BARK AT THE MOON
"They've won two straight Stanley Cup championships and they know
they're going to be playing in the springtime," Phoenix coach Jim
Schoenfeld said after they beat the Red Wings 6-2. "To me, they're
still the most dangerous team in the National Hockey League."
The game was the second meeting between the two Conference rivals of
the season. The loss was the Red Wings' third straight, their fourth
in five games, and dropped them to just 4-10 this season against
teams with records of .500 or better. And they still have not beaten
Phoenix, Dallas, or Colorado yet.
"Everything's going wrong right now and it's getting beyond the
point where you can say it's early," captain Steve Yzerman said.
"We have to start playing a lot more competitively against the
better teams."
Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist and Igor Larionov scored
the other goal for the Red Wings, who still lead the Central
Division despite their recent slump. "We're playing poorly from
game to game and this was a continuation of that," Yzerman said.
"You can't point to anything good tonight. You need more than 10
fingers to cover it up. We struggled in all areas. It's something
we just have to grind our way through."
Nikolai Khabibulin made 36 saves against the Wings and Chris Osgood
had only 23 in the loss. All in all, it was a very disappointing
outing for the Wings.
THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY
Tomas Vokoun who? The rookie goalie for the Nashvillle Predators
made 50 saves as the Preds basically stunned the two-time defending
Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, 5-3. Steve Yzerman beat him
twice, but Vokoun stopped all seven of Sergei Fedorov's shots and
all eight of Doug Brown's. The Wings have lost four straight and
been outscored 18-7 in that span. The defeat was also the Red
Wings' ninth on the road. Last season, the Wings did not lose their
ninth road game until March 5.
"Our team defense has been just awful lately," said Brendan
Shanahan, who scored the game's first goal. "We've always prided
ourselves in our goals-against average, and in the last couple
weeks it's just skyrocketed."
"We've had over 100 shots in two games (against Nashville)," coach
Scotty Bowman said. "Their save percentages are around 95 percent.
That's the top of the league. Their goalie was great."
Yzerman got his 13th on a wrist shot over Vokoun's glove with 10
seconds left in the period to trim the lead to 4-2. Norm Maracle
had replaced Chris Osgood to begin the final period. Yzerman closed
out the scoring with 1:03 left on a wrist shot from the right side.
The Wings aren't getting the breaks right now.
SINGING THE BLUES
Call it a slump or just call it the mid-season blues. Whatever you
call it, it's still another loss for the Red Wings as the St.
Louis Blues won this one, 4-3. And the Blues only had one shot on
net in the third period, no less. The Red Wings tried to pour it on
with constant pressure but resistance is futile at times when you
are always playing from behind.
Mathieu Dandenault led the scoring with a goal and an assist. Larry
Murphy and Igor Larionov also scored in the defeat as well.
Dandenault believes the slump will end in the near future. Let's
hope so!
"With our talent and leadership, we should be able to get on track,"
he said.
Show me the money, I always say.
"You press when you're in a situation like this," Dandenault said.
"Guys try to do too much and do another guy's job and then you leave
your own job half done, " Brendan Shanahan said.
St. Louis is unbeaten against Detroit in the last six meetings at
the Kiel Center (5-0-1).
KISS YOUR SISTER
Well at least it was not another loss. And a tie at home isn't that
great, but I'm sure the Wings will take it at this stage of the
season. Slava Kozlov scored two goals that counted and two that
didn't as the Red Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the
St. Louis Blues 4-4. The tie broke the five-game losing streak the
Wings were experiencing. Their longest since January 1991. The team
record is 14 straight losses, which took place from Feb. 24-March
25, 1982.
"You take points where you get 'em when your struggling, and that's
what we're doing," Darren McCarty said. "We're happy to get a
point and hope we can build on it." The tie kept the Wings with a
three point lead on the Blues in the Central Division for the
lead.
Slava Kozlov's second goal was the tying goal with 9:13 remaining,
bringing the Wings back from a 4-2 deficit in the second period. He
also had two goals wiped out by video review, and took a penalty
that negated a teammate's goal all in the first period. So the game
was very much highlighted by the play of Kozzie.
Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper scored the other goals for the Red
Wings. Goalie Norm Maracle made 28 saves in place of Chris Osgood.
Grant Fuhr stopped 16 shots for the Blues.
The teams skated to a 1-1 tie after a weird first period in which
video reviews awarded a goal to St. Louis but took two away from
Detroit. NFL? The Red Wings also had another apparent goal wiped
out by a delayed penalty call.
Kozlov gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead when he put his own rebound
past Fuhr 4:54 into the second period, but the Blues came back with
three straight goals, including two from defenseman Chris Pronger.
Drapes pulled the Red Wings to within 4-3 when he scored on a
breakaway with 40 seconds left in the second period. Kozlov,
playing on an all-Russian line with Sergei Fedorov and Igor
Larionov, tied it 10:47 into the third when he poked a loose puck
past Fuhr in a goal-mouth scramble. The Russian line clicked and
played very well. But with Scotty Bowman, there is no such thing as
a constant line. They may not play again for a while, but chances
are that down the road somewhere they will I'm sure.
CUJO PREVAILS
Add the Toronto Maple Leafs to the growing number of teams that are
dominating the Detroit Red Wings this season. Curtis Joseph made 38
saves and Mats Sundin had two assists as Toronto beat Detroit 4-2,
extending the Red Wings' winless streak to seven games. Cujo
practically stood on his head the entire game while making
outstanding point blank saves. The Wings clearly dominated the
entire game except for the scoring department. And when all is said
and done, that's all that matters.
Toronto, which moved to the Eastern Conference this season, finished
3-0 against Detroit this year. It was the Maple Leafs' first season
sweep of Detroit since they went 4-0 against the Red Wings in
1979-80. The rivals evened their all-time series at 268-268-91.
"You wouldn't expect us to win all three before the season started,"
Sundin said. "This one tonight, Detroit was the better team, but CuJo
won the game for us." No kidding. Joseph was just 6-14-5 in his
career against the Red Wings before beating them three times this
season. He was particularly outstanding in the second period,
stopping several good Wing chances.
Martin Lapointe and Darren McCarty scored for the Red Wings, who
can't seem to put a rough stretch behind them. They finished 4-7-2
in December.
"Our confidence isn't as strong as it needs to be," Detroit
defenseman Larry Murphy said. "We're not handling adversity really
well. When you're playing well and make a mistake you get right
back up. Now we're not handling it well, and it just snowballs."
Detroit outshot Toronto 17-9 in the second period, yet the Maple
Leafs scored the only goal. Just nine seconds into a double-minor
against Joey Kocur, Mats Sundin made a pass to the front of the net
that was deflected to Osgood's left and pushed in by Steve Thomas.
Fredrik Modin put Toronto up 3-1 when he converted a pass from
Sundin just 29 seconds into the third period. But McCarty got that
one back by one timing a sweet pass from Sergei Fedorov past Joseph
at 3:26.
Defenseman Todd Gill, claimed off waivers Wednesday from St. Louis,
made his Detroit debut and was on the ice for two Toronto goals.
"It's going to take a few games to adjust, but I think I'll enjoy
it here," Gill said. Not a great way to spend New Year's Eve. But
hey there is always next year!
CHICAGO-STYLE PIZZA
A little pep talk from coach Scotty Bowman loosened them up. And
finally it worked and the flood gates finally opened. The Red Wings
let their frustration out.
Larry Murphy, Steve Yzerman and Tomas Holmstrom each scored in a
73-second span of the third period Saturday as the Red Wings
snapped a seven-game winless streak with a 5-2 win over their
division rival Chicago Blackhawks.
"We had felt like for the last three or four games, we were playing
pretty well," Yzerman said. "It wasn't for lack of enthusiasm or
effort that we were losing. But it was getting pretty frustrating."
Bowman, who has guided Detroit to successive Stanley Cup
championships, sensed that perhaps his players were trying just too
hard. "Scotty gave us a little pep talk before the game," forward
Dougie Brown said. "He told us to throw away the other stuff, to
forget the garbage and start fresh."
"I don't know if there was a turning point," Yzerman said. "But
Murphy's goal was obviously pretty big for us. Sergei Fedorov and
Kris Draper also scored for the Red Wings, who had lost four
straight at Joe Louis Arena. It was also the 1,432nd game for
Murphy, who moved into the No. 6 spot on the all-time list for NHL
games played, ahead of Mike Gartner. Finally the Wings win.
TWO IN A ROW!
Wow, two in a row. Well it is true that the Blackhawks are not the
Dallas Stars or anything, but two wins in a row is really
something to be proud of considering the recent slide. The Wings
beat the Blackhawks in Chi- town 3-1 to win the home-and-home
series in a weekend sweep.
"We were due some breaks. It just happened to be against Chicago
the last couple of games," Larry Murphy said "We got two
power-play goals in the same game, which is something we haven't
done in a while."
Murphy scored the go-ahead power-play goal on a rebound after
Nicklas Lidstrom's slap shot from the left circle went off Jocelyn
Thibault.
The Wings were 0-for-4 with the man advantage in the opening period.
"Obviously we would have liked to have better power play in the first
but it picked up later," Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said. "We got
back to Murphy and Lidstrom on the point and Holmstrom up front" and
that's why the power play was successful.
The Red Wings got an empty-netter from the newly acquired Todd Gill
with 17.8 seconds remaining. Chris Osgood made 25 saves in the
victory.
IMPEACHED
The Red Wings were on trial by the Senators. And the Senators shut
them out at home 2-0. Despite the two recent wins by the Red
Wings, they continue to struggle against teams better than 500.
Ron Tugnutt became the first goalie to blank the Red Wings at home
in nearly a year. He made 24 saves as the Red Wings failed to
score at Joe Louis Arena for the first time since Toronto's Felix
Potvin blanked them last Jan. 21.
"We had a lot of good chances," Darren McCarty said. "We just
couldn't get it past Tugnutt tonight. "In past years, we'd find
ways to score and win a game like that. Right now, we just can seem
to do it." The Red Wings are not getting any bounces or breaks to
go their way.
Tugnutt made some spectacular saves to preserve the win. The Wings
did not look that great at all. No one seems to know what the
problem is.
THE DREADED AVS
The rivalry may not be what it once was, but there still is, and
perhaps will be for a while, some bad blood between the two teams.
Anyway, the Detroit Red Wings beat the dreaded Avs 3-2 with a come
from behind victory. Nicklas Lidstrom's tie breaking, power-play
goal with 6:59 remaining made the difference as the Red Wings won
for just the third time in their last 11 games.
"I thought we played hard for 60 minutes today," Lidstrom said. "We
haven't done that for awhile. I think we can build on this win
today."
Martin Lapointe and Steve Yzerman also scored for the Red Wings in
the win. "It's a concern, but not something that will carry on
forever," Yzerman said. "A lot of good things have been happening.
We have enough offensive people that if you just stick with it,
it's just a matter of time before the puck will go into the net."
The Wings are now 1-1 against the Avs this season.
The Red Wings had a 5-on-3 advantage when Lidstrom broke a 2-2 tie
with a hard drive from center ice just inside the blue line. The
shot went past rookie Marc Denis who was in playing in place of
the injured Patrick Roy.
Lidstrom's game-winning goal made the Wings 2-for-7 on its power
play. Colorado, which had scored nine power-play goals in its last
seven games, was 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Goaltender Chris
Osgood had 27 saves and Denis stopped 28 shots. The Avalanche had
just two shots in the third period.
TRIAL BY SENATE
The Senators defeated the Red Wings for the second time in five
days, beating them 4-1. It's the first time Ottawa has beaten the
Wings at home since March 24, 1994, and the first time the
7-year-old Senators have swept their two-game series from the Red
Wings.
"It's team schizophrenia," Darren McCarty said of the Wings, 3-6-1
in their last 10 games. A horrendous stretch of games.
Steve Yzerman scored Detroit's only goal in his hometown. Yzerman
made it 2-1 with a power-play goal 16:25 into the second period,
banging home a rebound off a Larry Murphy shot.
"I'm disappointed we got beat rather handily," said Yzerman. "It's
been going on for quite a while now. At the beginning of the year,
we could shrug it off. A loss here, a loss there, but now they're
starting to pile up and it's starting to become a concern."
The night before Steve Yzerman has his jersey retired at the Steve
Yzerman Arena in a suburb of Ottawa where he played hockey growing
up.
All Stars:
Nicklas Lidstrom and Uwe Krupp were voted as starters for the World
All-Stars. Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan were voted for the
North American All-Stars starting unit. Krupp is still injured and
will not be able to play.
MID-SEASON REPORT CARDS:
Steve Yzerman A+
Sergei Fedorov C
Igor Larionov B-
Brendan Shanahan A
Darren McCarty B+
Slava Kozlov C-
Doug Brown C
Martin LaPointe C+
Joe Kocur B-
Tomas Holmstrom C+
Kurt Maltby Inc
Brent Gilchrist Inc
Kris Draper C-
Anders Eriksson C-
Aaron Ward D+
Jamie Macoun B-
Larry Murphy A-
Nicklas Lidstrom B-
Uwe Krupp D+
Mathieu Dandenault C+
Stacey Roest C
Chris Osgood C-
Norm Maracle B-
Kevin Hodson Inc
Todd Gill B
OVERALL C+
There seems to be much speculation as to why the Red Wings are in
the tailspin as of late . Some say that they just can't get into it
so early in the season and that it only matters come March and in the
playoffs. Some say it has to do with the ineffective power play and
the AWOL performance of No. 91. Others would indicate that the last
line of defense is very suspect. Some say that the Red Wings are the
team to beat and teams get up for the Red Wings and they try their
best. Or the fact that their defense isn't that physical and they
need to toughen up. Some say the Red Wings just aren't up for it at
all. Whatever the case may be it isn't time to panic just yet. There
will be some adjustments made before the deadline and the Wings will
go into the playoffs at least playing better. But in this league you
can't take anything for granted. Cuz there are Coyotes out there
under them Stars.
