9804250122
DETROIT FREE PRESS
980425
Saturday, April 25, 1998
METRO FINAL CHASER
1B
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1998, Detroit Free Press
OSGOOD ONLY LAST MAN IN BAD LINE OF DEFENSE
The evening was summed up best by the guy who returned to his seat with a
befuddled expression.
"BLEEPITY BLEEP!" he yelled. "I missed two goals going to the bathroom!"
And he was one of the fast ones.
Ready, aim, fire. That wasn't hockey in the second period Friday night, that
was a video game. And Chris Osgood was the spaceship trying to duck the
missiles. How'd he fare? Not so good. Seven goals? A fisherman's net doesn't
fill that quickly.
Here was Jeremy Roenick, playing pickpocket all night, stealing a puck from
Larry Murphy and charging Osgood like a buffalo. Ready, aim, fire. The puck
hit Osgood and dribbled though.
Minutes later, Roenick again stole a pass -- a bad, lazy one from Dmitri
Mironov -- and he was off to the races once more on the Red Wings goalie, who
took a fake, went down badly, and couldn't even watch as Roenick's shot flew
in cleanly.
In between, Osgood got tangled with teammate Darren McCarty, both went down,
and Keith Tkachuk swatted in a Roenick rebound, something he had done in the
first period as well.
And I almost forgot, Rick Tocchet's fast-breaking shot that came nine minutes
earlier.
This, I should remind you, all happened in one period.
No wonder Wings fans don't go to the bathroom.
Ready, aim, fire. Seven goals? Did the Wings really allow seven goals -- their
highest surrender all season? It's true. Detroit hung six on Phoenix Wednesday
night, and got one-upped Friday, 7-4, in a series that goes to Phoenix now,
tied 1-1.
"We have to play tighter," said Wings captain Steve Yzerman. That's an
understatement. This game was looser than a rapper's jeans.
Don't think about Vernie
Now, I know what Wings watchers are saying -- and more important, what they're
not saying. They're saying, "Is Ozzie OK?"
What they're not saying is, "Mike Vernon never allowed seven goals in last
year's playoffs."
But they're thinking it.
Think again. Yes, it's true, Phoenix is a first-round opponent that never
scored more than four goals on the Wings this season. And yes, it's true,
giving up seven in a playoff game isn't likely to make Osgood's highlight
reel.
But this is also true: Goaltending is the last line of defense. And I am
putting it mildly when I say the Wings' first few lines Friday were as wavy as
TV reception on Pluto.
Consider this: Roenick's two breakaways came when the Wings were on the power
play. And several of Phoenix's other scores really weren't Osgood's fault. The
first goal, a blast by Mike Gartner, came on a Coyotes power play, and Osgood
was screened.
And goal No. 7 -- I think it was No. 7, my calculator broke -- was a
two-on-one passing exercise between Dallas Drake and Tocchet that left Mironov
looking like a statue. Osgood had no chance.
So when you take those away, you have maybe three goals that Osgood should
have stopped, two that a miracle worker might have stopped, and two that even
a miracle worker would say, "Hey, whadya want from ME?"
"We hung Ozzie out to dry," said McCarty, sighing. "It's not fair. He's got
breakaways on him, or a 50-goal scorer all alone in front of him. It's our
fault. And when he finally does make a save, you hear the fans clap
sarcastically. That's not right."
Not that there were many fans left. By the third period, I thought I was
looking at a folding-chair convention.
Don't worry about Ozzie
Now, maybe you worry a loss like this rattles Osgood -- who'll be under the
microscope all postseason. I don't know. When he finally emerged from the
dressing room Friday night, he did not seem shaken, stirred or rattled.
"The second period didn't exactly go the way I wanted," he admitted.
Right. And that last election didn't exactly go the way Bob Dole wanted,
either.
"How many of those goals do you think you would have stopped on another
night?"
He thought for a moment. "Two?" he said.
That's as many as his coach, Scotty Bowman, suggested. And had there only been
those two, the Wings would have won.
"I still feel angry I let Roenick score two breakaways," Osgood said. This is
a bit like the weatherman saying he's upset he allowed two rainstorms over the
weekend.
You can only blame the goalie so much. Yes, this was certainly a test for
Osgood -- and how he handles it will be a test of his playoff mettle. But the
fact is, if the Wings don't play better defense than that, they won't last
another round. You can't hand over the puck. You can't let guys get behind
you. You can't take a breath, not even against a first-round opponent.
So off they go to Phoenix. And if Wednesday night's victory was playoff fever
for Wings fans, then Friday was playoff flu.
On the other hand, remember this: Last year, in the first round, the Wings
lost Game 4 to St. Louis, 4-0, and the series was tied at two games apiece.
If anyone thought this was going to be easy and fast, they haven't been paying
attention.
"Maybe if I played the whole game on my head I could have stopped all seven,"
Osgood said.
I don't know about that. But upside down is the only way this game would have
looked good in Detroit.
To leave a message for Mitch Albom, call 1-313-223-4581.
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