February Game Threads

[slothfacekilla]

Larkin is on fire right now, scores another on the power play to open the game against the oilers

[gehringer_2]

Larkin on fire.

 

 

[lordstanley]

Larkin's on fire. Early 1-0 lead in Edmonton.

[slothfacekilla]

I love that we all had the same thought haha

[lordstanley]

Oilers TV says Raymond was looking pretty good walking around the tunnel today, as if he could be ready as soon as the next game.

[lordstanley]

Seider with a backhanded flip from an odd angle and it ends up in the net after it bounces off the shin of an Oiler defenceman. 2-0.

[gehringer_2]

Betuzzi with one of his classic stick in the lane pass break ups during one of his shifts. He's showing signs....

There was also a nice play by Ras where he erased an Oiler rushing down the boards.

OTOH, Veleno, continues to get rubbed out himself with his constant failed attempts to pass to himself along the boards past a defender. Wise up Joe, everyone has seen the move at this point, add something to your repertoire.

[gehringer_2]

Wings really on their heels in the 2nd so far. 

Veleno puts the puck over the glass for a penalty. I don't imagine either Vrana or Raymond coming back will be the occasion to bump Veleno out of his spot, but I wouldn't mind if it was.

[lordstanley]

The Wings are not playing two goals better than the Oilers tonight, but I will take the 3-1 lead midway through the 2nd.

[ben9753]

McDavid is pretty good. 

[buddha]

jack campbell showing everyone why the oilers wont win the cup this year.

[lordstanley]

The 2-goal lead is gone and the Wings are reeling. They need to get something out of this game. 

[lordstanley]

51 minutes ago, buddha said:

jack campbell showing everyone why the oilers wont win the cup this year.

Very true, and 4 goals allowed on only 19 shots. But big save on the Bertuzzi one-timer a few minutes ago.

[lordstanley]

High sticking penalty at worst possible time. Wings have killed first 56 seconds of it. 2 minutes left in regulation in tie game.

[lordstanley]

That was a pretty good PK. 

[lordstanley]

Four straight own-zone faceoff wins in final minute preserve at least a point. Off to OT.

[gehringer_2]

Seider shuts down McDavid on a break. No goals in OT.

I hate shoot-outs.

[lordstanley]

Wings win!  That was one of the most fun games of the season. 4 in a row.

[gehringer_2]

Seider getting a lot of post game love - and fully deserved, but Hronek with some strong play tonight also.

[buddha]

four points out of the playoff spot....with three games in hand.

[gehringer_2]

Just now, buddha said:

four points out of the playoff spot....with three games in hand.

and without Walman and Raymond. I think Bertuzzi has now pretty well shifted to the plus side of the ledger - he was forechecking like his old self tonight. If no-one else gets hurt the rest of the way they've got a decent shot.

[lordstanley]

17 minutes ago, buddha said:

four points out of the playoff spot....with three games in hand.

Yep, Wings and Sabres have almost caught Washington on a points % basis. 

 

[buddha]

i still think its fools gold, but they are playing better.

tonight was puck luck.  they got outshot 2-1.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

i still think its fools gold, but they are playing better.

tonight was puck luck.  they got outshot 2-1.

yeah - they 'should' have lost that game, and even the game the night before was not played nearly as lopsided as the score. Still - as Ozzie points out - the Wings defensive philosophy is to more or less give the other team the boards keep  but keep the center clear, which they do better than they used to. Sometimes the shot numbers they allow are not high quality. 

What does seem clear is that Lalonde has been pretty good so far - in the sense that this team does seem to win more than the sum of its parts - which I think is just another way to put your 'fools gold' observation. 

But the other obvious 'big' change is that Yzerman has increased the size of the team a lot and as a result even when they lose you don't see the Wings physically dominated by many teams anymore and just that greater size and strength has a background level positive effect on their ability to increase the work load on the other team and stay in games themselves.

Edited February 16, 2023 by gehringer_2

[buddha]

chairot has been an analytics disappointment, but he does bring size and physicality that this team desperately needed.