Red Wings Pre-Season Schedule

The Red Wings will join the Penguins on Wednesday, September 22 to play the first ever game in Pittsburgh's new arena, the CONSOL Energy Center. The meeting will open the pre-season for both teams. From the Red Wings' Official Site, the pre-season schedule looks like this:

September
22 Wed. At Pittsburgh CONSOL Energy Center 7 p.m. EDT
24 Fri. CHICAGO Joe Louis Arena 7 p.m. EDT
25 Sat. At Chicago United Center TBD
26 Sun. NY RANGERS Joe Louis Arena 5 p.m. EDT
29 Wed. At NY Rangers Madison Square Garden 7 p.m. EDT
October
1 Fri. TORONTO Joe Louis Arena 7 p.m. EDT
2 Sat. At Toronto Air Canada Centre 7 p.m. EDT
3 Sun. PITTSBURGH Joe Louis Arena 5 p.m. EDT

Flyers Seek History, New Cup Champs Assured

Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs continued last night but didn't conclude. In the Wednesday night double-header, Montreal staged another monumental 7-game upset, this time over defending Champs, Pittsburgh. Meanwhile in Philly, the Flyers staved off elimination for the third straight game against Boston, forcing a potentially history-making Game 7 on Friday night.

Philadelphia was the other team facing a sweep in Game 4 of their series. And while the beginning of their comeback was quite as auspicious as Detroit's 7-1 thumping of the Sharks, their 5-4 OT result still counts as a win and two more wins later, they find themselves with a shot of actually completing Mission: Impossible.

The last team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit was the New York Islanders in 1975. A win Friday in Boston would make the Flyers the first team in 35 years and the third in history to achieve the miraculous feat. Gees, I wish I was talking about the Wings right now. Anyway...

Stay tuned, for an all-new Stanley Cup Final.

That's right. The 2x defending Western Conference Champs --our Detroit Red Wings -- were joined last night by their mirroring rivals of the East, the Penguins. The Montreal Canadiens continue to shock the hockey world. 14 games, 28 nights, 1 Presidents Trophy winner, 1 Stanley Cup Champion. It's been quite a month for the Habs... and their fans.

Now, that's how you celebrate a Round 2 victory, right? A little looting, maybe a punch-on here and there and obviously a series of bonfires throughout the streets. God help us all if they actually win the Cup. One question remains for me though... is that guy's feet on fire??? Seriously. WTF?

I'll still be graphically covering the playoffs even though the Wings are out. I was hoping to change the graphics today but Boston had to go ahead and lose so we sit and patiently await the schedule for the Conference Finals. I'm so sick of looking at that damn SJS wins 4-1... UGH!

The Reason the Wings Have Lost

In the 2008 and 2009 playoffs, the mighty Detroit Red Wings went on a 7-game series win-streak good for one Stanley Cup. Since that point they've now gone 1-2 in playoff series'. Sure, it's not an alarmingly bad stat, but for this organization it just doesn't cut it.

The playoffs are a tough environment to win in. Games are closer, scoring is tougher and consistency is nearly impossible against an opponent that is constantly learning about you. Because of this, teams need to be able to win the close games. Holding leads and tying games in the dying moments is the trademark of a resilient contender. Coupling that with 3+ goal blowouts makes a Champion team.

For as long as I can remember, Detroit has always been able to smash teams from time to time. Even in the series' they lose, there are games where they've dominated. In the last three series' the Wings have lost, they've had two 5-goal wins and a 6-goal victory. However, it was the one-goal games that made the difference and cost them in the end.

During the 7-series streak Detroit went 11-8 in games decided by one goal. Not a dominant stat, but again -- when coupled with results by larger margins, it makes for a pretty good Cup run.

Over the last 3 series the Wings have played they've gone 0-7 in 1-goal games.

How can you expect to win a series if you can't win a close game?

Red Wings' fans keep speaking of how undeserved the 4-1 result was but -- all officiating complaints aside -- the Wings couldn't hold their leads and they couldn't score late goals to win the close games. Against a team like San Jose, you can't expect to be smashing them by 3+ goals four times like you can with Phoenix [something which, I might add, I think the Wings were very lucky to do].

I don't know if it's a mental thing or not, but you can't blame an 0-7 run on luck nor can you blame it on the officials. In 2008, Detroit killed a late 5-on-3 powerplay for the Penguins to go on and win a close game to take a 3-1 series lead. That is what it takes to win a Stanley Cup. That's Championship grit.

San Jose is a team that looks like they might be showing glimpses of that kind of Championship grit. Lop-sided penalties aside, San Jose won four 1-goal games against Detroit. That's huge, and as a result, they took the series in only 5 games and await Chicago or Vancouver in the Conference Finals.

I remain optimistic things can change next April but if they don't, the results will be very much the same as they were this year.

One Step Closer; Wings 3, Penguins 1

I doubt it could be called "revenge", but the Red Wings gave the Penguins some minor payback from their last visit to the Joe. A visit which I don't remember so clearly.

Moving right along, the Wings have now taken 11 of the last 12 points they've contested for and continue to consolidate their place in the top 8 of the West. The big win over the defending Champs now gives Detroit a 4-point lead over Calgary, who sits in ninth. Both teams have 10 games to play in the season.

The first period began with an early powerplay, one of four that the Wings weren't able to convert on. The period progressed as a stalemate until Valtteri Filppula continued his fine form with a great toe-drag move to thread the puck through the legs of both Sergei Gonchar and Pens' goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury to take a 1-0 lead late in the 1st.

The second period was also tightly contested with both teams trading goals. Henrik Zetterberg rolled on with his hot-hand, backhanding a rebound off his own backhand attempt by Fleury before Pascal Dupuis cut the lead in half amid a goal-mouth scramble.

A delirious Red Wings audience watched Henrik Zetterberg solidify the lead with his 22nd of the season and they steadily headed to one of their strongest victories of the season with a 3-1 result.

As the final seconds ticked away, a beaten Sidney Crosby took out his frustrations on his opponent, Henrik Zetterberg, but the Red Wings wouldn't have it. Jimmy Howard even got involved as a fired-up squad in Red left the ice to an enraptured and energetic crowd, serenading the Pens' captain with chants of "Crosby Sucks!"

Wow Factor

Funnily enough, I think Pascal Dupuis' goal was one of the biggest positives of the game. Detroit seemed to respond to the challenge as they gave their talented opponents very little to work with and were determined to take full points.

Special Teams

Typically, for a Detroit Red Wings contest, not many powerplays were awarded. The Red Wings were unable to convert on any of their 4 chances, but gave the Penguins nothing on their sole PP, extending their streak of successful penalty killing to 9 games.

In Net

- Jimmy Howard stopped all but one of Pittsburgh's 27 shots on goal.

- Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves of 33 for the Penguins.

Next...

Detroit continues their 3-game home stand as they await the arrival of the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

The Pens Visit Detroit