Getting rebound is key
Holmstrom and Lebda to sit today
It is elementally simple: Get a shot on net and then pounce on the rebound. But while the Red Wings succeeded during Friday's practice in doing so, the bigger test comes today when they'll have to do it with Sharks on the ice.
The Wings are down, 1-0, entering this afternoon's Game 2 against San Jose, and any chance of drawing even depends on getting to Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
"That's what was missing, so we worked on that in practice, getting a shot and then going for the rebound," Dominik Hasek said. "It will be very important."
The Wings took many of their 34 shots in Game 1 from the outside, unable to generate enough speed to crash through San Jose's defense. Time and again, the Wings found the slot area clogged, and when they shot anyway, a Shark slid in front of the puck. There's not much guesswork involved in avoiding a repeat of that today.
"If someone is in the shooting lane, you don't shoot it," coach Mike Babcock said. "You pass it around. They did a good job -- they fronted the puck. When you think shot-blocking, you think of the forwards out in the lanes; it was the guys net-front fronting the pucks and knocking them down. We've just got to see through the coverage. No different than a quarterback does in football."
The Wings turned the puck over 11 times in the first period alone and 27 times total, compared with five times for the Sharks.
"Anytime you fail to execute and turn the puck over as much we did last night, the first thing you've got to do is you've got to give them credit," Babcock said Friday. "Second thing you've got to do is say, why did we turn the puck over in those situations? When you turn the puck over, you're caught on the wrong side and you're not coming with speed, and so that leads to not being on the inside."
The Sharks did a good job of separating the Wings' forwards from their defensemen, limiting Detroit's quality chances.
"We need everybody," defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "It's going to take four lines because they have four strong lines. So we have to get all the lines going for us offensively and just play with a lot more aggressiveness."
INJURY UPDATES: Forward Tomas Holmstrom didn't practice and he is nursing an eye injury expected to sideline him at least until Game 4. Defenseman Brett Lebda (sore right ankle) won't play today. "I think he's finding out that with an ankle injury, you don't come back as quick as you want," Babcock said. "Everyone else is playing." That everyone else, of course, doesn't include defenseman Niklas Kronwall. He is off crutches, but remains sidelined at least through mid-May by a fractured sacrum. The Wings will miss his open-ice hits and ability to move the puck in this series.
NOTEBOOK: Lidstrom turns 37 today. ... Babcock, on his mind-set after Game 1: "I'm not jumping off any bridge. I think we've got a real good team with a real good opportunity here. We lost one game."
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Holmstrom and Lebda to sit today
It is elementally simple: Get a shot on net and then pounce on the rebound. But while the Red Wings succeeded during Friday's practice in doing so, the bigger test comes today when they'll have to do it with Sharks on the ice.
The Wings are down, 1-0, entering this afternoon's Game 2 against San Jose, and any chance of drawing even depends on getting to Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
"That's what was missing, so we worked on that in practice, getting a shot and then going for the rebound," Dominik Hasek said. "It will be very important."
The Wings took many of their 34 shots in Game 1 from the outside, unable to generate enough speed to crash through San Jose's defense. Time and again, the Wings found the slot area clogged, and when they shot anyway, a Shark slid in front of the puck. There's not much guesswork involved in avoiding a repeat of that today.
"If someone is in the shooting lane, you don't shoot it," coach Mike Babcock said. "You pass it around. They did a good job -- they fronted the puck. When you think shot-blocking, you think of the forwards out in the lanes; it was the guys net-front fronting the pucks and knocking them down. We've just got to see through the coverage. No different than a quarterback does in football."
The Wings turned the puck over 11 times in the first period alone and 27 times total, compared with five times for the Sharks.
"Anytime you fail to execute and turn the puck over as much we did last night, the first thing you've got to do is you've got to give them credit," Babcock said Friday. "Second thing you've got to do is say, why did we turn the puck over in those situations? When you turn the puck over, you're caught on the wrong side and you're not coming with speed, and so that leads to not being on the inside."
The Sharks did a good job of separating the Wings' forwards from their defensemen, limiting Detroit's quality chances.
"We need everybody," defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "It's going to take four lines because they have four strong lines. So we have to get all the lines going for us offensively and just play with a lot more aggressiveness."
INJURY UPDATES: Forward Tomas Holmstrom didn't practice and he is nursing an eye injury expected to sideline him at least until Game 4. Defenseman Brett Lebda (sore right ankle) won't play today. "I think he's finding out that with an ankle injury, you don't come back as quick as you want," Babcock said. "Everyone else is playing." That everyone else, of course, doesn't include defenseman Niklas Kronwall. He is off crutches, but remains sidelined at least through mid-May by a fractured sacrum. The Wings will miss his open-ice hits and ability to move the puck in this series.
NOTEBOOK: Lidstrom turns 37 today. ... Babcock, on his mind-set after Game 1: "I'm not jumping off any bridge. I think we've got a real good team with a real good opportunity here. We lost one game."
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