The Red Wings were well aware of the importance of winning Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals here Tuesday night. Since 1939, when the Finals became a best-of-seven series, only three teams have ever lost the first two games and come back to win the Cup. And the Wings themselves were the victims on two of those three occasions.
The last time it happened was in 1971 when the Blackhawks jumped on top of the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 and lost in seven games. The Red Wings, historically speaking, were in some trouble regardless of the outcome of Game 2. Only 12 teams have won the Cup after losing the opener.
Ice is greener: While the New Jersey Devils swear by their defensive system, one player who has seen both sides says it’s more fun playing for the relatively free-wheeling Red Wings.
“Nobody in New Jersey wants creative hockey,” said defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov, who was traded from the Devils to the Wings during the season. “They want dumping out, dumping in. No mistakes, but no fun, either. It’s just a job.”
There’s so many: New Jersey Coach Jacques Lemaire played on eight Stanley Cup champions with the Montreal Canadiens but wears only the ring won by the 1977 team. “That,” he said, “is the year we beat the Flyers. The Flyers had won two straight years and before the series they said they’d beat us in four and we did beat them in four.”
Trouble is, the year they beat the Flyers was 1976. But he has good reason to wear the 1977 ring, anyway. In that final series, a four-game sweep over Boston, he had three game-winning goals including the Cup winner in overtime.
NHL on TV: Fox’s telecast of Game 1 of the NHL Finals was the highest rated on the network this season at 3.2, Fox said Tuesday. Saturday night’s telecast also was the highest-rated NHL game on network television since NBC registered a 3.6 for the 1990 All-Star Game. Fox said the broadcast won the night’s ratings sweepstakes with a 4.4 Nielsen number among the 18-34 male age group, considered the most appealing by national advertisers. Each ratings point represents 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 95.4 million television households.
Raw or fried?: Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko said he doesn’t mind the octopus-throwing Red Wings fans but could find better use for the slimy creatures. “I own a restaurant in New Jersey,” he said, “and it’s a waste of a lot of good calamari. I could use some of that.”