CSSI: 10/15/09 vs. Los Angeles

Coming into this game, Mike Babcock expected his Red Wings team to get a slow start out of the gate. One can only wonder if there was a hint of an undertone at how the Wings have started this season, but nonetheless, Uncle Mike was right. The Wings looked tentative and struggled to put it together over the first ten minutes against the Kings, subsequently finding themselves in a one goal hole after one period. But, in true Red Wing fashion, the squad put it together in the second and third periods and cranked up the offense en route to a 5-2 win.

Let’s break it down.

Season CSSI numbers are updated here.

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CSSI: 10/15/09 vs. Los Angeles

Goal 1 (LA 1 DET 0): Dustin Brown (1) from Matt Greene (2) and Jarret Stoll (5) at 5:41, First Period

• Wings on ice: Zetterberg, Cleary, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson

Yes, you read that correctly. The Wings wound up with three defensemen on the ice for this goal, as they had just killed off a penalty, but wound up icing the puck, forcing Kronwall to stay on the ice. On the subsequent faceoff, Zetterberg gets beat (-0.5) and the puck winds up on the stick of Matt Greene, who quickly fires a wrist shot towards the net. Osgood makes the save, but has the rebound drop from his pads into the crease. Meanwhile, this is how things are panning out just seconds before the puck hits the ice:

Um, that’s a problem. Kronwall is safe here, as he was basically required to play up top since there were only two forwards on the ice. However, Ericsson and Stuart are in all kinds of trouble here. Right off the faceoff, Stuart employs his patented “stand around and do nothing” move, which would have been fine if he would have picked up Stoll sliding to the net. He doesn’t (-1), leaving Zetterberg to cover Stoll as Brown slips in behind Hank uncovered. Why did this happen? Because Ericsson decided to drift up-ice (-1) with his counterpart Stuart, leaving Hank to cover both Stoll and Brown in front of the net. Hank does a nice job of keeping Stoll at bay (+0.5), but can only whack as Brown goes past him untouched to tip in the loose puck.

Stuart and Ericsson will cause me to lose my mind at least twice this year. Mark it down.

Goal 2 (DET 1 LA 1): Jonathan Ericsson (2) from Justin Abdelkader (1) at 3:33, Second Period

• Wings on ice: Helm, Abdelkader, Eaves, Ericsson, Lebda

This might be one of the easiest ones I write all year. Abdelkader does a great job digging down to win the faceoff (+1), and draws the puck back Ericsson. Ericsson lets a wrist shot go towards the net, it nicks part of Jon Quick’s stick, and deflects into the net (+1). Bingo, Bango.

Of note, the faceoff win for Abdelkader winds up being his first career regular season point.

Goal 3 (PPG) (DET 2 LA 1): Tomas Holmstrom (4) from Nick Lidstrom (1) and Brian Rafalski (4) at 8:47, Second Period

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

Lidstrom and Rafalski make this power play goal happen. Rafalski starts the play by collecting a puck along the near boards at the blue line, and then sending a cross-ice pass to Lidstrom at the far point. Lidstrom gives a double-pump and then returns the puck to Rafalski at the near point. As Rafalski settles the puck, Cleary makes a nice cut (+0.5) through the center of the ice, forcing Jarret Stoll to sag back down with him. Rafalski shows great patience and smarts here (+1), waiting for Stoll to drop way deep into the slot before sending a pass back over to Lidstrom. Nick draws it back to the middle of the ice, and has plenty of time to rip a quality shot (+0.5) towards the net. Holmstrom has assumed his usual position in front, and makes a nice deflection (+1) which beats Quick through his five-hole, albeit just barely. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways, as Cleary was perfectly positioned (+0.5) on the side of the goal to clean up any mess that was left behind.

Goal 4 (DET 3 LA 1): Henrik Zetterberg (1) from Nicklas Lidstrom (2) (*1000!) at 3:24, Third Period

• Zetterberg, Cleary, Lidstrom, Rafalski

For the record, this play is disgustingly good. I could watch the replay of this goal for days. Anyways, let’s hand out some points. The play starts on a near-side faceoff with both teams four skaters aside. Zetterberg cleanly wins the draw (+0.5) back to Lidstrom, who then skates the puck towards the middle of the ice just inside the blue line. This move pulls Anze Kopitar over just enough to open up a passing lane to Zetterberg (+0.5), and Lidstrom takes it, sending a slap pass towards Hank. From above the faceoff dot (!!!) Zetterberg lays the blade of the stick down and redirects a shot over the glove and shoulder of Quick.

Folks, this whole sequence was absolutely incredible. Zetterberg put the puck in the only place it could go, and he did it on a redirected slap pass from above the dot in the near slot. Watch the video and be sure to watch the slo-mo, because it really shows you how great of a play this was.

Oh yea, points. I’m giving Lidstrom (+2) for drawing Kopitar to open the lane, for placing a slap pass so perfectly on the blade of Zetterberg and for scoring his 1,000th point on such an awesome play. Zetterberg? He gets a (+3) here simply because I bet he could practice that play with Lidstrom 100 times and maybe make it 10. AWESOME.

Goal 5 (DET 3 LA 2): Justin Williams (2) from Sean O’Donnell (1) and Anze Kopitar (7) at 11:57, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Zetterberg, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Lidstrom, Kronwall

Give alot of credit to Anze Kopitar on this one. The play starts as he is finishing his swoop around the net of Chris Osgood, and he has about four Red Wings following him the entire time. As he is just entering the near circle, he fires a diagonal pass across to O’Donnell on the far point. As the defense shifts to recover, Nick Lidstrom and Justin Williams battle it out for position in front of Osgood. As O’Donnell winds up to take a shot from the point, Ryan Smyth sneaks in next to Lidstrom at the last second, distracting him enough that he allows Williams to come free and deflect in O’Donnell’s shot. Can’t pin this one on Lidstrom though, as he had no help down low after Kopitar’s spin cycle got everyone out of position. Blown coverage on this one goes to Dan Cleary (-1) as he decides to just settle in the slot, leaving Lidstrom to guard two players and adding another level to the screen on Osgood.

Goal 6 (DET 4 LA 2): Kirk Maltby (2) from Todd Bertuzzi (2) at 14:43, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Zetterberg, Maltby, Bertuzzi, Lidstrom, Kronwall

This is the second time this season where Maltby basically does everything on a scoring play, except this time he gets slightly interrupted by Todd Bertuzzi. Anyways, the play starts with Drew Doughty bringing the puck out of his own defensive zone. As he comes toward the middle of the ice, Maltby makes an agressive move towards him and Doughty tries to force a pass to the near boards, which Maltby deflects (+0.5).  Both Doughty and Maltby reach for the puck, but Malts is able to one hand it back into the offensive zone (+0.5), where Bertuzzi comes streaking in to pick it up on the near side. Right as he gathers, Doughty lays out and is able to disrupt Bert’s control, leading to Bertuzzi awkwardly fumbling his way towards the net with the puck…backwards (-0.5). As Bertuzzi lines up a backhand, the puck rolls and bounces off the skate of Kopitar…setting up Maltby for a one-timer from about ten feet. Maltby goes top corner (+1) and beats Quick.

Goal 7 (EN) (DET 5 LA 2): Brian Rafalski (1) from Henrik Zetterberg (5) and Jonathan Ericsson (2) at 19:53, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Zetterberg, Filppula, Lidstrom, Rafalski, Ericsson

Easy one here. Everyone that pointed gets (+0.5).

Miscellaneous Points

• I’m totally docking Bertuzzi a point for that god awful 2-on-1 he had with Filppula. Bert obviously wanted to pass the puck, but couldn’t get it away. So instead, he tries to lift one into the upper corner of the goal from about eight feet. Instead, he lifts it so far into the stands that he almost hit Mickey Redmond in the dome. (-1) for you, Bert.
• But, I’ll give it right back to him, because he’s been playing his tail off early this season. It hasn’t all come together just yet for Bert, but he’s grinding hard, avoiding the dumb penalties and just generally playing good hockey. Here’s a (+1) Todd. Don’t make me regret giving this to you.

To the chart!

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Final Thoughts

It’s still pretty early in the season to be calling games “must-wins” but this one was as close as it gets. It was good to see Zetterberg step up after being called out by Babcock and it was even better to see Lidstrom get his 1,000th point at home and in such a pretty fashion.

However, this is no time to get comfortable, as the red-hot Avalanche are coming to town, presenting yet another early season challenge. Let’s hope the Wings are ready to step up.

Tags: Los Angeles Kings