Hasek, penalty kill aside, expect to see changes

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Other than Dominik Hasek, who is coming off a self-described "great performance," the Red Wings easily assessed what they have to do better tonight in Game 2 against the Ducks.

"Everything," Todd Bertuzzi said Saturday, "everything. We can play a lot better -- we didn't play our best in Game 1, and that's the best part of it; that we didn't play our best and we still came out with a win. I don't think we were that quick and we didn't do the things we planned to do."

There was a general consensus among the skaters they didn't have their legs going enough. That explains some of the 11 penalties they took and how the Ducks were able to rack up so many big hits.

"We were kind of slow," Johan Franzen said. "If you have your speed up, they can't hit you."

The Wings pointed to the four days between finishing their second-round series and the start of the Western Conference finals as a culprit. But the Ducks had a week off and didn't seem to have the same problem with their legs. Anaheim's downfall was the tremendous job done by the Wings' penalty killers. They went 7-for-7 and killed off a nearly two-minute stretch of a two-man Anaheim advantage early in the first period of Friday's 2-1 victory. That naturally got the Ducks' attention.

"I think the big thing is moving it around a little crisper, a little quicker," Chris Pronger said of Anaheim's power play. "Last few games, we've been holding on to the puck a little too long. That allows the box to recover and allows the goalie obviously to get set. The other critical point is getting good traffic in front so he can't see the shots. Hopefully we can do that a little better in Game 2."

The Ducks don't have anyone with the net-front presence of Tomas Holmstrom, but they did a better job than either the Flames or Sharks did against the Wings in crashing around Detroit's crease. Hasek said he got an elbow to the head from Andy McDonald, and Hasek did seem to get knocked down more than during any of the first 12 games of the 2007 playoffs.

"Definitely, most traffic I've probably seen this year," Hasek said. "Once in a while, they even bump into me, but it's part of the game, part of the playoffs, and I cannot pay too much attention to it. I need to focus on the puck and let my teammates do the job in front of me.

"We were talking about it already in the locker room and we believe we have to put more pressure on their defense. We didn't skate as well as we did before and we didn't spend enough time in their zone, so even if we won the game, we believe it wasn't our best game."

The Ducks got 32 shots on Hasek -- 14 in the third period -- and that's the first time any playoff opponent has topped 28 shots on net. The Wings, in turn, didn't make it nearly hard enough for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who saw 11 shots the first two periods and 19 total. Part of that is the toll paid by spending so much time killing penalties, and part of it is the skating factor. But on the whole, the Wings didn't test Giguere enough.

Both goals they scored were a result of Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin touching the puck last, either deflecting it in off his leg or taking a swipe at the puck in the crease on the game-winning goal.

"I think we have to have more puck control in their zone," Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We didn't spend too much time in their end, which will help us get some scoring chances, help us get more shots to the net. I think that's something we have to work on for Game 2. Really hang on to the puck down low a lot more, really take it to the net a lot more than we did."

 

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Is Penner the next Homer? Perhaps

Ducks forward Dustin Penner could one day earn mention as a great net-front player in the NHL like Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom.

"With Dustin Penner, I think that is one of the areas that he will continue to make a living at, is in front of the net," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "As I said, I don't think it's a natural talent that Holmstrom possesses. I think it's because of his work of practice, practice, practice and continually staying with that, tipping pucks in front of the net.

"We try to make sure that all our players are aware of the success these individuals do get by spending time on those types of things.

Penner, 24, is 6-foot-4, 245 pounds. Holmstrom, 34, is 6 foot, 202 pounds.

"Dustin Penner is a different animal," Carlyle said. "He controls the puck down in the corners. From the blue line in, he's a much more, I would say, aggressive player with the puck, where Holmstrom is a guy that gives the puck and then goes to his area."

Penner said he's not trying to be the next Holmstrom: "I've asked Randy what type of player I should be like; his answer's always been Dustin Penner.

"Everybody has a toolbox. I'd like to be able to say I'm one of the top guys. I know I'm not anywhere near there yet. I'm working on it every day."

Penner said he was a "half wall guy, even in minors. I wasn't a net-front guy."

Penner scored 11 goals in his freshman year at Maine in 2003-04 and 10 goals in his first season with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks (AHL) in 2004-05. He had a breakout season with the AHL's Portland Pirates in 2005-06, scoring 39 goals and 84 points in 57 games and had four goals and seven points in 19 games with Anaheim.

He played in all 82 games this season with the Ducks and had 29 goals and 45 points. He has two goals and three assists in 11 playoff games.

COLLISION IN THE D: Late in the second period of Friday's 2-1 loss to the Wings, Ducks forward Corey Perry collided with Wings defenseman Chris Chelios at center ice. The collision seemed to take a toll on both players. Perry appeared to be upset at a perceived high stick by Dominik Hasek. As he chirped at the referee, he ran into Chelios, who didn't see him coming.

"I saw him at the last split-second and I didn't have time to react," Perry said after Saturday's afternoon skate at Joe Louis Arena.

Asked about the play on Saturday, Chelios said he hadn't seen any replays, but suggested to reporters that they watch the replay and form their own opinion.

"I've got my opinion," Chelios said.

What is his opinion?

"You watch the TV and figure it out," Chelios said.



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NOTEBOOK: Carlyle said the Ducks have to get more pucks on net than they did in Friday's 2-1 loss.

"We had 32 shots on net, but we missed, I think, 17," Carlyle said. "We had 17 opportunities where we shot the puck, directed it at the net, and we didn't get it there. That's a huge, huge stat for us."

 

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Line 'em up

As expected, the Ducks plan to use their checking line -- centered by Selke Trophy finalist Samuel Pahlsson -- against the Wings' top forward line of Pavel Datsyuk , Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom .

The Wings, with the last-change advantage at home, didn't spend much time worrying about matching lines, though Kris Draper 's line saw plenty of ice time opposite the Ducks' young "PPG Line" of Corey Perry , Dustin Penner and Ryan Getzlaf .

"That was his wish; wasn't my wish," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "I worked hard to stay away from that. We'll continue to do that. ... They have home-ice advantage. They have last change. But we're not afraid to change on the fly."

Said Wings coach Mike Babcock : "Seeing that Anaheim's really set on playing Pahlsson against Zetterberg, that's fine for us. They're going to have to do calisthenics like they did last night. When you win faceoffs like they did last night, you can get your matchup any time you want because you just get people on and off the ice."

Face the facts

Pahlsson, as the Wings were well aware, is one of the better faceoff men in the league. And he had another good night Friday, winning 10 of 15 draws, including six of eight against the Wings' Robert Lang . The Wings' Kris Draper (60.4 percent in the playoffs) also had the upper hand, winning 10 of 16, including six of eight against Getzlaf.

For the game, it was a virtual draw, with the Wings winning 51 percent of the time. But on the road, that's a victory of sorts for the Ducks as they try to get away from favorable matchups on the ice.

"I thought they did a real good job of that," Babcock said. "They'll continue to if we don't do a better job in the faceoff circle. If you win faceoffs and get on top of them, obviously you can't be playing out there with two defensemen and six guys changing, three coming on and three coming off."

Whistle-weary Wings

Neither team was thrilled with the way the game was called. Veteran referees Don Koharski and Paul Devorski whistled 19 penalties in all and awarded 11 power plays in the game -- seven for Anaheim. Twice, the Wings found themselves with just three skaters on the ice as a result of penalties.

"Right away in the game, we took penalties for whatever reason," Babcock said. "Any way you look at it, which puts you on your heels and gives them momentum. As much as you killed them, it's wearing people out and other people aren't getting on the ice.

"We've got to do a way better job of staying out of the box, getting on top of their 'D', spending time in their zone, and spending more time at their net."

The Wings' top four defenseman all spent more than four minutes in shorthanded situations in Game 1, led by Lidstrom's 6:25.

Last laugh?

A penalty -- and one that led to the winning power-play goal by Detroit -- ruined what was otherwise a terrific night for Getzlaf, the Ducks' budding star forward. There might not have been a more dangerous forward in Game 1 -- Zetterberg included -- as Getzlaf produced several scoring chances for Anaheim. He set up Chris Kunitz on the Ducks' lone goal, played 21:57 -- most of any forward -- and finished with four shots on goal and four more that missed the net, including one that rang off the crossbar.

But his retaliatory slash late on defenseman Brett Lebda in the third period handed the Wings a power-play chance they made good on, as Nick Lidstrom 's point shot bounced off Tomas Holmstrom and rolled into the net.

Said Getzlaf: "I took a stupid penalty. It's something I've got to take responsibility for."

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle wasn't happy with Getzlaf or the penalty on that play.

"It was a retaliation play that sometimes goes unnoticed, and tonight they called it," Carlyle said. "But he did slash the player after the player slashed his hands. It was like he got caught with his hands in a cookie jar."

Still, the Wings know they're going to have their hands full with Getzlaf the rest of this series.

"Getzlaf, he's a great player," Babcock said. "Let's not kid ourselves: He played a really good game last night. You know, it's always a fine line. As a player, you're always pushing it. If he takes that penalty and we don't score, it's nothing. If it scores, it becomes a focal point. There's no way to me I mean, every team in the league would love to have that guy, wouldn't they?"