Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 10-7-1

Ducks: 6-9-4

Season Series: 1-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 5-5-1

Ducks: 5-5-3

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 39-18-6

Ducks: 33-25-5

Red Wing Zen:

Johan Franzen

26-20-46, +/- 7, 44 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Jarkko Ruutu

3-9-12-+/- -1, 63 PIM

Red Wings 4, Ducks 0: Post Game Snipes...

• I didn't get to watch this one live thanks to work, but thanks to the modern miracle of DVR technology (and the fact that I instructed my little sister to guard my scheduled recording with her life), I still got to see the Wings shut out the Ducks by a score of 4-0 for the second time this season. This game wasn't nearly as much fun as the first 4-0 win, but I'll take what I can get.
• Stop wearing your ugly third jerseys when you play the Wings! Even better: stop making ugly third jerseys in general. Ugliness aside, it's a smart business decision—if you're using them as a pull for extra attendance, don't waste them on a night when the Wings would've already drawn in extra fans for you anyway. Wear them when you play the Coyotes. Or just burn them. One or the other.
• The Wings got off to a pretty good start with Johan Franzen's goal less than two minutes into the game. They had the Ducks on their heels for most of the first period after that.
• Oh, Helm...you and your lack of finish. One of these days you're going to get some hands.
• The second period was much slower for the Wings. Anaheim took over late in the first after their powerplays and carried that momentum over to the next period. The Wings weathered the storm, though, thanks to Jimmy Howard and managed to add to their lead.
• We picked on Homer a little bit during this week's episode of TP:60. I like to think that inspired him to score his goal tonight. I'm sure he's a regular listener.
• Congrats to Henrik Zetterberg for picking up his 500th career point. It's fitting that the assist came on a Circus line goal.
• Hey, Corey Perry: you lose at life. (And hockey.)
• Were there any Ducks fans in the building tonight? The cheering was ridiculously loud after the Wings scored. That's got to be pretty embarrassing for the Ducks fans who were in attendance, although probably to a lesser degree than actually being a fan of a team that employs Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
• Dan Cleary just keeps on rolling. I love it. I also loved his candidness during his second intermission interview.
• I was amused by the play near the end of the game where Zetterberg lost his stick and made a kick pass to center the puck. It would've been sweet if Cleary had scored on it.
• Filppula's goal with less than a minute left made me laugh. I loved the scoreboard symmetry to the season opener.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
It's really hard to not get the top honors when you pitch a shutout. He looked sharp tonight and more than earned his breather tomorrow.

Villain: Corey Perry
Anaheim would instantly become 8000% more likeable if he no longer played for them.

Final Thought:
When the Wings play the Ducks, I find myself inordinately distracted by Hiller's helmet. A large part of me wants to hate it, but there's also a part of me that thinks it's exceedingly awesome. I guess I'm still on the fence about it.

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 16-4-2

Ducks: 13-11-3

Red Wing Zen:

Patrick Eaves

4-2-6, +/- 3, 4 PIM

Plus, a special bonus picture of him wearing a snazzy hat that I'm pretty sure he swiped from a 10-year-old girl:

Point and Laugh:

Todd Marchant

0-2-2, +/- -9, 6 PIM

Red Wings 5, Ducks 4: Post Game Snipes...

• HOLY EUROTWINS, BATMAN!
• I missed most of the game thanks to the fact that we have Dish Network at work and, well, you all know about how they hate hockey and also probably puppies. Then, thanks to some siblings who have a special talent for DVRing endless hours of useless programming and not deleting it, I sat down to watch what I'd missed only to discover that we ran out of space after the first period. So yeah, we've got 18 hours of Hannah Montana and Suite Life and soccer games that nobody cares about, but not the Wings game. At least I managed to catch the second half of the game on the FSD replay.
• I was driving home from work when Zetterberg scored to tie up the game in the third period. I went from perfectly safe driver to road hazard in a fraction of a second. I still think there should be some kind of ignition lock on my car that prevents it from being started while the Wings are on the radio.
• My dog experienced her first run-and-hide-because-Kris-is-scary moment of the young season when Pav scored the game-winner. She's half Canadian, so I really think she should've been more appreciative of my jubilation.
• Speaking of Pav's goal, that deke was just nasty. Has there ever been a game in which he didn't do at least one thing that was absurdly amazing?

Hat Trick:
1. Round two with Anaheim. I'm guessing we don't see anything quite as dramatic as Datsyuk's Gordie Howe hat trick from opening night, but games against the Ducks always get me riled up.
Pav didn't throw any punches tonight, but I think he got his point across. As usual, he got the last laugh.

2. Old friend Andreas Lilja makes his return to the Joe tonight.
Anyone notice who was victimized by Datsyuk's nasty deke on the game winner? None other than dear old Lilja.

3. TAWD sat out practice yesterday. Is he going to be able to play tonight or will he be hunting for kittens under the bleachers during the game? Or both?
He played (and presumably went kitten hunting as well) and picked up an assist, but that didn't stop Henrik Zetterberg from passing him for the team scoring lead.

Hero: The Eurotwins
This was one of those nights that causes me to assume that their pregame routine involves them wearing rings and combining forces a la Captain Planet. “Dangle!” “Conn Smythe!” “Snot Rocket!” “BEARD!” And light shoots into the middle from their rings and by their powers combined, they become the Eurotwins. Someone needs to get a hidden camera into the locker room to confirm this.


Villain: Teemu Selanne
Selanne found himself Kronwalled during the game and instead of taking it like a man, he went and whined to the media about the fact that there was no call on the play as well as the vast penalty disparity that he imagines goes in favor of the Wings. It would seem that every time the Ducks play the Wings, the Wings get all of the powerplays. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that his teammates are a bunch of goons and thugs. Cowboy up, little boy.

Final Thought:
Imagine if the Eurotwins keep going like this all season. Just take a moment and think about that. You're smiling, aren't you?

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 4-1-1

Ducks: 3-4-1

Hat Trick:
1. Round two with Anaheim. I'm guessing we don't see anything quite as dramatic as Datsyuk's Gordie Howe hat trick from opening night, but games against the Ducks always get me riled up.
2. Old friend Andreas Lilja makes his return to the Joe tonight.
3. TAWD sat out practice yesterday. Is he going to be able to play tonight or will he be hunting for kittens under the bleachers during the game? Or both?

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

0-0-0 +/- -1, 12 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Todd Marchant

0-0-0 +/- -4, 4 PIM

Red Wings 4, Ducks 0: Post Game Snipes...

• This was one of the most fun games I've ever been to. I went and bought a ticket last night on a whim and I'm so glad I did. It would've been more fun if I'd been sitting with the Commune, but the building may very well have exploded if we'd all been together for this. I think I'm going to make it a point to attend opening day from now on.
• Obviously, the big story is Pavel Datsyuk and his Gordie Howe hat trick. I kind of can't believe I witnessed that. Guess he's not taking home the Lady Byng this year.
• As much as I loved seeing him fight, I don't really want to see him do that again. It was a major relief that he didn't get hurt. As much as Corey Perry had it coming to him, it wouldn't have been worth it if the Wings had lost Datsyuk. Still though, the crowd chanting, “Datsyuk Datsyuk Datsyuk” as he was escorted to the penalty box was awesome. I love being at the Joe.
• There are some teams out there in the NHL that I can understand why their fans like them. I may not necessarily agree, but I can see why they might root for them. The Ducks are not one of those teams. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I was sitting near a Ducks fan at the Joe and I was really tempted to ask him that when things got ugly.
• I was also annoyed by the fans in the upper bowl who booed Ozzie when he was introduced before the game. Not cool.
• Jimmy answered all the sophomore slump worries by pitching a shutout in the first game. He had a pretty quiet evening, but he was there to make the saves that mattered.
• The Wings' first goal was quite pretty.
• Even better was getting to see Mike Modano's first goal as a Red Wing. The crowd was absolutely thrilled for him. You could tell it was more than just an average goal celebration in the stands.
• I was stunned when Dan Cleary's goal stood. As soon as the play happened, I figured it was no-goal, and based on the replays that were shown on the scoreboard at the Joe, I wouldn't have been particularly upset if the call on the ice had been upheld. Now that I've seen the replay on FSD, I'm even more shocked. Even Mickey Redmond didn't think it was a goal. Turns out that Toronto thought it was, “a good hockey goal.” Go figure.
• At one point during a commercial break, they had to replay a scoreboard marriage proposal because apparently the couple wasn't paying attention the first time it was shown. Nice.
• In the midst of all the good, I specifically remember some atrocious defensive zone turnovers by Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Filppula, and Kronwall. 
• They were playing Don't Stop Believin' during Brad Stuart's fight. Shouting along with the crowd during the fight was epic. Another awesome moment came when they played Buttercup late in the third. The crowd kept singing after they cut the music for the faceoff, and continued throughout the whole play until we were drowned out by Hey Jude at the next stoppage. It felt like a playoff game at the end there.
• God I hate the Ducks.

Three Things:

1. There's a clean slate tonight. It's a chance to start over and start the march toward what we hope is a celebration in June. Here's hoping the boys start off on the right foot.
I'd call that a heck of a start to the season. If only every game would turn out to be that much fun.

2. How long are the defensive pairings going to stand as they are now?
Well, Ericsson left the game in the second period with back spasms and will be replaced by Kindl tomorrow, so that kind of threw a wrench in things.

3. I still flinch every time the Wings play the Ducks out of fear that the elbows will start flying. Let's just try to get out of opening night uninjured.
Well they lost Ericsson, but it's hard to know exactly what messed his back up. Other than that, the Wings seemed to have survived intact.

Players to Watch:

Darren Helm: 0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM
Helm had a pretty quiet night. He won some faceoffs and did some good work on the penalty kill, but I didn't notice him a whole lot.  He did get some rare powerplay time at the end.

Aaron Voros: N/A
Well I really screwed this one up. I chose a guy who didn't play. I'm off to a great start here at ye olde blog this season.

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
I love that man.

Villain: Ryan Getzlaf/Corey Perry
I can't stand those two. Way to be classy.

Final Thought:
Real, meaningful Red Wings hockey at the Joe is a glorious sight. I think we're going to have more fun this year than we did last time around.

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Instead of writing a season preview, I decided to make some changes around these parts. I had hoped to completely redesign the site for the start of the new season, but I fell a little short. I'm still working on the background image, so SSDD's going to stay ugly for a little while longer until I can finish 'Shopping. I did, however, finally complete the banner I sketched out back in March or April. Naturally, I waited until the night before the Wings' season started to get going on it, but hey, procrastination happens.

I've decided to do away with the GP format I did last season. By the end of the year, it had gotten tedious and I realized that I hated writing them. Since I'm mostly here because I enjoy doing this, it was clear that I needed to make a change. I'll probably end up tweaking this a little here and there as I figure out what works and what's lame (and also because I came up with the idea in the middle of the night just now instead of planning it out during the long off-season). Anyway, welcome to the 2010-2011 Red Wings season. Let's just drop the puck already.

Red Wings: 0-0-0

Ducks: 0-0-0

Three Things (Questions, observations, predictions...who knows what's going to find its way into this section?):

1. There's a clean slate tonight. It's a chance to start over and start the march toward what we hope is a celebration in June. Here's hoping the boys start off on the right foot.
2. How long are the defensive pairings going to stand as they are now?
3. I still flinch every time the Wings play the Ducks out of fear that the elbows will start flying. Let's just try to get out of opening night uninjured.

Players to Watch (I'm going to randomly choose a player using a random number generator from each roster to highlight.):

Darren Helm

0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

Everybody likes Darren Helm. There's not much more to say about him.

Aaron Voros

0-0-0, +/- 0, 0 PIM

I know next to nothing about Voros, and I'm kind of okay with that. He's bounced around since breaking into the NHL and hasn't really established himself anywhere.  I'm going to do my best to find an awful picture of the opposing featured player to contrast with the implied awesomeness of the Wing's picture above.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Jimmy Howard has struggled a little since the Olympic break. The layoff seems to have left him a little rusty. Can he hold up in this key game against Calgary?
2. Datsyuk and Bertuzzi both missed practice today. Both are supposed to be ready to go on Tuesday, but if I’ve learned one thing from this season, it’s that the worst-case scenario almost always happens. Will their nagging issues affect their play significantly? It would be a shame to see Datsyuk’s post-Olympic tear suffer because of a flu bug.
3. Over the last little while, the Wings’ powerplay has slowly started to become respectable. Will their special teams keep up the good work, or will one of them start to falter? In the recent past, either the PK or the powerplay seems to be strong, but not both at the same time.
4. From what I read today, Jonathan Ericsson is going to be returning to the lineup tomorrow. How is he going to respond to his benching? Getting sat in favor of Brett Lebda has to be demoralizing for anybody, but especially a guy like Ericsson with his Adonis-like qualities.

It’s looking more and more like it’s going to be a three-horse race for the 7th and 8th seeds in the West. Five points separate the 5/6 teams from 7th place, and there are 4 points between Calgary in 9th and St. Louis in 10th. There’s a pack of teams from 10th to 13th that could definitely challenge if they put together a strong run (Anaheim *cough* Anaheim), and catching up to LA, Colorado, and even Vancouver and Phoenix isn’t out of the question for the Wings if they get going, but I’d put my money on the boys fighting with Nashville and Calgary for those last precious playoff seeds. Losing to Calgary tomorrow isn’t an option for the Wings, but you already knew that. I just hope that they do too.

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.

Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

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?
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.
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?
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?
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.

Side notes:
What do you guys think of the GPs? They’re getting pretty tedious to write, but I’m not sure what I’d replace them with at this point. I’m thinking of eliminating the questions that usually end up being pointless and just putting some notes related to the game. Any suggestions?

I’m also going to be missing most of the game tonight. I have a dinner meeting that got rescheduled for tonight, and even though it’s at a place with TVs, I’m going to be doing most of the talking so slacking off isn’t an option. You can direct any complaints to Disney…even though it’s only tangentially their fault. Thank goodness for my DVR, which gets severely overworked on Thursday nights.

Proud Podcasting and Pointless Puling...

(Look it up ^. It's a word. You can thank Thesaurus.com for that little beauty.)

The new episode of The Obstructed View came out today. I joined Jess from Bingo Bango and Rob Discher from The Production Line, as well as, of course, Chris and Brian. We talked about fun things like curling and sniper fire. It’s also possible that hockey came up at one point. Anyway, you can download it at all the usual places. Enjoy.

A quick update on where the Wings stand now:
Dallas and Anaheim are tied one point behind the Wings, and Minnesota is only two points back. The Wings, at best, can tie Nashville for 8th place with a win tonight, but would still sit in 9th because of the tiebreaker. On top of that, we’re going to be rooting for Chicago tonight because we need them to beat Dallas. Of course, the way things have been going, the Stars will probably blow them out.

The point is, there’s no help coming from the outside. The Wings can’t keep sitting around and waiting for other teams to do their dirty work for them. Everyone’s been saying that when Franzen is back, they’ll be a different team. Well, he’s back now. Let’s get going.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

1. The Wings need these two points to tie Calgary and Nashville for 8th place in the West. Are they going to look like they actually know that?
2. Is Filppula going to be able to bury one of the chances that he’s inevitably going to get? I swear he could’ve had 16 goals over the last two games.
3. Will the Wings find a way to solve Jonathan Quick? They have a really bad habit of making opposing goalies look phenomenal when they play them.
4. The Ducks’ first goal bounced in off of Stuart’s foot, and another one was batted in off of a glove “legally.” What ridiculous bounces are going to go against the Wings this time around?

~The Wings got rid of Ville Leino in a trade to Philly today. They got a 5th rounder in 2011 and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who is notable for being Norwegian and injured. Tollefsen is expected to be waived by the Wings. All I have to say about Ville is good riddance.
~It’s my daddy’s birthday today, so I may or may not get to see all of it. Anyway, it’d be a nice little present from the Wings if they could pull off a win today…

Red Wings 1, Ducks 3: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings let in a goal 1:11 into the game. It bounced in off of Stuart’s foot. Those are the kinds of plays that make things like overtime such a terrifying experience.
• Ericsson got into a fight. Don’t get me wrong, I like fighting as much as the next gal, but it was a stupid reason to fight. Big Rig threw a nice, clean hit, and then had to defend himself by fighting. That drives me crazy.
• I still don’t understand how the Ducks’ second goal was upheld on the video review. He took his had off of the stick and knocked the puck in with his glove. Last time I checked, you weren’t allowed to do that. It’s Gary’s world though, and anything goes.
• The review decision was made based on the fact that the “hand-slapping motion” came after the puck hit his glove. And people wonder why we wear tin foil hats. This league is a joke. I really do hate it. It always surprises people when I tell them that I hate the NHL because they know that I’m a huge hockey fan, but things like this are why I can’t stand it. Malik has a good take on it over at Snapshots.
  
• And for the record, efforts like this are why I hate this particular edition of the Red Wings. The San Jose game demonstrated that they have the ability to skate with the best if they actually try. If they played all their games like they did the last two periods against the Sharks, we wouldn’t be worrying about sneaking into the playoffs regardless of all of the injuries. Games like this one against the Ducks just aren’t going to cut it.
• This game seemed like it was being played in slow motion. Neither team looked like it had any energy. I almost gave up on the game and went to bed because I was bored. I wasn’t even that tired.
• Datsyuk’s powerplay goal at the end of the second period was enough to keep me interested and awake. It was the second time he split the D and walked right up the middle. Luckily he finished this time. I like last-minute goals when they’re scored by the Wings.
• The Wings pressed for most of the third period. They actually looked like they wanted to win the game. Too bad they didn’t decide that earlier.
• Filppula has missed what seems like a dozen glorious opportunities over the last couple of days. Someone find that guy some finish.
  

GP Answers:
1. I have to ask this every time the Wings play the Ducks: What are they going to do tonight to make me hate them even more? They always manage to come up with something obnoxious.
I hate the notion that you have to fight someone after they throw a big but clean hit. It drives me crazy. Go after guys for dirty plays, not clean ones. They’re supposed to be part of the game.

2. How is Jonathan Ericsson going to respond to his benching? Did he get the message?
I didn’t notice any glaring mistakes on his part. I liked the fact that he came out and threw a big hit early in the game, and then backed it up with a fight. He looked like he had some energy tonight, which was nice to see.

3. Can we pretty please keep the powerplay going? It was key to the Wings’ success last night, and they need to make that a trend instead of an exciting exception.
It clicked again late in the second period. I could get used to this.

4. Can the Wings get off to a good start playing the second night of a back-to-back? They need these two points tonight, and coming out slow yet again isn’t really an option anymore.
Well, gee, they let in a goal 1:11 into the game. That’s most definitely not the start that I was looking for. They've now been bumped back into 9th place, even though they're in a three-way tie with Calgary and Nashville. This is not a fun place to be.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
His goal was a thing of beauty. That’s the kind of play we haven’t seen enough of from Datsyuk this season.

Derek Meech gets the Golden Facepalm
That was a stupid, untimely penalty to take. Luckily, it didn’t hurt the Wings, but it did kill off valuable time in their comeback attempt.

What I Learned:
Yep. Still hate the Ducks. Still hate the NHL. And I miss the good old days when I used to like late games.

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

1. I have to ask this every time the Wings play the Ducks: What are they going to do tonight to make me hate them even more? They always manage to come up with something obnoxious.
2. How is Jonathan Ericsson going to respond to his benching? Did he get the message?
3. Can we pretty please keep the powerplay going? It was key to the Wings’ success last night, and they need to make that a trend instead of an exciting exception.
4. Can the Wings get off to a good start playing the second night of a back-to-back? They need these two points tonight, and coming out slow yet again isn’t really an option anymore. The Ducks are coming up quickly behind the Wings in the standings, and they need to get this one done in regulation. I don't want to see Anaheim get any closer.
5. The Eurotwins have had trouble with consistency all season. They've been looking good lately, but I keep waiting for one or both of them to have another invisible game. Can they keep looking like the stars that we know they are?

Red Wings 2, Kings 1: Post Game Snipes...

• It was nice to see Zetterberg throwing a hit on the opening shift. Well, really, it was nice to see him on the ice at all.
• The Wings did not start particularly well. I don’t know why I even bother pointing that out any more.
• I really, really liked Cleary’s goal. It was hard-working and “ugly.” In hockey, that equals beautiful.
• The Wings’ first PK was phenomenal. I’m pretty sure they had more chances during those 2 minutes than LA did. They had 3 or 4 good breaks into the Kings’ zone. What a turnaround the PK has had since the start of the season and last year.
• The play that led to the Wings’ second PK was ridiculous. I’ve seen the replay numerous times now, and I still can’t figure out how the puck didn’t go into the net. While that was going on (as well as a similar play on the Kings’ ensuing powerplay), I kept wondering where Brad Watson and his intent to blow were. Seriously.
• After their last-second goal to end the first, the Wings kind of went to sleep and left Jimmy Howard out to dry.
• During one of the intermission shows, Mickey York announced that we were under a, "severe cuddle alert." I'm not making this up.
  
• Howard nearly gave me a heart attack in the third when he got stung by that shot.
• Brad Watson, I still hate you. Just so you know.
• Oh boy was Jimmy Howard on fire tonight. He got lucky on about a bazillion plays, but like Mickey always says, “you have to be good to be lucky, and you have to be lucky to be good.”
• Darren Helm is the fastest man alive. I don’t care about Usain Bolt. I’ve decided.
• Was Ville Leino even on the ice tonight? I think I saw him once. And he gave the impression of potentially being useful before disappearing without doing anything.
• You'd like to think that the Wings would be feeling like their backs are against the wall with the standings looking the way they are. The sure didn't look like it with their play through the last two periods tonight. All the recently-healed guys in the world won't make a difference if the team doesn't show up to play every night.
• If ever there was a game the Wings didn’t deserve to win, I’d say it was this one. I don’t recall that happening once this season. It was a nice change from what was happening a while ago when the Wings were playing well and still not winning.
• I’m really glad I stayed up to watch the game. I suspect I’ll feel differently tomorrow at work. Thank you, Darren Helm, for preventing it from going to OT.
• I wonder how Team USA's feeling now about choosing Quick over Howard.
  
• Winning this game was huge, especially since it didn't turn into a three-pointer. It places the Wings only 3 point behind the Kings for the 8 spot.
  

GP Answers:
1. Obviously the big news is the return of Zetterberg and Cleary. Filppula’s return a couple of weeks ago gave the team a boost, so what kind of effect will getting two key guys have on the team?
Well, Cleary kind of made an impact, I’d say. Memo to the other injured Wings: now that’s how you make a comeback from IR. Z was pretty noticeable in the first period, but seemed to fade afterward. It was nice to actually have a legitimate second line for a change, though.

2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
No. I should probably just start copy/pasting my answer here too.

3. Not only did the powerplay not help the Wings on Tuesday against Anaheim, it hurt them when they gave up a shorthanded goal and completely lost their focus. I asked this before that game too, but when is the powerplay going to become an actual advantage for the Wings again? Hopefully the return of Cleary and Zetterberg will spark things since there’ll actually be a legitimate second unit. At least up front anyway.
The powerplay still makes me sad. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

4. Datsyuk sleepwalked through the last game (and several others before that). He’s starting to try my patience, which is kind of a feat because he’s one of my favorite players. Will Zetterberg’s return give him the spark that he’s been lacking?
He definitely looked livelier during the first period, but faded after that. I thought he might have some of that Eurotwin synergy going with Z there, but he was largely invisible for the second half of the game. He did manage to take two penalties, although the second one was a pretty weak call.

5. Babcock’s going with Howard again tonight. I’m not particularly surprised about it. He looked shaky on Tuesday, but I had kind of a feeling that Babcock would go back to him to show that he still has confidence in him. Otherwise it sends the message that the first time you screw up, you’re out, and I don’t think that’s the kind of pressure he wants to put on his rookie goalie. However, if Jimmy falters again, I’ll be looking to see Ozzie in net next time around. How will Howard rebound from his first less than stellar game in a while?
Oh, I’d say he rebounded pretty darn well. How about you?

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
Good? Lucky? I don’t care. He stole the show tonight. I’m going to go ahead and proclaim this his best game ever. I know he was scrambling and doing numerous Hasek impressions, but…good lord was he good tonight. I really wanted him to get the shutout. It would’ve been amazing.

An Extra Stick Tap for Darren Helm
He made the play with his ridiculous speed racing in to prevent Quick from playing the puck in the corner. He then managed to finish for a change. He’s had a great string of games. What an effort on that shift.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
He took the penalty that led to the Kings’ goal late in the third that broke Jimmy's shutout. It was his second penalty of the game.

What I Learned:
Mike Babcock is a genius. I mean, we all kind of knew that already, but I know there were a lot of people questioning his goalie decision today.

Red Wings vs. Kings GP...

1. Obviously the big news is the return of Zetterberg and Cleary. Filppula’s return a couple of weeks ago gave the team a boost, so what kind of effect will getting two key guys have on the team?
2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
3. Not only did the powerplay not help the Wings on Tuesday against Anaheim, it hurt them when they gave up a shorthanded goal and completely lost their focus. I asked this before that game too, but when is the powerplay going to become an actual advantage for the Wings again? Hopefully the return of Cleary and Zetterberg will spark things since there’ll actually be a legitimate second unit. At least up front anyway.
4. Datsyuk sleepwalked through the last game (and several others before that). He’s starting to try my patience, which is kind of a feat because he’s one of my favorite players. Will Zetterberg’s return give him the spark that he’s been lacking?
5. Babcock’s going with Howard again tonight. I’m not particularly surprised about it. He looked shaky on Tuesday, but I had kind of a feeling that Babcock would go back to him to show that he still has confidence in him. Otherwise it sends the message that the first time you screw up, you’re out, and I don’t think that’s the kind of pressure he wants to put on his rookie goalie. However, if Jimmy falters again, I’ll be looking to see Ozzie in net next time around. How will Howard rebound from his first less than stellar game in a while?

Red Wings 1, Ducks 4: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings’ powerplay makes me sad.
• They actually looked for the first few minutes. My attention was slightly divided between the WJC Final and the Wings game, but they looked like they had some jump. Then they got that first powerplay and gave up a shorthanded goal and the rest of the period was just a hot mess.
• During the first intermission, Keating accidentally called the Wings the Denver Red Wings. He’s officially banned for life. Of all the teams to mash up…unforgivable. Unacceptable. A travesty. A shamockery…you get the idea. The craziness continued after his interview with Z later on that break.
• Zetterberg joked that, “This is the first time the injured guys needed a bus to get to the game.” He also did an epic job at looking nonchalant and pretending like he didn’t notice that Keating was being weird again. I’m pretty sure he ran away as soon as the camera shut off, though.
• Team USA won the WJC. It’s not really Wings-related, but I was pretty excited. Especially since they looked horrible after they gave up two goals with less than three minutes left in the third to go to OT.
• Ritola had a fantastic move on a chance on Hiller. It was pretty, but he couldn't finish it.
  
• I hate Brad Watson.
• We somehow ended up talking about Man Pocky on Twitter during the game. @jennyquarx and I are starting a campaign to make its use as slang for attractive men universal. Get on board.
• Filppula scored his first goal since his glorious return from IR.
• There were more fights in this game than I’ve seen in a Wings game in a long time. Not that May’s and Bertuzzi’s were really great fights or anything.
• Where on earth was Datsyuk tonight? He apparently got an assist on Flipper’s goal, but for the life of me, I can’t remember seeing him on the ice more than once or twice. That’s not the kind of performance the Wings needed from their top gun.
• This game was definitely not worth staying up this late. I have to get up at 5:30 AM.
  

GP Answers:
1. Every time the Wings play Anaheim, I have to ask myself the same question: What will the Ducks do tonight to make me hate them even more?
Darren Helm got smoked on a hit before he’d touched the puck during the second period. The Wings got a powerplay out of it (and of course didn’t score), but I was just relieved that he wasn’t hurt.

2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
No dice tonight.

3. Cleary and Zetterberg are expected back on Thursday (*fingers crossed*). That means two guys are going to be headed to Grand Rapids or the press box. I had my money on Ritola being the first to go, but now that he’s being kept in the lineup over Leino tonight, who knows what could happen? Tonight would be a really good time for one (or more) of the bubble guys to have a “statement game.” Will it be May who starts sitting regularly? Leino (answer: most likely)? Maltby? What about Ritola? They have to know that they’re on the bottom rung of the ladder, so it would be nice to see them playing like they have something at stake.
Nobody stepped up. Nobody at all.

4. Is getting a powerplay actually going to be an advantage for the Wings tonight? It’s probably (hopefully) the last chance for some of the guys on the 2nd unit to show their stuff tonight, so maybe they’ll take advantage.
No. In fact, their lousy first powerplay and the shorthanded goal that Anaheim scored on the PK seemed to suck the life right out of the Wings. Their second go-round seemed to actually resemble a powerplay, but still…it’s pathetic.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Valtteri Filppula
He scored the Wings’ only goal to make the game close in the third period. Since nobody else really felt like doing much apparently, he wins the baked goods.

An Extra Stick Tap for Derek Meech
I liked his fight in the second period because it was the right kind of fight. He got hit and didn’t like it so he started the fight. It wasn’t staged or planned or any of that nonsense. I liked it.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
He made a glorious pass…right to Saku Koivu that lead to the Ducks’ shorthanded goal. He also missed a glorious opportunity in front of the net on a powerplay in the second. I don’t know how he didn’t bury that one.

What I learned:
The Wings appear to be blissfully unaware of the fact that they’re currently sitting outside of the playoff picture and lack any sense of urgency.

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

1. Every time the Wings play Anaheim, I have to ask myself the same question: What will the Ducks do tonight to make me hate them even more?
2. When is Nick Lidstrom going to score a goal again? It’s been the better part of a decade since he put one in the net, and I’m going to copy/paste this into every GP until he does.
3. Cleary and Zetterberg are expected back on Thursday (*fingers crossed*). That means two guys are going to be headed to Grand Rapids or the press box. I had my money on Ritola being the first to go, but now that he’s being kept in the lineup over Leino tonight, who knows what could happen? Tonight would be a really good time for one (or more) of the bubble guys to have a “statement game.” Will it be May who starts sitting regularly? Leino (answer: most likely)? Maltby? What about Ritola? They have to know that they’re on the bottom rung of the ladder, so it would be nice to see them playing like they have something at stake.
4. Is getting a powerplay actually going to be an advantage for the Wings tonight? It’s probably (hopefully) the last chance for some of the guys on the 2nd unit to show their stuff tonight, so maybe they’ll take advantage.