DETROIT 4, NASHVILLE 1
When Sergei Fedorov scores a goal, the Red Wings are 11-1. "Good
stat," Fedorov said after he scored the game's second goal in the
opening minutes as the Red Wings beat the Nashville Predators 4-1.
The only problem is he doesnt score that much anymore.
Steve Yzerman was out with a broken nose and did not play. Coach
Scotty Bowman said they were counting on Fedorov and liked what he
did, especially when center Kris Draper was ejected at the end of
the second period for a high sticking major. "Obviously, we were
looking to play him ... quite a bit," said Bowman. Sergei ended up
playing 18 minutes on a line with Brendan Shanahan and Dougie
Brown.
Martin Lapointe scored his 10th goal of the season 1:07 into the
game with the Red Wings' first shot off a pass from winger Slava
Kozlov. Detroit fans celebrated by tossing an octopus onto the ice,
a first in a soldout Nashville Arena. Fedorov put Detroit up 2-0
just over a minute later on a short wrist shot off a pass from
Shanahan.
Nashville's power-play goal on a rebound past Chris Osgood was
their first with extra man advantage in 13 attempts. The Wings
solidified the lead 17:34 into the second period to 3-1 as Kozlov
put a soft wrist shot past Mike Dunham. Larry Murphy added an
empty-netter with 1.3 seconds left for the final margin.
N.Y. RANGERS 3, DETROIT 2
The Rangers' Niklas Sundstrom scored with 4:42 remaining and Mike
Richter made 38 saves as the Rangers beat the Red Wings 3-2 with
their first victory in Joe Louis Arena in nearly seven years. John
MacLean scored the other goal and Brian Leetch had two assists for
the Rangers, who were 0-4-1 at Detroit since their last victory on
March 20, 1992. The Rangers won despite the Red Wings' 40-14 shot
advantage. But only Igor Larionov and Brendan Shanahan got shots
past Richter.
Shanahan's goal, which made a 2-2 tie in the second, ended a career
worst 15-game goal less slump. "I've been getting a lot of chances
lately and I was due," Shanahan said. "Unfortunately it doesn't
really mean anything. It tied the game up, but without the win it
becomes meaningless."
Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman returned to action after missing one
game with a broken nose suffered when he was hit by a shot by Paul
Coffey on Jan. 21 against Carolina before the All Star break.
"We played pretty good, but again we made mistakes," Yzerman said.
"The Rangers pretty much sat back and waited and their goalie
played well. They just waited for mistakes and they capitalized on
them."
NEW JERSEY 2, DETROIT 2 (OT)
Despite losing defenseman Larry Murphy to a concussion in the
opening minutes of the game, the Red Wings got 32 saves from Chris
Osgood in skating to a 2-2 tie with the New Jersey Devils. The
point was a rare one for the Red Wings, who have struggled against
the NHL's elite teams this season, posting a 6-16-1 record against
teams with a .500 or better record.
"Different guys stepped up, it's was a gutsy effort in that way,"
winger Darren McCarty said. "But we have to find ways to win games
like this no matter who is in the lineup. Hopefully this is
something we can build off."
"We've been playing hard and well for a while now," said Osgood, who
has not given up a goal in 32 straight overtimes (7-0-25). "We're
starting to get some breaks. The month of January we played well and
this a good game to build on. We're back to playing like we are
capable of playing, but not as stingy as we should be on
defense."
Devils defenseman Lyle Odelein got the game tying goal late in the
second period. Petr Sykora also scored for New Jersey. Aaron Ward
and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored for the Red Wings. The Wings had
taken a 2-1 lead halfway through the first period when Ward and
Kozlov scored 1:59 apart.
Krzyysztof Oliwa ran Larry Murphy into the boards in what appeared
to be an intent to injure charge. Murphy was knocked unconscious
briefly then left the game. Tests were negative and no severe
concussion was the diagnosis.
Oliwa also broke the arm of Todd Gill in a collision later in the
game.
DETROIT 5, N.Y. ISLANDERS 1
Despite a shorthanded defense, there was no way the Red Wings were
going to play passively against the lowly New York Islanders.
Darren McCarty scored two goals and keyed a physical attack that
helped the Red Wings beat the Islanders 5-1 Wednesday night.
But the Red Wings were aggressive right from the start against the
Islanders, beginning with a left jab from McCarty that knocked
down Islanders defenseman Rich Pilon. McCarty had been criticized
by fans for not retaliating against Oliwa.
"I take responsibility for what didn't happen," McCarty said. "It's
something you don't forget. It didn't sit well with me. We can't let
teams take advantage of us. We have to play with fire and emotion,
and everybody feeds off of that." Before the first period was over,
winger Kirk Maltby drove star Zigmund Palffy head first into the
boards, which drew a minor skirmish with the Isles' Bryan Smolinski
but no penalty. McCarty then put a huge check on giant Zdeno Chara.
"You don't go out there with the intention of starting something,"
McCarty said. "You just want to make a good play or a good hit. I'm
better when I play with high emotion."
Steve Yzerman and Martin Lapointe gave the Wings a 2-0 lead after
the first period. After McCarty scored, Sergei Nemchinov made it
3-1 in the second. McCarty added his second goal 10:30 into the
third and Brendan Shanahan finished the scoring with just five
tenths of a second remaining in the game to add insult to injury.
Norm Maracle and Kevin Hodson, who both dressed because Red Wings
regular Chris Osgood was ill, combined for 27 saves. Hodson, who
hadn't played since Nov. 13, started and stopped eight shots
before leaving with a cut hand late in the first period. Maracle
allowed only Nemchinov's goal the same day it was revealed that he
was arrested earlier in the week and charged with drunken driving.
COLORADO 3, DETROIT 1
Public Enemy number 2 in Detroit, Patrick Roy earned his 400th
victory as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Red Wings 3-1. The
Wings could not muster any fire toward their long time rivals. The
Avalanche collapsed the middle on countless occasions to easily
squash any of the Wings chances.
Joe Sakic, Adam Deadmarsh and Sylvain Lefebvre scored for the
Avalanche, who have not lost since a 3- 2 loss to the Wings back on
Jan. 9. Vyacheslav Kozlov scored for the Red Wings, who were
outshot 30-28 in the loss.
Another record was made in the loss. Veteran Larry Murphy played
the 1,447th game of his NHL career, breaking Tim Horton's league
record for games by a defenseman. "Roy's situation is probably
similar to mine," Murphy said. "If you stay around long enough
years, the numbers will add up. With the talent he's got, it was
inevitable he'd get to 400 some time."
Steve Yzerman is playing with a face shield to protect his broken
nose as is Kirk Maltby. Yzerman's play does seem to be affected.
But you cannot question his work ethic. He does seem to be the
only Red Wings to show up every night. Ozzie's play was
questionable during this game.
PITTSBURGH 2, DETROIT 1
Tom Barrasso stopped 35 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins extended
their winning streak to six games with a 2-1 win over the Red
Wings. He stopped everything that came his way. Scotty Bowman was
the head coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres in 1983
when he brought the 18 year old Barrasso from a Massachusetts high
school to the NHL. Bowman was so upset over the Red Wings' failure
to capitalize on their chances that he dismissed a question about
Barrasso's performance. "We've been making a lot of goalies look
good lately," Bowman said. "We have to find a way to score. You can
win scoring one goal but not very often."
Martin Lapointe's 12th goal of the season tied it at 1-1, a
power-play tally off assists from Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor
Larionov at 9:36 of the second period. Alexei Kovalev intercepted
an errant Larionov pass at 15:43 of the first period and quickly
fired a 20 foot shot over goalie Chris Osgood's glove. Except for
a 5-1 win over the lowly New York Islanders, the Red Wings haven't
scored more than two goals in their last five games.
"At different points during the year you're going to have your down
times," defenseman Larry Murphy said. "We're going through one now.
Tommy played really well. We had chances, we just couldn't get it by
him." Barrasso's best sequence came six minutes into the third period
when he got his stick on Kris Draper's shot from the left side, then
was able to slide across the crease to keep out winger Kirk Maltby's
rebound shot.
The Wings for the most part kept Jagr in check as planned and they
controlled most of the offensive play of the game. But as for the
whole season finishing has become a problem.
TIDBITS
Norm Maracle was arrested for drunk driving. He had two women in
the car with him while he was going 85 on the freeway. The
passengers were intoxicated as well. Not a smart thing to do
obviously. Uwe Krupp has missed 30 games due to his injury. Rumor
has it the Wings are interested in Mark Tinordi come trade
deadline time in March. Other names are Theo Fleury and Mark
Recchi. Jesse Wallin is said to be the asking price. Whether the
Wings will sacrifice their future defensive prospect for a
possible rent a player is still unknown. Aaron Ward has played
well with his increased ice time. Gilchrist is said to return any
day now. He has not played a game all season. Bowman and Sergei
have been exchanging words through the press expressing their
unhappiness. Sergie is unhappy with line changes and ice time.
Bowman is obviously not pleased with the lack of production from
Fedorov. He is seventh on the team in scoring. Despite the sub par
performance this season the Wings are still in first in their
division. Enough for a first round home playoff seed.
