The last time the Red Wings faced elimination, they brought their best game against the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 7 of the first round in a 6-1 rout. They did the same again on Thursday to the San Jose Sharks.
But to advance this time, they’ll have to do it three more times—in a row.
Johan Franzen will give the Sharks nightmares tonight after scoring four times and accumulating six points in a 7-1 rout of San Jose to extend the series. After winning the first three games—all by scores of 4-3—the Sharks will head back to San Jose with a bad taste in their mouths as they try to eliminate the Red Wings a second time.
Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and three assists and Jimmy Howard stopped 28 shots as the Wings avoided being swept for the first time since 2003. Dany Heatley scored the lone goal for the Sharks, and Evgeni Nabokov was pulled after allowing five goals on nine shots
Franzen scored three unanswered goals in a span of 3:26 to complete a natural hat trick, missing the all time playoff record for fastest three goals by a meager two seconds, and added another in the third period.
Despite Franzen’s scoring tirade, it was Bertuzzi that kicked off the onslaught. Franzen’s shot deflected off the inside of Bertuzzi’s left leg past Nabokov to open the scoring. It was initially thought the goal was Franzen’s, which would have meant he scored the first four goals, but was later changed to Bertuzzi.
Then Franzen started his rampage. At the 7:50 mark, Nabakov stopped the initial shot on a rush by Henrik Zetterberg with Franzen screening in front. Franzen found the rebound and spun a backhander into the empty net, giving the Wings an early 2-0 lead.
Zetterberg found Bertuzzi streaking over the Sharks’ blue line 2:57 later. Bertuzzi pulled up as two Sharks defenders converged in front of him and left a beautiful no-look pass for Franzen, who ripped a wrist shot over Nabokov’s glove.
Thinking he had completed the hat trick, Red Wings fans threw hats on the ice. Franzen made it official 33 seconds later, getting his own rebound and poking it into the net for a 4-0 lead.
Franzen finished off his night 7:33 into the third period, putting home a rebound off a point shot from Nicklas Lidstrom, prompting the home crowd into chants of “FRAN-ZEN! FRAN-ZEN!”
Detroit wasn’t done in the first period. Valterri Filppula dug a loose puck out of the corner and flung an odd angle shot that hit Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray and trickled by Nabokov to give the Wings a 5-0 lead at the intermission.
The stunned Sharks pulled Nabokov to start the second, although it didn’t really matter much. With Dwight Helminen off for tripping, Bertuzzi fed a cross-ice pass to Brian Rafalski, who one-timed it by new goalie Thomas Greiss. Greiss finished the game with 26 saves in the final two periods.
The game got chippy in the third period. San Jose’s Joe Thornton was penalized four times in the frame, beginning with an elbow to the back of Zetterberg’s head, and culminating with a 10-minute misconduct after scrapping with Tomas Holmstrom. Justin Abdelkader and Scott Nichol fought, and Kris Draper and Ryane Clowe were given game misconducts halfway through the period.
In all 26 penalties were called in the game, 15 to the Sharks, a stark contrast to previous games in the series. The Red Wings had been taking more penalties in the first three contests, which led to 10 San Jose power plays in Game 2, and six in Game 3. Detroit finished the game 2 for 8 on the man advantage, while the Sharks finished 1 for 5.
Game 5 is Saturday in San Jose.
Filed under: Game Recap Tagged: | Detroit Red Wings, game 4, Johan Franzen, playoffs, San Jose Sharks
