March 2011
Zetterberg Passes Ogrodnick on Red Wings All-Time Scoring List
By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, March 19th, 2011
Henrik Zetterberg scored his career-high 52nd assist of the season in the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators tonight.
With that point, Zetterberg passed John Ogrodnick for 11th place on the Red Wings All-time scoring leaders list with 547 points in 578 career games.
John Ogrodnick played 558 career games in 9 seasons with Detroit from 1980 to 1986 and again in 1992. He recorded 265 goals and 281 assists as a Red Wing. His best season was 1984-85 when he scored 55 goals and had 50 assists.
Zetterberg’s assisted on Danny Cleary’s power-play goal with just 22 seconds remaining in the 1st period.
The assist moves Zetterberg into the seventh spot amongst NHL scorers this season with 20 goals and 52 assists (4th in the league) for 72 points in 72 games.
Henrik Zetterberg Scores Twice, Including Game-winner
By Ansar Khan, Mlive.com, March 16th, 2011
Maybe it was the tough task of having to match up against Alex Ovechkin that sparked Henrik Zetterberg’s offensive game.
Whatever the cause, it was much-needed relief for Zetterberg and a huge lift for the Detroit Red Wings.
Zetterberg scored two goals Wednesday, including a power-play tally midway through the third period that broke a tie, as the Red Wings defeated Washington 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena, snapping the Capitals’ nine-game winning streak.
“It’s always fun to play against great players, especially from the Eastern Conference. You don’t see them that often,” Zetterberg said. “When you get the opportunity, you want to have a good game. He’s a very skilled player and it was tough to defend against him. No matter how you do it, it seems he always gets a shot away.”
With former Red Wing Mike Knuble in the penalty box for tripping, Zetterberg scored on a harmless-looking play at 9:53 of the third. He lifted a backhand shot from a sharp angle that deflected in off goaltender Michal Neuvirth’s mask, just past his outstretched glove.
“It was a great pass by Pav (Datsyuk),” Zetterberg said. “I had a lot of speed. I think (Neuvirth) was cheating a little bit for a pass, so it was real luck to hit the mask and go in.”
Zetterberg had gone nine games without a goal and had scored only twice in his previous 26 games.
“I think I was overdue,” Zetterberg said. “It’s been a while since I seen the back of the net, so it was nice to at least get one, and it was nice to get the second one, too.”
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock matched up Zetterberg’s line, with Danny Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi, along with his top defense pairing of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart, against Ovechkin’s line.
The Red Wings led 2-1 after the first period. Zetterberg whipped in a one-timer from the slot at 12:23 on a pass from Rafalski.
“I thought Z and Filppula both were really good and broke out,” Babcock said. “It’s good to see them both score, and it’s good for us because that means they get on a bit of a roll here.
Zetter Believe It
By Brian Hedger, NHL.com, March 16th, 2011
Henrik Zetterberg was starting to think he'd forgotten how to score.
Coming into a big showdown against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, Zetterberg hadn’t scored in nine games and had only potted two goals in the previous 26 contests.
After scoring twice, including his 20th and the eventual game-winner midway through the third period, Zetterberg led the Red Wings to a 3-2 win at Joe Louis Arena – and started believing in his abilities once again.
The Swedish star forward even carried his scoring touch into the post-game locker room, where he peeled off some red tape while seated, balled it up and lofted it about 20 feet across the room – directly into a small garbage can near Todd Bertuzzi's locker stall.
"See?" Zetterberg said, smiling. "Look at that!"
It wasn't much earlier in the day that his smile was missing while he quietly wondered if maybe his hockey sticks were cursed or he'd gotten a bad batch.
"Every time you're in a slump like that, you start to doubt yourself, so it's nice to see I can still score some goals," Zetterberg said. "It's been a while and you start to think too much and make bad decisions out there, so it was nice to get it out of the way."
It was also nice for a Swede to have such a run of good fortune the night before St. Patrick's Day. Aside from his scoring touch returning and the long "basket" in the locker room, Zetterberg also "lucked out" just moments before backhanding the eventual game-winner past Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth on a power play with 10:07 left to play in the game.
At the start of the power play, it looked like Zetterberg had a puck swatted directly into his face in the low slot area – which dropped him to the ice almost instantly. It was actually the blade of a stick that hit his visor instead of his chops, which he was quite thankful for after the game.
"It was the follow through that kind of hit me in the (visor)," he said. "I think it scared me more than it hurt."
Detroit's own Russian superstar, center Pavel Datsyuk, also had a somewhat subdued game by his standards – even though it was his pass that set Zetterberg up for the game-deciding goal.
Yet again, luck played a little role in the goal – as the puck deflected off Neuvirth's mask and glove before going over his shoulder into the net.
"It was a great pass by Pav, I had a lot of speed and I think I was cheating a little bit for a pass,” Zetterberg said. “It was a little luck to hit the mask and get it in."
"It was a little easier to get fired up for this game," Zetterberg said. "It's fun to play with (against Ovechkin and Semin) and it's fun for the fans to see them, too. It makes it easier when you win the game, though."
Shotless in San Jose
By Chris Turner, Zetterbergfan.com, March 4, 2011
Henrik Zetterberg was held without a shot on goal in last night’s 3-1 loss against the Shark’s in San Jose. It broke a streak of 102 consecutive games played in which Z had at least one shot on goal per game. In the first 87 games of the streak, Hank had at least two shots per game.
Zetterberg had an amazing 432 shots on goal during the 102 game streak, averaging over four shots a game. He is 4th in the league in shots on goal and finished in 4th place last year as well.
Coincidentally, the last time Henrik was held without a shot in a game was January 9th, 2010 in San Jose.
