Less Yzerman Means Much More Fedorov

With Sergei Fedorov it’s always about the questions. What’s troubling you now, Sergei? Why aren’t you scoring, Sergei? When will you start feeling better, Sergei? When will you start scoring again, Sergei? What’s the deal with you and Anna, Sergei?

Fedorov looks like the best player in the game, but for only 30 seconds at a glance. He never seems capable of sustaining his boundless ability for a full shift, a full game, a full week, and certainly not for a full season.

Pity.

Fedorov should be the best player in the game.

At 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds, he has the body of a man who should be as strong as many of the physical defensemen assigned to muzzle him. With skates churning past slower opponents, he should be free to blast away with his remarkable shot. With his blazing speed and fabulous stickhandling ability, he should be able to dance and wheel and deal with the puck.

Sometimes, he does. Sometimes, he puts it all together in eye-catching fashion. But it comes in drips and drabs and frustrates those who probably expect too much of Anna Kournikova’s boyfriend.

After ending the regular season with as many goals as you and me in the final 10 games, Fedorov awoke with a start in Game 1 of the Detroit Red Wings’ opening-round series Wednesday against the Kings at Joe Louis Arena. (Anna, by the way, was among the sellout crowd of 19,995.)

Fedorov drove past the Kings as if they were standing still on a first-period power play. He skated below the goal line, pulling the defense to him and leaving Detroit pest Tomas Holmstrom alone in the front of the net. Holmstrom deposited the puck, slipped deftly in front by Fedorov, behind Felix Potvin for a 1-0 Red Wing lead 6:23 into the game.

Next, Fedorov watched Brendan Shanahan perform almost the same dash down the right wing and below the goal line. Fedorov sneaked alertly into the slot, awaiting a pass he knew was sure to find his stick. When it did, Fedorov slammed it by Potvin at the 8:51 mark.

Red Wings 2, Kings 0.

Finally, after Shanahan and King forward Kelly Buchberger traded goals, Fedorov helped put Game 1 away for the Red Wings at the 2:41 mark of the middle period. Using King defenseman Jere Karalahti, Fedorov whipped a tricky shot on Potvin. The goalie kicked the puck into no man’s land, Shanahan outraced King center Jozef Stumpel to it and put it into the back of the net.

Red Wings 4, Kings 1.

“He’s a playoff player,” Detroit’s Darren McCarty said of Fedorov. “There’s no better guy to have in the playoffs.”

Fedorov’s speed, strength, skill and smarts helped the Red Wings take Game 1 from the Kings, 5-3. Detroit needed something extra, what with captain Steve Yzerman playing only 5 minutes 58 seconds because of a bum ankle.

Fedorov, who played on a line with McCarty and Shanahan for the second and third periods, skated into the void created by Yzerman’s absence. He had four shots on net, two assists and a goal in easily his best performance since, well, since anyone in Hockeytown can remember.

Wednesday’s goal was his first since March 13 against the Vancouver Canucks and his second since he was sidelined six games because of a broken nose suffered Feb. 23 against the St. Louis Blues.

He couldn’t breathe comfortably when he returned to action. The full visor he was forced to wear in order to protect his beak bothered him. He suddenly lost his effectiveness. Coach Scotty Bowman suggested Fedorov wear a different type of visor, smaller, but every bit as protective. All of a sudden, Fedorov had no complaints.

He could breathe and he could see, but he joked with reporters Wednesday about not noticing Yzerman was missing from his line until late in the game.

“I was so focused on the game, I didn’t realize it, even though he was on my left wing,” a straight-faced Fedorov said. Moments earlier, he joked that Yzerman was “fine.” “Scotty’s just resting him. Scotty’s giving him a rest and he’s taking all the time he wants.”

With Yzerman sidelined, Bowman created a line of Fedorov, Shanahan and McCarty, and those three skated rings around the Kings.

“I thought he needed a goal to get him going,” Bowman said of Fedorov, who had only five goals in his last 19 postseason games before Wednesday. “He’s been getting chances. It’s been a big adjustment for him to wear a full-face shield and now this [smaller] one.

“I told him he should wear one because he handles the puck a lot. You look around the league and a lot of players wear them and still perform at a high level. They fog up a little bit, but there are timeouts and you have time to clear them with a towel.”

So, one crisis averted.

Question is, what will be the next one and how long will it be before it can be resolved and Fedorov can resume his flashes of brilliance?