Red Wings Use Skill, Bounces to Win

When they're on, there's no doubt the Detroit Red Wings are among the best teams in the NHL. More often than usual this season, the Wings were a tad less than adequate defensively, leaving their goaltenders in impossible positions and generally giving up too many goals.

The playoffs are different, however, and the experienced Wings showed that on Thursday. They easily dispatched Columbus, 4-1, in Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

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Ignoring a groundswell of idiots people picking against them, Detroit picked up a two-goal lead in the second period, then spent the third period shutting down any serious chance Columbus was able to muster.

The Blue Jackets had 13 shots on goal in the first period, and managed to play somewhat impressively in doing so. However, the game was scoreless after one, and Detroit put the clamp on the Jackets after that.

The offense for Detroit? Well, it was a mix of dazzling skill and dumb luck. The Wings' first goal came off a two-on-one. Replays seemed to indicate that Jiri Hudler could have gotten away with interference at the Columbus blue line, but it was hard to tell for sure if the contact was something more than incidental. Hudler didn't mind. He skated down the slot, took a great feed from Valtteri Filppula, and flipped the puck past a hopeless Steve Mason for a 1-0 lead.

The Wings' other two second-period goals came with a bit of luck. Blue-line shots by Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall found the twine after they appeared to hit Columbus defensemen in front of Mason. Then Johan Franzen put a turnover through a small hole short-side on Mason for a third-period tally. It was a very impressive play by Franzen, who has a way with the puck around the net.

Chris Osgood was good in net for Detroit when he had to be, which was the first period. The Blue Jackets were held to an incredible eight shots in the second and third periods, for a game total of 21. The way Detroit played defense in the final 40 minutes could be made into a DVD. It started with a near-complete shutdown of the Rick Nash-led top line of Columbus. It continued right down through the Blue Jackets' forward lines. They could get nothing going.

For the Red Wings, it was just another near-perfect 18-man effort in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's no wonder they won the thing a year ago.

The Wings lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. Game Two is Saturday night in Detroit.