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Babcock Proud
of Wings
By George Sipple, Free
Press, February 27, 2006
Red Wings coach Mike
Babcock took pride in the gold medal-winning efforts of his team's
Swedish contingent Sunday. But he didn't want to single out
anyone.
"That's individual
stuff," he said. "Sweden won the medal, and
that's team stuff. That's just like our culture here -- doesn't
matter who scores the goals, it's about winning. And that's what
they did. I think the message for everybody watching the Olympics is
you can't win individually, you gotta win
collectively."
In Sweden's 3-2 win over
Finland in
Torino, Henrik Zetterberg had a
goal and an assist, and Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall scored
the other goals. Mikael Samuelsson assisted on Zetterberg's goal,
and Tomas Holmstrom screened Finland goaltender Antero
Niittymaki on Kronwall's goal.
Sharks defenseman Doug
Murray is from Stockholm, Sweden, and played with
and against Kronwall growing up. Murray said he's proud of Kronwall
and the other Swedes for winning gold.
"He's a great player,
great guy," Murray said of Kronwall. "Happy for
the team and for Sweden. I'm excited
myself."
Murray said he heard that
celebrations were going on back home after Sweden beat the rival
Finns. "I had friends call and wake me up," Murray said
after the Sharks practiced Sunday at Logitech
Ice.
Wings forward Johan
Franzen, a native of Vetlanda, Sweden, said he didn't
have a chance to talk to any family and friends back home. The Wings
arrived in San
Jose late Sunday
afternoon.
"I'm happy for them,"
Franzen said. "It was a good game, too. I think they controlled the
whole game. From the start it looked like the Finns were not the
same team as they've been the last couple
games."
Murray said he was pleased
that Swedish greats like Lidstrom, Peter Forsberg and Mats Sundin
could bring a gold back to Sweden, but that it was
more important that young players like Zetterberg, Kronwall and New
York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist played such a big
role.
Babcock
agreed.
"They're the next
wave," he said. "No one who watched the Olympics can't think that
Zetterberg's the next wave or Kronwall, who only played two
games.
"Obviously we're real
fortunate that we have good players here in Detroit. They
show it internationally, and they show it in the National Hockey
League."
The five Swedish Wings
are headed to a celebration in Stockholm and are not expected to join the team
until Wednesday's game at Anaheim.
"Doesn't happen that
often that we win gold," Franzen said. "We have a big square in
Stockholm. Like a million people
celebrating. So, it's a big deal."
Red Wings general
manager Ken Holland was understanding of the situation, although he
originally expected Kronwall, an injury substitution for the medal
round, to return in time to play Tuesday.
"They just played
eight games in 12 nights," he said. "And then to expect those four
Swedes who played the entire tournament to travel all day on Monday
and play here on Tuesday and Wednesday, was going to be 10 games in
15 days. ... How do you not let Nik Kronwall go when the other four
are going to celebrate the gold medal?"
Gold Wings: Olympic crown as easy as 1-2-3:
Zetterberg, Kronwall,
Lidstrom
By
Helene St. James, Free Press, February 27,
2006
TORINO, Italy -- Tomas Holmstrom was on the Swedish
bench, but still it felt like his heart was going to burst, so tight
was the suspense.
There was a minute and a half left, then a minute,
then 10 seconds -- 10 seconds that felt as if they would never, ever
end. Some players wouldn't look at the game clock; others peeked and
then smiled.
When relief finally came, Red Wings defensemen Nicklas
Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall and forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael
Samuelsson and Holmstrom gathered in the end zone at Palasport
Olimpico, huddled and hugged by their Swedish mates. Three had
goals, two had assists and all had gold after Sweden beat Finland, 3-2,
Sunday.
"It was nuts," Holmstrom said. "I think my heart was
racing up to 300 even standing still on the
bench.
"It was unbelievable."
For Samuelsson, the lead was so precarious it was
almost unbearable.
"We had a one-goal lead, and it's nothing in hockey,"
he said. "I was nervous."
Finland nearly scored with
about 15 seconds to go, when Jere Lehtinen's shot ricocheted and
Olli Jokinen got his stick on it, but Henrik Lundqvist slid over and
somehow made the stop.
"I
have no idea why the puck didn't go in," Holmstrom said, "but it was
our turn this time. It was great."
The Finns entered the game against their Nordic rivals
as the best story of the Olympic tournament, having gone 7-0 despite
missing seven NHLers, including top goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. But
their team game stood little chance against the Swedish Wings, who
would score eight goals in the tournament, 25% of their country's
total.
Zetterberg had a goal and an assist and a crucial
blocked shot, scoring when he threaded the puck between Aki Berg's
legs and past Antero Niittymaki on a power play 4:42 into the second
period. He used his shin pads to catch a piece of Teppo Numimen's
shot in the last minute.
Kronwall scored on another power play at 13:24 of the
second period when he beat Antti Laaksonen to the puck in the slot.
Samuelsson assisted on Zetterberg's goal, and Holmstrom was in his
usual place, camped in front of the net, during both man
advantages.
"Holmstrom is by far the best player in the world,"
Kronwall said, "when it comes to standing in front of the net on the
power play."
Kimmo Timonen had scored the first goal for
Finland in the first
period, and Ville Peltonen tied the game with five minutes to go in
the second period.
The third period provided the perfect opportunity for
Lidstrom to demonstrate why he has won the Norris Trophy as the
NHL's best defenseman three times.
Ten seconds in, he rifled a shot from the left point
that sailed in just below the crossbar.
"It could be the biggest goal I ever scored," said
Lidstrom, wearing his gold medal. "After Mats (Sundin) just pretty
much laid it out for me, I tried to go high, blocker side. I hit it
perfectly. I got everything on the shot, and I hit that spot where I
was aiming, too."
Lidstrom finished as the tournament's top scoring
defenseman, with two goals and four assists in eight
games.
"He is a very, very, very, very good defenseman,"
Swedish coach Bengt Gustafsson said. "When things get tight we went
down to some key players, and of course he is one of them. He played
a great, great tournament for us."
Even those who are used to Lidstrom's phenomenal play
were awed.
"Gold-winning goal, that's the biggest shot I ever
seen, I think," Samuelsson said.
Lidstrom was on the ice seemingly every other shift
throughout the game, playing with everyone from Kronwall to
Christian Backman to Niclas Havelid. With two seconds left in the
first period he started to skate to the bench, but instead Daniel
Tjarnqvist stopped him, and Lidstrom stayed on the ice. It's where
his teammates wanted him most.
"You can't ask for more," Holmstrom said. "He's always
there every night, and I'm happy to have him on my
side."
Kronwall, who had an impressive tournament after
coming in as a reserve in the semifinals, called Lidstrom
amazing.
"Three periods of 20 minutes," Kronwall said, "and I
don't think he made a mistake."
Lidstrom was on the ice as the game wore down.
Finland called a time-out
with 90 seconds remaining and then pulled Niittymaki. Lundqvist said
he tried not to look at the clock. Others mentally played down the
game's magnitude.
"You're just trying to tell yourself to stay focused,"
Lidstrom said. "It's only about a minute and a half left, so just
stay focused and be sure to stay in front of the net. Don't go out
too far out in the corners, and try to get the puck
out."
Once Lundqvist had made his game-saving 25th save,
Zetterberg had to know how much time was left, how long it would be
before he could breathe again.
"When I saw the puck go out" of the zone, Zetterberg
said, "I looked up at the clock, and I saw there was three or four
seconds left, and I knew we had the
gold."
It
was Sweden's
first since Peter Forsberg scored in a shootout to beat
Canada in 1994,
and it came after losing in the quarterfinals in 1998 to
Finland and again
in the quarterfinals in 2002 to upstart Belarus. This time, the
Swedes left the Olympics having overtaken Canada as the No. 1 men's
hockey nation in the world rankings.
"It means a lot to Sweden," Samuelsson said.
"It's awesome to be part of it."
Afterward there was talk of a quick celebratory trip
to Stockholm. Zetterberg, Holmstrom,
Samuelsson, Kronwall and Lidstrom wouldn't be able to stay long.
They need to join the Wings on their West Coast trip, substituting
their blue-and-yellow jerseys for red-and-white ones, carrying their
gold medals and re-joining the quest to add a silver
cup.
GOLDEN!
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, February 26, 2006
Add another award to
the growing list for Detroit Redwing’s Swedish star forward. Henrik
Zetterberg and his Swedish National team are Olympic Gold medalists!
“Tre Kroner” (Three
Crowns) beat their arch-rivals, neighboring Finland, 3-2 in yesterdays Gold Medal
game to win their first Olympic medal since defeating
Canada in 1994.
Zetterberg played a
large part in the huge victory for Sweden, scoring their
tying power-play goal, 4:42 into the second period, making it 1-1.
The goal was assisted by fellow Redwing Mikael Samuelsson. Later in
the period, Zetterberg assisted on Detroit defenseman Niklas
Kronwall’s go ahead goal. Redwing’s future Hall-of-Fame defenseman
Niklas Lidstrom scored the Gold Medal winning goal just ten seconds
into the third period, after Finland had tied the game
2-2 after the second. The game winner was assisted by superstars
Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Peter Forsberg of the
Philadelphia Flyers. Ottawa Senators Captain Daniel Alfredsson led
Sweden scoring in this
tournament with five goals and ten points in eight games. Forsberg
had six assists in just six games. New York Rangers rookie
goaltender Henrik Lundqvist guided the Swedes with an impressive
five wins and one-loss in six games with a 2.33 goals against
average and .907 save percentage.
Zetterberg also had an
assist in Sweden’s 7-3 win over the Czech
Republic in the
Semi-final round on Friday. He finished the 2006 Olympic Games with
three goals, three assists, and a (plus/minus) +3 in eight games.
Henrik now has three
goals and four assists, seven points, and is a +5 in twelve Olympic
games, including the 2002 games, when he had not yet played in the
NHL. He has 22 goals, 35 assists, 57 points, and is +15 in 87 career
games with Swedish National teams dating back to 1997 under 18 World
Championships.
Sweden Takes Gold,
Beats Finland
3-2
NBCOlympics.com, February
26, 2006
TORINO, Italy (AP) --
The three crowns on Sweden's hockey sweaters
are said to represent three great kings. Try convincing any fan they
don't stand for hockey royalty: Forsberg, Sundin and Lidstrom.
Sweden's three biggest
stars came through in its biggest game, with Nicklas Lidstrom
scoring the game-winning goal 10 seconds into the third period on
assists by Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg as it beat rival Finland
3-2 Sunday for the Olympic men's hockey gold medal.
"That was a great goal
by three great guys," Sweden's Daniel Sedin
said. "It was a good fit for it to come down to that. They've been
an example to younger Swedish guys for a long time, so it's great to
see them do it."
Three stars and three
goals combined to make for one huge celebration in
Sweden, which again
established its on-ice superiority over its smaller neighbor.
Finland had been
unbeaten in seven Olympic games in Torino, playing near-perfect hockey, but again
couldn't beat the team it wants to beat most.
"It's very
disappointing. I think we played just a great tournament, so many
big games, and I thought we deserve this," Finland's Olli Jokinen
said.
The game winner came
so quickly in the third, Finn goalie Antero Niittymaki almost didn't
react. Forsberg, playing despite a severe groin injury that kept him
out of the Philadelphia Flyers' last eight games, grabbed the puck
off the faceoff and fed ahead to Sundin. His perfect-as-can-be drop
pass to the blue line was one-timed by Lidstrom past Niittymaki.
"Mats laid it out for
me. I tried to shoot high on the blocker side and I hit it
perfectly," Lidstrom said.
Finland pressed for the tying
goal after that, and nearly got it with 20 seconds remaining by
Jokinen, who was stopped on a shot from along the left post. But New
York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, made a series of big saves in
outplaying fellow NHL rookie Niittymaki, who had shut out three of
his previous five opponents.
"It happened so
quickly. I was able to get the puck toward the back door. But he
robbed me, and made a nice save," Jokinen said. "That's what winning
goalies are able to do."
After they won, the
Swedes celebrated behind the Finn goal and Sundin and Forsberg
grabbed Swedish flags and carried them around the ice. Forsberg
joyously tossed both gloves into the crowd and several Swedish
players cried during the medals ceremony.
"It's our national
sport, so this is the greatest," Henrik Sedin said.
Sweden's second gold
medal in four Olympics - it also won on Forsberg's shootout goal
against Canada in 1994 - more than made up for its dreadful loss to
Belarus in the 2002 quarterfinals.
"I was much more
nervous this time," Forsberg said. "I was only 20 years old, and I
didn't know how hard it was going to be to get back to the Olympic
final. I think I appreciate this one more."
Unlike
Finland, which
outscored its opponents by 27-5 while winning its first seven games,
Sweden was far
from perfect in Torino. It lost to
Russia 5-0 and
also to Slovakia,
when coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson caused a major stir by suggesting
his team might chose to lose to set up a more favorable
quarterfinals game against Switzerland.
Sweden also won in what
likely was the final Olympics appearance for its major stars. Three
Swedes played on both gold medal teams - Forsberg, Kenny Jonsson and
Jorgen Jonsson. And Fredrik Modin became the 17th player to win a
world, Olympics and Stanley Cup championship.
"I think this
generation of players, we are getting older, and this is probably
our last chance, so it's great," Sundin said.
Finland and
Sweden have met in three
world championship finals, the last eight years ago, but this was
the first time the Nordic neighbors had played each other for an
Olympic gold medal. That each was trying to win against its biggest
rival only increased the pressure in a game that was expected to
attract record TV audiences in each country.
Sweden has been more
dominant on the world stage than Finland, winning seven
world titles to the Finns' one, and is 2-1 in world championship
finals.
"For some reason we
didn't get the best game out of us today," Finland's Saku Koivu
said. "Sweden is a better team
and they handled it better."
Finland, as it has
consistently done throughout the tournament, scored the opening
goal. This time it was on Kimmo Timonen's slap shot from the blue
line that flew through traffic in front of the net and deflected off
Lundqvist's skate and into the net.
But the Finns lost
some of that defensive discipline while taking four consecutive
penalties during one stretch of the second period.
Sweden took advantage by
scoring twice, with both goals by Detroit Red Wings players: Henrik
Zetterberg slightly less than five minutes into the period and
Niklas Kronwall eight minutes later. Kronwall joined the team before
Friday's semifinals to replace the injured Mattias Ohlund.
Finland tied it at the
15-minute mark when Jussi Jokinen threaded a beautiful backhand pass
through the crease and between defenseman Lidstrom's legs directly
onto Ville Peltonen's stick.
But
Finland couldn't put any
of its 10 shots in the third period past Lundqvist, who finished
with 25 saves.
"You win the bronze,
you win the gold, you lose the silver," Jokinen said. "Every hockey
player wants to go out with a win."
Holmtown Hero:
Red Wing Holmstrom's one-timer caps Sweden's romp in
semifinal
BY Helene St. James, Free
Press, February 25, 2006
TORINO, Italy -- The Red Wings
like to kid Tomas Holmstrom about his stick. They love to ask him
whether it curves to the right or to the left, because no one can
quite tell.
So they had to be
utterly delighted when Holmstrom dealt the final blow for
Sweden in its 7-3
victory over the Czech Republic on Friday in an
Olympic semifinal. Playing on a line with fellow Wings Henrik
Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson at Palasport Olimpico, Holmstrom
took a cross-ice pass from Zetterberg and ripped a one-timer from
the right circle.
"I think that's a
record for him," Zetterberg said of the distance the puck traveled
on Holmstrom's goal.
Defenseman Niklas
Kronwall, who was paired with fellow Wing Nicklas Lidstrom for the
game, was equally stunned. Holmstrom gets 99% of his goals
deflecting shots in the crease, not blasting slap shots. He plays
with a stick that, basically, has zero curve.
"With his stick,"
Kronwall said, "I think it's amazing he can shoot like
that."
All the Swedish Wings
earned a point in the game: Holmstrom had the goal, the other four
one assist each.
"You can see why
they're doing well in Detroit," captain Mats Sundin said.
"They're a force out there for us."
Sweden will play
Finland Sunday
for a chance to win its first gold medal since Peter Forsberg's
shoot-out goal beat Canada in the 1994 Winter
Games.
Instead of the
expected tight defensive game, Fredrik Modin set the tone when he
scored 34 seconds in.
"Down right away, it
takes the momentum out of your game," Czech forward Milan Hejduk
said.
Filip Kuba tied the
game but P.J. Axelsson made it 2-1 midway through the first period.
Kronwall sent the puck across the ice to Lidstrom, whose shot
Axelsson redirected. Henrik Sedin scored 1:16 into the second
period, and Christian Backman and Jorgen Jonsson got
Sweden up, 5-1, chasing
Milan Hnilicka from the net.
Hnilicka entered the
tournament as the Czechs' third stringer but was tapped to start
after the Czechs lost Dominik Hasek to injury and Tomas Vokoun
looked vulnerable.
Czech coach Alois
Hadamczik pointed his finger elsewhere when asked why he waited
until the fifth goal -- on 20 shots -- to pull Hnilicka, who looked
shaky from the start.
"I was convinced that
it wasn't Hnilicka's fault," he said. "It was the defense's
fault."
The Czechs got a brief
boost when Ales Hemsky knocked in Jaromir Jagr's around-the-net
ricochet shot on a second-period power play, and Vaclav Prospal
threw a backhand past Henrik Lundqvist 45 seconds later. But Daniel
Alfredsson soon got the Swedes back ahead by three
goals.
"It's hard to face
this loss," Tomas Kaberle said. "During many parts of the match none
of us were on the Swedes, everybody was looking at them. We didn't
play."
The Czechs, who won
gold on the strength of Hasek's play at the 1998 Games, play
Russia today for
bronze.
The Swedes can use the
extra day -- Kronwall had to play with teammate Niclas Havelid's
stick because Kronwall's sticks have yet to show up in
Italy. The game was
Kronwall's first of the tournament; he arrived Tuesday to be on the
taxi squad and was activated when Mattias Ohlund suffered cracked
ribs Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Kronwall looked at
home from his first shift.
"I'm not surprised,"
Sundin said. "I watched him play in the world championships last
year, and all I hear from Detroit is how great he's been
playing there. He's an excellent defenseman and what a game he had
tonight, coming in first game like that."
While in Detroit,
Holmstrom has shown that he can do more than just deflect pucks, but
his goal Friday was not exactly off a patented
move.
"I think he scored
once before like that, on a one-timer," Lidstrom said, smiling. "It
doesn't happen too often."
Swedes
Dominate Czechs, Reach Title Game
NBCOlympics.com, February
24, 2006
TORINO, Italy (AP) -- Tell
the Swedish post office to dust off that old Peter Forsberg stamp -
the men's hockey team is one win from another gold medal.
Forsberg set up a goal
34 seconds into the game and Sweden scored four times in the
second period to defeat the world champion Czech
Republic 7-3 in
an Olympic semifinal on Friday night.
The Swedes will face
Finland on Sunday for the
title. They're guaranteed an Olympic medal for the first time since
taking gold in 1994, when Forsberg scored the winning goal to beat
Canada in a gold-medal
shootout and the country put his image on a postage stamp.
Earning at least a
silver medal will help the Swedes erase the bitter memories of the
2002 Salt Lake City Games when they were upset by
Belarus and knocked out
in the quarterfinal round for the second straight time.
Fredrik Modin scored
on the game's first shot and set Sweden off and running.
P.J. Axelsson and Daniel Alfredsson each had a goal and assist.
"We came out hard on
the ice and showed them we wanted to win," Forsberg said.
The Swedes charged
from all angles and used brilliant passing that sliced the offensive
zone from end to end and side to side.
Even though both
rosters are full of NHL stars, the European style shone through on
the large Olympic playing surface.
Henrik Sedin,
Christian Backman, Jorgen Jonsson, and Alfredsson scored in the
second period for Sweden, which built a 5-1
lead over its lethargic opponents.
"I think that we
probably had our best first period," Toronto Maple Leafs captain
Mats Sundin said. "We've had so many ifs and buts in this tournament
and we have not had strong starts, so today we focused on trying to
get an early lead."
Ales Hemsky and Vinny
Prospal scored 45 seconds apart midway through the middle period to
give the Czechs life and hope. But Alfredsson snuffed that out when
he found the net from the slot with one knee on the ice with a
minute remaining in the period to make it 6-3.
Sweden coach Bengt Ake
Gustafsson was widely criticized when he suggested his club would be
better off losing its final preliminary round game to get an easier
quarterfinal matchup against Switzerland.
His thinking turned
out to be right as Sweden easily handled the Swiss 6-2
on Wednesday while the Czechs were in a grinding battle with
neighboring Slovakia that wasn't
settled until an empty-net goal in the final seconds.
Milan Hnilicka, a
former NHL player, got his second straight start in the Czech net
over Nashville's Tomas Vokoun but the
move didn't pay off this time.
In 100 previous
minutes in the tournament, Hnilicka yielded only one goal on 29
shots. Yet he was driven to the bench 7:54 into the second period
when Jonsson deftly deflected a pass from his brother, Kenny, into
the net.
Hnilicka made only 15
saves on 20 shots before being replaced by Vokoun, who led the
Czechs to the world title last year and was expected to get the bulk
of the playing time after Dominik Hasek was injured in the opening
minutes of the tournament.
Hasek was in goal when
the Czechs won gold in 1998, the first time the NHL halted its
season for the Olympics.
Henrik Lundqvist made
21 saves to earn the victory. He wasn't really challenged by his
four New York Rangers teammates in the Czech lineup, who combined
for two assists - one each by Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka.
The scoring started
quickly when Forsberg crossed a pass in front of Sundin and onto the
stick of Modin, who one-timed a shot that sailed cleanly beyond
Hnilicka.
The Czechs answered
less than three minutes later when Filip Kuba fired Martin Straka's
drop pass off the left post. The drive ricocheted against the
underside of Lundqvist's leg and careened back into the net at 3:11.
Sweden grabbed the lead back
with 6:23 left in the opening period after a pair of Detroit Red
Wings defensemen set up Axelsson's third goal of the tournament.
Axelsson completed the
play when he deflected in Nicklas Lidstrom's left-point shot while
he was surrounded by four red jerseys with his back to the net.
Detroit rookie Niklas Kronwall earned
the second assist, one day after being added to Sweden's roster to replace Mattias
Ohlund, who broke a rib Wednesday against Switzerland.
Sedin converted a
rebound of his twin brother Daniel's shot 1:16 into the second, and
Backman made it 4-1 at 3:54.
Tomas Holmstrom closed
the scoring with 3:55 remaining in the game, taking a pass from
Henrik Zetterberg and beating Vokoun.
Win Over
Switzerland Moves
Sweden to the
Semi-Finals.
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, February 23, 2006
Sweden defeated
Switzerland 6-2
on Wednesday to move to the Semi-finals of the 2006 Winter Olympics
in Torino, Italy, against the Czech
Republic.
Henrik Zetterberg
scored a goal in the victory on a wrap-around against Swiss goalie
Martin Gerber. The goal gave Sweden a 3-1 lead in the
second period, and ended up being the game winner.
Zetterberg has two
goals, an assist, and is a +2 in six games in this Olympics. He now
has two career goals, two assists, and a +4 in 10 career Olympic
Games.
Daniel Alfredsson of
the Ottawa Senators leads Sweden in points with
four goals and four assists in six games.
Goalie Henrik
Lundqvist of the New York Rangers has three wins and one loss
and has allowed nine goals on 91 shots. He has improved
his save percentage to .910 and goals against average to
2.25
Sweden Beats
USA 2-1, Advances to
Medal Round
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, February 19, 2006
Sweden beat the
United States 2-1
today at the Palasport
Olimpico
in Torino Italy. The victory gives
Sweden a 3-1 record in the Group B
standings and advances them to the medal round of the 2006 Winter
Olympics.
Henrik Zetterberg has
been held scoreless in three of Sweden’s four Group B matches, with a
goal and an assist in Sweden’s 6-1 route of
Latvia, he now has a
goal, an assist, and is a +2 in four games. Zetterberg has 1 career
goal, two assists, and is a +4 in eight career Olympic games (2002
and 2006).
“Zata” Scores
Goal in Sweden
Win over Latvia
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, February 18, 2006
Henrik Zetterberg
scored a goal and an assist and was a +1 (plus/minus) in
Sweden’s 6-1
route of Latvia
today at the Palasport
Olimpico
in Torino Italy. The victory gives
Sweden a 2-1 record in the Group B
standings of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Zata, as he is known
as in Sweden, assisted on Detroit Redwing’s teammate Niklas
Lidstrom’s power-play goal 2:22 into the second period, which gave
Sweden a 2-0 lead. Later in the 2nd period, Henrik added
a goal of his own on Latvian goalie Sergejs Naumovs, assited by
fellow Detroit Redwing linemate Tomas Holmstrom. That even strength
tally made it a 5-0 blowout at that point.
Zetterberg was
scoreless in Sweden’s previous two Group B
matches, a 7-2 win over Kazakhstan and a 5-0 defeat against
Russia. He now has a
goal, an assist, and is a +2 in three games. Daniel Alfredsson of
the Ottawa Senators leads Sweden in points with
three goals in three games. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist of the New York
Rangers has one win and one loss and has allowed 6 goals on 46
shots. His .869 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average will
have to improve if Sweden hopes to win a
medal in these Olympic games.
Wings soar
behind Legace's second straight
shutout
AP, February 9,
2006
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Red Wings dominated Nashville by
playing well in every facet of the game.
Manny Legace earned his second consecutive
shutout, and Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and two
assists to send Detroit to a 6-0 win over the
Predators on Wednesday night.
"I think we got a lot
of good performances," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said in an
understatement.
Legace only had to
stop 20 shots to stretch his scoreless streak to 165 minutes, 6
seconds. It was the 11th shutout of his
career.
"I got some bounces in
the last couple of games," he said. "I hope it keeps
up."
Nicklas Lidstrom and Mikael Samuelsson each added a goal and an
assist for Detroit, which won its fourth
straight. Brendan Shanahan and Mathieu Schneider got the other
goals.
"We didn't execute, we
didn't work hard, we didn't finish our checks," Nashville's Paul Kariya said. "If you give that team
the time and space with the puck they're going to take you apart. We
didn't take away time and space."
The Red Wings opened
the scoring just 1:23 in when Lidstrom's slap shot from the left
point deflected off a Nashville player and past goalie Tomas Vokoun. It was Lidstrom's 11th of the
season.
Detroit scored three goals in
the second period, blowing the game open as it outshot the Predators
20-2 in the period.
Shanahan made it 2-0
with his 25th goal at 7:14 on a wrist shot from the right circle.
Schneider got his 17th just 1:22 later on a slap shot from the left
circle. Zetterberg's 25th, which came on a power play, capped the
scoring for the period. After knocking down the rebound of
Lidstrom's shot from the point, he calmly flipped it into an open
net.
"The second period, we
really came out like we wanted," Shanahan said, "and took the game
over. They seemed like a tired team tonight."
The Predators pulled
Vokoun after the second period and replaced him with Chris Mason to start the
third.
"Everybody has to be
accountable in the dressing room and you've got to do the job,"
Vokoun said. "You can only control what you can do. I don't know the
reason why, but definitely some people just weren't ready or didn't
play hard enough, that's just how it was. I don't know the
reason."
Samuelsson and Datsyuk
each added their 20th goal in the third
period.
The teams play again
Thursday night in Nashville.
"It's going to be a
different game tomorrow, for sure," Zetterberg
said.
Game
notes
Nashville RW Scott Walker missed the game because of a
wrist injury. ... Zetterberg stretched his point streak to five
games (three goals and six assists). ... The Red Wings have killed
37 consecutive penalties over the last seven games. The Predators
were 0-for-2 on the power play.
Meet the Talented Mr.
Zetterberg
By Mike Brophy, The Hockey
News, February 7th 2006
Zata
Continues Dominance over St.
Louis
By Chris Turner,
Zetterbergfan.com, February 3rd, 2006
Henrik Zetterberg
continues to dominate in games versus the Central Division rival St.
Louis Blues. He scored the game winning goal with 3:55 remaining in
the third period and had an earlier assist in a 3-2 Detroit Redwings
win at home.
The assist came 5:05
into the second period when Zetterberg and Swedish defenseman Niklas
Kronwall assisted on fellow countryman Mikael Samuelsson’s
18th goal of the season. That goal narrowed the Blue’s
early lead to 2-1.
Henrik’s goal was his
24th of the season, giving him 55 points in 51 games so
far. The goal came on a rebound off of St.
Louis goalie Curtis Sanford on a solid Andreas Lilja
breakaway shot that left Sanford out of position and the net
open on the right side. Zetterberg trailed the play and slammed the
rebound home.
Zetterberg now has
nine goals, ten assists, for a total of nineteen points, and a +16
(plus/minus) in 15 career games versus the Blues. He has nine points
and is a +8 in just six games this season.
Detroit has been using a line
dubbed the “Swedish Five” with Zetterberg centering Samuelsson and
winger Tomas Holmstrom, alternating defensemen Kronwall, Andreas
Lilja, and future Hall-of-Famer Niklas Lidstrom. They also have
forward Johan Franzen in the line-up.
In he late 1990’s the
Redwing’s featured a line known as the “Russian Five” consisting of
center Igor Larionov, wingers Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov, and
defensemen Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov. Both lines were
European style, puck control lines, but the Russian Five were more
finesse.
Detroit Edges
St. Louis
3-2
AP, February 3rd,
2006
DETROIT (AP) - The Detroit
Red Wings overcame a slow start and got a break on the winning
goal.
Henrik Zetterberg
scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:55 remaining and Detroit
rallied for a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday
night.
Zetterberg got his
24th of the season when he put in the rebound of Andreas Lilja's
shot just after Lilja had come out of the penalty box.
``Unfortunately for
us, the guy steps out of the penalty box as soon as they start a
rush,'' Blues goalie Curtis Sanford said. ``And Zetterberg makes a
great play to beat our defenseman.''
Lilja came in off the
left wing and took a shot that Sanford knocked away, but
Zetterberg was there to slam the puck into the empty
net.
``Andreas made a
pretty good shot,'' Zetterberg said. ``I came around. He would have
been mad at me if I had missed that one.''
Mikael Samuelsson and
Brendan Shanahan also scored for Detroit, and Manny Legace made 29
saves. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall, playing in his first game after
preseason knee surgery, had two assists.
Lee Stempniak and
Keith Tkachuk scored for St. Louis,
and Sanford stopped 35
shots.
Shanahan's goal 8:10
into the third period tied the game at 2. His slap shot from just
inside the blue line beat Sanford for his 24th
goal.
Stempniak opened the
scoring at 8:37, when he put in Dean McAmmond's
rebound.
Tkachuk - playing for
the first time since breaking his right hand Dec. 16 - made it 2-0
with 5:06 remaining in the opening period, poking in Peter Cajanek's
shot after it had slithered through Legace's
pads.
``You've got to give
their guys credit,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. ``A bunch of
young kids, you know they're going to work
hard.''
And Detroit didn't
work nearly as hard.
``The whole team
wasn't involved,'' Kronwall said. ``The second period, there was
more offense and we created more chances.''
Samuelsson capitalized
on one to put Detroit on the board 5:05 into the
second period, when he tipped in a pass from Zetterberg to cut the
Blues' lead to 2-1.
Detroit outshot St. Louis 18-7
in the period.
``We're up 2-0 and
they play almost the entire second period in our end,'' Tkachuk
said.
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