FRK IT!!

[yave1964]

Thoughts on last nights 4-2 Wings victory at the LCA over the Wild.

  Martin Frk was for much of the night our best forward at least in the offensive zone. His cannon was on display from the point both on the power play and 5 on 5 with other forwards crashing the net. Frk also hustled back into the defensive zone with his choppy style of skating, he was fun to watch. He was only 10th among forwards in ice time but he made the most of it. He is playing for his supper, for a chance to stay in the bigs and make some real money. Athanasiou needs to take notice.

  The Wild had not one but two goals waved off early when the Wings were a bit shaky. The first one clearly was in and the goalie interference was borderline but between the interference and the ref blowing his whistle it was probably the right call. The second one Granlund caught Howard in the head with an elbow a half a second before the puck got there and was absolutely the right call. The Wild had the Wings on the ropes for long stretches of the game but Howard was fantastic.

  The Wings defense did a poor job of clearing the front of the net, they also allowed the Wild forwards to set up behind the net all night and snipe out front. Both Wild goals came from that breakdown. Green was lights out offensively but the defense as a whole was pushed around quite a bit last night with IMHO Daley being the exception, he clogged the middle and made great outlet passes. Dekeyser too, I didnt really notice him much last night which is a compliment, he was steady allowing Green to roam which is his natural role. Having Daley in the mix means DK can play his natural style.

 Z with the GWG in the first game at the new barn, how apropos. Larkin and Mantha looked very comfortable together. Nyquist showed a burst. Tatar was invisible but that is Tats, boom or bust. 

 

  Good win but a little sense of proportion, we started 6-2 last year before it all fell apart. Long way to go.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

My first impression turning on the game was, "Holy cow! The place looks half empty!" LOTS of empty seats! What's up with that? I thought the place would be packed!

 

Let's give the PK its due--they turned this game around. Killing that 5-on-3 for 1:38 was HUGE! And then Frk and Green went to work on their PPs. Changed the whole game.

 

Yep, we know the D is gonna struggle, and to no one's surprise, it did. I agreed with both calls, but like you the first goal was questionable., What was stupid was the Wild challenging after the video review. As if they are gonna change their minds. Lost their timeout. Not worth the gamble. I was scratching my head at that one. No reason to burn your timeout just to say that you disagree with the call.

 

Frk got better as the game went along in my view. But AA still belongs on this team. Maybe when he comes around you send Booth down, but Frk sure did make the case that he belongs. Howard's comments about him post-game were very complimentary. When the goalies want to skate to the corner when he is shooting in practice, that's a good thing!

 

Dubnyk robbed Nyquist on what should have been a sure goal in the 1st. Hope Nyke overcomes that quickly.

 

Good to see Mantha score the first one. First of many, I hope. And very good that the first goal was a scrapper in front of the net by a guy who SHOULD be playing there and improving his net front presence as time goes by.

 

Glad to see a win for sure. Just thought more people would see it live.

[yave1964]

@SpikeDDS

 

Can the Wings contend for a bottom tier playoff spot this season? It is possible but it would take everything breaking right in the same way that pretty much everything went wrong last year. IMHO the keys are:

 

1)Mantha and Larkin taking it to the next level. With apologies to AA who I love he is what he is, a burner best suited to the third line and Frk, while I have been a huge fan of his for years because of his shot there is a reason he is fighting the label of a solid AHL player. Mantha needs 30-35 goals and Larkin needs to embrace the role as the teams much needed 2C. If those two things happen, the offense falls in place.

2) Zetterberg to play like he did last year. He was quietly brilliant, we need the same. Veteran forwards Nyke, Tats and Abby need to play like they are capable.

3) Jimmy Howard needs to stay healthy and play like he is capable night after night. I haven't given up on Mrazek quite yet but this is Jimmy Howards net.

4) the defense needs to find an identity. Kronwall was our second leading scorer from the blueline last year behind Green with a pathetic 13 points. We have to find some offense from the back end. Daley is a nice Swiss Army knife player who can fill any role from back there and a great signing but Jensen IMHO was a flash in the pan last year, Kronner and Big E are done and we need kids to step up. Fortunately there seems to be some hope around the corner in Grand Rapids in Hicketts, Saarijarvi and Hronek who are all skilled puck movers. I haven't given up on Sproul or Russo yet either although they may both be passed soon. And former first rounder Cholowski is back in college after a mixed bag in the preseason but showed flashes of brilliance. We need to hang on with the defense we have for now but hold them accountable because reinforcements are on the way.

5) finally the power play needs to be better than last year and last night was a great sign. Frk on the point looks brilliant, he just circles at the top waiting on the puck like a shark, Mantha is setting up in front of the net like Homer used to. This needs to happen all year long. Booming point shot and net front presence.

 

  Again, a bit of perspective, the Wild outplayed us for much of the night, they outshot us, won more faceoffs, outhit us 19-11 and we have 14 turnovers to their 5 but the Wild are also one of the top teams in the West so to be outplayed for large portions of the game and come out with a nice 4-2 victory is a nice boost.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I don't know what the Frk was up with Minnesota yesterday, but they started out like a house of fire, then fizzled out just as quickly.

 

The Wild traditionally have had trouble winning against Detroit on the road, but that was at The Joe....they were supposed to fare better at the new Pizza Factory.

At any rate, the Wild looked disheveled much of the night on defense and didn't capitalize on chances when they had them early on.

Disallowed goals didn't help.

 

Then we have Frk.

You KNOW you aren't doing well as a team when a guy with no vowels in his last name and only one syllable scores on ya....!

 

Congrats Detroit on christening your new home (surprisingly, many empty seats there though!), but the Wild should round into defensive shape as the season wears on, while the Wings may still struggle to find the post season.

 

No doubt though, the Wings played the better overall game than Minnesota did where it counted: on the scoreboard.

Sigh...Minny IS gonna miss Marco Scandella more than people think........

 

But for Frk's sake, Minny, ya GOTTA play better D than what was shown last night!

 

 

[yave1964]

9 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

I don't know what the Frk was up with Minnesota yesterday, but they started out like a house of fire, then fizzled out just as quickly.

 

The Wild traditionally have had trouble winning against Detroit on the road, but that was at The Joe....they were supposed to fare better at the new Pizza Factory.

At any rate, the Wild looked disheveled much of the night on defense and didn't capitalize on chances when they had them early on.

Disallowed goals didn't help.

 

Then we have Frk.

You KNOW you aren't doing well as a team when a guy with no vowels in his last name and only one syllable scores on ya....!

 

Congrats Detroit on christening your new home (surprisingly, many empty seats there though!), but the Wild should round into defensive shape as the season wears on, while the Wings may still struggle to find the post season.

 

No doubt though, the Wings played the better overall game than Minnesota did where it counted: on the scoreboard.

Sigh...Minny IS gonna miss Marco Scandella more than people think........

 

But for Frk's sake, Minny, ya GOTTA play better D than what was shown last night!

 

 

Scandella quietly killed penalties and settled things down when the other team was tilting the ice, agreed they are going to miss him. Foligno looked good and is a heavy hitting forward who can score a bit and is a nice addition but overall the trade made no sense to me from the Wild perspective.

  Good luck to your boys the rest of the way!