DETROIT 3, CHICAGO 2
Stevie Yzerman had two assists to lead the Red Wings to a 3-2
victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Nicklas Lidstrom, rookie Stacy
Roest and Brendan Shanahan scored the goals. There were 78 shots in
the wide open game, 45 by the Red Wings. Both goalies had their
work cut out for them on this night.
Just 27 seconds into the game, Nicklas Lidstrom converted a sweet
pass from Yzerman and snapped a shot from the left circle past
Chicago goaltender Mark Fitzpatrick for his fourth goal of the
season.
Chris Osgood was in net for the Wings. Osgood was making his second
start since missing six games with a hip flexor injury. Stacey Roest
capitalized on a rebound for his second NHL goal. The Red Wings took
a 3- 1 lead on Shanahan's 14th goal.
The game almost went into overtime as Chicago's Ethan Moreau
appeared to score with 17.6 seconds remaining in the second, but it
was waved off when replays showed the puck hadn't completely
crossed the line before Osgood gloved it. Whew!
DETROIT 3, EDMONTON 2
Centermen Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman both had a goal and an
assist as the Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2. Former Wings
defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov is still inspiring the Red Wings.
He was in attendance watching the game.
"Vladdie is so special to all of us," said Doug Brown, who had a big
assist in Friday's win. "We know all the memories. We want him
around even more." Konstantinov was given a standing ovation by the
capacity crowd in Joe Louis Arena when he was shown on the
scoreboard video screens during the second period.
"It's good for us and it's good for him, too," Brown said. "It makes
us realize how lucky we are to do what we're doing, and it makes us
work that much harder."
Slava Kozlov scored the other goal for the Red Wings, who are 8-1-1
in their last 10 games. Fedorov broke a 1-1 tie by scoring his
eighth goal with only 11 seconds left in the second period. Kozlov
scored in the third, converting a perfect pass from Yzerman for
just his fourth goal of the season.
Konstantinov will soon move to Florida for the winter, where his
rehab work will include sound stimuli designed to rekindle
memories. His short-term memory is poor, a result of brain trauma
suffered in the June 13, 1997 limo accident. Doctors hope sounds
from his past will jog Konstantinov's memory, and the Red Wings
are contributing to that effort. During Thursday's practice at Joe
Louis Arena, microphones were set on the ice to record voices and
skating sounds so familiar to Konstantinov during his playing
days. The tapes will be played to him in hopes of bringing back
those memories.
CAROLINA 3, DETROIT 0
Former Red Wing Keith Primeau, who was basically ran out of town by
the pressure of the fans, scored the winning goal against his old
team as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Red Wings 3-0. It was the
first time the Red Wings have been shut out on the road since
January of 1991. Ray Sheppard, another former Red Wing added a
goal and an assist to end the Red Wings four-game unbeaten string.
"Primeau played a lot of good hockey," Steve Yzerman said. "He had
great scoring chances. Their whole team played well." Not a pretty
game for the Red Wings. Coach Scotty Bowman had nothing to say to
the media after the embarrassing showing.
DETROIT 5, BOSTON 3
Goalie Chris Osgood made 23 saves, improving his career record
against Boston to 6-1. It also extended the Wings home unbeaten
streak to six. The Wings scored twice on power plays and once
short-handed in the win.
"I thought we had some good chances, because we controlled the puck
better than in the last game," Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We were more
patient, and we took the shots when we had them." Lidstrom put
Detroit ahead with a power-play goal early in the first.
Defenseman Mathieu Dandenault gave the Wings a 2-1 lead early in the
second period. It was his first goal of the season. "Mathieu has a
chance to develop some offense," Bowman said of his converted
winger. "He's getting some experience back there, and he's always
going to learn from watching Murphy and Lidstrom every night."
After the Bruins scored again Larry Murphy gave the Wings its third
lead of the game at 14:32 of the second, finishing off a pretty
passing play with his fourth goal of the season. Marty Lapointe made
it 4-2 with a shorthanded goal just 67 seconds later. Darren McCarty
finally clinched the game with an empty-net goal.
"I think we got a little lucky tonight," Bowman said. "I didn't
think too much of our game, but we got the three special teams
goals. Thank God for those three." Spoken with true confidence.
DALLAS 3, DETROIT 1
Rivalry. Ed Belfour made 24 saves as Dallas beat the Red Wings
3-1. The Red Wings have not beaten the Stars in three games this
season. It also ended the Red Wings six-game home winning streak.
The Stars were just 1-17-2 in their previous 20 visits to Detroit,
including playoffs, before that.
"They're a great shooting team, so you want to take away the
middle, take away the neutral zone," Stars center Mike Modano
said. "We've done that the last three games. You don't see Yzerman
and Fedorov have the whole neutral zone to carry the puck. "We've
been forcing them to dump it in, and they're not comfortable doing
that. They like to have possession of the puck coming in."
"We had a game plan, but I guess we just didn't realize what we had
to do," Fedorov said. "They always had a player on our player
whenever the puck was in the neutral zone." The Stars have
outscored Detroit 11-4 in their three meetings thus far.
The Red Wings managed to avoid their second shutout loss in three
games when Slave Kozlov scored with about two minutes left in the
loss. Ozzie made 23 saves. The Stars definitely have the upper
hand and the momentum thus far in the season.
BOSTON 4, DETROIT 1
The Boston Bruins broke a five-game losing streak against the Red
Wings by handed the defending Stanley Cup champions their third
loss in four games.
The lone goal was by Brendan Shanahan, who scored his 15th on a
wrist shot to actually give the Red Wings the lead in the game. But
that wasn't enough to stop the Bruins from knocking the Red Wings
from a much needed win. Boston came back with four straight goals
to avenge their loss earlier in the week to the Red Wings.
"We scored Wednesday night, (a 5-3 previous win) but we couldn't
score tonight," said Red Wings associate head coach Barry Smith.
Head coach Scotty Bowman refused to talk to reporters after the
game. "You obviously have to score more than one goal to win in
this league," added Smith. Norm Maracle was between the pipes for
the Red Wings.
