Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images

The Wings beat Dallas 4-1 at Joe Louis Arena on Monday evening to earn their second straight win and ended a four-game losing streak at home. Todd Bertuzzi snapped a nine-game scoreless drought with a goal and assist against the Stars. Michael Caples of DRW.com breaks down the game. Netminder Jimmy Howard made 29 saves in the win. The most interesting tidbit of the game was the 10:09 minutes of play without a whistle.

DRW bloggers talk about the win: Babcock’s Death Stare, Big Red Machine, Bingo Bango, Fight Night at the Joe, Hockeytown Static, Motown Wings, Nightmare on Helm Street, On the Wings, Red, White, & Black-n-Blue, Red Wings Blog, Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle, The Production Line, The Scrappy Octopus, and Winging It In Motown.

In Other News

• The Detroit Free Press reports that defenseman Brian Rafalski left practice early with a sore back. Just in case he won’t play tomorrow, the Wings have called up Jakub Kindl from the Grand Rapids Griffins. This latest injury update has prompted some concern at Abel to Yzerman, Nightmare on Helm Street, and On the Wings.
• Forward Patrick Eaves will miss tomorrow’s game due to a sore ankle according to MLive.com.
• The Red Wings made their annual trip to Children’s Hospital on Tuesday, which the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News.
• Johan Franzen spoke with the Detroit Free Press about his social anxiety and being shy.
• Drew Miller scored his second goal with the Wings and has seen an uptick in his ice time.
• Snapshots points out that the Red Wings were the most-searched hockey team over the past year.
• Hockey’s Future has an update on the Red Wings’ junior prospects.
• Red Wings’ prospect and University of Wisconsin defenseman Brendan Smith has been named WCHA Defenseman of the Week.
• The Triple Deke picks out some Christmas gift ideas for a few of the Red Wings.
• Casey at Winging It In Motown talks about goalie Jimmy Howard turning the corner.
• Out of Bounds discusses how important a resurgent Tomas Holmstrom is for the Wings this season.

Bruins D Dennis Wideman is a gifted offensive player, but for fantasy purposes there's little risk in dropping him.

In his first 13 games, Red Wings D Nicklas Lidstrom scored only three points (one goal, two assists).

In his next four games, Lidstrom tallied three assists and raised his +/- by +3. His season totals after 17 games, entering tonight’s 7 pm EST tilt vs. Anaheim, are one goal, five assists, +10, two PIMs, two PPPs, and 36 shots on goal.

Here’s the question: If these numbers belonged to any other D, would you drop him?

The realistic answer is yes.

However, this is Lidstrom we’re talking about. Despite his season-long drought, he still is the No. 39-ranked blueliner in the Yahoo! game and No. 25 in ESPN formats. That makes him a No. 3 or No. 4 D, even in deep leagues.

When you throw in his recent hot streak; his superb numbers last year (16 goals, 43 assists, +31, 33 PPPs, 180 shots); and the Red Wings’ winning ways, it is easy to reach the following verdict: Don’t even think about dropping Lidstrom.

Even in this slump, he is statistically own-able. Once he gets going, you’ll regret the move. And if you think no one is dropping Lidstrom, you’re wrong: the man is down to 97 percent ownership in Yahoo! (still at 100 percent in ESPN though).

Remember: last season, there were plenty of points to go around on the Detroit blue line among Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall (six goals, 45 assists) and Brian Rafalski (10 goals, 49 assists). Lidstrom may take a step back, but the scoring and minutes of Kronwall and Rafalski do not necessarily cannibalize his value.

Bruins D Dennis Wideman is another story. His ownership is down to 71 percent in Yahoo! (though still, incredibly, at 100 percent in those loyal ESPN formats).

Why have Yahoo! owners bailed on Wideman? Largely because of his four points (one goal, three assists) in 15 games, coupled with a -1, 30 shots on goal, and only one PPP.

Based on these numbers, Wideman is nowhere near the top 50 defensemen.Yes, he netted two assists vs. Pittsburgh on Nov. 10, but that effort broke a 10-game scoreless streak. And on Nov. 12 vs. Florida, Wideman promptly returned to his scoreless ways. We’ll see what he does tonight at 7:30 pm EST in Pittsburgh.

Regardless, the question is: Can Wideman rebound and match his superb stats from last year (13 goals, 37 assists, +32, 25 PPP, 169 shots)? Also, while it’s mainstream thinking to view last season as Wideman’s breakout, it is easy to forget that he scored 13 goals and launched 171 shots in 2007-08.

The guy is a talented offensive player. But does he deserve the same fantasy leniency as Lidstrom?

Short answer? No. For two reasons:

(1) Wideman does not have the name brand Lidstrom does. If you drop Wideman, and he recovers, there is a solid chance you can snag him from the free agency pool before another owner does. It is highly unlikely another owner will use his waiver priority on Wideman. By contrast, if you drop Lidstrom, you will not get him back. Count on it. Another owner, down on his luck, will use a waiver on him or sweep him up the instant he becomes a free agent.

(2) Last year, Wideman did not have to compete with Bruins D Derek Morris for ice time — specifically PP time. Whereas the Red Wings still boast the same top three D as they did in 2008-09, the Bruins replaced D Aaron Ward with Morris. Though Wideman is still staking a solid 21:00 per game, he trails both Morris and Chara in average ice time and PP time. By contrast, in 2008-09, there were single games in which Wideman skated more minutes than Chara. At worst, he ranked second in D minutes.

Those days are over. And until further notice, so is Wideman’s run as a viable fantasy blueliner.

photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It’s been a bit of a rough week at the GHHT headquarters. Between exams and sickness, I haven’t had the energy to write much about the Wings’ time in western Canada.

Obviously, the biggest impact of this road trip was the loss of Valtteri Filppula for 6-8 weeks with a wrist injury. As I’ve mentioned in nearly ever Wings recap I’ve done this season, Filppula has been the Wings’ most-improved player in the early part of the year. He wasn’t exactly lighting up the box score, but he and Leino seemed to click well on that 2nd/3rd line no matter who the other winger was. This, coupled with the loss of Johan Franzen, is a big-time setback for the Wings. I’m still skeptical about Franzen’s ability to come back this season and be the same “I shoot, I score” Johan Franzen we know and love. Everyone needs to step up for the Wings now. There’s no more room for error. They need to bring their best effort on both ends of the ice for the entire game if they hope to get back to the top of the Western Conference. This year is becoming a test for the entire Wings organization, to see if they can fight through all the adversity they’ve seen so far and still be an elite team.

I don’t want to say that I’m “happy” with how Jimmy Howard played during the Vancouver and Edmonton games (specifically vs. Edmonton), but I definitely don’t think many of the goals in either of those games were his fault. I think it’s correct to say that he is a big part of why they beat the Canucks. Coming in stone-cold after Chris Osgood let in two soft goals and playing as well as he did was huge. The goalie change seemed to spark the Wings and they pulled out a huge win. Howard let in 5 goals against the Oilers, but many of those were not his fault. Kyle at Babcock’s Death Stare analyzed each of the five goals and broke each situation down, pointing out who was at fault in each scenario. Great stuff over at BDS.

Taking the Filppula loss out of the equation, I would actually consider this road trip a success for the Wings. They earned 6 out of a possible 10 points, including 5 of the last 6. Those first two games were against two of the hottest goaltenders in the business right now. Many fans went into this trip saying that the Wings needed it for “bonding time” yet expected 8 points (or more) out of the trip. If the Wings were in such dire need of time to gel as a team, there was no way they were going to get 8 points out of the trip. Were the points they got pretty? Absolutely not. But when they’re gearing up for the playoffs at the end of the season, nobody will remember how the Wings got those points. Honestly, I’m most impressed with the Edmonton game. It would have been easy for the Wings to treat it a lot like the Buffalo debacle and give up, but the team fought back and earned a point instead. Yes, both Datsyuk and Zetterberg put forth pathetic efforts in the shootout. Yes, Howard looked ugly at points. But they earned a point after being down 4 goals. If that’s not the definition of “stealing a point,” I don’t know what is.

Look at the lineup this year. Here are the healthy forwards that are coming back from last year’s regular season squad: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Cleary, Draper, and Maltby (based on the lineup vs. Calgary). Right now, the Wings are throwing out 6 new forwards while shuffling lines to deal with injuries and ineffective play. The Wings’ top goal scorer right now? Tomas Holmstrom. Why? Because he knows his role with this team. The rest of the Wings? Not so much. Mixing in so many new guys without having much consistency among the lines hasn’t given them a chance to figure out their role for this team, much less get into a rhythm offensively.

I wish I could explain what is wrong with the defense. Most of the guys are the same from last year, with the obvious exception being Jonathan Ericsson in Andreas Lilja’s place. The top two pairings have again been ineffective in the early going. Could it be due to age? I’d say so for Brian Rafalski and possibly Lidstrom. Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart don’t really have an excuse. The defense should definitely be better, though looking at various recaps from last night’s game in Calgary shows me that the D came to play.

Contrary to popular belief, the goaltending is a non-issue. We’ve all seen how anemic Osgood can be during the regular season, but as Captain Norris explains (via the Chief), “I’d bench a full boat of Martin Brodeurs over Roberto Luongos before I’d have Ozzie riding the pine [in the playoffs].” Brilliant stuff over there. A bit outdated (10/23), but awesome nonetheless. I’ve already said my bit about Jimmy Howard. Keep this in mind: he’s a rookie. Find me a rookie goaltender not named Steve Mason who had a great rookie season in the last 20 years. I can’t find one. We’re not expecting the kid to carry us, just to keep Ozzie fresh until he flips the switch.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This team is going to be fine. They got out of western Canada without the swine flu and seem to have found a bit of a groove. I trust that the best organization in sports can fight through the adversity thrown their way and come out ready to wreak havoc in April.

For the last decade and a half, Nicklas Lidstrom has been the most consistent defenseman in the NHL. He’s brought home six Norris Trophies, been named to 11 All-Star team, took home the Conn Smythe in 2002 and even has an Olympic gold medal from 2006.

Tonight, Lidstrom’s assist on what would be the game-winning goal from Henrik Zetterberg put him at 1,000 career point.

To him, it’s probably just another trophy in the case. But he earned a standing ovation from the crowd at Joe Louis Arena, and he responded with a nice curtain call of sorts from the bench.

His individual performance shined bright in Detroit’s 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings, but the team as a whole really responded strongly after a brutal 6-2 loss to Buffalo two nights earlier.

Despite letting in a first-period goal and going down one, Jonathan Ericsson put a slap shot past Jonathan Quick to start the second period, and the Detroit scored the next two goals (from Tomas Holmstrom and Zetterberg).

Those three consecutive goals put the Red Wings ahead for good despite a Kings goal with about eight minutes remaining in the game.

Kirk Maltby made a terrific individual effort in creating his own goal for the clincher with five minutes left, and Brian Rafalski put home an empty-netter with just seven seconds on the clock.

Chris Osgood might have had his best game of the season, stopping 24 of 26 shots and holding strong after allowing an early goal. The Kings, who had started out to a hot 4-2 this year, are now 0-4-1 in their most recent meetings with Detroit.

Detroit moves to 3-3-0 on the year with 6 points and a firm hold on third place in the Central Division. Chicago, on a four-game winning streak is still in first, with Columbus in a surprising second.

Five more observations:

1. Two for the show. In Detroit’s three wins this season, they’ve allowed just two goals each time. That seems to be the number they’ll have to stick to for victories. Their three losses saw four, five, and six goals hit the twine.
2. Home cooking. The Red Wings’ three victories have also all been in the friendly confines of Joe Louis Arena. The two games in Sweden and a trip to Buffalo ended in defeat.
3. Abdelkader gets on board. Since replacing the injured Johan Franzen in the lineup, after the Chicago game last week, Justin Abdelkader hadn’t put a point on the board. Thursday night, he assisted on Ericsson’s goal in the second period by winning a faceoff clean.
4. Saved by the glove. The Kings could have gotten off to an even faster start, but Osgood was able to put a glove on a puck that bounced off the post and into his back, then started moving toward the goal. Quick handiwork by Osgood kept the Kings off the board temporarily.
5. Holmstrom on fire. The veteran’s goal was his fourth of the season, and he is surprisingly in front of all Red Wings scorers. The tip-in tonight was a perfect example of Holmstrom being the best front-of-net scorer in the NHL. Still not on the board: Pavel Datsyuk.

Best of the Wings: Lidstrom. His two assists were huge in the second period, and he broke 1,000 points in his career.

Word of the game: Milestone. For Lidstrom’s 1,000th point.

Next up: Saturday vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.

Much has changed since I last wrote in this blog back in mid-June to summarize the Red Wings’ 2008-09 campaign.

First, I’ve gotten a gig at The Miami Herald covering Broward County high school sports. I’m mostly doing football and golf in the area, but there’s some swimming and other sports in there as well. It’s fun to cover kids so young, especially because the harsh business-like aspect of sports that comes in during college hasn’t hit these kids yet. It’s sports at its purest.

Second, I’ve become borderline obsessed with English league soccer, my team of choice being Arsenal. Why this is, I’m not quite sure. It might have something to do with only baseball dominating the summer and soccer in England starting up a full month before college or pro football. It’s gotten so bad that I’m streaming games online and am one click away from buying an Arsenal away jersey. The dark blue looks really nice.

And, more relevant to this blog, on the hockey front, The Detroit Red Wings have lost some important players.

Most notably on the scoresheets, leading goal scorer (40) Marian Hossa has moved away from Detroit to Central Division rival Chicago after signing a cray 12-year contract. The Blackhawks also managed to pull Tomas Kopecky away from the Red Wings, and they signed John Madden as well. Chicago will challenge Detroit the division, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them supplant Hockeytown in the standings this year.

And then there’s the talented duo of Jiri Hudler (26 goals) and Mikael Samuelsson (19), and there’s a lot of offense missing from Hockeytown. Hudler found plenty of willing suitors, but he wound up in Russia. Samuelsson now calls Vancouver home. I wish the two of them the best of luck, but I really wish they stuck around, especially Hudler. His contributions on the second like will undoubtedly be missed.

Also missed will be Ty Conklin. He was an incredibly reliable backup during the regular season last year, and he was arguably better than starter Chris Osgood in that time. Osgood definitely proved himself in the playoffs, though, and Conklin didn’t see a future for himself in Detroit, so he left for St. Louis. The Red Wings will be seeing lots of him this season. The Jimmy Howard Show will take over when Osgood sees the bench this year. I don’t know how confident I am in that program.

Of course, Detroit is a year older. As I documented at the end of last season, the common perception that Detroit is full of old farts on their last legs isn’t exactly true. There is plenty of young talent on the team, and those players (Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Jonathan Ericsson) will be relied on heavily. They certainly showed they are capable of terrific efforts in the playoffs last year. Now it’s time to see how the regular season treats them. Abdelkader will likely be in the minor leagues once Helm comes back from injury.

Now for the new guys (in alphabetical order): Todd Bertuzzi, Patrick Eaves and Jason Williams. Bertuzzi would have been a phenomenal signing four years ago, but it seems like he can’t stick with one team or stay healthy enough to play a full season. In the last three years, Bertuzzi has been with Detroit briefly, Florida, Anaheim and Calgary. He played just eight games for the Red Wings and seven for the Panthers, then managed to make 68 and 66 games in the last two season for the Ducks and Flames. Despite the improvement in games played, there was little evidence that he’ll be able to make up for Hossa or even Hudler on offense — he combined for just 29 goals in his last two seasons. Hopefully he puts it together this season.

Eaves, much more of a youngster at 25, might have been the best pickup for Detroit in the offseason. He finished his 2008-09 campaign with Carolina with 74 games played, 14 points and a plus/minus of seven. They’re not the gaudiest of numbers, I know, and even more troubling was his 59:29 production rating last season, almost double his career high. Still, at 25, Eaves has plenty of room to grow, and he will be a huge help on the penalty kill, an area where Detroit was pretty miserable last year (25th in the NHL).

Williams, who started his career in Detroit, will be back in Hockeytown to provide an experienced third-line presence. He isn’t a big-time producer, but he brought home 19 goals last season for Atlanta and Columbus and also notched 28 assists while staying out of the penalty box. He should shore up Detroit’s third line.

The offense, clearly will be troubling. But coach Mike Babcock realizes this, and his emphasis will be shifting the Red Wings to a defensive team this year. You can’t write a season preview for Detroit without mentioning the king of all defensemen, Nicklas Lidstrom. He and Brian Rafalski are still a solid 1-2 punch on the back line, and Jonathan Ericsson, Ville Leino, Brad Stuart and Niklas Kronwall make for a very good core defense.

“We can’t win games 4-3 and 5-4 all season,” Babcock told The Detroit News. “If we score three goals and can’t win, we’re going to have problems.”

Though it’s not as though the offense will be miserable. They’ve still got guys named Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, and last time I checked, those guys were decent.

Now, the key question: How does all of this come together, and what is the result?

Many people are picking Detroit to fall off this year, and the Red Wings couldn’t be happier. There are few expectations on them this year as Chicago looks to be stronger than ever. San Jose, Anaheim and Vancouver could also be huge competition in the Western Conference, and that doesn’t even begin to touch the Eastern Conference teams they could meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.

One season removed from a league title and just three months removed from a heartbreaking Game 7 defeat in last years finals, Detroit is still Detroit. Until proven otherwise, they are still the benchmark franchise in all of sports for consistency, coaching, front office management and player development.

All that said, I’m actually siding with most of the world on this one. This should be the season my beloved Red Wings drop off a bit. They’ll take second in the Central Division and lose in the second round of the NHL playoffs to Anaheim, who they beat in last year’s second round.

Chicago is just unbelievably strong with Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Also, they’ve got a young defender named Dustin Byfuglien who scares me.

In the East, how can you not love Pittsburgh again? The team that ripped my heart out last June hasn’t lost very much, and they are my pick to make it to the Stanley Cup  Finals for the third straight year, winning back-to-back trophies. Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps are already looking beastly, as Ovechkin scored two goals tonight and is currently on pace for 164 this season. Obviously he won’t reach that mark, but he is amazing.

Then again, who knows? I could be miserably wrong about my Red Wings and about the NHL in general. I more than likely am. As for Detroit, we’ll find out tomorrow afternoon on Versus. Enjoy the season, everyone.

Division winners: Chicago, Vancouver, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Washington,  Boston

Eastern Conference Finals: Pittsburgh over Washington in 5

Western Conference Finals: Chicago over Anaheim in 7

Stanley Cup Finals: Pittsburgh over Chicago in 6

Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images

The Detroit Red Wings signed right winger Todd Bertuzzi on Tuesday afternoon to a one-year deal valued at $1.5 million per the Grand Rapids Press. Reports came out late Monday night that the team was negotiating a deal with the forward, but the deal was not finalized until Tuesday. Bruce MacLeod of the Macomb Daily details Bertuzzi’s history in the league, including a short stint with the Wings in 2007, and discusses where the Wings currently sit with the salary cap.

The Associated Press spoke with GM Ken Holland about the signing:

“He gives us a veteran with a big body and skill,” Holland said. “We think he can help us on one of our top three lines. And if a team wants to get physical with us, we’ll have the option of putting Todd out there to snarl at people.” …

“Our trainers were very impressed with him physically,” Holland said. “He’s in much better shape than he was with us last time, when he was trying to revive his career after back surgery.”

The Grand Rapids Press adds more comments from Holland:

“He’s in great shape and excited to be back in Detroit,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “In the short time he was here, I really enjoyed him and so did his teammates.” …

“He brings a dimension of size, and he’s going to be a hard guy to bounce around,” Holland said. “If you look at the cap system, most teams only count on offense from their top two lines. We’ll be able to put four lines together and have some scoring depth.”

Reactions toward the signing have been mixed throughout the Wings’ blogosphere: Abel to Yzerman, Babcock’s Death Stare, On the Wings, Snapshots, The Triple Deke, Winging It In Motown, and Nightmare on Helm Street,

In Other News

• Do you follow the official Wings’ account on Twitter? If so, you can add a twibbon to your profile’s avatar image to show your team pride.
• George Malik at Snapshots has a thorough breakdown of Chris Chelios-related articles around the web. As you may or may not know, USA Hockey’s pre-Olympic camp began on Monday. Chelios has participated as more of a coaching intern than a player, which was an odd feeling for the former Wing. The New York Times spoke with Cheli, who said that he has not ruled out playing in the KHL but says it would be very hard to do being that far away from his family. The Chicago Tribune reports that he has also been in touch with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
• Kris at Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle offers up her 10 reasons why she loves hockey. What would you add to her list?
• THN.com’s Rory Boylen blogged about the accommodating Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby during the first round of the playoffs when he needed one-on-one interviews with them following morning skate or a game against Columbus depending on the player.
• A new blog on the scene, Octopus Thrower, has a preview up for the Wings’ prospect tournament held in Traverse City before Detroit’s training camp next month.
• Red Wings Central reported that the Wings have invited three players to the tournament and Wings’ training camp, including Willie Coetzee, Austin Fyten, and Chris Whitley. RWC also has the entire roster for the Wings’ prospect team up on their website.
• NHL.com came up with its mock first-team and second-team selections for the best NHLers 35 or older. Captain Nicklas Lidstrom made the first-team grouping while defensive partner Brian Rafalski was named to the second-team.
• The Wings may not play in the Winter Classic this season, but you can still try to snag tickets to the game at Fenway Park. As someone who attended the event at Wrigley Field, it was an incredibly unique experience and a memory I will treasure forever. Starting on September 15, you can register for the ticket lottery. Until then, sign up for the NHL’s e-mail alerts about the event.
• Puck Daddy takes a look at the USA Hockey jersey designs announced at Monday morning’s press conference. The jerseys had to be altered as the federation logo is no longer allowed per IOC rules.

Not just yet. As the speculation continues about who will fill the gaps in Detroit’s roster, another name has been coming up quite a bit: Detroit native Mike Grier.
Grier, a gritty forward who always has a way of finding the back of the net, has shown some interest in coming to Detroit. That would give the Wings two hometown boys, both Grier and Brian Rafalski.
I think Grier would fit in perfectly with the current Wings line up. He is a physical player, who can score goals, and keep up with the speed that Detroit brings to the ice.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Grier in Detroit, as he provides the grit the Wings need, while adding some scoring, all with the right price tag.
We will just have to wait till the negotiations are over, and see how this all plays out.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

The Detroit Red Wings head into the holiday weekend short a few players as we saw the salary cap impact Detroit’s ability to re-sign some of their unrestricted free agents. Right winger Marian Hossa, forward Tomas Kopecky, and netminder Ty Conklin signed with other teams shortly after the free agency period began Wednesday afternoon.

Free Agency Update

Hossa and Kopecky both signed with Central Division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks, on July 1 ending a one-year marriage between Hossa and the Wings. Hossa will make $62.8 million over a span of 12 years with the Blackhawks, a number that the Wings simply could not offer. Neither side has ill feelings towards the other as Hossa stated he would have stayed with the Wings if the salary cap wasn’t an issue. GM Ken Holland appreciated Hossa’s sacrifice last year to sign with the Wings so much that he refused to trade away the negotiating rights for Hossa. Instead, he gave Hossa and his agent permission to speak with other teams a week before free agency began. Both sides continued to negotiate, but Holland felt Hossa had earned the right to evaluate his other options and respected the player too much to trade away his negotiating rights. While the Wings hate to see a 40-goal scorer like Hossa leave, Holland knew this day would likely come but believes Detroit still has a strong core in place to make another run for the Stanley Cup.

Shortly after Hossa inked his deal with Chicago, fellow Slovakian Tomas Kopecky signed a contract with the Blackhawks for $1.2 per year for two seasons. Conklin signed a two-year deal with the St. Louis Blues (also in the Central Division) for $2.6 million to back up goaltender Chris Mason. Detroit will look to Jimmy Howard to support Chris Osgood in net this upcoming season.

We all knew that the salary cap would limit the Red Wings this off-season, preventing them from making any big splashes in free agency. GM Ken Holland will work on re-signing forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler as well as seeing what other options are available for a depth forward or two.

How have fans reacted to Hossa’s signing with another team? Matt at On the Wings thinks Hossa is going to have a tougher time returning to the Stanley Cup finals than if he had stayed with Detroit. Kyle at Babcock’s Death Stare wasn’t surprised to see him go and believes the Wings still have a very strong team even without him. Triple Deke asks why Hossa had to sign with a division rival, but understands him leaving to make more money elsewhere. Forum threads at Lets Go Wings and Red Wings Central offer plenty of opinions from Wings’ fans on the signing.

Olympic-sized Invitations

Steve Yzerman, the executive director of Team Canada and Wings vice president, extended a tryout invitation to Wings forward Dan Cleary. He will be Detroit’s lone representative and one of 25 forwards at the tryout camp for the 2010 Olympic team later this summer.

Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski also received an invite, but from USA Hockey. He will be one of six Michigan natives attending the camp.

ESPN names Wings a top-five team

ESPN the Magazine released a list containing their ultimate standings of all the teams in the four major pro leagues. The Detroit Red Wings ranked fourth overall (second in the NHL behind only the Carolina Hurricanes). The Wings came out on top in a few of the categories, including fan relations, ownership, and title track (winning). For comparison, Detroit’s other sports teams came in at No. 35 (Tigers), No. 64 (Pistons), and No. 119 (Lions).

Happy Fourth of July

Hockeytown Blog wishes all of our U.S. readers a very happy Fourth of July and we hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend! We’ll be back on Monday with any free agency updates and other Red Wings news.

*I’m reposting this from over at “Winging It”, as this is a topic I have been bugged about like crazy today and I want to give all readers a chance to weigh in…even those without memberships at SB Nation (GET ONE!!!).

(Photo courtesy of Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press)

Before we move forward and look at who might not be around, let’s take a look at who is already locked up. Up front, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader are all taken care fo for next season. Defensively, the Wings have already secured the services of Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart, Jonathan Ericsson, Andreas Lilja, Derek Meech and Brett Lebda. In net, Chris Osgood will be back as the starter and Jimmy Howard is signed for the next two years.

Which leaves us with the following question marks and probable results (which of course are all IMO):

Marian Hossa

• Hossa is an unrestricted free agent entering the off-season, but it is widely believed that he will be back in the winged wheel next season, and for quite a few seasons after that. Despite all but disappearing in this postseason, Hossa is still a superstar in the NHL and the Wings are a better team with him in the lineup. However, his price tag is guaranteed to be high, as he garnered 7.45 million this past season. Even if Ken Holland can work his magic and get Hossa to take less money over a long-term deal, his presence bodes pretty unfavorably for some of the other free agents on the Wings roster.
• Staying or going? Staying.

Jiri Hudler

• Here’s where things begin to get complicated. Hudler is a restricted free agent, so all the Wings have to do is offer him, and he stays with the team. However, as Hossa is widely expected to sign a long term deal with the Wings, Hudler becomes one of the players on the outside looking in. Normally, this wouldn’t be a major issue, as Hudler has enough NHL experience to receive a crop of offer sheets from other clubs. However, and unproductive playoff – three assists and zero goal in his last 12 playoff games – could lead some clubs to reconsider Hudler. In the end, though, someone should take a chance on him, and Hudler will be playing for someone else when the fall rolls around.
• Staying or going? Going.

Mikael Samuelsson

• Samuelsson, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to be another victim of a Marian Hossa re-signing. Despite being productive for the Wings early in the playoffs, Sammy fell of the map in the last 10 games, netting zero points. His contract is just over one million dollars, which is completely reasonable for a 20 goal scorer, so someone will scoop up Samuelsson off the market.
• Staying or going? Very much gone.

Tomas Kopecky

• Kopecky is another major question mark, as the Wings will likely need to shed one more salary, in addition to Hudler’s and Samuelsson’s, to keep Hossa in a Red Wings uniform for the foreseeable future. The likely answer appears to be Kopecky, who has been out since Game 5 of the Anaheim series after suffering a broken orbital bone. But it won’t be easy to cut ties with him, as Kopecky played 79 regular season games and is only 27 years old. But the reality is that Kopecky only put up 19 points over those 79 games, and with younger players like Leino, Abdelkader and Helm gaining experience and playing time, Kopecky’s lack of production might help to show him the door in Detroit. 
• Staying or going? Probably going.

Ville Leino

• No drama here. Leino is a restricted free agent, who hasn’t played in enough NHL games to really warrant an offer sheet from another team. Leino will be back and will probably get increased time with the big club, especially if Kopecky doesn’t get re-signed.
• Staying or going. Staying.

Darren McCarty and Aaron Downey

• With the young talent making its way up the ladder, I just don’t see both of these guys staying. McCarty played in 13 games this season to Downey’s four. Combine that with McCarty’s status as a fan favorite and someone who is willing to grind it out in the minors to get his shot, and he’s my pick to be back in a Wings uniform next season.
• Staying or going? McCarty: Staying. Downey: Going.

Chris Chelios

• Unfortunately, Cheli’s time in Motown is up. With young defensive talent like Jon Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall leading the charge, Chelios’ minutes just aren’t there anymore.
• Staying or going? Gone.

Ty Conklin

• So this is one situation that has managed to stay under the radar for the most part, but Conks finds himself as a free agent and the Wings potentially find themselves with an untested backup goaltender in Jimmy Howard. At this point, things get really tricky, and Ken Holland is going to earn his paycheck when this is all said and done. Conklin made $750,000 last season, but happened to turn in 25 wins while Osgood was interested, and will most likely ask for more money. But Jimmy Howard is making $717,000 a season, and also can’t be sent back down to the minors without being waived. And if Howard got claimed off waivers and  called back up from the minors, half of his salary would be on the shoulders of the Red Wings. It’s a predicament, for sure. However, I don’t think that the Wings staff is 100 percent confident in Howard’s ability to succeed in the NHL, and surely don’t consider him a full time backup at this point. Combine that with the fact that there isn’t a huge demand for starting goaltenders this off-season and, in the end, I think it looks something like this: Howard gets a few more chances to prove himself during the regular season, but…
• Staying or going? Conklin is staying, at least until the trade deadline.

That covers off on all of our free agent action, but there is one more area of concern:

Andreas Lilja

• Lilja is signed to play this year, but after getting his block knocked off during the regular season last year, he hasn’t been able to return to the ice because of persistent headaches. For awhile, it looked as if he was turning the corner, but now he claims that the pain is worse than ever. I hate to say it (and I hope it’s not true), but Lilja sounds like a player who might possibly have played his last game in the NHL. I may very well be wrong about this, but he doesn’t sound like he is making a ton of improvement here and I, for one, do not expect him to be ready for the start of next season.
• However, if he does somehow make it back to the lineup, it puts Derek Meech in a really tough position. Meech has had a really tough time cracking the starting lineup over the last two years, and if Lilja can return, Meech finds himself squarely on the trade block. However, if Lilja can’t return, then Meech finds himself on more secure footing, as long as he isn’t passed by another guy from the minors.

All in all, it’s going to be a tricky off-season in terms of roster movement. Without a doubt, there will be changes, but the Wings remain in good shape since their core players have all been taken care of. With young, playoff proven talent ready to step up for anyone who leaves town, the Wings should find themselves in a pretty good position when the playoffs fire up again next season.

Pavel Datsyuk returned and the hockey world righted itself.

With a 5-0 slaughter of Pittsburgh that started with an assist from Datsyuk and ended with three straight power play goals, Detroit inched closer to defending its Stanley Cup title and proved why it won the Cup last season.

Chris Osgood was perfect in goal, stopping all 22 shots sent his way and even getting an assist on the Red Wings’ second goal.

A sizzling power play, a brick wall of a goalie and a complete shutdown of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were surely responsible for the win, but Datsyuk’s return was a catalyst for the blowout. Any time a team can put an MVP candidate in the lineup after winning four of seven games without him, that team is in good shape.

And apparently, Datsyuk wasn’t fully healthy.

“Oh, we rushed him back, believe me,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told MLive.com. “If this were the regular season, he wouldn’t be playing. But, you know, after a while what do you save him for? All there is, is summer.”

Defenseman Brian Rafalski, who scored a goal on the power play in the second period on his only shot in the game, even commented in the post-game press conferences that Datsyuk was only at 85 percent. But he’d rather have a Datsyuk at 85 percent than most other players at 100 percent.

“If you watched him all season, you know how much he means to our club,” Dan Cleary—the recipient of Datsyuk’s first-period assist—told The Detroit Free Press. “Tonight was no different—he came back and he was great. He played unbelievable.”

It certainly helped that Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was off his game. After giving up the fifth goal with about four minutes still remaining in the second period, Fleury was replaced by Mathieu Garon, who had only played in one playoff game in his career. The backup did well, not allowing another goal, but he was merely a stopgap in the Penguins sinking ship.

The Penguins knew it wasn’t so much their goalie as their defense, though. They struggled to challenge the Wings’ forwards on while Detroit was on the power play, and Niklas  Kronwall got all the time he wanted in front of the net to score his power play goal six minutes into the second period.

“You can’t fault him for a lot of those goals,” Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Eaton told The Detroit Free Press. “There was no support in front of him.”

It was clear as the game went on that the Penguins were getting frustrated. Two straight slashing calls—one on Crosby, the other on Max Talbot—gave Detroit a 5-on-3 that it certainly didn’t need. And at the end of the game, when things were getting out of hand, two different Penguins took 10-minute game misconduct calls. They started looking more like the Chicago Blackhawks after Game Four of their series with Detroit.

Check out these lines from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook:

For a minute there, I thought I was watching the cheap-shot Philadelphia Flyers.

“You’re going to have emotions in a situation where you’re not getting a result,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Maybe, but I wonder what Bylsma would have said if a Detroit player had slashed, say, Sidney Crosby the way Talbot slashed Detroit star Pavel Datsyuk at the end of the game.

So the Penguins are on their last legs. Game Six is Tuesday night in Mellon arena, but it’s just as likely that Detroit will be hoisting the cup on Tuesday as it is that Pittsburgh will extend the series to a seventh game.

“It’s 3-2, and I don’t think we’re in that bad of a situation,” Talbot told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If you would have told me at the start of the year that we’d be down, 3-2, in the Stanley Cup final going back home, I’d take it any day.”

Sure you would, Max. Sure you would.

If you’ve watched the Red Wings for any length of time this season, you are painfully aware of a few flaws that just won’t go away. Like the Wings penchant to get lazy “comfortable” when they don’t feel challenged. Or how about the penalty kill giving up a power play goal at the most inopportune times. Or the Wings’ restraint in not punching Pierre Maguire in the mouth when he sits between the benches and incessantly gushes about whoever their playoff opposition’s best player is.

Look, I get it: nobody is perfect. Not even me. But there are certain times when a little “encouragement” might be needed for certain individuals to help them…”find their way.” I’ve kept myself in check for as long as I can, but for some reason, last night’s loss just set me in a bad mood. And now you all get to bear witness to my frustrations and growing concern.

The list is made. There is no turning back. The “call outs” begin now.

Pavel Datsyuk

I get it. Foot injuries suck. I’ve had my share. But what I’ve never had is the opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup. And I guarantee you that if somebody said to me, “Hey, we’ll give you a shot to play for the Cup, but first let me break a couple of bones in your foot”, I would go get the hammer myself. But me on my best day is nowhere near as good as Pasha on his worst day, broken foot or not.

Look, Datz, we love you. We really do. But we’ve been hearing about this foot for the entire series, and each day is another “we’ll see” from you. Meanwhile, your fellow Hart trophy contender Evgeni Malkin is running around just waiting for the opportunity to strike. MVP’s thrive when the going gets tough. And sometimes that tough is an injury.

It’s time to suck it up. Babcock has already told the media that it’s up to you. Well here’s a kick in the pants to try and help you along. If you even THINK you can play, then get into the locker room tomorrow night, strap up that foot REAL tight, shove it into your skate, take a painkiller and go dangle yourself all over Mellon Arena. Not only will it give the Pens another player to worry about, it might even remind some of your teammates on how bad some guys want to win the Cup and what it ultimately takes to do so.

I fully expect to see you on the ice tomorrow. Don’t let me down.

The Penalty Kill

Holy buckets is the PK bad. And when I say bad, let me be very clear: I mean abysmal. The PK is a staggering 71.4 percent this postseason, and an even more jaw-dropping 65.5 percent away from the Joe during these playoffs. These are not good numbers. And it cost them last night, giving up two PP goals to the Pens, including the game winner.

But it gets worse. These numbers are down from the regular season totals that found them ranked 25th out of 30 teams on the kill. The 78.3 percent PK rate that they had during the regular season would almost  be a dream come true for this team right now.

But what’s worse is the perceived lack of effort from the guys on the kill. I conducted a random, COMPLETELY (un)scientific polling of a random number of individuals about what they see from the Wings PK. The number one response? “Alot of stick waving.” Or as the team calls it “Getting in the lanes.”

Look, simple fact is that this team is too good to be this bad on the kill. But when you watch the kill, it seems as if the Wings try and think too much and do too much guesswork on where the puck will go, rather than just going out and playing. And while guys like Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are cagey and crafty, maybe it’s time to shake it up a bit and put another energy guy like Justin Abdelkader out there. Or how about…

Mike Babcock

You told us after Game 2 that Kris Draper has been ready to go for a few days now. You told us you didn’t want to shake up what was “working.” We gave you the benefit of the doubt and trusted in the plan. Well guess what? It didn’t work.

IT’S TIME TO SKATE DRAPER!

I don’t care where he goes, just get him on the ice. Draper has been begging to get out there and play, and you know an energy guy like him is going to come out full steam ahead. Stick him on our absolutely *mesmerizing* PK unit and watch him chase the puck around like a jackrabbit and win those crucial face offs to help clear the zone. Tell him to go out and lay a hit or two on some guys. Have him chase Sidney Crosby around for a bit to give Henrik Zetterberg a rest. Hell, have him run into the stands and throw an octopus on the ice. Just have him do something. In a series that is going to be won on will and determination, Draper might have more than any other guy on the ice. Make it happen, Mike.

Marian Hossa

Hoss: You need to forget about all of the talk about revenge and contracts and how you only score goals in Game 4 and just go out and play. Go talk to Darren McCarty before the game. Dude was on the down and out, pulled himself back up and is back with a Cup worthy squad. He’ll show you real quick how to have a good time on the ice. So relax, stop worrying and, most importantly, score a boatload of goals have some fun!!!

In Closing…

Look guys, consider this nothing more than some tough love from someone who is probably WAY too invested in what happens this series. But no matter what happens, please don’t forget that you have an entire legion of fans that are dreaming of another Stanley Cup win, most of them residing in a place where the only good thing they might have right now is Red Wings hockey.

Look, this isn’t a “win one for the fans” speech or anything like that. Just remember that you represent a great city and great people who do what it takes to get it done. Maybe just use a little of that as motivation and channel that hard-working mentality into your play the rest of the way.

Grind it out, boys. Get this one done.

Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images

After 60 minutes of play, Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks was all tied up at two goals apiece. Overtime would decide the winner and a nice tic-tac-toe play from Jiri Hudler to Valtteri Filppula to Mikael Samuelsson resulted in the game-winning goal 5:14 into the extra time. With the 3-2 overtime win, the Wings grab a 2-0 series lead before heading to Chicago for Games 3 and 4.

Game 2 Redux

In Game 1, the media talked about the Wings’ secondary scoring bringing the offense and making the difference in the game. Well, they did it again last night. Samuelsson earned his second game-winning goal in as many nights. Not only did the Swedish forward cause the turnover to create the 3-on-1 opportunity, but capitalized on that chance for the win.

Defenseman Brian Rafalski scored Detroit’s only power-play tally of the night on a blast from the point with 3:17 remaining in the opening period of play.

Here’s an interesting stat, according to Dave Dye at The Detroit News: “Cleary has six goals in the playoffs, including four in the last three games.” The 1997 Chicago draft pick scored again on an unassisted breakaway goal, pouncing on a Blackhawks turnover at 14:06 in the middle frame.

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press thinks that the Hawks had their chance. He says a young team tends to pull an upset by winning an early game — not trying to come back from a 2-0 series deficit. And Detroit has a two-game series lead without scoring from their big names with Detroit fans eagerly awaiting the offensive outbreak from the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Marian Hossa, and Tomas Holmstrom.

And way to go Wings’ fans in the metro Detroit area — the broadcast of the game on Versus received a 15.5 HH rating in Detroit, making Versus the top-rated network overall (broadcast and cable) for the time period and beating the American Idol season finale by 26 percent!

Chris Osgood stellar in goal

In his 100th playoff game in the Winged Wheel, netminder Chris Osgood made an impressive 37 saves in the victory. For a team like Detroit, they need their goaltender to be solid in net. It’s not often that the rely on their goaltender to win a game, but Ozzie did just that last night according to Henrik Zetterberg with two key saves in overtime and 19 in the first period alone.

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press talks about Osgood’s stellar play in net last night, writing that “Osgood smothered the puck because, on this night, he smothered the Blackhawks.” Detroit News’ columnist Bob Wojnowski simply states that “Osgood bailed his teammates out.” In a game where Detroit had a slow start and looked tired, Osgood was the difference maker.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com asks if we still want to doubt Osgood in his latest article.

Yes, Osgood’s biggest fans are the 20 players making millions of dollars wearing the Red Wings’ jersey, who can’t figure out why most of the outside world continues to doubt the 36-year-old netminder.

Ozzie didn’t just have one good game this series — the netminder has been consistently good in the crease throughout this postseason. Ansar Khan of MLive.com points out Ozzie’s statistics in this playoff run compared to that of the regular season: “Osgood has a 2.04 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in the postseason — a huge improvement from the regular season, when he posted a 3.09 GAA and .887 save percentage.”

Next Up

The Wings will get a two day break before playing Game 3 in Chicago on Friday evening. This opportunity to rest couldn’t come at a better time for Detroit as it was pretty clear that the team was tired during points of last night’s game. Can you blame them? After a grueling, physical seven-game series against the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit had two days off before this series began. Look for Detroit to have a bit more of a spark and some added energy coming into Game 3. Head coach Mike Babcock also said in last night’s post-game press conference that forward Kirk Maltby will play in Game 3 after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of this series.

Be sure to tune in to Versus (U.S.) or CBC (Canada) for Game 3 at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday. You can also stop by DetroitRedWings.com to partake in WingsLive, a narrative play-by-play of what’s happening on the ice and at the United Center.

Red Wings: 3 Blackhawks: 2 (OT)

Overtime is hell. There’s no other way to put it. Win or lose, I hate overtime with a passion. It’s like hooking up with your ex-girlfriend: you have a sick feeling in your stomach the entire time, and afterward you either feel great or you can’t live with what you’ve experienced. Thankfully, tonight’s ex was the one that got hotter after you dumped her and doesn’t want to be in a relationship but still wants to fool around, no strings attached, on a regular basis before she leaves town at the end of the summer because she’s learned some new tricks in the sack to try on you.

Mikael Samuelsson is everyone’s ex-girlfriend tonight, as he slotted a wrist shot past Nikolai Khabibulin at 5:14 of the first overtime to give the Red Wings a 2-0 series lead before the trip to Chicago. The goal came on a rush out of the Red Wings zone just after Chris Osgood lost track of a rebound that almost bounced into the Detroit net. The 3-on-1 break left Samuelsson with an easy goal after Khabibulin overcommitted to Johan Franzen on his left.

The first period ended with the ‘Hawks and Wings tied at 1 thanks to powerplay goals from Jonathan Toews and Brian Rafalski, respectively. The first half of the second period remained close, with both teams getting dangerous chances. However the goaltenders were up to the task on either side, keeping the score tied until Dan Cleary took control. After a defensive zone faceoff, Cleary caused a turnover, chased down the puck, and beat Nikolai Khabibulin on the breakaway to put the Wings up 2-1 at 14:06 of the second period. Cleary out-hustled the Chicago wingers to the puck and easily got past both defenders for an open shot.

The third period opened up with more of the same: both teams creating chances, but solid goaltending and timely rebound control kept the puck out of the net. Jonathan Toews scored his second goal of the game off a redirected shot at 12:20 of the third period to tie the score at 2. Despite several chances for the Wings, Khabibulin (and his posts) kept the puck out of the net long enough to force overtime.

I hate overtime.

I spent most of today in a car on my way from Gainesville, Fla., to get to sunny Hoover, Ala. On the way, I joking gave a friend 300-to-1 odds that our hotel in Hoover would not have Versus ready for us when we arrived.

Well, thankfully, I was wrong.

We got to our hotel at about 9 p.m. central time, with just enough time for me to catch the last few minutes of the third period of Game 2 between Detroit and Chicago.  The game went to overtime, and I was also able to see Mikael Samuelsson’s game-winning goal. You have to love that timing.

Samuelsson scored on a breakaway about five minutes into the overtime period after Jiri Hudler started the play by getting a steal from Chicago in the offensive zone. Hudler quickly passed to Valtteri Filppula, who held onto the puck just long enough to pass to a trailing Samuelsson for the shot to Nikolai Khabibulin’s right.

That goal gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead in the series, a pretty big stranglehold in most occasions. Apparently, the rest of a the game was pretty good, and Dan Cleary continued his great play by getting the Red Wings their second goal of the evening. Brian Rafalski scored the first (his second of the playoffs) on the power play.

So this series is shaping up nicely for Hockeytown and not so nicely for Chicago. All signs after two games point to a Detroit team returning to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year. I’m not ready to say it’s guaranteed, but, well, things are looking pretty good.

A more interesting point is to comment how the Red Wings’ depth just keeps on showing. Hudler, Filppula and Samuelsson — the players responsible for the game-winning goal — are all relatively unheralded players. The commentators on Versus’ post-game coverage said something that rang very true: Teams are going to be lining up in the offseason to get Samuelsson’s services. The Swede, who also scored the game-winner in Game 1, is an unrestricted free agent, and he’s absolutely getting paid.

If he leaves, it doesn’t really bother me — he’s great, yes, but Detroit keeps reloading with new talent anyway (have you seen Justin Abdelkader?) — but it’s amazing to think about if he wants to stay. Marian Hossa took less money to become a Red Wing and win the Stanley Cup this off-season, and it would not surprise me if more players in the future want to do that.

Why would you want to leave Detroit? The team makes the playoffs every season and you’re always going to be with winners. I can understand you becoming too expensive for a team, but if you really want to win a cup and want to remain with winners, what’s the difference between $6 million and $7 million a year?

Take the pay cut. You’re secure either way financially.

Game 3 isn’t until Friday night. But if I’m in Alabama for it, at least I know I have Versus.

Red Wings: 5 Blackhawks: 2

I’m not really sure what to make of this one. As a fan, I’m obviously excited for the win. The Wings upped their intensity in the third period, especially after the Blackhawks’ second goal. However, I don’t think we saw the best the Wings have today.

The Blackhawks came out flying and got a cheap goal by Chris Osgood at 5:25 of the first period. Osgood misplayed a puck that bounced behind his net and Adam Burish took advantage to put Chicago up 1-0. Three minutes later, Dan Cleary pounced on a Blackhawks offensive-zone turnover and beat Nikolai Khabibulin over his left shoulder to tie the score at 1. Despite some great chances for both teams, the period ended tied at 1.

The only goal in the second came off a great hustle play by Johan Franzen. Franzen came around the back of the Chicago net, forcing a turnover and slotting the puck through Khabibulin’s five-hole before Khabibulin could get across his crease. It was yet another demonstration of the type of player the Wings locked up for the rest of his career.

Kris Versteeg pounced on a lucky bounce off Dustin Byfuglien’s stick to tie the score at 2 at 3:12 of the third period. A shot from the blue line ricocheted off of Byfuglien’s stick right to Versteeg before it reached Osgood’s pad, giving Versteeg an easy goal. Four minutes later, Mikael Samuelsson put the Wings in front for good when he sent a wrister past Khabibulin at 7:31 in the third. Cleary gave the Wings a much-needed insurance goal just over a minute later when he redirected a Franzen shot past Khabibulin to extend the lead to two goals. Henrik Zetterberg rounded out the scoring with an empty-netter at 19:17.

Some thoughts on the game: