Detroit Red Wings: Round 1 Game 1 - DaViDaKiiS's Dynasty

DaViDaKiiS's Dynasty Blog

Detroit Red Wings: Round 1 Game 1

Posted on March 31, 2013 at 10:12 AM.

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Davidakiis' Detroit Red Wings
Be a GM
Season 1:Playoffs-Round 1- Game 1

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RED WINGS VS WILD
WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINALS

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Series Preview

Minnesota (7) will face Detroit (2) in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Minnesota won the season series 3-1, but they found themselves routed in the most recent meeting by a score of 10-1. Both teams relied on All-Star goaltending as Niklas Backstrom and Jimmy Howard are both Vezina trophy finalists.
Zach Parise led Minnesota with 78 points in 82 games. Dany Heatley had a team leading 35 goals. The Wild have 4 players over 60 points. (Parise 78, Heatley 69, Koivu 64, St. Louis 62)
Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg both had 95 points this season. They had 6 players over 50 points and 11 double-digit goal scorers.

Players to Watch

For Minnesota, Martin St. Louis will be a player that the Red Wings have to look out for. Part of Tampa Bays cup winning team in 2003-2004. He is poised to have a large contribution if the Wild are to be successful in the postseason.
The Detroit Red wings dark horse coming into the post season is Patrik Elias, the 2nd liner had 59 points this season and has 125 points in 162 career postseason games. Mikhail Grabovski and Damien Brunner are making their 1st NHL postseason debuts.

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GAME 1

SOLID TEAM EFFORT GIVES DETROIT A VICTORY

In the 1st period, the series was as advertised, and the Goalies were supreme. Niklas Backstrom and the Wild killed of a long 5-3 Powerplay, but could not capitilize on their own powerplays. Darren Helm scored with 38 Seconds remaining on a breakaway which he beat Backstrom 5-hole to Give Detroit a 1 goal lead going into the second.
Detroit gave themselves breathing room in the 2nd as Patrik Elias scored on 2 on 1 break and then Mikhail Grabovski scored his first NHL Postseason Goal on the powerplay with just over 10 minutes remaining. Detroit would hold that lead despite getting outshot 7-1 until the intermission.

Early in the 3rd Jordin Tootoo and Kyle Brodziak dropped the gloves and quickly after Detroit's lead was cut to 2 as Martin St. Louis scored to make it 3-1. Mikhail Grabovski, seconds after a DET powerplay ended, took a one-timer from the right circle and restored the 2 goal lead. Detroit would not give up another as they take a one game series lead with a 4-1 victory.

Apr 16, 2012	1	2	3	F
MIN (0-1-0)	0	0	1	1
DET (1-0-0)	1	2	1	4

Three Stars
	MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI - C - DET 2 Goals, 2 Shots, +1
	JIMMY HOWARD - G - DET 26 Saves on 27 Shots, .963 SV%
	HENRIK ZETTERBERG - LW - DET 2 Assists, 5 Shots, +1, Hit

Team Stats Comparison
	MIN	DET
Shots on Goal	27	33
Hits	26	29
Faceoffs Won-Lost	42-48	48-42
Penalty Minutes	21	13
Power Plays Converted	0	1
Power Play Opportunities	4	5
Time on Attack

Scoring Summary
FIRST PERIOD
DET	19:22 DARREN HELM (1), (D. BRUNNER, D. CLEARY)
SECOND PERIOD
DET	1:59 PATRIK ELIAS (1), (V. FILPPULA, K. QUINCEY)
DET	9:32 MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI (1), (H. ZETTERBERG, P. DATSYUK)
THIRD PERIOD
MIN	10:15 MARTIN ST. LOUIS (1), (Z. PARISE, M. KOIVU)
DET	14:02 MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI (2), (H. ZETTERBERG, K. QUINCEY)