Game 1 Breakdown: Howard shuts out Bruins in series opener
By Stefan Kubus –
Game 1 featured stellar netminding, relatively negligent power plays and another highlight-reel play from Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings star forward’s goal with 3:01 remaining in the third period was the only one scored in the game, and Jimmy Howard stopped all 25 shots he faced en route to a 1-0 playoff-opening win on the road at the TD Garden over Boston.
One noteworthy aspect of this game was the fact that only three minor penalties were called all game, one in each period. Detroit only faced the regular season’s third-best power play once and stymied their opportunity. Playing 5-on-5, Detroit played a sound game and competed with Boston shift-for-shift. Keeping the Bruins’ power play off the ice as the series continues will obviously help Detroit’s chances that much more.
Game-changing moment
With just 3:01 remaining in the game and turning up at center ice, “The Magic Man” pulled the puck from behind his back with one hand, up through his legs and continued on into the Boston zone before wristing home the game-winner. With the way Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask was playing, it seemed it was going to take such a play to break this one open, and it sure did.
Mitten watch
The all-Michigan fourth line of Luke Glendening (Grand Rapids), Drew Miller (East Lansing) and David Legwand (Grosse Pointe Woods) were solid on the defensive side of things. Danny DeKeyser (Macomb) helped shut down the Bruins all game long and logged 22:32 of ice time, second to only Niklas Kronwall (23:18) on Detroit and third overall, with Boston’s Johnny Boychuk racking up over 24 minutes. Muskegon native Justin Abdelkader was a plus-one and provided a physical presence for the Red Wings.
Boston’s Torey Krug (Livonia) played 19 minutes, took a minor penalty, but played to his strengths and created some offensive chances for the Bruins. Krug nearly had an assist in the second period on a shot from the point that just bounced wide of the net. Two Michigan natives made their NHL playoff debuts for Boston, as well; Corey Potter (Lansing) logged 16:57, while Justin Florek (Marquette) played for 13:08.
MVP
Though Datsyuk scored a beauty for the game’s only marker, Howard was outstanding all game long and definitely earns MVP honors for Game 1. Boston had more quality chances than Detroit throughout the game and Howard stood tall to all of them.
Between the pipes
Howard was our MVP for Game 1, earning the shutout against a potent Bruins squad. Detroit coach Mike Babcock said before the series that if the team gets good goaltending, “the rest will look after itself.” The Red Wings will need Howard to continue displaying that type of excellence if they hope to eliminate the President’s Trophy-winning Bruins.
Tuukka Rask turned aside 23 of 24 and was nearly flawless all night long, matching Howard save-for-save. He was only beat by Datsyuk’s tremendous effort and did have a minor hiccup when he ventured far out of the net to play the puck, a play that nearly ended with Darren Helm shooting the puck into the empty net.
The opposition
From the opening shifts, it was evident 6-foot-3, 235-pound power forward Milan Lucic was going to be a handful for the Red Wings to contain. The challenge for the Red Wings’ defense is to win the loose puck battles in the corner against Lucic, keeping him and the Bruins’ forwards to the outside when coming down on the rush. The aforementioned Rask – a favorite to win the Vezina Trophy – was the backbone of Boston in Game 1, as he will be going forward. The Red Wings forwards need to continue peppering Rask with shots from all over, as he was giving up a lot of juicy rebounds in the high slot.
But if this first game was any indication, it’s going to be a low-scoring series. And that’s not necessarily due to a lack of chances, either. Both teams played even, competitive hockey, exchanging scoring opportunities.
For the stats guys
Detroit went 0-for-2 on the power play, with little going on either one. In fact, on the second-period chance, Boston applied heavy pressure on the kill to give Detroit a lot of trouble breaking the puck out of its own zone. On the flip side, Detroit successfully killed off the only penalty it took in the contest. As mentioned above, that discipline will be crucial in keeping Boston off the power play as the series rages on.
Next up
The puck drops on Game 2 at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon from the TD Garden, where Detroit will look to build on its winning effort from Game 1.