Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 5-4-1

Flames: 4-5-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

This is always worth revisiting.

Video Candy:

Red Wings 5, Flames 4 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• This one's going to be brief since I have to wake up insanely early to hit the road tomorrow morning.
• Jimmy has me worried.
• When did Darren Helm learn how to finish? I'm liking it.
• I was stunned to find out that Rafalski hadn't scored a goal until tonight. He scored on two long shots that probably should've been saved, but I'll take whatever I can get.
• Ken Daniels credited Helm with a “Datsyukian deke.” Little brother was excited because it had been a long time since he'd heard that. Evidently it made his day.
• How about that backcheck from Tomas Tatar to keep the game tied in the third?
• On the same play, Stuart fell victim to a nasty headshot that only went down as “roughing.” Yeah, right. It was from the blindside, he was vulnerable, the head was targeted, and there was an injury on the play. Am I missing anything? This is the kind of hit the NHL's supposedly trying to crack down on. I would imagine that it'll be looked at by Colin Campbell tomorrow.
• That penalty kill during OT was phenomenal. I'm not normally one to hope for shootouts, but in that case, it was better than the other likely outcome.
• I'm not used to this whole winning shootouts thing. It's a bit confusing.
• Why is Z so BAD at the shootout?  I really feel like he should be better.

Hero: Brian Rafalski
He picked up his first two goals of the season tonight.

Villain: Tom Kostopoulos
He laid a textbook headshot on Stuart and lucked out with only a 2-minute roughing penalty.

Final Thought:
I'm going to be offline for a little while as I get settled into my new digs. I have no idea how often I'm going to be able to watch games for the rest of the season. I'll be keeping up with captions, trivia, and GPs, but recaps may be few and far between. It's hard to tell at this point.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 25-10-5

Flames: 18-20-3

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

0-6-6, +/- 4, 32 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Matt Stajan

2-16-18, +/- 3, 12 PIM

Red Wings 5, Flames 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• Friday night, it was the fourth liners who were featured on the scoresheet. Tonight, it was the stars who took over. Franzen, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom each found the back of the net. That's a pretty awesome list.
• The Wings went three-for-seven on the powerplay tonight. It was nice to see them convert later on since there were so many missed opportunities in the first period. With the two late-game penalties that went against Calgary, it would've been a major failure if the Wings hadn't been able to convert to tie the game.
• Dan Cleary left the game after getting wrecked against the boards in the corner. There's still no word on his injury, but I'm guessing it won't be happy since he didn't return. Someone should start tracking players who are on the receiving end of big hits. Whereas Lidstrom almost never gets rocked, it seems like Dan Cleary gets laid out at least once every game. It's like he needs some convex mirrors mounted on the side of his helmet or something.
• Ericsson also left the game briefly after blocking a shot with his ankle. He was helped to the dressing room, but came back to finish the game. That was a relief because he's actually been playing well lately.
• The Wings' first intermission naptime evidently ran over because they were totally flat-footed at the beginning of the second when they allowed Calgary to take over the game.
• Defensive zone turnovers came back to bite the Wings again tonight in a big way.
• Datsyuk's goal was the result of his best Tomas Holmstrom impression.
• Zetterberg's first goal came off of another strong play on the puck. Z had a really quiet stretch there where it seemed like he was drifting, but lately he's been working his way through the defense with strength better.
• The last-second tying goal was a classic Eurotwins goal. It was even more exciting because when Calgary cleared the zone right before it, I said to my dog, “Well, that's game.” Then Datsyuk broke in, danced through the defense, and dished it off to Zetterberg for the shot. I loved the waterbottle pop, too. It made it that much more dramatic.
• Abdelkader threw a nice, clean hit at one point and then got jumped after the whistle by a Flame who felt that he needed to get revenge. They ended up getting offsetting minors for roughing. What a stupid mentality.
• Bert got a double minor midway through the third when he took an interference call and then was slapped with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (most likely for being named Todd Bertuzzi). I figured that was the end of the Wings' chances since even if they killed all four minutes off, they'd be eating up a huge amount of time off the clock. Shortly afterward, though, Calgary took a penalty of their own and Zetterberg scored on the ensuing four-on-four. All in all, it was a much better result from Bert's penalties than I was envisioning.

1. The Wings have managed to pull three out of four possible points over the last couple of games while not really looking good enough to earn them. Here's hoping they'll actually show up to play a full game. The early start has me less-than-optomistic.
It was another typical early start. If someone understands the Wings' problems with games that don't begin at 7 or 7:30, I'd love an explanation.

2. Jimmy Howard didn't have his best game on Friday night. How will he rebound today?
Four goals against isn't great, but I wouldn't rag on him too much. One of them could've been a little soft, but the defense didn't really do him many favors tonight.

3. I'm still looking for the top line to get going again. The Eurotwins have really quieted down lately and the Wings are going to need them to get scoring again.
They took over the game in the third period in true Eurotwins fashion. It was the best they've looked in a few games.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
His two third period goals sent the game to overtime and set the Wings up to win the game. His last-second tying goal was as exciting as they come.

Villain: Jarome Iginla
It was so nice of him to regain his scoring touch just in time to face the Wings.

Final Thought:
The Wings have come out flat three games in a row. In those three games, they've picked up five out of a possible six points. Think the rest of the league is scared?

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 12-3-2

Flames: 8-10-0

1. The Wings have managed to pull three out of four possible points over the last couple of games while not really looking good enough to earn them. Here's hoping they'll actually show up to play a full game. The early start has me less-than-optomistic.
2. Jimmy Howard didn't have his best game on Friday night. How will he rebound today?
3. I'm still looking for the top line to get going again. The Eurotwins have really quieted down lately and the Wings are going to need them to get scoring again.

Red Wing Zen:

Mike Modano

2-5-7, +/- -1, 6 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Miikka Kiprusoff

7-9-0, 2.70 GAA, .907 SV%

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

• I'm still baffled by the high-sticking penalty that Dan Cleary drew in the first period. There wasn't a call. Then there was a call. Then the wrong guy was in the box. Then everything worked out the way it was supposed to and benefited the Wings. It doesn't quite compute. I blame Brad Watson.
• Modano finally picked up goal #2 as a Wing. The whole third line had a really good night tonight. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out when Hudler's back in the lineup on Friday.
• The penalty kill looked phenomenal tonight. The powerplay...not so much. The Wings need Rafalski back.
• Modano and Abdelkader scored on almost the exact same shot.
• Salei's high-sticking penalty near the end of the third was definitely a penalty. What I didn't understand was the fact that there was no call when his leg was taken out from underneath him from behind. Seems to me that if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't have been a high stick.

Hat Trick:
1. The Wings kick off a roadtrip out west tonight in Calgary. Here's hoping they get off on the right foot.
It was a solid effort tonight. I feel like the score was closer than the game was.  The Wings looked good and the Flames never really seemed to get anything going.

2. Jimmy Howard's back from his brief back spasm-y hiatus. How will he look in his return?
He looked great. He didn't seem to miss a beat at all. So far this season, Jimmy's been easing everyone's minds.

3. Also making his return is everyone's favorite defenseman, Jonathan Ericsson. Will he make a case to stay in the lineup when Rafalski returns, or is Kindl going to step up and steal a spot?
I didn't really notice either of them tonight. For mistake-prone, young defensemen, that's definitely a plus.

Hero: Dan Cleary
Cleary was everywhere tonight. Everywhere. I was sure he was going to score with the way he was playing, but he settled for an assist on Modano's goal.

Villain: Mark Giordano
he scored Calgary's lone goal to put them ahead in the first period.

Final Thought:
Murph gurgle. Tell me that didn't just give you the heebie jeebies.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 6-2-1

Flames: 6-5-0

1. The Wings kick off a roadtrip out west tonight in Calgary. Here's hoping they get off on the right foot.
2. Jimmy Howard's back from his brief back spasm-y hiatus. How will he look in his return?
3. Also making his return is everyone's favorite defenseman, Jonathan Ericsson. Will he make a case to stay in the lineup when Rafalski returns, or is Kindl going to step up and steal a spot?

Red Wing Zen:

Todd Bertuzzi

2-7-9, +/- 6, 6 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Matt Stajan

1-7-8, +/- 1, 2 PIM

Red Wings 4, Flames 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Right at the beginning of warmups, someone fired a shot that cracked one of the panes of glass behind the net. I was standing nearby, so I decided to indulge my photo-geeky tendencies and set up shop right behind it to see if I could get some artsy shots. It was nice to have something a little different than the standard warmup pictures I have a million of. My pictures from the night are on Photobucket, as always.
• There was a very drunk Canadian (I'm assuming he was Canadian) who was way more excited about his national anthem than anyone I've ever seen before.
• There was an odd mixture of colors in the stands tonight. There was a lot of pink in support of breast cancer awareness, but it just made me think that everyone let Homer do their laundry and he mixed the reds and whites (just like training camp). I even wore a pink tank top under my jersey so I could enter the raffle, though I had to borrow it from my mom's closet. I have no pink clothing.
• There were also numerous orange hats being worn in tribute to Kenny Rucker. I love that the organization turned his seat orange and honored him during the game. Little things like that make me love this team even more.
• Datsyuk made two gorgeous passes setting up Zetterberg's goal. It was classic Eurotwins beauty.
• How good was Jimmy Howard tonight? He made a ton of good saves and should've been the first star (Who chose those, anyway?).
• Nik Kronwall gave me a scare when he got taken down in the first period. He seemed to get up slowly and when he was back on his feet, he just kind of stood leaning over at the blue line without moving for 10 seconds or so. (That part got cut out on the FSD broadcast as it was zoomed in on the action.) Luckily, he turned out to be just fine.
• It was nice to see the powerplay convert when Lidstrom fired a shot from the blue line in for his first goal of the season. Even better was the play Datsyuk made to set up the goal.  I seem to remember yelling something along the lines of, "Holy dangle, Batman!" afterward.
• I spotted a pretty epic jersey foul during the first intermission. This lady was in line with a woman in a Mrs. Osgood jersey. T'was the Mrs. Ozzie jersey that first caught my eye, but as I whipped my camera out, I noticed the writing embroidered at the bottom of the Iginla jersey. Bonus foul points for spelling his first name wrong. It also inspired Lauren to create this maxi-jersey-dress/rodeo clown costume paying tribute to all of his middle names.
• I had absolutely no idea how Johan Franzen's goal ended up in the net until I got home and watched on the DVR. It was way down at the opposite end of the rink from where I was sitting and we really couldn't see on the scoreboard. It has to be one of the oddest goals I've seen in a long time. Dude banked the puck off the side of the goalie's head. How can anyone not be thrilled to have the Mule back?
• I got some strange looks for celebrating Bertuzzi's goal by screaming, “GLITTER!!!” and, “KITTENS!!!”
• During the third period, they did a trivia thing during a commercial break. One of the questions was something about how many Honda dealerships there are in the metro-Detroit area. The question was greeted with a round of boos that was way louder than any directed toward a Flames player. It made me laugh.
• I rode the People Mover back to Greektown after the game and it was naturally packed with Wings fans. We got a nice loud LGRW chant going for a while. After it died down, a Flames fan yelled, “Go, Flames, go!” One of the Wings fans responded by yelling, “Hey, who invited the flamer?” It was one of the more entertaining People Mover rides I've had.  Bonus points for it not ending with me getting stuck on the train, and running down the middle of the street through six inches of snow without a coat on back to my departure point.  Not that that's ever happened to me before or anything.

Hat Trick:
1. How's the powerplay going to shake out with the changes Babcock has been making in practice?
The powerplay went 1 for 5 on the night and looked like it had better puck movement in general. One of the final powerplays in the third period was pretty shaky and it seemed like Calgary had more chances than the Wings did, but other than that, I thought it looked better.

2. The Mule is back. This can only mean good things.
Good things like scoring the game-winning-goal? Oh yes.

3. How are the Wings going to look after the ridiculously absurd layoff between games? They always seem to look pretty meh after stretches like that. Also, since I missed Saturday's game, it's been a whole week since I saw a live hockey game. That's just way too long.
They got off to a sluggish start in the first period. Luckily, Howard came to play on time and kept the team in the game until the rest of the guys decided to wake up. I thought they got steadily better as time went on.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Dan Cleary: 0-0-0, +/- -2, 0 PIM
Cleary was on the ice for both goals that the Flames scored. He was a big part of the blown defensive coverage that led to Calgary's first goal. I've been a little disappointed with the whole third line so far.

Curtis Glencross: 0-2-2, +/- 2, 0 PIM
He seemed like he was all over the place tonight. He assisted on both of the Flames' goals and was part of some good scoring chances.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
The fact that he wasn't named the game's first star is borderline criminal.

Villain: Mikael Backlund
He scored both of Calgary's goals. Ouch.

Final Thought:
There really is no better way to watch a hockey game than sitting in Joe Louis Arena.

Red Wings vs. Flames GP...

Red Wings: 3-1-1

Flames: 3-2-0

Hat Trick:
1. How's the powerplay going to shake out with the changes Babcock has been making in practice?
2. The Mule is back. This can only mean good things.
3. How are the Wings going to look after the ridiculously absurd layoff between games? They always seem to look pretty meh after stretches like that. Also, since I missed Saturday's game, it's been a whole week since I saw a live hockey game. That's just way too long.

I've Got My Eye on You:

Dan Cleary

1-1-2, +/- -1, 2 PIM

Curtis Glencross

1-0-1, +/- 1, 4 PIM

Hey We Made It...

I still haven’t actually seen most of the Flyers game. It’s stored on my DVR, but I haven’t quite gotten around to actually sitting down and watching it. That explains the lack of a recap. I really just prefer to pretend like it didn’t happen. The part that I did catch led to a heated Easter-dinner-buffet-line conversation with my brother about the difference between being a bunch of worthless goons and playing tough hockey. He actually dared to defend Chris Pronger. I was aghast.

Anyway, the real event on Sunday was the fact that the Wings managed to clinch their 19th straight playoff berth thanks to Calgary losing. I was out in the backyard playing with my little cousins when I got the score update on my phone and everyone was pretty confused when I broke out into a happy dance right in the middle of the chaos. I did, however, find it ironic that a couple of weeks ago we were making fun of Washington for clinching the conference by losing and waiting for another team to do their dirty work for them. The Wings are home free now and I could not care less about seeding and first round matchups. There are definitely teams that worry me out there, but truth be told, all of the teams worry me. I never think about teams I want the Wings to face because I live in fear of some sort of be-careful-what-you-wish-for comeuppance.

The bottom line is that we made it. The Wings are in the playoffs, and, to the best of my knowledge, all of the 19 survived. And just a note of warning to friends, family, co-workers, and roommates: if you thought I’ve been obnoxious and insane for the last six months, just wait until the puck drops on the first round.

Red Wings 3, Predators 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• This game was right out of the How to Beat the Red Wings textbook. I hate outings like this.
• Of course, it didn’t help that the Wings completely went to sleep during the second period. I guess they were bound to have a bad effort after they’ve been on such a roll.
• I really hate these “At least we got a point?!” games. They’re no fun at all.
• On one shift Shea Weber had both Lilja and Filppula limping after blocking his shots. Ken Daniels (I think it was him.) called Lilja a tripod, which is something I’m just going to leave alone. Surprising absolutely no one, the Predators scored shortly afterward. I really think the boys should be discouraged from trying to block his shots. It rarely works out well.
• The Preds’ first goal bounced in off of Homer’s stick. They’re second bounced in off of Z’s skate. It was a typical stifling trap game capitalizing on a couple of lucky bounces.
• Nick Lidstrom wiped out and got walked around for a great scoring chance during the third period. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do that before. He almost looked human for a fraction of a second there. It was weird.
• It’s really exciting that Datsyuk is starting to take more shots like the one that sent the game to overtime. We’ve been talking about the need for more shoot all season long, and these last few games have showed why that’s so important.
• Sixteen seconds into overtime? Seriously? At least they got a point.
• During the post-game, Mickey York made fun of Barry Trotz’s lack of a neck. Then he called Erat a figure skater. My appreciation for him rose infinitely.
• In other news, I went to the scavenger hunt this morning. My mom and I teamed up with high hopes for a victory, but we were derailed by a failure in communication. I jumped in the car and yelled for her to drive to Hockeytown Café, which she interpreted to mean Hockeytown Authentics. I was so busy eating the Stanley Cupcake we had made at the bakery that I didn’t notice that we were going the wrong direction until three miles later. Once we finally made it to the right Hockeytown and realized that we had been eliminated, we tried to help my dad and sister by googling things on our phones. It didn’t help. They were busy driving up and down Jefferson in Grosse Pointe. When they finally did find the Timmy’s they were looking for, my dad couldn’t drink the iced coffee fast enough anyway.
• I’m really in love with the cupcakes we got at the start of the scavenger hunt. They totally made getting up early worthwhile.
• We seriously debated letting the air out of my dad’s tires and stealing his spark plugs before we left for the scavenger hunt. That would’ve been pretty awesome.
• Congrats to Sara and Greta for winning the suite tickets. I was really glad that they went to folks that I know.
  

GP Answers:
1. The Wings need three points to clinch a playoff spot. These two points are huge in terms of securing a place in the postseason and trying to pass Nashville for the fifth seed. Are they going to bring themselves that much closer to where we all know they belong?
Well, they got the one. Now they just need one more victory to guarantee a spot. Or, they could wait for Colorado or Calgary to lose, but I like my first idea better. They still have two games in hand on Nashville, so fifth place isn’t out of the question, but it would’ve been nice to pick up the points in the head-to-head matchup today.

2. Again with the sixty minutes thing. Babcock has pointed out that the last two games haven’t been ideal efforts. Now’s the time to get that sorted out and back on track. Can the boys play a complete game?
The first and third periods weren’t terrible, but the second was a nightmare. Not only was it dominated by Nashville, but it was also boring.

3. Is anyone going to score a goal this time around?
There were plenty of goals to go around. They just didn’t quite fall to the right side. Although to be fair, most of the scoring was technically done by the Wings, as two of Nashville’s goals went in off of Detroit forwards.

4. What ridiculous thing is Bertuzzi going to do in an attempt to score? On Thursday, he spiked the puck into the net, put one in with his skate—an extremely borderline success, and smacked the goalie in the face with his stick. I’m telling you, there’s a header coming.
He didn’t do anything special that I noticed. He did look like he was about to kill Dan Hamhuis at one point. That particular altercation led to Bertuzzi in the box negating a Wings powerplay. I’m still not sure why coincidental minors weren’t handed out there, but I suspect it had something to do with the fact that Bertuzzi was trying to murder someone again.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
See, Pav? This is why we need more shoot! Aside from that goal, he was all over the ice this afternoon. He set up one goal while sitting on his butt on the ice after falling down. He’s been displaying a lot of Dangle Dangle magic over these last couple of games.

Composite Sticks get the Golden Facepalm
Draper’s broken stick led to one of Nashville’s goals, and later on Franzen’s stick literally disintegrated in his hands to negate a brilliant scoring chance. I have a sneaky suspicion that Mickey Redmond’s going to break into the Wings’ locker room tonight and replace all of their sticks with wood ones.

What I Learned:
There should really be a federal law banning the trap. This goes beyond the scope of the NHL. It needs to be an act of Congress.

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

I wasn’t going to do a GP today since I won’t be able to watch the game, but I didn’t want my 300th post to be a generic leaving-town-check-back-on-Monday post. As it so happens, I'm leaving town today. In fact, I'm posting this from the airport (Bless you, wireless internet). I thought it was particularly nice that the Wings had three days off before playing back-to-back games on the one weekend that I’m on vacation. I’ll be living it up in New Orleans at the wedding of one of my most beloved Splash Trashers and probably overloading Google’s score texting service checking for updates since I’m about 98% sure that nobody’s ever even heard of hockey down there. I may or may not be up and running in time for the Pittsburgh game on Monday.

1. The Wings have been playing well recently, which has made for a much cheerier bunch of Red Wing fans. Their random West Coast break has the potential to be a momentum-killer though. Can their strong play continue tonight?
2. The word on the street is that Jonathan Ericsson will be making his glorious return to the lineup tonight. Will he make us miss Brett Lebda?
3. Edmonton’s exactly the kind of team that the Wings like to overlook and get embarrassed by. Are they going to bother showing up tonight? Sixty minutes please, boys.
4. What is Tomas Holmstrom going to do tonight to make Wings fans swoon?

The Wings didn’t get any help during their layoff. Calgary and Nashville both picked up all of the points possible during their games. I don’t know what the deal is, but the out of town scores never seem to break the Wings’ way. I guess they’re going to have to do it on their own. The good news is that the Wings now have a game in hand on Calgary and two on Nashville.

Don’t forget to enter the Contest of Insanity. There are a lot of good ones already, but more is always better, so keep them coming.

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

• The Wings didn’t exactly come flying out of the gate last night, but they buckled down when things mattered the most and managed to squeak out an important win.
• I really can’t stress enough how important it was to win that game.
• Kirk Maltby did a good job in his audition for a post-career broadcasting gig. I also thought it was cute that Homer asked about him in his post-game interview.
• The name Nigel Dawes never fails to make me snicker. I should grow up.
• What got into Drew Miller? He had his best game in a while and had a bunch of great chances. He didn’t quite finish any of them, and I was shocked that ‘snakebit’ wasn’t used to describe him on the broadcast. This was good because it should really be ‘snake-bitten’ and that bothers me.
• I was terrified on that penalty shot. However, since Jimmy Howard made the save, it ended out working out pretty well for the Wings. They got to keep their powerplay and went on to do good things with that. I really thought Jason Williams (Who?) was the one who got called for the penalty shot, but according to the box score, it was actually Zetterberg. (UPDATE 3/16/10 8:31 PM: I finally got to watch the replay just now, and it was clearly Williams. I'm not sure what the deal with the box score saying it was Zetterberg is. He wasn't anywhere near it. I still say it was a weak penalty shot call, though.)
  
• I still haven’t figured out what Z was doing on that play when Z made the turnover that led to the breakaway that led to the penalty shot.
• Datsyuk’s goal came courtesy of a classic Holmstrom screen. It was sheer beauty.
• When Brian Rafalski took that four-minute penalty in the third, I thought in my head that whoever was successful during that penalty would win the game. If Calgary scored, they’d go on to win, but if the Wings killed it off they’d end up on top. Of course, I didn’t dare say that out loud and I quickly banished those thoughts. Luckily, I turned out to be correct.
• Holmstrom’s goal was on a classic deflection right in front of the net. He was in picturesque form last night.
• Don’t overlook the play Brad Stuart made to keep the puck in the zone right before Franzen took the shot that was deflected in. Without that, the goal doesn’t happen.
• It had to be disheartening for the Flames to give up a goal in the final minute of the second period, and then the winner with less than two minutes to go in the game. I mean, I don’t really care, but having watched the Wings do that numerous times this season, I can empathize.
• Winning this game means that Calgary doesn’t win the season series, which is one of the tiebreakers should they find themselves deadlocked with Calgary for 8th place at the end of the season. Of course, if the Wings would just buckle down and play hockey like they have been over the last week, I don’t think we’ll have to be agonizing about trying to understand the tiebreakers at the end of the season.
• I was really amused by how excited everyone on Twitter was about that shot that Jimmy didn’t give up a rebound on near the end of the game. Still, it was vacuum-like.
• I wasn’t particularly happy with the fact that Zetterberg lost two straight defensive zone faceoffs during the final seconds of the game. Obviously, nothing bad happened, but those have to be won.
• The Wings now find themselves an exciting three points above Calgary in the standings and only one point behind Nashville for 7th place. They’re in a position where they can’t be passed during their three day mini-break on the west coast (Seriously, three days off and then back-to-back games? On the weekend I’m going out of town? I’m going to go a whole week without watching a game, which is sad for me.) How much more anxious would we all be if we had to sit idly by during the next three days knowing that the Wings were out of the playoffs again and other teams were pulling away? By the time the weekend rolls around, the Wings will still be in 8th place and have at least a game in hand on both of the teams they’re battling with for the last two slots. What a relief.
  

GP Answer:
1. Those games we enjoyed so much against the Wild and Sabres aren’t going to mean a whole lot if the Wings can’t pull this one off tomorrow. There’s only one question today: will they show up? This season, the Wings have had a stunning inability to rise to the occasion when these big games come up. Let’s hope that that trend reverses itself against the Flames. The big guns are going to have to show up, and the role players are going to have to bring their best game. Losing this one’s not an option.
Their start wasn't particularly impressive, but they pulled off the win, and did it in regulation. You can't ask for more than that, I guess.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Tomas Holmstrom
Homer was doing that thing that he does all night long. I often wonder if the other 29 teams in the league keep a psychologist on staff to help their goalies recover after games against the Wings and Holmstrom’s rear end. It can’t be fun for them. I, on the other hand, love nothing more than geeking out over another superb Holmstrom deflection or screen.

Andreas Lilja gets the Golden Facepalm
That turnover on Calgary’s goal can’t happen.

Henrik Zetterberg gets a Secondary Facepalm
This is twice in one week, I think. I’m kind of shocked, that I’m even doing this. Still, that turnover, the penalty shot, and those key faceoff losses at the end of the game just don’t paint a pretty picture.

What I Learned:
NHL anagrams are fun. Try them. You won’t regret it. Brad Stuart’s is Absurd Tart, just for reference. You also might find out that your little sister’s is hilarious and be able to torment her with it.

Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Those games we enjoyed so much against the Wild and Sabres aren’t going to mean a whole lot if the Wings can’t pull this one off tomorrow. There’s only one question today: will they show up? This season, the Wings have had a stunning inability to rise to the occasion when these big games come up. Let’s hope that that trend reverses itself against the Flames. The big guns are going to have to show up, and the role players are going to have to bring their best game. Losing this one’s not an option.

Red Wings 2, Flames 4: Post Game Snipes...

• The first period was some pretty boring hockey. Neither team looked like it was willing to take a risk, and play was pretty choppy.
• I was incredibly concerned when the Flames scored first, but the wings actually managed to rebound well from the goal. Too bad they weren't able to do that in the third period.
• Via WingsLive, Brett Lebda announced that he was Single. Get in line, ladies. I know you're interested. To be fair, he said that Darren Helm was also single.
• Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom came out of the Olympic break looking like guys with something to prove. I think that Homer staying home with his injury was one of the best things that could've happened for the Wings.
• The Wings' second goal came off of an absolutely classic Red Wing powerplay. There was tape-to-tape passing, a goal, and a Tomas Holmstrom screen for the ages. I miss seeing that on a regular basis.
• The Wings looked good during the second period, which gave me a sense of false hope for the outcome of the game. Naturally, the third period was a depressing let down.
• I'm more and more convinced every game that Henrik Zetterberg has something nagging that's hampering his play. Too bad there's no cushion in the standings that would allow the team to give him a couple of games off.
• Jarome Igninla hadn't scored on the Wings in his last 19 regular season games. The media made a big deal about this today, which naturally meant that he would break that streak during this game.
• The Wings only mustered four shots in the third period. That's unacceptable. Especially in a game as important as this one was.
• Nashville and Calgary both won tonight. This counts as a disaster. The Wings now find themselves outside of the playoff picture again.

GP Answers:
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?
This loss certainly wasn't his fault, but he's still struggling with his rebounds. They're not nearly as bad as they were at the beginning of the season, but they've become an issue again since the break.

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.
Datsyuk didn't look like his illness slowed him down at all. I thought Bertuzzi had a pretty solid game as well. He wasn't spectacular, but he looked particularly good on the shift after he got out of the penalty box in the third.

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.
Like I said before, the Wings' second powerplay was classic. The others? Not so much.

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.
I didn't really notice Ericsson very much during the game. For a defenseman like him, that's a very good thing. He managed to stay +/- neutral in 13 minutes of ice time tonight.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Tomas Holmstrom
Because I love him.

Henrik Zetterberg gets the Golden Facepalm
Yeah, I went there. There was something supremely frustrating about his blown chance early on. I can't quite explain why, and this is really tough for me because lord knows I love me some Z, but...I don't know. That one chance just made me shake my head.

What I learned:
Looking up at the top eight again isn't fun. At all.

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 5, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• One of my favorite moments of the night was when Bertuzzi took a pass while still standing in the penalty box. It almost made the whole penalty kill worthwhile.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was absolutely amazing. It was Danglelicious in every sense of the word.
• Early in the game, my dad informed me that he thought Helm was a bust. We bickered about it for a while, because that’s what we do when we watch TV together. Helm resolved our dispute by scoring two goals. No only does Helm love children, he also promotes familial harmony.
• I was really hoping for Helm to get the empty netter, but there are no free curly fries in Hockeytown today.
• This is the kind of game that the Wings need to play on a consistent basis from here on out. If they keep that up, getting into the playoffs won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything this season that has convinced me that this could be a reality.
  

GP Answers:
1. The Wings are currently hanging onto the 8th spot in the West thanks to the teams they needed to lose actually losing for once (Is that a sign of things finally turning their way? I’m guessing no, but it’s nice to fantasize about things like that every once in a while.). Nashville’s managed to open up a 5-point gap ahead of them, and St. Louis and Calgary are tied one point behind the Wings. Only four points separate 8-13 in the West. This is scary stuff. What are the odds that the Wings ease some of our fears in this important game against Nashville? (Yes, I’m still getting used to the fact that we’re now forced to consider regular season games against Nashville “important.”)
I don’t know about everyone else, but I feel a lot better after that game. The Wings have consistently been failing to show up for important games against teams they’re fighting for position, and the fact that they came out and played like a team that wanted to win is reassuring. Of course, I’ll probably be back to banging my head against a wall tomorrow, but it’s always nice to see proof that we’re not all crazy for continually saying that this team can still dominate.

2. How will Jimmy Howard rebound from his less-than-stellar outing on Wednesday? The Wings need him to be strong down the stretch.
Howard was fine, not that he needed to be spectacular. Nashville only had 8 shots total in the first and third periods. They picked things up in the second, but they still only finished with 22 shots on net.

3. What percentage of the game are the Wings going to show up to play? We should start a pre-game betting pool to guess numbers.
I’ll give them a 100% because I’m feeling magnanimous today.

4. Can Franzen keep up his red hot scoring streak? Can a scoring streak be considered red hot after less than a handful of games? I vote yes in the context of this season.
He was actually held to no points for a change. It’s okay though. He’s probably going to exact his revenge on Chicago tomorrow.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Darren Helm
Where did that finish come from? I’d completely forgotten how long it had been since he scored a goal. There aren’t many guys who can electrify a crowd like he can.

An Extra Stick Tap for Pavel Datsyuk
That goal he scored was just beautiful and fun. In fact, fans enjoyed it so much that Gary Bettman is currently working on a way to remove plays like that from the game.

Brian Rafalski gets the Golden Facepalm
On the Predators’ first goal, he made a bad turnover on a poorly-advised pass and then proceeded to get embarrassed as he was walked around en route to the net. Not good.

What I Learned:
Playing Nashville is so much more enjoyable when it’s at the Joe. The train whistle thing they do at whatever their arena’s called now drives me up a wall.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

1. The Wings are currently hanging onto the 8th spot in the West thanks to the teams they needed to lose actually losing for once (Is that a sign of things finally turning their way? I’m guessing no, but it’s nice to fantasize about things like that every once in a while.). Nashville’s managed to open up a 5-point gap ahead of them, and St. Louis and Calgary are tied one point behind the Wings. Only four points separate 8-13 in the West. This is scary stuff. What are the odds that the Wings ease some of our fears in this important game against Nashville? (Yes, I’m still getting used to the fact that we’re now forced to consider regular season games against Nashville “important.”)
2. How will Jimmy Howard rebound from his less-than-stellar outing on Wednesday? The Wings need him to be strong down the stretch.
3. What percentage of the game are the Wings going to show up to play? We should start a pre-game betting pool to guess numbers.
4. Can Franzen keep up his red hot scoring streak? Can a scoring streak be considered red hot after less than a handful of games? I vote yes in the context of this season.

I won’t be watching this one live, but through the magic of DVR I’ll be able to catch it later in the evening. Unless, of course, I get word of another atrocious performance. In that case, I’m probably not going to subject myself to that kind of torture.

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.