Wings' Babcock blames himself
PITTSBURGH - Rarely is a hockey game won or lost on one play, one goal, or for that matter a miscalculation or a single faux pas.
Mike Babcock could point to any number of reasons the Penguins dropped a 3-2 defeat on the Red Wings Wednesday night, leaving Detroit with its lead cut in half, 2-1, in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals. High on his list, though, was the 45-year-old coach of the Red Wings, who happens to be Babcock. He called himself out for allowing some of his best players to remain on the ice just a few ticks too long in the early going of Game 3.
The likes of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, said Babcock, skated upward of a minute per shift early in the first period. Ideally, they would be in the 35- to 40-second range, allowing them quicker recovery times upon returning to the bench and fresher legs over the course of three periods (or more, if necessary).
"A big part of it is you've got to use your people right," said Babcock.
Ultimately, an extra 10 seconds here, and maybe 15 or 20 there, said Babcock, took some pluck out of his key attackers. Nonetheless, the Wings held an impressive 9-1 shot lead in the opening 15 minutes, and appeared to have the game in control, until Sidney Crosby nailed in his first of two goals at 17:25 of the period, and put the Red Wings in the uncustomary position of not seeing a big fat zero next to "PITT" on the scoreboard.
"Bottom line is, players make mistakes," said Babcock, further developing his mea culpa yesterday, a day off before the squads return for Game 4 here tomorrow night. "Coaches [also] make mistakes. I'm not talking we didn't have a good game plan, weren't trying to do the right thing. Sometimes when you're trying to do the right thing, the wrong thing happens. That's life."
Meanwhile, the Penguins, after barely showing up in the first two games, were able to stop singing the "Who's Sorry Now?" playoff blues. Crosby's goal provided the lead, and his second built a 2-0 cushion 2:34 into the second. When Johan Franzen cut the lead in half by the end of the second, ex-Michigan State standout Adam Hall banked one in off the backside of Wings goalie Chris Osgood for what turned into the winning goal.
Osgood was slightly out of position, because of traffic the Penguins generated around his net (an aspect missing in the two games in Detroit), when Hall flipped out a centering pass intended for veteran winger Gary Roberts. The shot was somewhat reminiscent of the Steve Smith own goal, banked in off the back of Oilers teammate Grant Fuhr, which knocked Edmonton out of the 1986 playoffs. Hall's ricochet shot was not a classic by any means, but it's one he likely will remember for a lifetime.
"I think every little kid that grows up playing hockey dreams of scoring a goal in the playoffs, or to win the Stanley Cup," said Hall. "There's no one way you dream about scoring it, you just kind of dream about the celebration."
The Penguins remain in the unenviable position of trailing in the series. However, they will enter tomorrow night with a little bit of mojo, thanks in large part to their ability to slow the Wings slightly in the neutral zone, often breaking up plays, something they couldn't do much in Game 1 or 2. Even at that, the Wings outshot the Eastern Conference champions, 34-24.
The Penguins also generated an effective hitting game, especially in the late going, and they'll try to do that for the remainder of the series. They think they can get some of the old guys in red-and-white to wilt a bit if they can keep up the punishment. Case in point: the four big hits ex-Boston College Eagle Brooks Orpik dished out during one shift with about five minutes to go in the third.
All the more reason for Babcock to keep his guys fresh and ready to reach down for a little extra, if needed, as the nights grow longer in this series.
"A lot of people say they're experienced," noted Orpik, an unrestricted free agent July 1, and capable of adding greatly to his asking price as he ramps up the hits. "They do have a lot of older guys on the team. So I think the more you can pound on them, it definitely takes its toll during the end of the series."
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. 