You could say that the Detroit Red Wings got Kronwalled.
Much like many of Niklas Kronwall’s victims over the years, they were caught completely off-guard when the Detroit defenseman was tagged with the first suspension of his NHL career Tuesday, a one-game sit-down for a charging foul on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup series between the two teams Monday at Joe Louis Arena.
The suspension means that Kronwall, who owns 104 games of NHL playoff experience, won’t be in the lineup for Game 7 of the series Wednesday at Amalie Arena, and the Wings seemed genuinely stunned by this development.
“It’s a huge loss,” Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader said. “He’s our leader on defense and a leader in the locker room.”
The Wings appeared certain that Kronwall, who wasn’t penalized on the hit and who’s gained a reputation for his punishing checks – it’s called being Kronwalled - but had never been handed any supplementary discipline prior to this, would again slide by unscathed.
“He hasn’t been suspended before, and he’s been doing these hits all of his career, and not been suspended once,” said Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg, who maintained that the hit was clean.
“Yeah, I’ve seen it may times, a lot of slow-motion. I think when the contact is made his feet are on the ground. His follow through, I think, hits (Kucherov’s) head, but he has his arms down. His elbow is down when the contact is made.”
Detroit coach Mike Babcock also was of the opinion that Kronwall should be playing in Game 7.
“I thought it was a good hit,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought it was, you know he (Kucherov) was leaning back, trying to get out of the way.
“Kronner’s foot was on the ice when he made contact, elbow tucked in on the side. It went through him.”
“If you go through the series, in Game 2 (Tampa Bay’s Ryan) Callahan did the same to (Danny) DeKeyser. Last night, was it in the second period or the first period, (Tampa Bay’s Ondrej) Palat got (Luke) Glendening exactly the same way.”
Stephane Quintal, the NHL’s senior vice-president of player safety, begged to differ in announcing the suspension.
“Kronwall elevates unacceptably, with his skates off the ice prior to contact,” it said in a video release from the NHL explaining the suspension. “It is important to note that this hit differs from countless other hits delivered by Kronwall at this same location on the ice and under similar circumstances.”
Kronwall has played a team-high 23:35 per game in this series. Minus him, Babcock can turn to rookie Alexey Marchenko, who played in Games 1 and 2, or go with veteran Jakub Kindl, who has yet to see action in this set.
Looking For No. 1
Zetterberg has played 22 playoff series as a Red Wing. He’s scored a goal in every one of them – until now.
He has one more chance in Game 7 to make it happen.
“Yeah, obviously you want to produce more than I have done,” said Zetterberg, who has three assists through six games. “I had more looks during these games.
“Game 1 and Game 2 I didn’t play good. After that it’s been better, but obviously it would be nice to see the back of the net.”
Putting the puck in the net is an ongoing issue with Zetterberg. He scored just twice in his last 14 regular-season games and only three times in his last 29 games.
Babcock felt there was a simple explanation for Zetterberg’s lack of production in this series.
“It’s the playoffs,” Babcock said. “There’s no room. Period. There’s not a lot of space for Z.
“He’s been very good, very determined, played hard and hasn’t scored. But the good thing about him is he does lots of other things so we don’t have to worry about that.”
He Got Lucky
It was pure luck.
That’s what Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek felt about his spectacular paddle save on Tampa Bay’s Brian Boyle in the second period of Game 6.
Deked out by Boyle, Mrazek reached back to swat the puck out of mid-air as it was sailing toward the empty cage.
“It’s a lucky save,” Mrazek said. “If you put it on the ice or higher that’s a goal, it’s just one of the lucky ones and for the fans a nice save.
“I’d rather take the win than the save.”
If They Win
The Wings won’t have much downtime between series if they emerge victorious in Game 7. They would open the second round Friday against the Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m. at the Bell Centre. Game 2 would be there Sunday at 6 p.m.
The series would switch to Joe Louis Arena for games May 5 and 7, both at 7 p.m. Game 5 is May 9 at the Bell Centre, and Game 6 May 11 back at the JLA. Game 7 would be held May 13 in Montreal.
The Wings and Canadiens haven’t met in the playoffs since the 1978 quarter-finals.
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»