BUNKER BUSTERS
Both teams neck and neck in standings
Joe Louis has been an impenetrable fortress this year; Detroit had won 23 straight there, a remarkable streak ended by Burrows’ shootout winner last night
There are any number of ways to measure the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two teams who met in Motown onthursday night —and the showdown at the Joe didn’t settle a whole lot, did it? — but perhaps the most relevant detail is seldom mentioned.
The Detroit Red Wings play in the Central and Patton’s army didn’t have divisions this tough. Before Thursday night’s games, the four other Central teams were a combined 30 games over .500 and that included the deplorable Columbus Blue Jackets, who were 17 games under .500.
The Canucks, for their part, play in the Northwest, which is either the worst division in the NHL or hits the tape at the same time as the Southeast. In this division, the four teams which aren’t the Canucks are a combined three game over .500, which is beyond brutal in Gary Bettman’s NHL. It’s also entirely possible the Canucks will be the only team which qualifies for the playoffs from the Northwest. And your point? Well, we will concede inter-divisional play accounts for just slightly more than one-quarter of the schedule (24 games) and we’ll also concede it isn’t the Canucks’ fault the rest of the teams in the Northwest are terrible. But it also raises questions about the competitive advantage the Canucks derive from tiptoeing through the tulips which occupy the Northwest.
Put another way, would the Canucks’ record be as gaudy if they played in the Central? And before you answer consider this: The Canucks are 14-3-1 within the Northwest this season.
Following Thursday night’s game, they’re 9-6-2 against the Central and their shootout win on Thursday night now becomes critical to whatever aspirations they have for first place in the West.
The Wings, as you must now by know, had a chance to put a figure-four leglock on the conference pennant but failed, owing to same late heroics from the Canucks, aided in no small part by an egregious Todd Bertuzzi icing in the last minute. True, a four-point lead wouldn’t have been insurmountable but, in Gary’s Wonderland, it would have been pretty damn close.
As it is, the Canucks are now just one back of the Wings and, given their schedule — beginning March 1, 13 of their final 18 games are at home — and the competition — six of those games are against Northwest patsies — that’s important.
There was a fair bit riding on the outcome of Thursday’s epic encounter. Among other things, first place means home-ice advantage throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Considering, before last night, the Wings hadn’t lost at home since the Paul Martin administration, that’s kind of important.
It means drawing the eighth seed in the first round and with the L.A. Kings’ acquisition of Jeff Carter, that too becomes meaningful.
On top of that, whoever finishes first after this dogfight will receive significant psychological lift. And maybe that’s why the final meeting of the season between these two teams took on the dimension it did.
For 60 minutes of regulation, five minutes of overtime and the shootout, the two teams traded body blows and, while the Red Wings were ahead on points heading into the 15th round, they couldn’t put the Canucks away. Playing without the magical Pavel Datsyuk, they manufactured three goals from noted snipers Darren Helm, Kyle Quincey and Justin Abdelkader but, despite opening three separate leads, they couldn’t land the killing blow.
Instead, they watched dumbfounded as Bertuzzi’s clearing attempt had just enough momentum to occasion an icing call in the late going. With 16 seconds left, Daniel Sedin then beat Jimmy Howard cleanly before Alex Burrows scored the winner in the shootout.
And suddenly, the Canucks’ world looked a whole lot different.
The Wings, after all, had won an NHL record 23 straight at home and maybe the most impressive part of their run was the teams they were beating. Eight of those wins came against their divisional rivals and they still have five games left against Nashville, Chicago and St. Louis.
The Canucks, for their part, have three games left on this roadie before they hit the sweet spot on their schedule. First place, and everything that goes with it, is still in their sights.