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Franzen lights up Sharks in
Game 4
Wings pound Sharks in 7-1 romp
With their backs against the wall the Detroit Red
Wings played desperate hockey on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena. San Jose
played like a team with three games to burn in the best-of-seven series. Johan
Franzen played like a man possessed, scoring four goals, including three in the
1st period alone. Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi Final match up was over
before the first intermission, as the Red Wings coasted to a 7-1 win.
The series now shifts back to San Jose , where the Sharks get a chance to close
out the series on home ice. Franzen took full advantage of his home-ice
advantage, turning in a 6-point performance in a dominating performance. The
desperate team was the better team. The Red Wings opened up the door for the
Sharks in the first minute of the game by taking a bench minor for too many men
on the ice. San Jose ’s power play was tentative and failed to use the
opportunity to get into heads of the Red Wings.
Dwight Helminen would reciprocate with a tripping penalty at
3:43, which would get the snow-ball rolling for Detroit . San Jose had killed
all of 3 seconds when the goal-fest would start
Franzen would unleash
a ton of hurt on the Sharks with the first of four points that he would score
in a 5:36 span. The Red Wings forward would start things off by sending a long
shot from the left side past Evgeni Nabokov at 5:40, while Todd Bertuzzi
screened the Sharks netminder. The shot deflected off Bertuzzi, beating Nabokov
via the five-hole.
San Jose would gift wrap an early present Detroit
when a defensive lapse allowed Franzen to park in front of the Sharks net, then
score on a rebound off a Henrik Zetterberg shot. Franzen had his back to the
Sharks net when the puck landed in the crease to Nabokov’s left. The
forward swatted at the puck with his back-hand, sweeping the puck into the net
for the 2-0 Detroit lead.
The absence of any defense would cost the
Sharks again, when Bertuzzi dropped the puck off to Franzen at 10:43 as the
forward raced into the zone. Franzen slid to his left after grabbing the puck
and snapping a shot across his body from left to right. With Nabokov cheating
to the near side, the shot tucked just inside the right post and the Red Wings
were off to the races.
He would earn the natural hatr-trick less than
a minute later, punching home his own rebound as the Sharks defense once again
got caught flat-footed. Franzen sent in a shot from the high slot, then scooped
up his own rebound and slid the follow-up shot just inside the left post.
Douglas Murray was the latest Sharks defenseman to put a puck into his
own net during the playoffs. Valteri Filppula tried sending a centering pass
into the slot from the end boards, but the puck hit Murray in the skate and
deflected between Nabokov’s pads for the 5th goal of the period. Murray,
Rob Blake, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Dan Boyle have all been involved in
deflections that have ended up in the Sharks goal.
The period would mercifully end with the Sharks
preparing their game plan for Game 5. Nabokov’s evening also came to an
end, as Thomas Greiss made his playoff debut for San Jose to start the 2nd
period.
Helminen opened the period with another tripping penalty, and
the Red Wings would pile it on. Brian Rafalski pinched on an odd-man rush, and
one timed a feed from Bertuzzi past Greiss at 3:05. Franzen would earn the
secondary assist on the play for his 5th point of the game.
Niklas
Kronwall and Niklas Lidstrom would take penalties late in the period to give
the Sharks a brief 5-on-3 power play. Dany Heatley would end Jimmy
Howard’s shutout bid with his 2nd goal of the playoffs at 19:11. The
Sharks sniper ripped a blast from the inside of the right circle, catching
twine.
Joe Thornton took exception to Detroit ’s offensive
outburst by knocking Tomas Holmstrom off his skates after a delayed penalty to
Heatley. Tempers flared and punches were thrown, which netted the Red Wings a
4-on-3 power play. Franzen would tack on his 4th goal of the game after Greiss
gave up a big rebound after knocking down a shot with his glove.
Tempers would continue to flare later in the period. Scott Nichol and Justin
Abdelkader would mix it up, then San Jose would take a pair of roughing
penalties a minute apart, giving the Red Wings another 5-on-3. Ryane Clowe and
Chris Draper would earn 10 minute misconducts for chirping, putting an end to
their Game 4.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| DET |
5 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
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| 1st period - 1, DET,
Bertuzzi 2 (Franzen, Zetterberg), 5:40, (pp). 2, DET, Franzen 3 (Zetterberg,
Bertuzzi), 7:50. 3, DET, Franzen 4 (Bertuzzi, Lidstrom), 10:43. 4, DET, Franzen
5 (unassisted), 11:16. 5, DET, Filppula 4 (Holmstrom, Datsyuk), 18:50. |
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| 2nd period - 6, DET,
Rafalski 2 (Bertuzzi, Franzen), 3:05, (pp). 7, SJ, Heatley 2 (Thornton,
Marleau), 19:11, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 8, DET,
Franzen 6 (Lidstrom, Zetterberg), 7:33. |
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| 1st period - Bench, DET
(too many men), 1:01; Helminen, SJ (tripping), 3:43; Lilja, DET (high
sticking), 14:06. |
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| 2nd period - Helminen,
SJ (tripping), 2:34; Clowe, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:55; Thornton , SJ
(roughing), 9:55; Draper, DET (hooking), 13:49; Kronwall, DET (interference),
17:15; Lidstrom, DET (hooking), 18:54. |
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| 3rd period -
Demers, SJ (roughing), 2:18; Abdelkader, DET (roughing), 2:18; Heatley, SJ
(holding the stick), 3:52; Thornton, SJ (roughing), 3:52; Thornton, SJ
(roughing), 3:52; Thornton, SJ (10 min misconduct), 3:52; Holmstrom, DET
(roughing), 3:52; Nichol, SJ (cross checking), 10:06; Nichol, SJ (fighting
major), 10:06; Abdelkader, DET (roughing), 10:06; Abdelkader, DET (fighting
major), 10:06; Murray, SJ (roughing), 10:23; Clowe, SJ (10 min misconduct),
10:23; Draper, DET (10 min misconduct), 10:23; Huskins, SJ (roughing),
11:38. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
9 |
4 |
| SJ - Greiss |
28 |
26 |
| DET - Howard |
29 |
28 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
15 |
3 |
29 |
| DET |
9 |
14 |
14 |
37 |
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| Referees: Lee,
McCreary. Linesmen: Morin, Murphy. |
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