Wings short vs. Canucks
I went to bed right after Vancouver scored the 3rd goal. Hasuk was pissing me off & I was tired.
Wings short vs. Canucks
March 18, 2007
BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The derisive "Ha-sek, Ha-sek" chants bestowed upon Dominik Hasek by gleeful fans during the second period Saturday night at GM Place were misguided; he was, if anything, the reason the Canucks weren't ahead by a handful of goals by that point.
In a game where they seemed to spend every other shift short-handed through the first 40 minutes, the Wings relied heavily on Hasek to give them breathing room against a hard-skating, hard-charging opponent, but the Canucks haven't ascended their division by fluke. They took a two-goal lead into the third period and staved off sporadic attacks to win the game, 4-1, using an empty netter to secure the season series, 3-1.
The loss, combined with Nashville's victory over Dallas, dropped the Wings one point behind the Predators in the Central Division race.
Hasek had faced 33 shots after 40 minutes, nearly 10 more than opponents have averaged all season in entire games.
That the Wings escaped the first period, 1-1, had everything to do with their penalty killers and Hasek; together, they held the Canucks at bay during five power plays. They had just killed off number three when Bryan Smolinski maneuvered the puck behind Detroit's net before sneaking out front and angling a backhand deep into the far corner. It was Hasek's only blemish during an 18-shot barrage. His counterpart, Roberto Luongo, saw a much more manageable nine shots in the first 20 minutes, and it was, of course, Pavel Datsyuk who managed to sneak one by him. The Wings were enjoying a full minute's worth of a two-man advantage when Datsyuk scored on a wrist shot to extend his point streak to a career-tying 10 consecutive games.
Continuing a furious pace in the second period, the Canucks grabbed a 2-1 lead at 10:58 when Lukas Krajicek fired a shot over Hasek, who had sprawled across the goal line to stop Daniel Sedin's wrap-around attempt, and Brendan Morrison beat Hasek stick-side on an odd-man rush with Matt Cooke.
Wings short vs. Canucks
March 18, 2007
BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The derisive "Ha-sek, Ha-sek" chants bestowed upon Dominik Hasek by gleeful fans during the second period Saturday night at GM Place were misguided; he was, if anything, the reason the Canucks weren't ahead by a handful of goals by that point.
In a game where they seemed to spend every other shift short-handed through the first 40 minutes, the Wings relied heavily on Hasek to give them breathing room against a hard-skating, hard-charging opponent, but the Canucks haven't ascended their division by fluke. They took a two-goal lead into the third period and staved off sporadic attacks to win the game, 4-1, using an empty netter to secure the season series, 3-1.
The loss, combined with Nashville's victory over Dallas, dropped the Wings one point behind the Predators in the Central Division race.
Hasek had faced 33 shots after 40 minutes, nearly 10 more than opponents have averaged all season in entire games.
That the Wings escaped the first period, 1-1, had everything to do with their penalty killers and Hasek; together, they held the Canucks at bay during five power plays. They had just killed off number three when Bryan Smolinski maneuvered the puck behind Detroit's net before sneaking out front and angling a backhand deep into the far corner. It was Hasek's only blemish during an 18-shot barrage. His counterpart, Roberto Luongo, saw a much more manageable nine shots in the first 20 minutes, and it was, of course, Pavel Datsyuk who managed to sneak one by him. The Wings were enjoying a full minute's worth of a two-man advantage when Datsyuk scored on a wrist shot to extend his point streak to a career-tying 10 consecutive games.
Continuing a furious pace in the second period, the Canucks grabbed a 2-1 lead at 10:58 when Lukas Krajicek fired a shot over Hasek, who had sprawled across the goal line to stop Daniel Sedin's wrap-around attempt, and Brendan Morrison beat Hasek stick-side on an odd-man rush with Matt Cooke.