Babcock: 'We Stole Game 1, And They Just Stole This Game'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) -- Mike Babcock does not usually address his team after games. The Detroit Red Wings head coach deviated from that norm Thursday night, after his team watched a 2-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning evaporate in the game's final minutes. Instead of going up 3-1 in the series, the Red Wings will return to Tampa Bay for Game 5 with the series tied.
Detroit lost a game it should have won, but Babcock did not want his players to get down about that fact.
"I never talk to our guys after games ever, or hardly ever," Babcock said. "Tonight I talked to them just about that. I really believe a couple of things in life. I believe if you think you can, you can. Second thing is I believe that we stole Game 1 and they just stole this game, so to me it should be 2-2. Here it is. It's the best of three. Let's play.
"So we can feel sorry for ourselves, we've got a flight to Tampa, we can do that then, but let's get up and get regrouped and get on with it," Babcock added.
Before the Lightning scored three goals between the third period and overtime, the Red Wings had controlled the game. In the second period, Gustav Nyquist gave Detroit its first goal. Later that period, Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop inadvertently gave the Red Wings their second goal, blocking a shot by Joakim Andersson but then batting it right into the net with his stick.
With 7:28 remaining in the game, the momentum shifted. A scuffle had broken out, and Detroit's Luke Glendening and Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman were penalized for roughing. Glendening injured his hand in the encounter and did not play the rest of the game.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper believed Glendening's absence was the catalyst for the Lightning's comeback.
"He's an extremely responsible player, and there's not a lot of guys out there like the Glendenings," Cooper said. "He's done a heck of a job on our guys, and they lost a player that plays an extremely important role for them. You look back now, and we came back to win the game, so it was potentially a huge factor.
"He's a good player for them, so there's no question that it had an effect," Cooper continued. "The triplet line there, well, I'm not so sure if he would have been out there on the 4-on-4, but they just had a vibe going when that first one went in. For him not to be around, I'm sure there was a little bit of an effect."
While Babcock agreed that Glendening's loss hurt, he did not want to use it as an excuse.
"Obviously it was a big play in the game," Babcock said. "I really felt we should have been going on the power play there, but we can't control those things. Obviously with him getting his hand cut and missing the rest of the game, matchup-wise, [Tyler] Johnson's line, they got the next three goals. But still, we made some mistakes. I thought we played a good game, did lots of good things ... we made some mistakes at the end that they capitalized on each one of them.
"They hadn't gotten much done, to be honest with you," Babcock added. "I thought they stole tonight's game kind of like we stole Game 1 in their building, to be honest with you."
Glendening said after the game that he was not sure how his injury happened -- he guessed his hand caught a skate or a visor -- but that he expected to be able to play in Game 5. The coach conveyed the same optimism.
"We think he's okay," Babcock said. "Just like all injuries in the playoffs, you never really know until game time, but the doc says that they've sewn him up and that he's going to be fine."
It would be easy -- and not entirely unjustified -- for the Red Wings to mourn over this loss as a monumental opportunity squandered, but Babcock focused on what the team did well. He liked most of what he saw.
"I thought we played good," Babcock said. "I thought we had them in big-time trouble. For whatever reason, when we lost Glenny there, for whatever reason they got energy and we didn't and they made some plays, but I actually liked -- I thought our team played good."
Just as they did in Game 3, the Red Wings held the Tampa Bay power play scoreless. It was one of several positives Detroit took from the game.
"I thought our penalty kill was good, I thought we got in on the forecheck, didn't turn a lot of pucks over," Glendening said. "Those are things we can build on."
The Red Wings could have had a 3-1 lead going into Game 5. The realization is no doubt aggravating for Detroit, but the team has no choice but to move on instead of mulling what might have been.
"When you're up 2-nothing and 10 or seven minutes left, obviously if you lose that game it's disappointing, but that's how hockey is, and that's how long series can go sometimes," Henrik Zetterberg said. "You've just got to regroup. What's done is done, and now we've got to refocus and go play better on the road than we did in games one and two."
