The defending Stanley Cup champions, the
Detroit Red Wings, were pushed to the brink of elimination last night
at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. Ironically, with a team largely
built around speed and finesse, it was a role-playing grinder who
turned out to be the hero.
Canada’s own Dan Cleary came through, scoring a tiebreaking goal
with 3 minutes left that lifted Detroit to a 4-3 win on Thursday night
that sent the 11-time champs to the Western Conference finals for the
third straight year.
And rather than rolling with the bounces – most of which have gone
Anaheim’s way throughout the series – the Ducks did what they do
best…whine and complain.
took a 1-0 lead late in the first when Jiri Hudler re-directed a pass
from Johan Franzen, shelfing it over Hiller’s shoulder. The goal was
helped in part by a stupid Ryan Getzlaf penalty, one of two key minors
he took.
in the second, with the momentum on Detroit’s side, the speedy Darren
Helm picked off a Teemu Selanne pass and was off to the races, beating
Hiller on the low-blocker. Helm, playing in only 7 games this season,
was a minus-2, whereas in the playoffs, he’s already recorded 4 goals.
After the Ducks broke the donut, Mikael Samuelsson eventually slid
one under Hiller after Valtteri Filppula broke away and kept with the
puck. Dastyuk eventually followed, also recording an assist on the play.
Anaheim would add two more, tying the game at 3. Cue the heroics.
With 3 minutes left on the clock, Detroit began pressuring once
again. With Henrik Zetterberg behind the net, he shoots in front of the
net, where Cleary taps it down. As the puck falls, it lands behind
Hiller, who at this point, is unaware of the pucks’ whereabouts.
Cleary’s attempt to poke the puck through ended up pushing Hiller’s pad
backwards, who incidently knocked the puck into his own net, giving
Detroit the series-winner. Talk about a thriller.
fact that throws most fans is that most teams defending the Cup rarely
make it to the final four – and in some instances, don’t even make the
playoffs at all.
Before Detroit did it, Colorado was the most recent NHL team to
reach the conference finals after hoisting the Cup. The Avalanche lost
to Detroit 7-0 in the deciding game in 2002.
Once again, Detroit outshot Anaheim 40-27. Much credit is due to
netminder Jonas Hiller, who turned aside 36 shots in the defeat against
the NHL’s most potent offense. The Ducks, though, showed a lot of
resolve to make Game 7 necessary, and to give Detroit all it could
handle.
Detroit, however, deserves all the credit in the world. They killed
off two 5-on-3’s against a very good offense, something a regular team
is simply not capable of. Ultimately, they killed off 4-of-5
powerplays, thanks in large part to offensive stars such as Zetterberg,
Franzen and Rafalski blocking a ton of shots.
The Red Wing offense saw a familiar method last night, as well. Two
of Detroit’s four goals (the other two were scramble plays off of
turnovers) were scored using cross-ice passes. Take, for example,
Henrik Zetterberg going cross-ice to Franzen, then to Hudler for the
first goal of the game.
Aside from Detroit’s unmatched skill and preparation, lady luck may
also have been on the Red Wings side. It was the 7th game 7 played at
Joe Louis Arena, the last one being 7 years ago where they scored 7
goals in a 7-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Nonetheless, they have
been impressive – returning to the Western Conference Finals in a
salary cap era is something to marvel.
From a fan’s standpoint, this series could provide nothing more. It
was exciting, intense, competitive, and incredibly entertaining. And
not just this series – the Hurricanes and Bruins series was
spectacular, and the Penguins and Capitals – er, Crosby versus Ovechkin
– was a media dream come true.
This series, at the very least, was intensity city – five games were
decided by a goal, including Game 2 in triple overtime. This series had
everything – big hits, big goals and big saves.
Detroit will host the Blackhawks in Game 1 on Sunday, matching up
the Original Six teams in the playoffs for the first time since the
conference finals in 1995.
The Red Wings have advanced to at least the conference finals eight
times in the last 14 seasons, winning the Cup in 1997, 1998, 2002 and
2008.