An old-fashioned victory against Ice Capaders
Oct 25, 2006
An all-around solid performance from the Red Wings Wednesday, exactly the sort needed to beat what I think right now is the best team in the Western Conference.
The Wings defeated the San Jose Sharks, 2-1, getting goals from Mathieu Schneider and Robert Lang.
Dominik Hasek did his job, with a strong second period against a surging Sharks team and some key saves late in the game, after the Sharks had pulled Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov was the star of the game, making 37 saves and far outshining his teammates.
“We didn’t work,” glib Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. “Our forwards looked like they were auditioning for the Ice Capades.”
The Wings really looked great, from line one through four. Lang looked like a power forward, so strong on the puck, and Jiri Hudler looked good playing on his left side. Another good line was Henrik Zetterberg with Kris Draper and Valtteri Filppula – Zetterberg didn’t score, but he had chances. Ditto for Pavel Datsyuk.
It will be interesting to see if the Wings can build on this in their next game. It won’t be easy, because the Stars are off to an 8-1 start.
Wednesday’s game was huge, though, regardless of what happens Friday at Dallas. The Wings had lost three in a row, to Anaheim, San Jose and Edmonton.
Lang, incidentally, suggested the Wings might have won last Thursday’s game at San Jose (the Sharks won, 5-1) had they not been short-handed 13 times in that game.
“I think today overall the officiating was great,” Lang said. “I think if we played this same game like we did tonight (last week), if this was in San Jose, it would be the same. These guys let us play, both sides. I think it was great. I think the tempo of the hockey game gets up because you get everybody involved in play. I think it was just one of those old-fashioned games when we played five-on-five a lot. It was a lot more fun.”
By HELENE ST. JAMES
Comment by Adam | Oct 25, 2006 11:31:12 PM
Bring me a win here in Dallas! I don't want that $98 to go down the tubes!
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