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All Wings want for Christmas are goals |
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Maybe the Detroit Red Wings will find some goals under the tree on Christmas Day.
A team that not so long ago was lighting the lamp at a terrific pace, the Wings counted just once in Friday’s 2-1 setback against the New York Islanders at Joe Louis Arena, the fifth straight game in which they’ve scored two or fewer goals. Not surprisingly, Detroit is winless (0-2-0-3) in those games.
“Right now we’re not scoring enough goals to win games, so we need to get in front of the net a little bit better, be stronger and win battles in their zone to get second and third opportunities,” said right-winger Gustav Nyquist, who leads the Wings with 14 goals, but hasn’t scored in the last three games.
“We’ve got to get back to scoring more goals. One and two goals isn’t enough. We’ve got to figure out a way to score more goals.”
To Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall, the solution is a simple one.
“Again, we didn’t do enough to create things,” Kronwall explained. “We didn’t throw enough pucks in there. We’ve had that problem now for two games.
We’ve got to get back to doing what we did before. Throw more pucks in there, play a little more desperate and get back to our winning ways.”
Captain Henrik Zetterberg gave the Wings a 1-0 first-period lead with his first goal since Nov. 26, ending a 10-game drought. But he’s scored just twice in his last 20 games.
“You’ve got to find ways to get the puck there,” Zetterberg said of the opposition net. “It's not always from the blue line or the D. Maybe have to go back boards and find other ways to get the puck there.
“Once we did it, I think we had a lot of second chances. I think we can be even better to be there on the second efforts.”
Howard Hurt
Detroit also lost No. 1 goalie Jimmy Howard, who left after the first period with an undisclosed lower-body injury and minus a diagnosis on how long he might be on the sideline.
“He’s hurt,” was all Detroit coach Mike Babcock offered the gathered media post game. Asked for an assessment on how long Howard could be out, Babcock smiled.
“Coach,” he said, pointing at himself. “Not doctor.
“The doctorate (McGill University) gave me is an honorary one. It doesn’t count.”
Petr Power
Minus Howard, the Wings turned to back-up Petr Mrazek and they liked what they got from the rookie netminder.
“Mrazek has been coming in and he’s played great every time he gotten the nod, so we feel real comfortable with him,” Kronwall said, a sentiment echoed by Nyquist.
“We trust in all our goalies here,” Nyquist said. “I think they’ve shown that throughout the whole season.
“Howie’s been great, Monster (Jonas Gustavsson) was great when he was in there and Mrazek’s been great since he came up (from AHL Grand Rapids to replace the injured Gustavsson).”
As a back-up goalie, like a reliever in baseball, Mrazek understands part of his role is to be ready whenever his name is called.
“You have to be ready all the time and that’s how the second goalie is,” Mrazek said. “They told me I was going in, so I just stretch out and get ready.”
Mrazek brought back memories of fellow Czech and former Wing Dominik Hasek when a couple of misadventures while handling the puck left him stranded away from his net.
“I like it when he handles the puck,” Babcock said. “I don’t like it when they’re shooting it at our net and he’s not in there.”
The players don’t mind covering for him on those rare occasions, because they believe he makes their lives easier via his strong puckhandling abilities.
“I think once it got maybe a little dangerous, but at the same time, he played the puck 10 times and helped us execute coming out of the D zone faster,” Nyquist said. “I think Mrazek’s real good playing the puck and we want him to do that, to use his abilities back there to be able to play it.”
A little miscue when he missed the puck isn’t about to quell Mrazek’s desire to come out and play the disk to safety.
“I try to hit it harder and I hit it wrong, but the guys did a great job there and they block it,” Mrazek said. “I was a little scared but that’s how hockey is.”
Mule Train
Healthy after a long bout of flu, Detroit forward Johan Franzen didn’t figure in the scoring, but did look a lot more like himself after a one-game absence.
“It was the best game he’s had in a long, long time,” Babcock said. “He had some energy and earned himself some more ice time so good for him.”
Franzen played 16:11, fifth among Detroit forwards, and collected two shots on goal.
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