DUCK, DUCK, GOOSED
The multi-million dollar man, Sergei Fedorov, had a goal and an
assist in the Red Wings 5-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks of
Anaheim. That is four straight games where he has scored a goal.
The magic may be due to the result of his new linemates, Steve
Yzerman and Darren McCarty. He now has six on the season.
"I
like to play (on a line) with Darren and Stevie," Fedorov said.
"That's given me a chance to get out more often. I keep skating
very hard and things have been going my way."
Sergei has at least one point in five straight games after going
scoreless his previous six. "He's playing with a lot of pizzazz
right now," said McCarty, who had a goal and an assist in the first
period. "You want to keep him going and keep on giving him the
puck."
Tomas "Homer" Holmstrom, Brendan Shanahan, and Igor Larionov also
scored goals and Larry Murphy added two assists for the Red Wings,
who have now won three straight after losing six of the last eight.
Rookie goalie Norm Maracle, making only his second start of the
season, had 26 saves in place of injured regular Chris Osgood.
Osgood is out day-to-day suffering from a hip flexor.
"I'm just glad to get some ice time," Maracle said. "When Ozzie's
well, he's the man. I just want to play well when I have the
opportunity and show Scotty that I can play a little bit."
He looked very solid coming up with some big saves.
OH, THE SHARK BITES.
Norm Maracle is the hottest goalie in hockey. Maracle won his fourth
straight start as the Red Wings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 in a
conference matchup.
The Red Wings have won five straight, including the last four with
Maracle in net since Ozzie suffered a hip flexor. He has only
surrended four goals in the last three games.
"The guys played a great defensive game in front of me," said
Maracle, "I didn't have much work. I've only had about three or four
real quality scoring chances and we're scoring goals."
He made 19 saves in the win. Maracle is 4-0-0 this year and 6-0-1
in his career.
The Red Wings got goals from Uwe Krupp, Martin Lapointe and Darren
McCarty. Rookie Stacey Roest also scored his first career NHL goal.
"I was so happy I didn't know what to do when I scored," Roest
said. "It's good to get it out of the way. I had some chances early
in the season. You feel more a part of it now that the first one's
in, but I don't think they expect that much of me."
Goals by Krupp and Lapointe gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead after one
period. Krupp scored after Steve Yzerman fired a shot off the left
post on a breakaway. The puck came to Krupp at the right point, and
his shot went past goalie and former Red Wing Mike Vernon. Lapointe
got open in front of the net and converted a sweet pass from
Brendan Shanahan for the goal. McCarty's goals gave him at least
one point in eight straight games.
JOHNNY CANUCK
Igor Larionov and Brendan Shanahan both had a goal and two assists
to help lead the Red Wings over the Vancouver Canucks 7-1. The Red
Wings scored seven times in the third period. The seven goal period
was one shy of the club record eight Detroit scored against the New
York Rangers on Jan. 23, 1944. The NHL record is nine.
Martin Lapointe, Slava Kozlov, Dougie Brown, Larry Murphy and Anders
Eriksson scored the Red Wings' other goals. The Wings trailed 1-0
after two periods, ended up routing the Canucks despite only two
points from its top line of Steve Yzerman, Darren McCarty and
Sergei Fedorov.
Rookie Norm Maracle won his third straight start in place of injured
regular Chris Osgood as the Red Wings won their fourth straight
overall, including two wins over the Canucks within a week. The Wings
failed to put any of its first 24 shots past Vancouver goalie Garth
Snow and trailed 1-0 until Martin Lapointe started a flurry of three
goals in about two minutes of the third Just 2 seconds later,
Larionov took a pass from Shanahan into the left circle and took a
shot that dribbled through Snow's legs to put the Wings into the
lead.
"Snow was just playing unbelievably," Maracle said. "I thought it was
going to be a 1-0 game." It seemed every shot the Red Wings fired in
the third period went in. The Wings have now won five games in a
row.
COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW
In a not-so-heated rivalry as before, the Red Wings and the
Avalanche still know how to muck it up. While the game doesn't
carry what it once had, the bitter blood between the two teams
remains.
"You could feel it from the
first shift, even if you didn't know the history. I knew it was a
heated rivalry," Avs rookie Chris Drury said. "All you had to do is
look up and see the white pompoms and the place was packed to the
rafters and real crazy. You knew it was something different."
Back in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena, JOEVISION was in effect as
fans were allowed to watch the game on the big screen. Something
usually only reserved for playoff games.
Drury broke a tie game in the third period, and Hejduk got his fourth goal
of the season as the Avalanche beat the Red Wings 4-2. The loss ended the
Wings five-game win streak. Norm Maracle suffered his first loss in eight
career starts.
"They've got a great hockey team," Maracle said. "They can win any
night of the week. Their record doesn't show it, but they could win
the next 10 in a row. If I have to lose to a team, they're a great
team to lose to."
He finished with 26 saves in the loss.
Nicklas Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman scored for the Wings, and hot
right wing Darren McCarty had an assist to extend his nice point
streak to nine games. Disheartening loss for the Red Wings. Any
loss to the Avs is a disheartening loss.
KISSING YOUR SISTER
The Wings blew a 2-0 lead in the third period and ended up tying the
San Jose Sharks. "We got up by a couple, and then we let them take
the momentum from us," Wings defenseman Larry Murphy said. "We've got
to do a better job of keeping control of a game." No kidding.
Aaron Ward scored the first goal with a 25-foot shot from directly
in front. The Red Wings made it 2-0 when Uwe Krupp scored from the
slot. Normy Maracle stopped 35 shots in the tie. In their last
seven games the Wings are now 5-1-1.
KINGED
Tomas Holmstrom scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season
less than three minutes into the third period to solidify a 4-3
victory over the LA Kings. The other goals were by Steve Yzerman,
Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov. Yzerman and Shanahan scored 25
seconds apart during a three-goal first and Federov opened the
scoring with a short-handed goal.
"They can't play any harder than they did," coach Scotty Bowman
said. "I mean, when you lose a guy like Blake, you're talking about
30-plus minutes a game and all the specialty teams. I think he
could have made a difference in a lot of these games."
The game marked the return of goalie Chris Osgood who returned from
the injury list after suffering a hip flexor. He played very well
in the win. With the recent play of Maracle it seemed that Ozzie's
playing time may be hampered with. The status of Kevin Hodson and
Maracle to be exposed to the expansion draft is still in
question.
