Thursday night at the Joe was Johan Franzen night, although it wasn’t announced on any of the game programs or pregame ceremonies. This one was all about the big Swede they call “The Mule” in Hockeytown, as he scored a hat trick in the first period and added another in the 3rd period to finish with 4 goals and 6 points as the Red Wings staved off elimination in impressive fashion, dominating the Sharks 7-1.
Franzen was even given credit for the Wings’ first goal of the night, but on further review, it was determined that Todd Bertuzzi had tipped his shot before it went by Evgeni Nabokov. Had that goal stood as Franzen’s, he would have joined Mario Lemieux as the only two players to ever score 4 goals in the opening period of a playoff game. Franzen scored the next three goals of the game in a span of 3:26, making it the 2nd fastest natural playoff hat trick in NHL history.
His first goal came as he crashed the net on Henrik Zetterberg’s shot and spun around to bat a bouncing puck in out of the crease as he crashed to the ice. Three minutes later, he wired a wrister over Nabokov’s right shoulder to put Detroit up 3-0. Then, on the same shift, the big guy banged through the slot to grab his own rebound and slap it through a crowd to give Detroit a commanding 4-0 lead. Dan Boyle had some more bad luck later in the period, as his clearing attempt hit Doug Murray’s skate in the crease and ticked through Nabokov’s legs. Valterri Filppula was given credit for the goal as the last Detroit player to touch the puck. Nabokov was pulled after the first period.
Brian Rafalski made it 6-0 with a beauty of a one timer early in the 2nd, beating Thomas Greiss with a bomb from the faceoff circles. Dany Heatley broke Howard’s shutout bid with a blast on a San Jose powerplay in the last minute of the 2nd, but there was never any doubt as to whether or not this series would be heading back to the Shark Tank.
By the 3rd period, Bertuzzi had been given credit for the first goal, and apparently Franzen liked the sound of having 4 goals in the game, as he scored again in the 3rd, this time on the powerplay, scooping up a loose puck in tight and snapping it under the crossbar. Game 5 will be back in San Jose on Saturday night.