Hockey Night in Canada's Scott Morrison delivers his insights into the world of hockey, on and off the ice.
Pens have a lot to think about
Comments (9)
Sunday, May 25, 2008 | 03:54 PM ET
By Scott Morrison
Sometimes it's not just winning that matters, it’s how you win.
The same applies to losing.
And both applied in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, which the Detroit Red Wings ultimately handily won, 4-0, over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This was a game, however, that was very much there for the Penguins’ taking through the first 20 or so minutes. They played well in the opening period and had six minutes and 11 seconds of power play time, even forcing Nicklas Lidstrom to the box. They had the good fortune of a phantom goaltender interference call, which negated a Red Wings goal and gave them a power play.
And what did they have to show for it?
Nothing.
After that, the Red Wings slowly took charge of the game, though after 40 minutes their lead was only a goal. But it was also clear who was in charge.
Detroit won more faceoffs and played keep away with the puck, controlling the tempo of the play. Eventually the supporting cast chipped in with goals, while they limited the Penguins to a grand total of seven shots over the final two periods. The Penguins also made a couple of glaring mistakes, a slow change and bad coverage, which led to two of the goals.
Oh, yes, the Red Wings scored twice at even strength, once on the power play and once shorthanded – a fairly well-rounded effort.
Put simply, after they weathered the storm created by the power plays in the first period, the experience and guile, puck control and depth of Detroit took over. They also got terrific goaltending from Chris Osgood.
Afterward, the Penguins admitted this was the best team they had played to date, but also argued they had played their worst. It could also safely be argued, however, that they played pretty well for a period, until the Red Wings wouldn't allow them to play well - especially Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who saw a lot of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk and Lidstrom.
But that's the thing with the Wings, their best players are also their best defensive players so they can handle any situation well.
In the end, after the first period, the gap between the two teams was huge and now the Penguins have lost a series opener for the first time and have seen another level of play.
Now, one game does not make a series, we all know that, but one game can give a team an awful lot to think about and in the case of the Penguins that likely would be, in part, that on the whole they'd rather be in Philadelphia.
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About the Author
Scott Morrison, the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fameís 2006 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, has been covering hockey for 25 years. The Toronto native began his career at the Toronto Sun in 1979. After spending more than 11 years as a hockey writer and columnist at the paper, Morrison became Sports Editor in 1991 and led the section to being named one of North America's top-ten sports sections in 1999 - the first sports section in Canada to receive the AP Sports Editors North American Award. Scott, a former two-term president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, joined Rogers Sportsnet in 2001 as Managing Editor, Hockey, and is currently both a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada and a columnist for CBC.ca.
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Comments (9)
Kristopher
Brian: Please, give me a break. Holmstrom doesn't "cheat", he plays the same game that Cicerrelli did back in the day. The call against him was questionable because, in all honesty, it didn't do much (if at all) to impede Fleury, who was nearly out of the crease during the play.
If anything, Holmstrom gets beat up with any sort of call more than any player in the NHL. The amount of cross-checks he gets for his position far outweighs the "cheating" (Seriously, is that the best word you can come up with? I suppose every guy who gets a penalty is a "cheater", then. We should probably take a few guys out of the Hall of Fame, then...) that he causes, along with the fact taht amount of goals that he gets "illegally" are offset by the amount that get called back for nothing.
Seriously, start watching the games. If he's a cheater, the guys who consistently mug him should be thrown out of the league.
Posted May 26, 2008 11:53 PM
ken
I have never in 40 years of watching hockey seen such terrible job of officiateing,as these last 2 games.You would think there was only one team on the ice.Its no wonder we cant get americans or eurupeans to watch our hockey.The officiating is a joke.The nhl said
2 years ago they were going to get rid of clutch aqnd grab hockey.The only thing keeping detroit in the playoffs is clutch and grab.We ought to have checks and balances with officials.We should also have analysts and color commentators with enough backbone to call whats really happening on the ice,if they called it interferance,clutching and grabbing all game long,it might force the nhl to take some meaningfull action.
Posted May 26, 2008 11:03 PM
Adom
um...Brian,
Can you please show me in the rules where it says that a stick between the legs of anyone is a penalty? If the stick was interfering with the goalie, it would have been a LEGITIMATE call. If the stick had tripped the goalie, it would have been a LEGITIMATE call. Unfortunately it was neither. Plus the fact that Flurry came out of the crease to Homer. Of course, the crease does not have a place in the rules anymore (it was for "foot" in the crease rules which do not exist anymore) but the refs do use it as a kind of guide. In other words, I don't think a ref will call goalie interference if the goalie comes out to center ice.
If Homer is guilty then he should be called, regardless if has "crossed the line" before. If we followed your "well he has done it before so no matter what he does he is guilty now" logic, we would have more people in prison that not in prison. If you are a judge, let me know where so I can avoid that place.
Posted May 26, 2008 07:08 PM
David Goulding
The hype, the setup, the best series the NHL could hope for and the first period was that, all of that. Exciting hockey good hits, great goaltending and fast pace. Then the big "but"...I think much has to be said about the Eastern vs Western Conference and how a dominating Pittsburg team could come into game one and quickly find themselves dominated. Detroit made the offensive, defensive, and goaltending stats that had shown parity melt like a Maple Leaf fan's late spring play-off hopes. Philly's win wasn't adversity this is adversity. The talent and youth of the Pens is now being tested let's see who the real superstars are. Personally I think Crosby, Malkin, Stahl and Hossa are going to rebound with a vengence and make this a series yet. Pittsburgh in 7!
Posted May 26, 2008 06:23 PM
DJD
Kamloops,BC
Sorry Brian,but it WAS a bogus interference call.If it wasn't for previous 'lobbying" it wouldn't even have been an issue.To disallow goals like that would negate half of them.(I am not a Wings/Pens fan,by the way)
Posted May 26, 2008 06:19 PM
Brian
Kitchener
"They had the good fortune of a phantom goaltender interference call"
um....Holmstrom's stick was between Fleury's legs. How is getting a LEGITIMATE call like that "good fortune"?
Holmstrom doesn't just walk a fine line, he's frequently over it and has been all season long.
He'll be spending a lot of time in the box if he keeps breaking the rules and attempts to "cheat" - as he SHOULD.
Posted May 26, 2008 04:27 PM
wingfan
I think it's time that people give credit where credit is due, the Wings are just the superior team this year. I'm really hoping for another sweep so I don't have to spend any more time listening to sorry excuses from the opponents and can make my plans to attend the victory parade in Detroit.
Posted May 26, 2008 03:47 PM
Dan McCarthy
The wings did play great but the Pens looked a littel like they did last year against the Sens, i thinkj they will snap out of it and play a more competetive game. Wings 6
Posted May 26, 2008 03:06 PM
earl wagner
I used to have a bumper sticker that read"Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill" The Penguins have met a whole new team and have their work cut out for them but do not underestimate the BIG RED MACHINE and also one game doesnot make a series. Am also a life long Red Wing fan.Instead of saying how poorly the Pens played,give credit where it is due.GO WINGS GO!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted May 26, 2008 10:36 AM