| FINAL SCORE |
|---|
| 3-0 Wings |
| SCORING SUMMARY |
|---|
| 1st Period |
| No scoring |
| 2nd Period |
| Johan Franzen(1) from Jiri Hudler(1) |
| 3rd Period |
| Henrik Zetterberg(1) from Pavel Datsyuk(2), Dan Cleary(1) |
| ENG Pavel Datsyuk(1) from Dan Cleary(2), Ty Conklin(1) |
| GOALTENDING STATISTICS |
|---|
| Ty Conklin: 29/29, 1.000SV%, 0.00GAA, Shutout |
| Semyon Varlamov: 36/38, .947SV%, 2.00GAA |
The Avs retired Peter Forsberg’s number tonight. Despite playing the brightest moments of his career for the Avs he still found a way to be one of the most complete players to ever play the game. The guy was a rare player, offensively skilled and remarkably physical. And considering such a momentous occasion one would expect the young Avs to start the game with extremely high intensity – and they did they ever. The Wings did a very nice job weathering that initial storm and bring the tempo of the game back down. The Avs blew their load early and the Wings capitalized like a veteran team tends to.
The Wings looks strong in every aspect of the game. Offense was fluid with nice pinches by the defenseman. The Defense was solid with strong back checking and responsible defensive zone play. The only fault I saw was again there was an instance on the penalty kill where 3 Wings were found in the same corner. Every time I see that it scares the crap out of me.
Johan Franzen did a fantastic job redeeming himself tonight. He was playing hard all game long and was rewarded with the first goal on a bomb of a shot. I would keep an eye on him in the next game as he generally plays well against the Avs. I’m sorry but I can’t give him the benefit of the doubt yet.
Jonathan Ericsson looked very solid again. He’s starting to use his size to shut down opposing players and it’s about GD time. His pinches in the offensive zone are no longer costly as he is hustling back immediately after. If Rig can keep playing like he once again has a bright future ahead of him.
Valtteri Filppula was magic again. Sadly he hasn’t found the score sheet yet but he keeps doing all the little things very well. His play to stop an Avs breakaway was remarkable.
I can’t stop being impressed by Ian White. To me he looks like a much better hockey player than Brian Rafalski was the last two seasons. I’m amazed he has had to float about the NHL. He has a good shot, makes good passes, and plays decent defense. Not to mention the big hip check he got in.
I’ve also been impressed by the defense as a whole. They look much, much better when compared to the past two years. It appears Brad McCrimmon was a serious problem because the new coaching staff has this D looking like the shutdown Wings of old to start the season. I think Mike Commodore is going to have a hard time getting back in to the defensive rotation with how well the current group is playing.
Conks is Magic. So happy to have him back
Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images
