Detroit 4, Montreal 1 - recap
Idle thoughts after Tuesday night's win:
Great scene at the end, with Chelios saluting the fans as they gave him another ovation -- he was genuinely shocked by the standing roar he got from the Bell Center crowd in the pregame ceremony. His teammates got a kick out of it, too.
Datsyuk's goal-scoring slump sure seems like a distant memory, doesn't it? Two great wrist shots tonight -- both unassisted after he pounced on turnovers -- give him seven goals in his last five games. Afterward, Hasek said of Datsyuk: "He can do anything. I don't think his game has any weaknesses. He can shoot slap shots, wrist shots, backhand shots. He plays great defense. It doesn't surprise me that he can play this way. He's an unbelievable player, one of the top three probably in the NHL, in my opinion."
As for Hasek? Not much to go on in this one. He wasn't really tested much, and he traditionally owns this Montreal team -- shutouts in his two previous starts against the Habs. We'll have to wait to see if he gets the nod again Friday against Minnesota. Wings have nine games in a 15-day stretch coming up, so the good news for Babcock is he'll be able to get both Hasek and Osgood plenty of work without a lot of idle time.
Injuries? Maltby's a maybe for Friday -- he'll practice Wed-Thu and see how it feels. Sore today after practicing Monday, but that wasn't all that unexpected. Draper's still a week away, at least.
Montreal? Looks like the annual Christmas meltdown has arrived. That's a team in a real funk right now, and outside of Koivu I'm not sure the leadership's there to get things turned around anytime soon.
Another full house here tonight. Great atmosphere, as always. (At least until the home team gave up in the third period.) It's been too long -- last trip here for me was the infamous Patrick Roy meltdown in 1995. Had a good laugh about that game with Dandenault and Ken Holland before the game. "How many Cups do you think that game cost us?" Holland asked, only half-jokingly.
