Henrik Zetterberg has seen this before. Mike Smith, apparently, has not
1st Period
Detroit 0 Phoenix 1; 9:41- Vrbata from Rundbland
Phoenix carries into their offensive zone and Vrbata is met by an aggressive Henrik Zetterberg. Instead of turning with him, Z tries to poke check the puck off Vrbata's stick. Z misses and Vrbata carries in uncovered.
There's nothing special about this play. It's a 2-on-2 rush that's well defended from a Detroit perspective. White has Vrbata covered, and Lidstrom has the other skater. Vrbata pulls up and shoots from the top of the faceoff circle with no traffic in front of the net. Looks like a softie allowed by Jimmy.
Detroit 1 Phoenix 1; 19:09- Filppula (15) from White (16)
Phoenix wins a draw in their own zone and moves the puck behind the net. Keith Yandle feels backside pressure from Hudler and moves the puck up the boards.
The puck dies along the boards and Boyd Gordon overskates it. Before he can turn back Filppula has stolen the puck and is turning towards the middle of the ice. There's a lot of free ice to be had in the middle for Flip.
Derek Morris watches Flip move in and just lazily leaves his stick out, choosing not to even attempt a poke check. In the epic battle of Filppula vs. composite stick the victor is Filppula, easily getting his shot over the stick of Morris. Flip then wins battle number two, the battle of Mike Smith's reaction time vs. Flip's shoot speed.
2nd Period
None
3rd Period
Detroit 1 Phoenix 2; 3:02- Pyatt from Chipchura
Ericsson has control of the puck near the blue line and gets bumped off of it. Kindl makes a poor decision to step into the man who's just taken out Ericsson, bunching up two Wings. Kyle Chipchura picks up the loose puck and carries into the Phoenix offensive zone, with Emmerton having to stay back and play the role of defenseman.
Chipchura has Emmerton beaten and throws the puck into the middle of the crease as he gets to the side of the net.
Pyatt is being chased down from behind and no one can clear him from the crease. He's able to lift shot up that Jimmy is almost able to stop, but then knocks into his own net with the top of his catching glove.
Detroit 2 Phoenix 2; 10:03- Franzen (17) from Datsyuk (31) & Cleary (10)
I'm picking this up halfway through the play. Cleary has the puck behind the net and decides to move it away from pressure to Datsyuk along the boards. Morris has given chase behind the net, which means both of Phoenix's defensemen are now on one side of the ice.
Pavel is patient with the puck. He reads the defense well here, noticing that Franzen has slipped behind coverage. When both defensemen went to one side of the ice Marc-Antoine Pouliot had to drop back and cover. He never seees The Mule and floats in front of the net.
The pass from Pavel is a perfect tape-to-tape pass, hitting The Mule in stride and redirecting itself into the net.
Overtime
None
Shootout
Zetterberg's goal has to be seen to be believed. Definitely worth a look...or ten. Check it out here
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| Pavel Datsyuk | DET | Goal |
| Gilbert Brule | PHX | Save |
| Jiri Hudler | DET | Save |
| Radim Vrbata | PHX | Goal |
| Valtteri Filppula | DET | Save |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | PHX | Save |
| Henrik Zetterberg | DET | Goal |
| Lauri Korpikoski | PHX | Save |
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