Pacified; Gerber stones Wings

Wow.  This one hurt.  I don’t mean it hurt in the standings-although it did. Nashville won; they’re two points back.

I mean it physically pained me to watch the last two minutes.  It seems we get about five of these a year, where the Wings are down 1 with a minute left and they just unleash a barrage of shots on a goalie that you think no one on earth could withstand.

And five times a year, you’re left at the final buzzer saying, “what the hell just happened? We didn’t score? Mommy?”

Well, that was last night.

On to the notes:

Yes, the Wings sucked in the first. Yes, it’s a disturbing trend.   Detroit came out slow, and surprised by the Hurricane reaction to a great crowd.  Whatever the reason, the Wings were on their heels when Matt Cullen scored on a two-on-one with Brett Lebda committing then watching a toe drag move slowly past his nose before beating Legace.

Former Wing Ray Whitney scored, after being allowed to stand free and happy next to the crease, four minutes later. 

At this point it was fun to sit back and consider the fact that the Wings had just given up their 8th consecutive goal.  I basked in the warmth of that gem for a few moments, and must have gone into some sort of trance because I woke up and Eric Cole was doing some sort of figure skating move behind the net. 

It happened so fast that I missed the Wing defensemen who surely must have tried to physically harm him as he wrapped the puck around and past Legace for a 3-0 lead.

9 goals in a row.  You can’t buy that kind of fun. I’m a Sailor and I’ve been to the Philippines, so I’ve tried.

Ok.  A few good things before we move on. The Wings, despite their 15 minute nap to start the game, were a little more violent toward the end of the first. 

Brendan Shanahan, who didn’t score again, looked like a power forward last night.  He was hitting and stationed in front of the net more than he has been.

Wings are down 3-0 and the world is collapsing.  At this point with just less than 4 minutes left in the first, Steve Yzerman showed why Joe Thornton and Joe Sakic refused to wear number 19 in Turin.

It seems that Yzerman determined 9 straight goals was quite enough, thank you.

The Number 19 took the puck in his own end and began to steadily weave, on a knee that you can see pains him every time he takes a faceoff, his way up ice. 

He labored toward the right boards by himself, picking up as much steam as his body would allow.  Once a slim path opened toward the net, the 25 year old Yzerman sprung toward Martin Gerber, put a move on him we’ve seen hundreds of times before, and watched from the air as the puck slid by the ‘Cane goalie.

There are so many moments in Yzerman’s career that we could point to as “defining.”  But that effort, at that point in last night’s game, was his captaincy in a nutshell. 

He was just sick and tired of his team getting their asses kicked. So, he did something about it.

3-1 Canes after 1.  Shots were surprisingly even at 12-11 in favor of Carolina.

Yzerman almost scored again to start the second and the Wings did score on a power play when Zetterberg got his 20th (congrats) at 3:26.

Ok.  Everything’s gonna be ok.  37 minutes to tie it.  Wings started to look stingy on defense.  They’re getting their chances.  Gerber’s playing well, but 37 minutes is a long frigging time, brother.

No, it’s not.  35:13 went by quickly.  Now, you want to know what a long time is?  1:47 is a long time.  Ask my wife.  Did I just say that?

Anyway, 1:47 is a long time.  It’s a long time down by 1, with a man advantage, with the goalie pulled.

And, when Martin Gerber played the way he did during the last few moments of last night’s game, 1:47 seemed like forever. 

Yes, the Wings dug a hole.  But they climbed out of it–were dragged out by their captain–and had plenty of time to correct things.  Gerber wouldn’t let them.

From today’s Freep:

“Not a great start, obviously, but then beyond that, a lot of good things,” Brendan Shanahan said. “We were almost able to do what Dallas did to us the other day, erase a 3-0 deficit. It’s unfortunate. Their goalie was really the difference in the final 50 minutes, especially the last period, and the last 2 1/2 minutes, he was outstanding. I don’t know what else you can do. We just threw so much at him, from a lot of different gifted people. You’ve got to tip your hat to a performance like that. It’s one thing to get hit with pucks; he was actually making some pretty great saves in there.”

When the Wings put that kind of pressure on a goalie, it really is fun to watch.  Lang sets up Shanny for a one timer…save.  Zetterberg from the side, then the front…save, save.  Lang from the slot…save.  Scheider, Lidstrom, Datsyuk…Gerber stopped them all.

Wings outshot Carolina 19-6 in the third. 

More on the effect this game had on the Central race later.

TSN Box

On the Wings recap

Durham Herald Sun game report

Raleigh News Observer game report

Detroit Free Press game report

Detroit News game report