The Wings' Pathetic Overtime Record

[Datsyerberger 279]

Why? This is my theory.

The Wings are generally the cleanest team in the league.

They frequently match up in the playoffs against not-so-clean teams (this applies to the Ducks in particular).

Refs put away their whistles in OT (only 1 penalty -- albeit in the Wings favor -- in 3 OTs this game)

Therefore, high PIM and/or dirty teams benefit a lot more from OT like that, where they can keep playing an edgy/dirty game with much lower fear of penalties, whereas the Wings don't benefit from that, because their players get interfered with/etc, and they don't go to the PP as often, one of their strongest assets.

I'm sure that's not all of it, but I'd call it a reasonable part of the problem.

[Jake Ryan 1]

Why? This is my theory.

The Wings are generally the cleanest team in the league.

They frequently match up in the playoffs against not-so-clean teams (this applies to the Ducks in particular).

Refs put away their whistles in OT (only 1 penalty -- albeit in the Wings favor -- in 3 OTs this game)

Therefore, high PIM and/or dirty teams benefit a lot more from OT like that, where they can keep playing an edgy/dirty game with much lower fear of penalties, whereas the Wings don't benefit from that, because their players get interfered with/etc, and they don't go to the PP as often, one of their strongest assets.

I'm sure that's not all of it, but I'd call it a reasonable part of the problem.

This is a good point. The Wings 5 on 5 has GOT to be more aggressive IN FRONT OF THE NET. They were having defenseman jump in the play all night which is great, but if noone is there to bang in rebounds, the puck isn't going to go in.

[55fan 5,133]

This is a good point. The Wings 5 on 5 has GOT to be more aggressive IN FRONT OF THE NET. They were having defenseman jump in the play all night which is great, but if noone is there to bang in rebounds, the puck isn't going to go in.

Rebounds. There were some juicy ones, but they went to a Duck. If we keep banging them, we'll get them in. I certainly understand not wanting to make mistakes in OT, but when we're in front of their net, might as well go whole hog (or mule).

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

osgood shoulda had that one. that's why we lost

Agree.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

I've recognized this as being a problem throughout franchise history, with this decade being the worst and the 1990's being the best: 12W-6L. The Club has had 86 overtime playoff games, with a record of 38W-48L. In the seven decades they've played, they have been a plus in only 3. I thought it might be mutliple-overtime games that brings the totals down, but it's not; in 27 multiple-overtime period games in franchise history, the Club's record is 15W-12L. In this decade, the Club has played 7 multiple-overtime period games, with a record of 3W-4L. Of the 15 overtime losses this decade, even if you take 1 of every 5 losses and made it a win, it still ends up only 11W-10L.

I even looked at this decade's single-overtime period playoff games, breaking the period down into quarters, for each five-minute part of the period, to see when the game-winning goal was scored.

In the Club's 3 wins, they came in:

1Q:1

2Q:1

4Q:1.

In the Club's 11 losses, they came in:

1Q: 5

2Q: 4

4Q: 2.

A bright spot I found was this: in the 11 Stanley Cup winning seasons, in 27 overtime playoff games, the Club's record is 16W-11L. See, it's not so bad.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Why? This is my theory.

The Wings are generally the cleanest team in the league.

They frequently match up in the playoffs against not-so-clean teams (this applies to the Ducks in particular).

Refs put away their whistles in OT (only 1 penalty -- albeit in the Wings favor -- in 3 OTs this game)

Therefore, high PIM and/or dirty teams benefit a lot more from OT like that, where they can keep playing an edgy/dirty game with much lower fear of penalties, whereas the Wings don't benefit from that, because their players get interfered with/etc, and they don't go to the PP as often, one of their strongest assets.

I'm sure that's not all of it, but I'd call it a reasonable part of the problem.

Interesting theory and one I hadn't really thought about.

However, many times in these OT's our players will get great chances to shoot at the net and will either pass if off or shoot it at the goalie's crest. Those particular situations aren't connected with the other team playing dirty.

It just seems like the skill and great shooting we see in regulation doesn't translate into OT goals, and I'm thinking it has to be a confidence thing when a team loses more often than not in these games over the years.

I've recognized this as being a problem throughout franchise history, with this decade being the worst and the 1990's being the best: 12W-6L. The Club has had 86 overtime playoff games, with a record of 38W-48L. In the seven decades they've played, they have been a plus in only 3. I thought it might be mutliple-overtime games that brings the totals down, but it's not; in 27 multiple-overtime period games in franchise history, the Club's record is 15W-12L. In this decade, the Club has played 7 multiple-overtime period games, with a record of 3W-4L. Of the 15 overtime losses this decade, even if you take 1 of every 5 losses and made it a win, it still ends up only 11W-10L.

I even looked at this decade's single-overtime period playoff games, breaking the period down into quarters, for each five-minute part of the period, to see when the game-winning goal was scored.

In the Club's 3 wins, they came in:

1Q:1

2Q:1

4Q:1.

In the Club's 11 losses, they came in:

1Q: 5

2Q: 4

4Q: 2.

A bright spot I found was this: in the 11 Stanley Cup winning seasons, in 27 overtime playoff games, the Club's record is 16W-11L. See, it's not so bad.

Great analysis and I appreciate your actually going out and gathering stats to post in this thread.

Truth is that we don't have to be great in OT to win the Cup, since in 2002 we lost 4 OT games on our way to the Cup, which I believe is a record.

However, against the Ducks, our OT losses have been the reasons we lost the series, since we couldn't get it done in the clutch the way they've been able to. The Ducks have had a tremendous OT record since the 2003 playoffs so maybe we've just been unfortunate to run into them.

[OsGOD 3]

I think the Moneybags should stop feeding the players that god awful Hot 'N Readys during the OT intermissions... save that s*** for the opposition i tell you!!

[pavyaz19 1]

we need todo is not have threads like these, focus on the good of the game and bounce back and blow the opposing team away next game

this is exactly right... because when the FANS are 100% focused and 100% positive while posting on LGW.com... the Red Wings will ALWAYS win. The fans opinions on these message boards really is the deciding factor on who wins and loses playoff hockey games.

If we could just get all of you to be positive and become ditzy cheerleaders, the Wings will NEVER EVER lose. It's all about our posts on these forums. This is what hockey's all about. Get your act together posting red wings fans! Or get ready for a long, Cupless summer!

[ashenhigh 9]

You guys.... its the hockey gods.

They let Yzerman sink that blast from the blue line in 96 to send the blues back to hell.

Larionov then showed what it means to be 40+ and still better than everyone else in 3ot vs the Hurricanes in '02.

Because of those two amazing moments, the rest have to be heartbreaking.

Every OT we loose.

Game 4 vs Ducks in 2003.... ouch (I HATE YOU STEVE RUCCHIN)

Game 6 vs Calgary in 2004.... freaking 0-1 OT game....

Game 5 vs Ducks in 2007..... Who didnt see that one coming?

Game 5 vs Pengiuns in 2008.... Of course the wings cant win the cup in dramatic fashion

Edited May 4, 2009 by ashenhigh

[C-TownWing 0]

As the 3rd OT started, I thought Mike might play him just for some live legs, and I had the same feeling all night. Now we'll never know.

I just hope that grinding out 3OTs with essentially 4 Ds doesn't kill us later. We're all hoping Getzlaf gets worn down with his minutes, but damn, we really rode our top 4 hard in game 2.

As for the larger issue, I could tell that we weren't going to win about midway through OT2, or if we did win, it would be on kind of a fluky/bad goal. We sort of devolved into the "bad" Red Wings, where we bomb away from 40' with no traffic and don't generate anything down low/off the cycle. I sort of remember game 5 of the SCF being like that too, and game 5 of the Nashville series ended too quickly thanks to Mule's breakaway to find out.

The record is what it is since 2001, but I have a hard time finding correlation--we've gone through 3 coaches since then and probably 80% roster turnover. Point being, it's probably not just one thing.

[C-TownWing 0]

You guys.... its the hockey gods.

They let Yzerman sink that blast from the blue line in 96 to send the blues back to hell.

Larionov then showed what it means to be 40+ and still better than everyone else in 3ot vs the Hurricanes in '02.

Because of those two amazing moments, the rest have to be heartbreaking.

Every OT we loose.

Game 4 vs Ducks in 2003.... ouch (I HATE YOU STEVE RUCCHIN)

Game 6 vs Calgary in 2004.... freaking 0-1 OT game....

Game 5 vs Ducks in 2007..... Who didnt see that one coming?

Game 5 vs Pengiuns in 2008.... Of course the wings cant win the cup in dramatic fashion

Nashville last year, game 4 against SJ in 2007, where Lazy and Sucks tied it late, game 6 against Calgary that year (another Mule special), Maltby in game 1 against Edmonton (forgetting the rest of that series)...it hasn't been ALL bad! Mostly just against the Ducks--I think we have a 5 game playoff OT losing streak to them now or something like that. 2 in 2003, 2 in 2007 and 1 in 2009.

[Chunkylover 26]

So what the hell is the deal with such a record? Is there something we need to do differently in these games (other than score)? Do our players try to play too cute?

The real problem with the Wings yesterday was that they waited until the overtime to start pressuring. They seemed to be running around more focused on making the Ducks pay the price for possessing the puck: a complete one-eighty from two years ago.

I also think that, while the Wings definitely played well in the overtime, they are too comfortable and confident in their system and abilities. They'd be just as happy ending it in the first minute of the first overtime as they would ending it in the last minute of the fifth overtime.

I guess the opposite of that would be panic so I'm happy with how the game turned out. They proved they were capable of dominating, but left it with a bad taste in their mouth and plenty of defensive lapses for Babs to beat out of them. I'm looking for a big game three, I just hope the refs stay the heck out. Those overtime periods were awesome.

[Chunkylover 26]

Why? This is my theory.

The Wings are generally the cleanest team in the league.

They frequently match up in the playoffs against not-so-clean teams (this applies to the Ducks in particular).

Refs put away their whistles in OT (only 1 penalty -- albeit in the Wings favor -- in 3 OTs this game)

I think the Wings have really pushed the envelope on the physical play, and for the most part the Ducks have just been taking it. I didn't see anything from the Ducks in the OTs that merited a penalty. The Wings last two overtime playoff games (the only two I think matter because they best represent the current state of the team: the Wings were a very different team in the Nashville series) showed a Detroit team incapable of connecting on a pass, clearing the defensive zone or negating any offensive attack through the first sixty minutes. Then the team focused and dominated for over eighty minutes of overtime only to see Osgood beat over the glove. I don't blame Osgood, I blame the team for waiting until it's too late to try and win. See also: 2007 WCF Game 6.

[COLORADOWingsFan 0]

Very good topic. I agree with others that they need to crash the net and get dirty. We have also had just some plain bad luck.

The record is terrible. No wonder I feel ill when OT starts.

[Hank 0]

This is my theory:

The Wings play it simple in the OT. They retain the puck and fire at will.

This seems to do two things:

1. Because most of the shots are from wide range, the opposing goalie gains confidence and can remain mentally sharp because they're facing so much rubber.

2. Because we're in their end the whole time, our goalie loses focus allowing for softies like Marchant's.

As soon as we went into OT I knew we'd lose. Like the OP noted, our OT record has been abysmal of late.

But I'm not worried. The Wings will rebound and win 3 of the next 4.

[puertoricanWingsfan 5]

I thought we lose all the time in OT because the Wings hate me?

... no? Maybe I'm nuts :looney:

[RedWings 79]

Actually I prefer that 3OT loss than a 2-3 loss (which was likely the outcome of the game without that crazily accurate shot from Franzen).

During 60 minutes in regulation, our best forward from far was a fourth liner, that is SCARY

And during a few streaks, Anaheim top line was embarrassing us so much in 5vs5 that the Wings looked like on a ******* PK

We need some line changes.

But the 3OT definitely brang us to life. The team was hard working for the first time of the series.

We were able to bounce back after that awful Pittsburgh loss.

It's still the beginning of the series. Let's win game 3 now.