Hockey Prime Time - Datsyuk Leads Wings to a Commanding Series Lead

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Datsyuk Leads Wings to a Commanding Series Lead

Written by DustinMorley

Monday, May 12 2008

The Dallas Stars came out flying and the Wings had to weather a storm for about the first ten minutes of the game. However they managed to come out of the storm with a 1-0 lead thanks to a nice backhander by Datsyuk. Then Dallas caught Detroit’s third defense pairing and a combination of their third and fourth lines in the Wings’ zone thanks to McCarty being unable to clear the puck and scored regaining all the momentum. However, Datsyuk became clutch and scored 37 seconds afterwards. It really doesn’t get any more clutch than that. Being able to respond to a momentum shift by scoring a goal of their own may have been the difference between a Wings blowout scoring wise and a Stars’ win. Detroit really never allowed Dallas to build off of their momentum and that is the sign of a great team.

The first two periods of that game were exactly the type of hockey that was expected from this series from the get-go. It was good, physical hockey being played. In fact, Dallas ended up with 47 hits. Also, in general the refs did a good job this game. However in the end it looked as if the Wings just wore down the Stars. Zetterberg’s shorthanded goal was what really put the nail in the coffin.

Before I start getting all slaphappy over the Wings, I have to give the Stars some credit. Brendan Morrow is a true warrior. Something has to have happened to his arm when he missed his hit and fell awkwardly to ice landing on his arm and bending it in a way that just doesn’t bend. Yet he was out there giving it his all a few shifts later. Sergei Zubov continues to show why he is the most underrated defenseman in the league and has been for about a decade. And even though many of them left early, the Dallas fans are everything the Detroit fans aren’t. They went through periods where they simply wouldn’t sit down. I’ve been to one game in the playoffs this year and one last year and each time I felt like I was going to be yelled at if I remained standing for more than a minute due to the fact that everyone at that stadium is sitting unless there’s a goal.

As for the Wings, they have a commanding 3-0 series lead over Dallas now and unless the Stars plan on becoming the third team in history in the NHL to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win (which isn’t out of the question) Detroit will go on to the Stanley Cup Finals. I guess I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, there’s still hockey to be played in this series. Yet the Stanley Cup Finals are one game away so it’s hard to not get excited as a Wings’ fan right now.

Dustin Morley
Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
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Comments (8)

1. 05-12-2008 @ 23:01

Agreed

I think that the faceoffs help detroit dictate what they where going to do. As well the defense pairing of chelios and lebda seem to be very week. While them and the mccarty line where out the puck was dominated by the stars. Turco again kept the stars in the game who brought breat energy at the start, which proved osgood's con smyth efforts.

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Mike Hockey

2. 05-12-2008 @ 23:41

Faceoffs

Well said, Detroit's dominance in the faceoff circle is a major key to their success with their puck possession game. I don't have a problem with Lebda, but Chelios is getting much too old. He's become a hack and a liability for a penalty whenever he's on the ice. It pains me to say this, but I hope he hangs up his skates this year. As for Turco, I wouldn't say he was the problem, but I don't think he was much help either. And Osgood really has been solid in net for the Wings. He's now 8-0 in these playoffs.

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DustinMorley

3. 05-13-2008 @ 07:50

Faceoffs

Great blog! It's really going to be hard for Dallas to rebound from this hole...But that being said, they're certainly a team that can rattle off some wins. Detroit's not out of the woods yet, but with the way they're playing, they're certainly as close as they can get!

I've gotta say, I've been a life long Wings hater, but this team is certainly making a fan out of me!

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bcbenzel

4. 05-13-2008 @ 09:23

bcbenzel

Thanks! It wasn't one of my best blogs, but I'm still getting the hang of how to lay them out and I was really tired. But I appreciate the words anyways!

As for the Wings, yeah they definitely are not out of the clear yet. It's hard to imagine this Detroit team losing four in a row, but it's not impossible. And glad to hear you're becoming a fan!

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DustinMorley

5. 05-13-2008 @ 09:27

bcbenzel

I was explaining this to one of my friends who was very disappointed to hear that I'm liking the Wings last nite...I think it's the fact that this team isn't the "we're better than you and we're just going to skate around you all night long" type team that the Wings have had in the past.

This team has that "we're better than you" attitude, but they're also not afraid to mix it up either...They've really impressed me a lot.

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bcbenzel

6. 05-14-2008 @ 00:00

Well Done

Well stated Justin. Enjoyed the read and what you had to say. Not sure what Dallas has left in the tank for tomorrow night's game, but I know they won't quit.

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blueline

7. 05-14-2008 @ 06:49

Tonight's Game

Hah it's Dustin - but don't worry, my grandma still sometimes calls me Justin.

Tonight's game should be interesting, as Dallas knows what it's like to have teams still fight even when they're on the ropes. And like you said, they aren't going to quit which means this won't be a blowout.

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DustinMorley

8. 05-14-2008 @ 18:35

D vs J

Sorry Dustin. You know that I knew that, obviously. Plus, it's written above and I have it from previous contacts. I'm a poor typist and was going to blame it on just missing the "D", but I looked at the keyboard and realized that the "J" is four letters away from "D", so that shoots down that excuse. Guess it's a shot brain. Later buddy.

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blueline

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