VANCOUVER 4, DETROIT 3 (OT): Mistakes, injury give Wings a bad aftertaste
VANCOUVER 4, DETROIT 3 (OT): Mistakes, injury give Wings a bad aftertaste
November 23, 2006
BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
They were upset about all three after swallowing a 4-3 defeat to Vancouver at Joe Louis Arena.
Johan Franzen went down hard in the first period after a collision with Willie Mitchell that grated on Dan Cleary, who together with Nicklas Lidstrom and Mathieu Schneider, scored for Detroit.
"I thought it was a cheap hit," Cleary said. "Franz is a big guy, but he went down hard. Willie Mitchell coming off a concussion like he is, and he is going out there like that, head-hunting, that stuff comes back to haunt you at the end of the day."
Asked about possible repercussions, Cleary was blunt.
"The only way to get back at him is to go and try and lay a hit on their good players, or Willie Mitchell," he said. "It just seems that Willie never goes in a corner first."
Coach Mike Babcock said early indications are Franzen is OK.
"The scan appears to be good, the MRI on his (left) knee appears to be good; obviously, that's going to have to be followed up," Babcock said. "It's an unfortunate thing. I just think you have to look after one another as athletes; I don't think you ever want to hurt anybody."
Former Wolverine Brendan Morrison beat Dominik Hasek five-hole with 1:59 left in overtime. Over the past three games, Detroit has lost in regulation and twice in overtime/shoot-out.
Wednesday night, though, the Wings rallied from Ryan Kesler's goal 18 seconds into the game to build a 3-1 lead after two periods.
"You go on the ice after two periods, to be up 3-1, you don't expect to lose the game," Hasek said after making 26 saves, 15 of them in the third period. "We made some mistakes and I tripped when they scored the third goal. Just a bad game."
The Wings were 8-0-0 when leading after two, but succumbed against the Canucks thanks to a Cleary turnover on Markus Naslund's goal and a two-man Canucks power play that led to Morrison's first goal.
"We had everything in control; we turn the puck over for their second goal and we turn the puck over for their eventual game-winning goal," Babcock said.
The Wings had taken a 2-1 lead when Franzen got hurt. Franzen had just dropped a pass when he was leveled in the jaw by Mitchell's shoulder; Franzen collapsed backward onto the ice, gloves flying off, where he lay for several minutes before being helped off.
"I know the feeling," said Mitchell, who was penalized for interference. "My history speaks for itself. I'm not a headhunter who plays dirty or anything like that. I like to compete and that's how I have to play. I'll take a look at it tonight and see how it transpired."
Overall, the game left the Wings with a bad aftertaste.
"We turned the puck over too much, took too many penalties, and it cost us," Cleary said. "We did it to ourselves, bottom line. No way we should lose that game."