The history, it’s everywhere. Joe Louis Arena oozes with reminders of the past, from Steve Yzerman Drive out front to walls painted with the name of every Stanley Cup-winning player.
Sometimes it's living history. Like when Ted Lindsay strolls by following a morning skate.
Or like Tuesday night, when Gordie Howe walked through the Red Wings’ dressing room, following one of the best games of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Red Wings won 3-1, bringing a smile to the face of Mr. Hockey.
His franchise was still alive.
He’s one of the great players of all time. Arguably the greatest. He led some of the best teams to ever play the game.
And yet, none of the Red Wings greats accomplished what this 2011 squad is on the verge of doing. None of the names on the wall did this.
After dropping the first three games of the Western Conference semifinals to the Sharks, the Red Wings have now won three straight. They could become just the fourth team in the history of the NHL to win a playoff series after facing a 3-0 deficit.
The first in Red Wings history.
“We’re not worried about putting something in history. That’s not what we’re here for,” Red Wings forward Dan Cleary said. “We’re here to win a game. We’re here to move on. We all know we want to win at the end.”
It’s about Stanley Cups, we know that. But by carving a story for the ages, this one has the potential to be more special than some of the rest.
The fans in Detroit felt it.
With 9.5 seconds left, and the outcome settled, a frenzied Joe Louis crowd cheered as the lyrics “California, California, here we come!” blared over speakers. The Red Wings were headed back to San Jose for Game 7 on Thursday. Usually it’s Eminem or Kid Rock firing them up, not theme music from The O.C. But it was fitting.
They were witnessing history. Potentially, at least.
“It was fantastic,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “You know what? I don’t think it’s been as loud since I got here.”
It provided the Red Wings the energy they needed in the third period. They dominated this game -- absolutely dominated -- yet it was scoreless after two periods, despite Detroit enjoying a 32-13 shot advantage. Credit Sharks goalie Antti Niemi for that, along with a couple missed opportunities, like when Darren Helm failing to convert a pass from Zetterberg into a goal, or Cleary missing an open net after beating Niemi.
The energy from the building was sapped momentarily when a Logan Couture shot trickled past Jimmy Howard to give the Sharks an improbable 1-0 lead in the third period.
But one bad goal doesn’t beat these Red Wings. We’re having a hard time figuring out what does.
“You keep playing,” Howard said. “That’s the beauty of this game is that you know it’s never over until the final buzzer. No matter what the score is, you keep going.”
That goes for games. That goes for this series.
The final buzzer didn’t sound when the Sharks took a 3-0 series lead. Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said there were conversations among the players after the Red Wings dropped the first three games of the series, and the message from the captain was consistent.
All they had to do was win one game to keep this thing going. When they did that, the focus shifted to the next one.
Here they are.
“We can’t relax because every game has been so tight and so close,” Lidstrom said. “We’re not done yet.”
Sharks forward Joe Pavelski made a wise observation after his team beat the Red Wings to take a 3-0 series lead. Every one of the teams left in the playoffs has had four-game winning streaks this season. He knew the Red Wings were capable of this.
So it’s not a stunned Sharks team that heads back to San Jose. Every game has been close, and chances are the final one will be too. These Sharks won’t just roll over and let the Red Wings coast into history.
“Just ask Detroit. They lost three in a row and their confidence wasn’t frayed. We’re a confident group still,” Sharks center Joe Thornton said after the loss. “You work 82 games to get home ice in these Game 7’s. Now we just have to make it work.”
These are two franchises with dramatically different histories. If the Sharks win, they can alter theirs. If the Red Wings win, they add to theirs.
Until one of those things happen, the significance of Game 6 remains unclear.
“We haven’t really done anything yet,” Zetterberg said. “It’s first to four. You have to go in and play a good Game 7 and win that. If we don’t do that, no one will remember us.”
No comments:
Post a Comment