By the Numbers: Red Wings 4, Coyotes 1

Postgame Thoughts

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s hoping that 2010 is the best one yet for you and yours! So far, so good for the Wings, who came out at played one of their best games so far this season against the Coyotes last night. To the bullets:

• Good to see Tomas Holmstrom return from Bolivian and get back to work in front of the net. It was vintage Red Wings production last night, with Nicklas Lidstrom bombing shots from the point and Homer grinding in front of the net to redirect pucks. Holmstrom has been missing in action over the past few games, yet his 14th and 15th tallies of the year help preserve his status as the leading goal scorer for the Wings.

• Jimmah continues to be solid. Next.

• It’s hard not to be impressed with the play of Mattias Ritola. He’s still looking to establish himself on the scoresheet, but his level of play is one of the most encouraging things I’ve seen during the first half of the season. He may not be ready for the full-time jump just yet, but it’s only a matter of time until Ritola is in the lineup on a regular basis.

• As quickly as Ville Leino emerged from the depths of worthlessness, he quickly settled himself back into them last night. Watch out Ville. One goal won’t keep the Ritola at bay.

• Soft penalties all night it seemed like. Especially the roughing call on Darren Helm. Gimme a freaking break.

• With the win last night, the Wings finally hit the halfway point of the season. The record stands at 21-14-6 which is good for 48 points. This is definitely uncharted territory for the organization, as they currently sit third in the division and ninth in the conference. However, the Wings only trail the Preds by four points (with a game in hand) for second place in the division and are only three points outside of a playoff spot (again, with a game in hand.) Even crazier? The Wings are only six points back of fourth place in the West (with two games in hand.) What does this mean? Parity. And parity means that if you get into the playoffs, you have as good a chance as anyone else when the puck drops, which is what this squad needs to remember as they get ready to start the second half of the season.

• It may just be me, but I’m finally starting to really feel like the Wings are turning the corner and elevating their play. I know there were a few points earlier this year where the team got a couple of winning streaks going and we were all ready to finally proclaim them “healthy” and “ready to go”, but this time it feels different. They are really coming together as a team and the injury situation is finally starting to swing in favor of the Wings, so I’m hoping that they can make a real strong push on this road trip and get some big wins and crucial points. Every win is important, but the ones you get with a depleted lineup are that much sweeter and that much more integral to the late season positioning that’s going to be staring us down in a few months.

______________________________________

Production Charts

*The season totals are updated here and here.

Line Production

Special Teams Production

______________________________________

CSSI

*Season CSSI numbers are updated here.

Goal 1 (DET 1 PHX 0): Tomas Holmstrom (14) from Nicklas Lidstrom (17) and Brian Rafalski (14) at 14:44, First Period

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

• HP(+): Datsyuk (+0.5) for using his body to create space to move the puck. Rafalski (+0.5) for moving the puck quickly across ice with a nice touch pass. Lidstrom (+0.5) for getting the blast on net. Holmstrom (+1) for doing his job and getting the deflection.

Goal 2 (PPG) (DET 1 PHX 1): Matthew Lombardi (7) from Robert Lang (13) and Keith Yandle (14) at 5:53, Second Period

• Wings on ice: Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Stuart

• DP(-): It’s a 5-on-3. There’s nothing the Wings could have done on this play. Perfect passing from the Yotes leads to this goal. No deductions.

Goal 3 (DET 2 PHX 1): Tomas Holmstrom (15) from Nicklas Lidstrom (18) and Pavel Datsyuk (22) at 19:41, Second Period

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

• HP(+): Datsyuk (+0.5) for working the puck from low to high for the open Nick Lidstrom. Lidstrom (+0.5) for getting another shot right where it needed to be. Holmstrom (+1) for being in the right place, yet again.

Goal 4 (PPG) (DET 3 PHX 1): Pavel Datsyuk (10) from Todd Bertuzzi (13) and Brian Rafalski (15) at 5:51, Third Period

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

• HP(+): Rafalski (+0.5) for smartly giving the puck back to Bertuzzi after Korpikoski came out too far to challenge. Bertuzzi (+1) for doing some serious work throughout the entire power play, culminating with a shot on goal and the eventual assist on the Datsyuk goal. Datsyuk (+1) for burying a perfect pass from Bertuzzi in the back of the net.

Goal 5 (EN) (DET 4 PHX 1): Darren Helm (6) from Brad Stuart (7) at 19:08, Third Period

• Wings on ice: Datsyuk, Helm, Filppula, Lidstrom, Stuart

• HP(+): Stuart (+0.5) for the nice pass to Helm to start the break. Helm, (+1) for the sweet bank of the wall and then total speed burst to leave Yandle in the dust on the way to scoring the empty-netter.

Miscellaneous Points

• HP(+): Lidstrom (+1) for continuing to turn his game around and contribute more points. Ritola (+1) for another solid performance. Bertuzzi (+1) for the continued hard work at both ends of the ice. Another nice game for him.
• DP(-): Leino (-1) for going missing yet again. This guy is something else. He scores a goal, claims the monkey is off his back, and then completely disappears. I like having him in the lineup over a Brad May, but c’mon Ville, give us something consistent here.

Chart:

Tags: Darren Helm, Mattias Ritola, Nicklas Lidstrom, Phoenix Coyotes, The Jimmah Howard Experiment, Tomas Holmstrom, Ville Leino