Ducks Trip Up The Wings

With one of the perennial playoff teams of the West the Wings needed to bring their A-game. Early in the game the Wings dominated zone time but were not getting pucks to the net. The Wings problems were mostly self-inflected as 9 turnovers provided the Ducks with enough scoring chances. The game was mostly even through 2, but in the third the Wings really poured it on. After the Wings just missed on a multitude of chances it seemed like this game was headed to overtime. Then Getzlaf gets away with a pretty egregious hook on Kronwall and puts it away to steal the 2 points. I'm not sure what the NHL has to do, but they can't allow that blown call to decide the game. Two points in October are the same as 2 in March and can completely change the playoff landscape. The Wings had 53.16% of possession at even strength against a good Ducks squad and deserve to be undefeated. I'm pretty rattled after that one, so only a few observations after the jump.


Possession =/= Chances- Early in the game the Wings possessed the puck but struggled to get to the net and create opportunities. The Ducks did a good job of collapsing towards the net and forcing the Wings to beat all 5.

Nyquist Gets a Promotion- After about a game and a half on the "3rd line" Gus finally got the boost up to the top line with Z and Franzen. In response he scored one of the nicest goals I've ever seen. Despite Anderson being at least a foot outside his crease, Gus manages to pick the corner.

Activate D- Early in the game the D weren't able to be as aggressive as they were against the Bs due to the Duck's puck movement. In the third the Wings force check was able to force Ducks to make indirect passes allowing the D to pitch and prolong possession. Also by activating the D the Ducks were forced to spread out defensively, giving the Wings more space to attack the net. Its amazing how often hard work turns to offense.

All Swedish, No Finish- Early in the game and particularly in the third the Wings had chances to finish this game. Tatar hit the bar in the 1st, 8 and 41 both had breakaways, Nestrasil, Andersson and Jurco all had a great chance in front and Nyquist had at least two more. While the call was egregious, if the Wings finish those chances earlier it doesn't matter and they walk away with 2 points.

As I said on twitter I'm obviously pissed about the call and not getting at least a point. That said the Wings are looking really good and I'm happy about things in general. 1-1, should be 2-0. Go Wings.