Aint no Island like a long Island

[yave1964]

Random thoughts on the Wings 5-0 victory over the Isles today.

 

  Jimmy Howard after being given two games off came back strong with a shut out today. Best game in net for him this year, the Isles were sharp at times and he turned away all shots fired his way.

  Darren Helm with two goals (including a shorty that will be in highlight reels for quite a while) and had a great game, wow has he been amazing since returning, better than expected, better than we had a right to hope.

  Gus had another goal and just missed on another. Same of what I said about Helm applies to him, 4 goals in 5 games since his call up, on his goal he was so far ahead of Zetterberg, Gus and Franzen leaving Z in the dust. I don't think I have seen that much ever.

  Brendan Smith was solid, he is finally going with solid smart breakout passes to get the offense going instead of pushing it safely up the boards. Since coming back from his injury he is a different player, FINALLY he seems to be getting it. Stil he got no special team ice time which I felt was curious.

  Nick Kronwall had two assists. In fact on all five Wings goals a defenseman had an assist. That is Wings Hockey.

Alfredsson had two goals and an assist and was plus 4, a nice week tonight.

  I thought the best line for the Isles was their fourth line of Clutterbuck, Matt Martin and Regin who played a tight checking game, Martin hit everything that moved. Other than that line not much impressive went on today for the Isles.

  This could have been a trap game with Sundays game coming up in Ottawa as Alfie returns home, and Pavel was still out. Instead they played a perfect game for the second game in a row. Now on to Ottawa for Alfie to have his homecoming. Oughta be interesting.

 

[SpikeDDS]

Jimmy Howard after being given two games off came back strong with a shut out today. Best game in net for him this year, the Isles were sharp at times and he turned away all shots fired his way.

 

Agree. He made several very good saves, particularly against the Tavares line, I thought. Jimmy Bedard sure is an excellent goalie coach. Give him a couple extra days with Jimmy, and look what you get.

 

Darren Helm with two goals (including a shorty that will be in highlight reels for quite a while) and had a great game, wow has he been amazing since returning, better than expected, better than we had a right to hope.

 

I've been both a critic and a praiser of Babcock, but I have to give him this: he kept saying what a difference it would have made if Helmer was in the lineup versus when he was out. If these 7 games are any indication, he knew better than we did how much Helm mattered in the scheme of things. I HOPE that Helm is able to continue scoring like this, but I don't expect this pace to continue. But remember that he generated that BEAUTIFUL goal off the PK. He changes our PK and makes it dangerous. We haven't had too much threat with SH goals while he's been out. Teams will now take note, and they will have to play more careful.

 

You also have to appreciate the EFFORT and the ENERGY that he puts on display, along with Tatar and Nyquist. This is getting VEEERY interesting now. And we're still without Pav! I just hope that they don't go back to relying on Pav and Z for offensive chances when he returns.

 

Gus had another goal and just missed on another. Same of what I said about Helm applies to him, 4 goals in 5 games since his call up, on his goal he was so far ahead of Zetterberg, Gus and Franzen leaving Z in the dust. I don't think I have seen that much ever.

 

It isn't that Z is playing badly. It is that others have found "inspiration?" and energy and are starting to play with the same confidence he and Pav do. If that continues, WATCH OUT! Franzen played well yesterday again defensively, even though he didn't contribute too much to the scoring, and that is significant. If he can continue to do that, we are a much better team. The sabbatical on not calling him "Mule" will have to be dropped if he keeps playing like this. 

 

Brendan Smith was solid, he is finally going with solid smart breakout passes to get the offense going instead of pushing it safely up the boards. Since coming back from his injury he is a different player, FINALLY he seems to be getting it. Stil he got no special team ice time which I felt was curious.

 

It's only been a couple of games, but you are correct. He needs to continue to do what he is doing. He had 2 solid assists and that pass to Alfie was a beauty, eh?

 

Nick Kronwall had two assists. In fact on all five Wings goals a defenseman had an assist. That is Wings Hockey.
Alfredsson had two goals and an assist and was plus 4, a nice week tonight.

 

And did you see his hit on (I think it was) Tavarres? Seemed like he got the worst of it, but he just hasn't been doing that lately. He's starting to look like himself again. We need him that way. I think E's development and stability has helped him. E's really stepped up this season. I don't know why Kronner's game dipped like it did. I suppose all players go through these kinds of lulls, but good players get through them and keep playing. He needs to keep playing now, and not let up.

 

I thought the best line for the Isles was their fourth line of Clutterbuck, Matt Martin and Regin who played a tight checking game, Martin hit everything that moved. Other than that line not much impressive went on today for the Isles.

 

I thought that line was the most surprising, but I think Tavarres' line, particularly in the 1st was dangerous. Howie shut them down very well. But they were knocking on the door several times this game. Of course, you would expect them to though.

 

Two games is good, but it is just two games. This play that we have seen needs to continue. The speed we are generating is definitely making a difference. Teams will eventually adjust if we keep having success with our lower lines. They will have to, so I expect the numbers will not stay like they have here lately. But at the same time, that will simply open up further opportunities for the top line to do its damage. This really does create trouble for other teams defensively. Lately, that "trouble" has only been theoretical trouble, because rarely have the 2nd, 3rd and 4th liners stepped up to score consistently. If we can keep this up, this makes us a threat against any team. And if we continue to play defense like we have these last two games, we are a SERIOUS threat! Our defense has been pretty good, although we've had a couple opposing players get some pretty good looks alone in the slot that Monster and Jimmuy have been able to stop. The speed we have up front now makes it easier to focus on cutting down those chances, which in turn allows us to look for opportunities to move the puck out of the zone early. This kind of stuff feeds on itself, and its been a while since we have really feasted like this.

[SpikeDDS]

Oh and one other thing: The line of Helm-Alfredsson-Abdelkader is really playing well lately. We didn't mention Alfie, but he had a great game as well. It is nice to see that he is really starting to find his place on this roster. It's different than it was in Ottawa, and he is starting to really show his value now. It's probably been coming, but now you are starting to see it on the ice more, which is usually how it happens with leaders like him.

[yave1964]

Oh and one other thing: The line of Helm-Alfredsson-Abdelkader is really playing well lately. We didn't mention Alfie, but he had a great game as well. It is nice to see that he is really starting to find his place on this roster. It's different than it was in Ottawa, and he is starting to really show his value now. It's probably been coming, but now you are starting to see it on the ice more, which is usually how it happens with leaders like him.

Ottawa scares me because they are the type of team that gets our goat, they forecheck and wear you down, our skill is peaking right now and going against their grit it will be a good game tomorrow. They got the better of us the first two times, though the truth is I thought we played a solid game when we lost last week and coulda. shoulda woulda won with a break or two. I am looking forward to seeing the Helm, Tatar, Gus Red Wings (Hopefully with Datsyuk Back) going against the Neil and Zack Smith Senators. Oughta be a great game.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

Datsyuk didn't make the trip. I don't think he is expected back playing until midweek.

[blocker]

Random thoughts on the Wings 5-0 victory over the Isles today

 

Ever been to a game in Nassau?   Kinda weird place.   What kind of dope throws ridiculously over-priced beer at the rink from a zillion rows back.   All that does is soak poor souls such as me who are sitting in front of these fools.   

 

It's a rum place.