CSSI: 10/10/09 vs. Washington

My one day campaign to get the numbers and stats all up-to-date is almost complete. The last step? The CSSI from the win over the Capitals on Saturday night.

Following the game, Chris Osgood suggested that Saturday’s effort was the best the Wings had put forward all season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. For a team reeling from the loss of one of their best players, this win was sorely needed and hopefully proved that this team is deep enough to compete, despite having one of the contributors out for the better part of the season.

You can find the updated CSSI chart here.

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CSSI: 10/10/09 vs. Washington

**Links contain videos of each goal

Goal 1 (WAS 1 DET 0): Matt Bradley (1) from Tom Poti (2) and Boyd Gordon (1) at 3:58, First Period

• Wings on ice: Draper, May, Eaves, Ericsson, Meech

Boyd Gordon is able to win the faceoff against Draper, immediately pulling the puck back to the crossing Matt Bradley. Bradley then passes the puck to the point, where Tom Poti skates it towards the center of the ice before passing back to an open Bradley near the boards on the far circle. Meanwhile, Kris Draper has picked up coverage on Gordon, who has moved to the front of the net, but for some reason so have Derek Meech (-0.5) and Jonathan Ericsson (-0.5). Ericsson gets away with his coverage lapse, as he is still with in recovering range of Quintin Lang, but Meech is badly out of position on his man Bradley (-1), which allows Bradley to blast a very savable puck past Osgood.

Goal 2 (DET 1 WAS 1): Ville Leino (2) from Dan Cleary (2) and Valtteri Filppula at 15:49, First Period

• Wings on ice: Filppula, Cleary, Leino, Lidstrom, Stuart

This one starts with a blocked Nick Lidstrom shot that winds up on the tape of Ville Leino in front of the net. Leino whacks at it and misses, and Nicklas Backstrom tries to scoop the puck out of the zone. However, Valtteri Filppula makes a nice play to intercept the attempt (+0.5) and puts a shot on net. The puck hits Jose Theodore and drops straight in front of him, where Dan Cleary is waiting. Cleary does a nice job applying pressure and forcing a shot on Theodore (+1) which ends up popping into the crease. Leino does an excellent job breaking free of his defender (+0.5) and swoops in and lifts a wrist shot from a very difficult angle over Theodore for the goal (+1.5).

Goal 3 (PPG) (DET 2 WAS 1): Jason Williams (1) from Niklas Kronwall (2) and Valtteri Filppula (2) at 16:26, Second Period

• Wings on ice: Filppula, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Williams, Kronwall

Not much to this one other than a whole lot of “pretty.” Jason Williams leads the breakout, cross-ice passes to Filppula, who does a nice job carrying into the zone (+0.5). Flip then leaves a nifty drop pass (+0.5) for Kronwall. Kronwall sends it back across to Williams, who lines up a blast that beats Theodore cleanly (+1). Dan Cleary with a nice screen (+0.5) on the play as well.

Goal 4 (PPG) (DET 2 WAS 2): Brendan Morrison (3) from Alex Ovechkin (5) at 1:25, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Filppula, Eaves, Kronwall, Stuart

Kind of an interesting one here. Patrick Eaves does a nice job carrying the puck up ice to burn some time off the kill (+0.5), but as he heads towards the net, Mike Green gives him a shove, and Eaves winds up taking the Caps net off. However, the officials let the game continue, and Ovechkin brings the puck up the ice in a 3-on-3. The Wings look to be in good shape on the rush, until Fillpula makes the decision to leave Morrison (-1) in favor of covering Ovechkin, who is already being monitored by Brad Stuart. Ovechkin then sends a pass back to Morisson, who rips a slap shot past Osgood, who may have been slightly screened by Stuart’s attempt to help bail out Leino’s blown coverage.

For the record: I agree with the call to let them play this one out. The Caps had the advantage because of the penalty, and to blow the whistle there basically robs them of a scoring chance, which in this case worked out in their favor. Thems the breaks folks.

Goal 5 (PPG) (DET 3 WAS 2): Tomas Holmstrom (2) from Pavel Datsyuk (2) and Brian Rafalski (2) at 13:07, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Rafalski

Another pretty power play goal for the Wings. Lidstrom carries the puck up ice and leaves a nice drop pass (+0.5) for the trailing Datsyuk. Dats then dangles around Quintin Lang, while simultaneously passing the puck to Ralfalski (henceforth known as the “DanglePass”) (+0.5), who immediately dishes back to Datsyuk as he comes through the near slot. Without even hesitating, Datsyuk whips an incredibly sharp and well-timed pass to Tomas Holmstrom in the far slot (+1), and Homer does the rest, snapping a wicked shot over the right shoulder of Theodore. But don’t kid yourself folks, Datsyuk made this play happen.

Miscellaneous Points

• Here’s another point for Pavel Datsyuk (+1), who was defensively excellent against the superstar Ovechkin, holding him to only 1 assist on the night.
• Babcock raved about his effort in this one, and that’s worthy of a point for Todd Bertuzzi (+1). Depsite making limited appearances on the scoresheet early this season, Big Bert impressed Babs enough to get the move to the top line, and he played pretty darn good hockey as a result.

Chart time:

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Final Thoughts

I REALLY hope this was a statement game for the Wings. As soon as Franzen went down with an injury, people began writing them off, yet they came out with an incredibly strong performance against one of the East’s top contenders. Yes, it was only one game, but it’s a game I hope we look back on later in the season and say “Hey, that win really set the tone for this club.” Only time will tell.

Tags: Washington Capitals