Red Wings 2, Sharks 3 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• Well, Franzen’s making his presence known at least.
• Pavel Datsyuk is a ridiculously good hockey player when he decides to be. But you knew that already.
• I’m not a fan of the CGI glass ads FSD was running. Then again, as someone pointed out on Twitter, they’re much better than ads on the uniforms. I guess I can live with that.
• It always amazes me how much I miss Mickey Redmond when the Wings are on the road.
• At one point during the game, Tomas Holmstrom beat out an icing. I’m pretty sure this was the first time he’s done that in his life. These are strange times we’re living in.
• I had to leave home immediately after San Jose’s first goal. By the time I got the car radio tuned to 97.1, the period was over and the Wings were losing. I promptly retuned to listening to my CD player.
• A linesman got checked into the Wings’ bench. I laughed a lot. Then I rewound my DVR and laughed again. Bless you, technology.
• I made it home just in time to catch the last half of overtime and the shootout. I was pretty excited about that until they went and lost. In related news, I should not be allowed to listen to Red Wing hockey on the radio while driving. Someone’s going to get killed.
• Jason Williams (Who?) scored the Wings’ tying goal during the third period. In accordance with the way the rest of this season has gone, it had to be reviewed. He did, however, fail to score in the shootout, which makes me sad. Will he still be a Red Wing tomorrow evening? We shall see.
• The Wings had a lot of good chances on net. They need to get their finish back. Or something like that.
• I really like it when Holmstrom causes havoc in front of the other team’s net. A lot.
• Nobody on the Wings is particularly good at fighting.
• It’s his second game back, and I still want to hug The Mule every time he’s out on the ice.
• This team should be so much better at the shootout. I do not understand.
• I was pretty pleased with the Wings’ overall play and tempo this game. Other folks have said it, but I’d be okay if they just played San Jose for the rest of the season. I’d sleep a lot more easily.
  

GP Answers:
1. Franzen looked good on Tuesday night. Can he keep that up in his second game back, or it his conditioning going to be a problem after all of the time that he missed?
Remember when Mule first joined the team? I mean really, in all honesty, do you remember anyone being all that excited about him? Who would’ve thought that the Wings would miss him as much as they did. He looked just fine in his second game back. Oh, and he scored a goal too.

2. What percentage of the game will the Wings decide to play tonight? The fact that this needs to be asked on a regular basis is disgusting.
I didn’t really have any issues with the Wings’ effort tonight. if they can just find a way to finish their chances, these kinds of games are going to start getting rewarded.

3. If the Wings win, they’ll move two points ahead of Anaheim and could potentially tie Calgary. If they lose, they’ll slip down to 10th place. Double digits is not a place you want to be this time of the year. Can they pull off a big win?
No, just a consolation point. At least the Wings can’t be passed in the standings tonight thanks to that.

4. Homer’s been announced as a game-time decision. It sounds like he’s only going to be playing as a test for the Olympics. I’m not sure I like that, even though I’d be glad to have him back in the lineup. Will he go tonight? Will he be able to do anything worthwile?
He was up to his usual tricks causing eight kinds of chaos in front of the opposition net. And boy do I love him for it.

5. Are they walking Kronwall’s new knee brace to Detroit? I would’ve volunteered to go pick it up and deliver it myself if I knew it would take this long. It leads me to believe that it’s more than just a case of wanting a new brace. Still though, that man needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap at all times.
This isn’t really a question so… Well, there was one video clip of him walking sans limp, so who knows what’s going on.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
He was good. This last stretch of games has been his best of the season. He has to keep this going.

Jonathan Ericsson gets the Golden Facepalm
There were all kinds of issues on the Sharks’ second goal, but Big Rig gets most of the blame.

What I Learned:
I was always kind of ambivalent about the shootout. I never really cared too much one way or the other. After this season, though, I’m firmly in the anti-shootout camp. I’d much rather see overtime extended to 10 minutes during the regular season. The shootout takes just as much time, and I’ve seen the Wings involved in a few OTs that were way more exciting than any shootout.