9201150458
DETROIT FREE PRESS
920421
Tuesday, April 21, 1992
METRO FINAL CHASER
1D
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1992, Detroit Free Press
RED WINGS GO AWAY MAD - BUT NOT EVEN
I've seen heavyweight fights go like this: One guy comes out on fire and
gets the crowd all worked up. Pow! Pow! His fists are flying, and his opponent
takes every shot, the blood spitting from his face, until he looks like he'll
go down any moment -- which only excites the aggressor more. Only the opponent
doesn't go down. He stays standing. Blow after blow. And finally, the first
guy, exhausted from all this punching with no reward, takes a breath, says,
"Hey, what's with this lug?"
And pow! The other guy knocks him out.
It wasn't boxing Monday at Joe Louis Arena. It might as well have been.
If the Red Wings had put any more sweat into that first period, they would
have been taken off on stretchers and given fluids intravenously. What else
are you supposed to do but rush the net, storm the goalkeeper, and pound the
hell out of anybody near the boards?
What else?
Well, scoring would be nice.
But it didn't happen. Not enough. And in the few stolen moments when the
Red Wings took a breath Monday night, the Minnesota North Stars, who must wear
four-leaf clovers under their uniforms, got all they needed. This is what they
got: Another win. A 2-0 lead in this first-round playoff series.
And a trip home for the next two games, with one skate on the neck of the
favored Red Wings.
The Wings got mad. But they didn't get even.
"The other night I could complain about effort; tonight, I can't," coach
Bryan Murray sighed after the Wings' second straight home loss to the North
Stars, 4-2. "We played hard, to a man. I have no apologies for the effort."
No. All he has is the final score.
And some churning emotions.
Mad. But not even.
The North Stars had their moments
Which is probably how most fans feel this morning, at least those who
expected that the Norris Division leader should beat a team that qualified
for the playoffs only because of the strike delay. Those fans might be
grumbling about holding penalties that weren't called Monday night. Or the
seemingly lucky bounce that helped score the North Stars' winning goal. Or all
the near misses the Wings had on shots near the Minnesota net.
But let's be honest: the Wings didn't own this game every minute they
were out there. They could barely win a face-off -- which is unforgivable if
you're going to play aggressive hockey. They didn't defend shorthanded, at
least not well enough. And while they got thrills from their own power play,
they got no production.
In fact, the Wings' power play had as much trouble getting started as a
Florida car on an Alaska morning. Hey, somebody find the gas pedal on this
thing. Does it really take four Harlem Globetrotters weaves before you bring
the puck across the blue line?
But OK. Having said all that, I'll also say this: On another night,
Detroit is easily good enough to overcome such things.
Unfortunately, this was this night.
"During the course of the year, maybe you have a half-dozen games like
this where you play harder but you don't win," captain Steve Yzerman
admitted. "Doesn't matter. At this point, all that counts is the final score."
Now. Know this: Monday was not Saturday, when the Stars played the
aggressor and won. No. Monday was Detroit player smashing Minnesota player
into the boards, and Detroit player swarming the net and diving for any loose
puck. Monday was 30 shots-on-goal for the Wings and only 20 for Minnesota.
Yet somehow, it came up loss. It seems sadly fitting that the final shot
by the Wings was a strong slap by Nicklas Lidstrom that hit goalie Jon Casey
in the pads -- without Casey even seeing it.
It also seems fitting that the final shot by the North Stars was into an
open net. Pow!
What's with these Minnesota lugs?
They have to beat the clock, too
In the locker room before the game, Bryan Murray had chuckled at the way
things change at playoff time. "We lose the first game, 4-3, and everyone
wants to know what's wrong?" he said, shaking his head.
It's unfair. That's true. But so is this: The season shrinks during the
playoffs. One game is like five, and two is like 10. Every element is
giant-sized. Especially when you're going on the road, against an opponent
that upset everyone last year en route to the Stanley Cup finals.
"Are you surprised?" someone asked Bob Gainey, the North Stars coach.
"Yes," he said. "I never figured, 'Hey, we'll drop into Detroit, stay a
few days, and win two games.' "
Great. Sarcasm.
Well. How else do you look at a night like this? There is no reason to
think the Wings can't win this series. They still have the better team, if
you ask me. And they know how to win on the road. Sure, odds are against them,
having to go into a foreign arena and win some games.
Then again, isn't that what they were saying about Minnesota a few days
back?
This loss might not be fun. It might not be fair. It is simply fact. "You
have games like this during the regular season," goalie Tim Cheveldae agreed,
"the only difference is, you're going against a clock now."
He looked down and sighed.
Mad, but not even.
And the season just shrank some more.
HOCKEY; DREDWINGS; MINNESOTA;Red Wings