The Red Wings proved again in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final that they can always find the right replacment parts for injured stars.
DETROIT – They are a machine, but not the usual kind they build here in Motown.
The Detroit Red Wings can operate with most of their parts, still managing to motor along just fine without the odd key component, whether it be their leading scorer in Pavel Datsyuk, or the best defenceman in the world, six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom.
Take the drive train out of a Ford, and it just won’t run. Take Datsyuk and Kris Draper out of the Detroit lineup, and they still beat the Pittsburgh Penguins comfortably, cruising to a 3-1 win and a 1-0 lead in this 2009 Stanley Cup final rematch.
Did Pittsburgh let one get away? Consider this:
In 52 games played at Joe Louis Arena this season, the Red Wings have been outshot exactly six times. Pittsburgh did it Saturday — 32-30 — and still lost, a rare edge given away.
“We got stronger as the game went on,” said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. “But you’re playing a very good team. A team that can capitalize. They played from ahead a lot of the night. That’s a hard team to come back on.”
In a game? Or in a series?
Minus their leading regular season scorer in Datsyuk, the Red Wings got the insurance goal from their greenest rookie, Justin Abdelkader, who is only in the lineup because Kris Draper is injured.
Pittsburgh limited the Red Wings to a scant few scoring chances from in front of the goal. No problem — Detroit scored two from behind the red-line, with a Brad Stuart shot caroming off the boards and going in off of Marc-Andre Fleury’s butt, and Johan Franzen tossing a puck into Fleury’s feet, which the Penguins netminder kicked in neatly.
“I’ll watch the tape. See what happened,” said a befuddled Fleury, who fell flat on his keester as he charged on to the ice before Game 1 a year ago. This time, his keester had two assists in the series opener.
“They are quick,” he said of the live boards at The Joe. “They bounce a lot.”
Ya think?
All in all, there was much opportunity here for the Penguins in a game that wasn’t played at the lightning pace we had hoped for, yet they were unable to seize the moment. The odds say Pittsburgh won’t outshoot Detroit here again in this series, and history also tells us that the chances of them stifling the Detroit offence again in Game 2 the way they did Saturday are slim and none.
“Obviously you want to win,” said a combative Max Talbot, the Penguins winger. “But I don’t like when you say we won’t have a lot of these games. Maybe we have six of them? Why would you say that?”
Because we’ve seen Detroit play too many times.
In the faceoff circle, the Red Wings won a stunning 71 percent of the draws. Henrik Zetterberg went 15-for-20, while Sid Crosby won just six of 20.
Crosby played hard, but had just two shots on goal in 22:35 of ice time. His frustration came through with a healthy chop at Kirk Maltby late in the third.
“He was doing what he always does... giving guys lip service,” Crosby said. “I two-handed him on top of the foot as we were skating by. He felt like it was necessary to keep talking after the game, and I thought I’d whack him. That was it.”
What began as a perceived disadvantage for an older Detroit team — opening this series on back to back nights — has now perhaps swung in their favour. A series that was predicted to give fans a passel of tic-tac-toe goals produced more tic-tac-Schmo tallies in Game 1, as both teams played exceptional defence.
Pittsburgh squirted loose for three of the game’s best chances, but the terminally underestimated goalie Chris Osgood held the game at 1-1 in the second period, stopping Evgeni Malkin on a breakaway, Miro Satan in alone, and Bill Guerin from the net side.
Afterwards, he expressed empathy for Fleury and his bad bounces.
Not only do these Red Wings beat you, but afterwards they’ll commiserate with you about how tough your luck was.
“It can be frustrating,” Osgood said of the bad bounces. “I just try to get back to my post as quick as I can. Sometimes it’s just a matter of bounces — you hope it doesn’t bounce right on to someone’s stick.
“I know how he feels, trust me. It’s frustrating.”
Osgood does know how Fleury feels, coming into Joe Louis Arena, playing your butt off, and coming away with the ol’ ham sandwich.
Remember, he spent a couple of years in St. Louis. He’s visited here before himself.
