are scant updates regarding the Edmonton Oilers team the Detroit Red Wings will have their hands full tangling with tonight (10 PM EST, FSD/CBC/NHL Network US [CBC feed]/WXYT), but dammit, there’s more than enough reason to jump the gun on the game-day update thread, via the Free Press’s Helene St. James…
Jimmy Howard on ice with teammates this morning, good sign broken finger not too bad
DetroitRedWings.com’s Bill Roose…
#RedWings Jimmy Howard is practicing at Rexall Place. Just showed me notched out part of stick to accommodate broken index finger. #NHL
And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:
Continue reading “Red Wings-Oilers game-day updates: good Howard news is worth jumping the gun”
Red Wings-Oilers set-up and overnight report: deceptively difficult
File this puppy under things I didn’t think I’d say in the middle of the night on February 3rd, 2011: Lost amidst the news regarding Jimmy Howard’s broken index fingertip, the Red Wings’ first outdoor practice in Metro Detroit, their off-day trade talk, broomball tournament and discussion of Detroit’s 4-3 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks…
Nobody mentioned that the Wings’ tilt against the Edmonton Oilers tonight (10 PM EST, FSD/CBC/NHL Network U.S./WXYT) might be the most difficult game against the most challenging opponent the Red Wings will face on their four-game road trip.
Continue reading “Red Wings-Oilers set-up and overnight report: deceptively difficult”
Red WIngs off-day news: broomball, trade talk and fun with bursa sacs
Collective Red Wings fan/team/blogosphere freakout regarding Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard’s broken right index fingertip,/a> excluded, the Wings actually had a relatively quiet day following their 4-3 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. The Free Press’s Helene St. James reports that the team played broomball instead of practicing, which is incredibly appropriate given the way pucks went in the net during Edmonton’s 8-5 victory over Chicago:
In addition to Howard, forwards Todd Bertuzzi and Danny Cleary officiated the tournament. Coach Mike Babcock originally had planned an outdoor practice, but decided a non-hockey event would be even better. He likes doing these sorts of things to break up the monotony of the regular season; last year, for example, the Wings tried curling while here. In a reversal of roles, the broom ball teams were captained by youngsters Justin Abdelkader, Cory Emmerton, Jan Mursak and Jakub Kindl. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall wa…
Red Wings to take things outside for Hockey Weekend Across America
This is plain old cool, per the Detroit Red Wings:
WINGS TO CELEBRATE HOCKEY WEEKEND ACROSS AMERICA WITH HISTORIC OUTDOOR PRACTICE
… Tim Hortons and Kroger Sponsor Red Wings Skate at Downtown Detroit ’s Clark Park; 24 Hours of Hockey Action Planned for Joe Louis Arena …
Detroit, MI… As part of Hockey Weekend Across America and their ongoing Hockeytown Thanks initiative, the Detroit Red Wings will be presenting a variety of hockey events throughout the duration of Saturday, February 18. Teams and players from all ages and skill levels will be participating in this unique daylong endeavor, which will be highlighted by an outdoor practice at downtown Detroit ’s Clark Park featuring the entirety of the Red Wings roster.
The Red Wings outdoor practice at Detroit ’s Clark Park (between Vernor & I-75) will have special observation areas installed specifically for fans to catch all of the action beginning at noon (gates open at 11:00 a.m.). The…
Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard’s broken finger isn’t a severe injury
There’s kind-of-sort-of good news regarding the broken finger which will keep Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard out of the Wings’ next two games: According to DetroitRedWings.com’s Bill Roose, Howard suffered a broken fingertip on his right index finger (and not a broken pinky), which is something goalies can usually play through…
The Red Wings have learned that they will be without their All-Star goaltender for the remaining two games of their road trip after Jimmy Howard suffered a broken index finger on his right hand in Thursday’s 4-3 shoot-out win at Vancouver.The injury occurred early in the third period when Howard made a blocker save on a close-range shot along the ice by Canucks center Max Lapierre. Howard skated to the Wings’ bench during the next stoppage where he was examined by Piet VanZant, the team’s athletic therapist, who taped up the finger.
Howard finished the game and didn’t allow a goal in the shoot-out, stopping…
Red Wings G Howard breaks finger, out two games
Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard will be sidelined at least two games with a broken finger on his right hand, the team announced on Friday.
Howard suffered the injury during the third period of Thursday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. The All-Star netminder will miss the team’s next two games of the road trip before being re-evaluated on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Howard has posted a 32-11-1 mark with five shutouts and a 2.03 goals-against average this season.
Detroit recalled goaltender Joey MacDonald from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.
Ty Conklin will likely receive the start versus the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
