Turning Moments Too Much For Wings

As free agency in the NHL approaches, I take a look back at the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals and notice there were five distinct turning moments that led to a Red Wings loss.

Turning Moment 1

Before the puck was even dropped on Game One, it seemed that the Wings had a laundry list of things working against them. Above the four games in six nights—including back-to-back games on two days' rest for the Wings—were all the injuries they had to deal with. Anytime you get to the Stanley Cup finals you are dealing with injuries, but not normally to the extent that the Wings were. The final list was long and included two of the top 10 players in the league; Nicklas Lidstrom had to undergo surgery for a damaged testicle, Pavel Datsyuk didn't appear in the finals until game five due to damage to his foot and ongoing issues with a charlie horse, Brain Rafalski played through a separated shoulder and herniated disk in his back, Kris Draper went in and out of the line-up with a pulled groin, Dan Cleary played through a torn groin, and Jonathan Ericsson had an emergency appendectomy. With the players effected and the time they missed, the Wings hobbled into this series with some major concerns. One might wonder how the Pens would have fared with these same types of injuries to their key players.

Turning Moment 2

After toughing out two key wins at home, the Wings took a 2-0 series lead to Pittsburgh and had the chance to deliver a series knockout punch to the Pens. After falling behind quickly, the Wings struck twice to take a 2-1 lead late in the first. This is when things got strange. Late in the first, the Pens went on a powerplay and were deep in the Wings zone, attacking them six men to five. They continued to cycle and move the puck when....wait, six on five? That's right, it was not a powerplay but rather the Pens officially had an extra man on the ice for 23 seconds without one ref noticing. The Pens did not score on this short powerplay, but moments later did pick up a penalty, when in reality the Wings should have been on their own powerplay. The Pens would capitalize on this opportunity and tie the game before the end of the first. There is no way to say how much of an impact this may have had on the game and series but the situation would have been a lot different had the Wings gone on the powerplay up 2-1 late in the first rather then heading to the dressing room tied at two.

Turning Moment 3

We move one period ahead from the last turning moment, and this was a lost opportunity by the Wings. Tied at two, the Wings came out and dominated the second period, out-shooting the Pens 14-4, going 0-1 on the powerplay, and watching both Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary hit the post. After being haunted by strange goals at the Joe, Fleury stood on his head and kept the game tied at two. The Pens seemed to feed off of his performance and struck mid way through the third, again on the powerplay, to take the lead and the win.

Turning Moment 4

With the series now 2-1 in favor of the Wings, they still had the chance to put the Pens away in Game Four. Early on, Malkin put the Pens up 1-0 and they held that lead until Darren Helm tied it up late in the first. The Wings carried that momentum over to the second period as Brad Stuart scored in the first minute of the period to put the Wings up 2-1. Things seemed to be going the Wings' way as they got a powerplay opportunity and a chance to go up two mid-way through the second period. After failing on the first powerplay, the Wings got a second powerplay and a chance to take command of this game, but instead it was the Pens who grabbed control. Early into that powerplay, Jordan Staal took the puck out of his zone and carried it across center. Seeing he had room to continue, Staal gained a step on Rafalski and headed straight to the net, where he stuffed a short-handed goal past Chris Osgood. The Mellon Arena came unglued and the next six minutes would change the series, as the Pens went into full attack mode and scored three goals in that stretch, taking a 4-2 lead that would hold up and tie the series at two.

Turning Moment 5

After winning Game Five in a rout 5-0, the Wings took a 3-2 series lead and had two chances to win the franchise's 12th Stanley Cup. Going into those games, if you had told Wings fans that you would hold the Pens to two goals in both games, most would have taken that deal in a heartbeat. Most felt that the 5-0 beat-down would affect Fleury's confidence and allow the Wings to close out the series. After missing out on some outstanding opportunities in Game Six, which included hitting a post by Zetterberg and a kick save by Pens defender Rob Scuderi, the Wings lost 2-1 and headed back to Detroit for Game Seven. Again, the Wings had their chances, but found themselves down 2-0 heading to the third on two Max Talbot goals. After Jonathan Ericsson found the back of the net with six minutes remaining, the Wings continued to attack but again couldn't beat the goal post as Nicklas Kronwall rang one of the crossbar. As the final seconds ticked down, the Wings would have one last outstanding opportunity. After a face-off deep in the Pens zone was won by the Wings, the puck managed to find its way onto the stick of Nick Lidstrom who was stoned on diving save by Fleury.

At the end of the day, the Cup is in Pittsburgh and the head to head cup count is even at one. Who is ready for the rubber match next year?