2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Quarter-finals

Chris Osgood delivered another slap in the face to his critics and moved another step up the ladder among the elite netminders in Stanley Cup history, blocking all 25 shots he faced as the Detroit Red Wings blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 Saturday at Joe Louis Arena

The result gives Detroit a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference series and was Osgood’s 61st career Stanley Cup win, surpassing the total of legendary Toronto Maple Leafs puckstopper Walter (Turk) Broda, and advancing him to a tie for 12th on the all-time list with Tom Barrasso.

Broda was a five-time Stanley Cup winner and considered one of the greatest money goaltenders in hockey history, so moving past him was a moment three-time Cup winner Osgood treasured.

“I take pride in wins first, then shutouts,” said Osgood, who with his 14th career Stanley Cup shutout, joins Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek and Jacques Plante for fourth on the career list. In Stanley Cup history, only Patrick Roy (23), Martin Brodeur (22) and Clint Benedict (16) have hung up more zeroes.

“I’ve always taken pride in playing well in the playoffs - even in junior and coming up [through the minors] in Adirondack,” Osgood said. “I enjoy it. I think it’s a lot of fun. I love stepping on the ice. I can’t wait to play the next game. I just enjoy this time of year. I love playing at this time.”

Special Ed

For the second straight game, special teams told the story of the outcome. The Blue Jackets’ power play, an NHL-worst 12.7 per cent during the regular season, failed to register a goal during two early chances.

They are 0-for-7 in the series.

“The power play has been our Achilles all year,” Columbus captain Rick Nash said. “We’ve got to get it turned around. Special teams is what wins you and loses you games in the playoffs.”

Still, Nash felt much of the lack of success had more to do with how well the Wings are killing off infractions.

“They play solid defensively,” he said. “They’ve always got two guys on or around the puck. We’re getting chances early in the game, we’re just not finishing them. Osgood’s playing well, he’s hot right now. We’ve just got to stick with it and fight through it.”

Wing power

Meanwhile, Detroit scored three times with the man advantage on eight opportunities, as the Blue Jackets permitted the frustration of chasing the speedy Wings get to them.

“We took way too many penalties,” Columbus defenceman Mike Commodore said. “The cause of a lot of that is just not being able to execute. You turn the puck over, you’ve got to play defence more, there’s more chance that you’ll hook or hold. You get frustrated when things aren’t going your way. If we start moving the puck a little more and executing better, the penalties will go down.”

Columbus recognizes that they are playing with fire when they put Detroit into manpower advantages.

“We can’t take penalties,” added Nash. “That power play is so good. They’ve got so much skill. We’ve got to stay disciplined.”

Detroit coach Mike Babcock questioned the Blue Jackets’ desire to get into post-whistle altercations. “We scored three power-play goals,” he said. “Eventually, you’ve got to play.”

Little change

The Wings went with the same lineup that won Game 1, while after much suggestion he’d shake things up, the only switch made by Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock was to insert right-winger Derek Dorsett in place of Jared Boll. Afterward, Hitchcock felt the thing his team needs to alter most was their competitive edge.

“I think the difference in the hockey games was that they competed for longer minutes than we did,” he said. “We got 40 minutes out of our guys [Saturday] and they played flat-out for 60. Even if we played 50, it won’t be enough to beat this team. Are we going to do the things we need to do for 60 minutes?”

Beef stew
He doesn’t get the attention of some of the other fellows along the Red Wings blue-line, but Brad Stuart was a presence for Detroit in Game 2, registering an assist and supplying physicality in front of his own net.

“I thought Stewie was great tonight,’ Osgood said. “I thought he made a lot of good, solid plays in front of me clearing guys, clearing pucks, hustling back and breaking up plays. Tonight we played better than we did in the first game. We gave up less odd-man rushes and turned the puck over a heck of a lot less than we did last game.”