Failing to score for the first time in a Stanley Cup series during his career as a Detroit Red Wing, captain Henrik Zetterberg was willing to shoulder the blame for the team’s playoff demise after Wednesday’s 2-0 Game 7 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
“I thought this year we had a good team,… Zetterberg said. “We had a good chance but unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.
“I look to myself. I couldn’t really produce the way I wanted to this whole series. No goals. With the amount of minutes I play, I should be able to score more goals.…
Skating against the NHL’s top-scoring regular-season team, the Wings knew they’d need to produce in the playoffs to survive and when it mattered most, they couldn’t muster up a single goal in Game 7.
“I think this year it’s lack of scoring,… Zetterberg said of the key element lacking from the team. “We have our chances but we can’t score. You have to score because you don’t get a lot of opportunities. Once you get them you have to score.
“Pavel (Datsyuk) scored, Tuna (Tomas Tatar) scored, Gus (Nyquist) scored. You know what? I didn’t get it done.…
Zero Sum It was just the second time in history that the Wings were blanked in a Game 7. In 1964, behind the shutout goaltending of Johnny Bower, the Toronto Maple Leafs blanked the Wings 4-0 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final at Maple Leaf Gardens.
“We played well, we played well and then the puck didn’t go in, and it went in for them,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
“They went to church. We must’ve missed Mass.…
Rookie goalie Petr Mrazek, who posted two shutouts in the series, was one save away from his third, with Tampa Bay’s other goal an empty-netter.
“Just the one goal,… Mrazek lamented. “That was the most difference. We had some chances. We couldn’t score. We didn’t have any bounces that went in. They scored one goal and we didn’t.
“We couldn’t get any bounce to the net. Just one goal difference make the series over for us.…
Defense Rests The concern heading into the game was that Detroit would be without defensemen Niklas Kronwall (suspended) and Marek Zidlicky (injured), but replacements Alexey Marchenko and Jakub Kindl stood up fine and weren’t the reason for the loss.
“They played great,… Mrazek said. “We didn’t give them many shots, many chances like we did the games before. They did a really, really good job for us.…
He was impressed that both could come in and perform in such a pressure-packed situation, especially Kindl, who was seeing his first action of the playoffs.
“It’s hard for players when you don’t play for a while and you come in for a playoff game,… Mrazek said. “I’m sure he was working hard, practicing hard and that made it easier.…
Jonathan Ericsson, who paired with Marchenko, was also impressed by the work of the duo.
“Marchy played the first few games and Kindl it’s his first game in the playoffs and they both did a really good job for us,… Ericsson said. “You could not have asked for anything else.…
Whither Babcock? With Detroit’s season done, speculation about the future of Babcock, whose contract is up, will ramp up.
“I haven’t thought about it to be honest,… Ericsson said. “That’s not my call.
“I can say he’s a really good coach so I’m sure a lot of teams want him. He’s been doing a really good job for us so far so why not (keep him)?
Zetterberg didn’t sound like a man who would be given any input into the ultimate call as to whether Babcock stays or goes.
“It’s not up to me, it’s up to the GM (Ken Holland) and him,… Zetterberg said. “I think they will talk.
“They’ve probably already started talking and we’ve just got to wait and see.…
Babcock deflected any discussion of his future when asked.
“Well I’m not talking about that now," Babcock said. "We’ll talk about tonight’s game.
"I think we’ll have a team meeting and final press conference. I’ll be happy to talk about any of that crap then.…
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