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Red Wings clinch President’s Trophy
By TonyH | April 4, 2008
Red Wings sealed the Presidents Trophy for the 6th time.
Wings clinch best record in dramatic fashion, nab Presidents’ Trophy again
BY GEORGE SIPPLE • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Johan Franzen didn’t get the game-winner this time, but his goal helped the Red Wings capture the Presidents’ Trophy for a record sixth time. No other club has won the trophy more than twice in the 22-year history of the award.
The Wings needed one point to capture home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, and Franzen’s power-play goal at 16:33 of the third period tied the game at 2.
The Wings didn’t have to worry about overtime, though. Henrik Zetterberg’s goal from behind the net with 12 seconds left gave the Wings a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Zetterberg fired the puck off the back of goaltender Pascal Leclaire’s leg.
“I saw him have trouble getting back and tried to hit him behind and it went in,” Zetterberg said. “It was nice to get that out of the way, home-ice advantage all the way in the playoffs. That is big for us.”
Not having to worry about winning Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Blackhawks is also a relief.
“Especially when San Jose is playing the way they were,” Zetterberg said. “Thank God we had a good run at the beginning of the year, when we had that slump in February. We still had the points to pull it off and win the Presidents’ Trophy.”
Pulling out a victory the way they did pleased Wings coach Mike Babcock.
“Things didn’t look very good there for a while, but guys stayed determined and found a way to get it done in the end, which is a real positive for us. Their goalie played really well.”
Leclaire finished with 36 saves for the Blue Jackets.
“I just think any time you can finish and have the opportunity to play in your building throughout the playoffs it’s a positive thing,” Babcock said of winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
“If actually the best teams finish higher than that it means you’re putting off the best teams longer,” Babcock said. “Now to me, anybody that gets in the playoffs in the West is the best team. We’re all the same. It’s going to come down to determination, goaltending and health.”
The Wings showed they were determined on Thursday night, and Dominik Hasek made 20 saves to earn the victory. He rebounded from getting chased after giving up three goals on six shots in a 6-2 loss in Chicago on Wednesday night.
Health is the one element that doesn’t seem to be in the Wings’ favor right now. Kirk Maltby will likely miss the start of the playoffs with a hamstring injury suffered in Wednesday’s game, and Tomas Kopecky limped off the ice on Thursday night. Babcock was uncertain about the seriousness of the injury.
The Wings also played without Tomas Holmstrom (groin), Kris Draper (groin) and Brad Stuart (hand).
Asked if he planned to rest some players in Sunday’s game, Babcock said: “Obviously we’re going to do our best to rest the guys we can, and yet if we don’t have enough bodies we can’t rest them.”
The Wings fell behind twice Thursday, the second time when Columbus defenseman Aaron Rome scored his first career NHL goal at 4:05 of the third.
Wings forward Justin Abdelkader, making his NHL debut, tried to block Rome’s shot from the blue line in the high slot and it deflected off him and past Hasek.
After Michael Peca took a delay of game penalty at 16:20, Nicklas Lidstrom ripped a point shot on the power play. Leclaire made the initial save, but the rebound came right out to Franzen in front of the net. He made a move to his left and scored into an open net to tie the game at 2.
Franzen had six game-winning goals in March, and he showed he could continue to score clutch goals.
“I was worried about that,” Franzen said. “Feels good to get one this month, too.”
Source: The Detroit Free Press
Topics: Red Wings |