Red Wings vs. Blues GP...

Red Wings: 9-5-1

Blues: 8-7-1

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Oilers GP...

Red Wings: 7-5-1

Oilers: 9-4-2

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

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 vs. Blue Jackets GP...

Red Wings: 4-0-0

Blue Jackets: 0-5-1

Red Wings Zen: 

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Seven GP...

3 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Cake, don't fail me now.)

Three things:

• Anything can happen—It's Game Seven. One bounce, one bad break, one turnover can decide the series.
• Goalies—Howard and Niemi may very well end up deciding which team moves on to the Western Conference Finals.
• Mental edge—The Wings have had it throughout the whole series. Here's hoping they'll use that to their advantage tonight.

Red Wing Zen:

Justin Abdelkader

0-0-0, +/- -4, 22 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Two GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 1

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• Jimmy Howard—If he keeps playing like he did in Game One, I like the Wings' chances of coming back in this series.
• Penalties—You all know the drill on this one. I don't want to talk about it because I'm just going to get riled up again.
• Intensity—The Wings got outplayed for long stretches of the first game. They were lucky to be in the position they were at the end of regulation, officiating nonsense aside. They're going to need to step things up today if they want to pull even.

Red Wing Zen:

Jonathan Ericsson

0-1-1, +/- 1, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings 6, Coyotes 3: Post Game Snipes...

• Pavel Datsyuk's pass to set up Homer's goal was just ridiculous. We should be used to him doing crazy things by now, but it's impossible not to marvel at the things he does with the puck.
• Homer's shot as he was falling was equally awesome.
• Phoenix got lucky as their first goal deflected in off of Ericsson's skate.
• As distressing as Franzen being a last-minute scratch was, it's kind of nice to be able to just pop a guy like Mike Modano into the lineup like that. Mo even picked up an assist on the first goal of the game.
• Darren Helm is everywhere. He's giving the Coyotes absolute fits. They don't even know what to do with him. It's deliciously fun to watch.
• Jimmy looked shaky in the first period, but got stronger as the game went on. That's better than the reverse.
• In hindsight, these late games aren't so bad. Watching hockey in the middle of the night means that my roommates who do not get hockey at all don't have to see me during the third period of a close playoff game. It's probably for the best.
• The Wings swept the first round without Henrik Zetterberg. And they played Game Four without the Mule. That should be scary for future opponents.
• So do you think Doan wants to rethink his proclamation of Bryzgalov as the best player in the series?
• Hopefully the Wings figure out their penalty kill between now and the start of Round Two. They did at least come up with a big kill in the third when the game was tied.
• I loved Jimmy's post-gamequote: “I'll smile in June.” Swagger is a beautiful thing when it comes from the Wings.
• I've been on the leave-Phoenix side of the debate from the beginning, just from a practicality standpoint. There's no point in forcing a franchise to stay where it can't be financially successful and causing all kinds of drama. The Coyotes' salute after the handshakes and seeing Shane Doan (who I still dislike) fighting back tears before starting his post-game interview did make me feel bad for the fans who do live in Phoenix.

Hero: Dan Cleary
He had a goal and two assists, and his game-winner gave us an excuse to do the Newfie Stomp. He also led the team in shots and was buzzing all night.

Villain: Shane Doan
Why does he hate Nick Lidstrom?

Final Thought:
This long wait for Round Two should give my blood pressure a nice break.

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

• Long story short: the Wings didn't play their greatest game, but they got lucky with some quick goals at the start of each period and that was enough.
• I've never seen Nick Lidstrom get hit as hard as he did early in the game.
• Game Four should be boatloads of fun. I'm sure the Coyotes won't be trying to injure anyone now that their backs are against the wall.
• Lidstrom only had 18 minutes of ice time. In a playoff game. That's crazy.
• Every game makes me like Phoenix less and less.
• The Wings' penalty kill was a disaster tonight. On the other hand, Phoenix's looked much better than it did in the first two games.
• I think Filppula took more shots in the first five minutes of the second period than he did for the entire regular season. I wish he'd do that more often.
• How about that pass Rig made to set up Franzen's goal? Pretty good, eh?
• This was an odd game. There were stretches where the Wings looked unstoppable, and the Coyotes didn't seem to have the slightest chance. Then, just as quickly, momentum would shift the other way and the tide would turn briefly.
• This is not an acceptable way to treat Nick Lidstrom.
• One more win to close out the series...skate to throat time, boys.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
He was on tonight. The Wings' defense hung him out to dry plenty of times, but he stood tall and kept them in the game.

Villain: Shane Doan
Yup, I still dislike him.

Final Thought:
The Wings are going to have to play better if they want to close out this series on Wednesday.

Red Wings 4, Maple Leafs 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Hey, look, I'm actually writing a game recap! This one comes to you courtesy of the fact that I have to work in the morning and had to skip a night out with my roomies. And also my rage over the Lupul goal/Howard's injury. It's always nice to put a good rant down on paper (or, you know, the internet) every once in a while.
• The first was one of the best periods I've seen the Wings play in a while. Passes were crisp. Their puck possession was dominant. Even though it ended tied at one, the Wings looked to be in control.
• The second was a little rockier, and the Wings found themselves in penalty trouble toward the end.
• They took a 2-1 lead into the premature intermission thanks to a classic Homer deflection in front of the net. How sad is it that his first reaction to the goal was to look over at the ref to make sure he wasn't going to wave it off?
• Since Dion Phaneuf's shot broke a pane of glass during a Toronto powerplay with a couple of minutes left in the second, the teams took intermission early to avoid a long delay. This kind of played in Toronto's favor since they got clean ice for the second half of their powerplay, but it ended up not mattering. The Wings took another penalty right before the carryover time wound down anyway.
• The real disaster came in the third period when Jimmy Howard went down with an injury. I've got some ranting to do about the ensuing goal, but I'd happily spot the Leafs ten such goals if it meant that Jimmy finished the game healthy. All this talk of the Baby Pegger (who, despite being my favorite goalie prospect for his Training Camp snipe, I have absolutely no desire to see in a Wings uniform right now) possibly being called up has me in full RSV mode.
• Just to be clear, in the NHL, this is not a goal, but this is. Listen, I like to think I'm a pretty smart lady, but I once again find myself confounded by events in an NHL game. I fail to see how a goal can be called back one night because a goalie initiated contact with a skater who was outside of the crease because of “incidental contact,” and then a few nights later, have a goal stand when a player bumped into the goalie in the crease and proceeded to fall on his back, pinning him to the ice. Take the jerseys the players are wearing out of the question. Only in the NHL does this make sense. Or at least we're supposed to think it makes sense. Or something. I'm not sure anyone really gets it.
• Luckily for the Wings (and my sanity), Jiri Hudler put them back in the lead for good with a quick shot off of a rush.  Check out this picture of his celebration at your own risk.
• Justin Abdelkader was all over the ice tonight. He must've had at least thirty brilliant chances. He didn't finish any of them, but it was a nice effort. Plus, he got into a fight after a big hit on Rafalski, which was also nice to see.
• It looks like Rafalski got lucky after the hit, as his knee brace protected him. It looked pretty bad at first though. I would've been pretty happy if that was the scariest moment of the game. Now that the playoffs are approaching, I'm becoming increasingly paranoid.
• Nick Lidstrom broke up a great scoring chance for the Leafs with a brilliant defensive play. You know, just another day at the rink for him. Sorry, boys, he's just better than you. It's not mean; it's just a fact. Please never leave us, Nick.
• On the other end of the defensive spectrum, Brett Lebda played exactly as you would expect Brett Lebda to play.  How's that Stanley Cup experience treating you now?
• Hey Maple Leafs fans: Todd Bertuzzi's empty net goal effectively ended your team's slight playoff hopes. TAWD Bertuzzi. Hahahaha. Snack on that for lunch.

Hero: Joey MacDonald
He's been astoundingly solid in his last few games, and performed admirably after taking over for Jimmy in the third. I still don't like it one bit, but I guess it does offer some glimmer of hope.

Villain: Joffrey Lupul
Bet you saw that coming, eh?

Final Thought:
This injury nonsense is making my annual post-season nervous tics come early this year.

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

Red Wings: 27-11-5

Blue Jackets: 20-20-3

Red Wing Zen:

Jimmy Howard

22-7-3, .907 SV%, 2.78 GAA

Point and Laugh:

RJ Umberger

14-15-29, +/- 3, 26 PIM

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.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Eleven...

Caption Mondays: Crater won this week with a caption that literally made me laugh out loud.

"If you pass to Homer in the Neutral zone one more time I'm going to bench you. He CAN'T Stick Handle!"

Trivia Tuesdays: Rob won this time around.

This week's question: Jimmy Howard was named to the NHL's All-Rookie team last season. Henrik Zetterberg had the honor in 2002-2003. Prior to that, what was the last season in which a Wings rookie was named to the team? Who made the cut?

The Answer: Nick Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov both received the honors in the 1991-92 season.

Trivia Tuesdays Volume 11...

Jimmy Howard was named to the NHL's All-Rookie team last season. Henrik Zetterberg had the honor in 2002-2003. Prior to that, what was the last season in which a Wings rookie was named to the team? Who made the cut?

Hint: There were two Wings named to the team that year.

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

• I was planning on going to the Joe tonight with student rush tickets, but when we got there, we discovered that it was already sold out. We ended up at a freezing cold bar in Greektown instead.
• Pav's been the Wings' best player this season, and losing him for a month is killer. Luckily, I was at Astoria when I got the bad news, so delicious baked goods were within reach. What had begun as a victory celebration at the bakery turned into the ever-so-rare celebratory/eat-your-feelings pastry excursion.  Thank god for carrot cake.
• I already miss Pav...the most.
• We were quite amused (after it was over, of course) by the play when Jimmy Howard was way out of the net and Rig was left to play goalie. It was terrifying at the time, but we got a good laugh out of it.
• Except for that one play with Rig as a goalie, the beginning of the game was all Wings.
• Look, it's a Homerfly!

• You know what's awesome about being a Red Wings fan? Sitting back after an exciting overtime victory and picking apart all of the things your team did poorly during the game.
• Our reaction to Fil's goal went something along the lines of, “Wait, he shot the puck? Are you sure that was Flippy?”
• Dan Cleary continues to amaze everyone.
• Luongo should've made the save on Z's overtime goal. I would've been pretty upset with Jimmy if that shot had gone in at the other end of the ice.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
Two goals on the night are usually enough to earn a guy hero status.

Villain: Mikael Samuelsson
He's on my list now for sure. As if tripping Pav when he broke his hand/wrist wasn't enough, Sammy had to go and add a goal later.

Final Thought:
Fil, Mule, and Hudler all need to do more to make up for missing Pav for the next few weeks. Zetterberg needs to be as dominant as he was tonight for the rest of his fellow Eurotwin's absence.

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

• I'd say that each team won one period tonight, and split another. The difference was that the Wings won their period bigger. The first was kind of a draw, then the Wings took over in the second, only to fall asleep during the third.
• I never, ever, ever want to hear that stupid “Ole” soccer chant in Joe Louis Arena again. Ever.
• I loved that the Wings' d-men were all over the offense tonight. Lidstrom's buzzer-beater on the 5-on-3 was just brilliant.
• Ken and Mickey's reaction to that goal was priceless.
• I was at work and we had the game on the TVs. I don't think anything got done during that 5-on-3. I'm pretty sure everyone was just standing around watching.
• Pavel Datsyuk's goal was just beautiful. He got a nice set-up from Rig and finished it with a gorgeous shot. After the game, he was asked to describe the goal and he said, “I just shoot.”
• The penalty differential between the Wings and Canadiens was kind of surprising. I kept waiting for the evening out calls to come in the third period, but they never did. You don't usually see that kind of disparity unless you're playing Anaheim.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
Those saves he made late in the third period when the rest of the Wings were fading were nothing short of spectacular.

Villains: Habs fans
“Ole, Ole?” Not in our building.

Final Thought:
I've already moved onto the Big Chill. Tomorrow's going to be insane.

Red Wings 2, Predators 3: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings looked terrible tonight. They looked like they slept through the entire first period.
• Fittingly, during his first intermission interview, TAWD looked like he was about to doze off at any moment. It pretty much summed up the Wings' play.
• If Ozzie had given up that third goal, the internet would've collapsed from the massive outpouring of hatred and criticism.  I'm not blaming Jimmy for the loss, but it was a terrible goal to give up at that point in the game.
• Pav's shorthanded goal was quite nice. I figured that four-minute PK would be a turning point in the game since failure to kill it would've put them down by three goals and a successful kill would've given them some momentum. When the Wings ended up scoring on it, it seemed like they had a good chance to get back in the game.
• Martin Erat looked ridiculous after he got high-sticked. Yes, he got hit with the stick, and yes, he got cut, but good lord, I thought he'd lost an eye the way he was flopping around on the ice. Think about how Mike Modano reacted to having a tendon severed and a nerve damaged in his wrist. Now imagine if that had happened to Erat.
• The lights at the Joe flickered momentarily during the third period. I'm sure it inspired a plethora of witty “they're so poor in Detroit...” jokes from other fans. Almost immediately afterward, the Preds scored.
• Way to toy with my emotions, Wings. I'd pretty much written the game off when they were down by two late, but then they went and scored with an empty net. It made the last minute of the game exciting, at least.

Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
Go ahead and tell me that he and Zetterberg aren't the top two-way forwards in the league. Go ahead.

Villain: Martin Erat
Every time the Wings play the Predators, I like that man a little bit less. And I don't mean in the “oh, I hate playing Rick Nash because he's so good against the wings” sense.

Final Thought:
Hey, boys, wakey-wakey. It's not February yet. It's too early to slip into the mid-season funk.

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 5, Sharks 3: Post Game Snipes...

• Aren't you all glad the game went on as scheduled? After several hours of wondering whether or not the Wings were going to be able to play tonight due to a power outage in the Sharks' building, we finally got word through Twitter that the problem had been fixed and the game was on.
• The Wings got off to a bit of a slow start in the defensive zone, making way more turnovers than were necessary. Jimmy Howard made some good saves to hold down the fort until they got their act together.
• The Wings got a powerplay goal from Dan Cleary early on. I'm pretty sure the puck ended up in the back of the net because the Sharks were still confused about the fact that the Wings had just gotten a powerplay. After the playoff series last season, I'm guessing they thought that the rule book had been amended to prohibit that occurrence.
• This was one of those games during which all I could do was shake my head at the Eurotwins. They do ridiculous things with the puck every single game, and on those nights when they really dial it up, watching them go to work is glorious.
• Pavel Datsyuk's goal was just pretty. He embarrassed the Sharks' defensemen as he danced right through them and then finished the play with a shot into the wide-open net from a bad angle.  After the goal, Ken Daniels yelled, "He dangles, and snipes!" Just saying...
• Zetterberg looked like a baseball player as he swatted his first goal out of mid-air. The hand-eye coordination needed to do that is pretty impressive.
• San Jose's second goal should've been goaltender interference. Last time I checked, sitting on goalies wasn't allowed...unless you're Colton Orr. If Tomas Holmstrom so much as gives the goalie a dirty look, he's called for interference.
• Patrick Eaves scored. I guess you wouldn't know that he plays ping pong.
• Z's second goal was set up by a beautiful pass from Datsyuk. As I've already said...amazing stuff. Just amazing.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
We were all pulling for him to snag us some free curly fries roast beef sandwiches tonight. The fact that he didn't trigger the Arby's promo doesn't take away from his four-point performance, though. He was phenomenal, as was his partner in crime, Pavel Datsyuk.

Villain: Scott Nichol
He ended up with four penalty minutes for going after Kronwall late in the third period. Kronner obviously had no interest in fighting. Good job, dude.

Final Thought:
I could watch the Eurotwins play hockey 24/7 and never for one second be bored.

Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I was concerned about how the Wings would start this game since it had an early start time, but they actually looked pretty lively in the first period.
• During the pre-game show, FSD did a segment where they asked players about their hidden talents. Darren Helm's talents were walking on his hands and doing the Worm.
• I've had a long-standing suspicion that when Chris Osgood is on the bench, he's doodling instead of charting faceoffs. The hidden talents segment made me positive that I'm right, as Ozzie revealed that he likes to draw pictures.
• Jiri Hudler claimed to be a good BBQer. I'm not sure I'd want to eat something he cooked.
• The Circus line looked threatening all night. Zetterberg, in particular, had a lot of good chances and looked dominant with and without the puck. He didn't end up with any points to show for it, but it was definitely one of his best games of the season.
• We were subjected to the Blue Jackets' hideous third jerseys for the second game in a row. I'm sorry, are Wings fans being punished for something? Evidently Mickey Redmond likes them. He said something about Columbus looking like a whole different team when wearing them. Ken Daniels responded by saying that they looked like the Florida Panthers. Boom.
• Kronwall and Helm scored fourteen seconds apart in the second period. Just like that, the Wings went from trailing to being in the lead. That's what this team can do to you.
• The penalty kill in the third period was outstanding. The Wings out-worked and out-played the Blue Jackets for all of Filppula's double minor, as well as the two-minute 5-on-3 kill in the middle of it. The fans at the Joe were on their feet applauding the team. Everything about it made me smile.
• Filppula ended up with the game-winner for the second game in a row. I'm guessing his finely-tuned fashion sense finds the ugly third jerseys the Blue Jackets were wearing objectionable.
• The Wings were 0-5 on the powerplay tonight. Ouch.
• After the game, FSD showed a slo-mo replay of Jimmy Howard squirting water on his face from the water bottle. It prompted my little brother and I to laugh hysterically. Was that really something we needed to slo-mo?

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He didn't pick up any points on the evening, but he was dominant throughout the whole game. I was really convinced that he was going to score tonight. Obviously, I was wrong, but that doesn't take away from his effort.

Villain: Steve Mason
He looked like he'd been shot after Abdelkader's goalie interference penalty. The little peek he took to make sure the ref had noticed his acting was cute, too.

Final Thought:
That's not a bad way to close out Thanksgiving weekend at all.

Red Wings 2, Blue Jackets 1: Post Game Snipes...

• Special teams were key in the game tonight. The Wings relied on their strong PK to kill off FIVE straight penalties. Columbus ended up going 0-5 on the powerplay. The Wings then got 3 straight powerplays, one of which resulted in a goal.
• I personally thought that the Jackets deserved a major penalty for wearing such ugly jerseys. Or maybe the refs were trying to help them out because they felt sorry for them.
• Franzen finally scored his first road goal of the season.
• When I first saw Columbus' third jerseys, I was kind of ambivalent. I thought they were stupid because I dislike the concept of third jerseys in general (they're nothing more than a cash grab) and they looked exactly like most other third jerseys out there on the market. However, as the game wore on, every time FSD showed a close-up of a Blue Jacket player, I hated them a little bit more. The cream on the shoulders really took them from mediocre to ugly. The font used for the numbers didn't help matters either.
• After returning from a commercial, Larry Murphy was going over a play that had happened earlier and said “Umdinger” instead of “Umberger.” I found it way more amusing than I should have. Umdinger.
• At the end of the game, Jakub Voracek proceeded to smack himself on the head with his stick. Why? The world may never know.
• Anyone else think that a Jared Boll penalty shot was much less punishment for the Wings than a two-minute powerplay would've been?
• Mike Modano left the game after being cut on the hand/wrist with a skate blade. Trevor Thompson's post-game tweets about it didn't sound promising.
• Valtteri Filppula picked up the game-winner on the powerplay. I don't know why, but I always forget about him. He needs to do more things like that so I'll remember him.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
He made stop after stop after stop to keep the Wings in the game including a huge (although not terribly challenging) save on the penalty shot in the second period. After having a rough night in Atlanta two days ago, he bounced back and was the star of the game by far.

Villains: The Referees
Five straight penalties, plus a penalty shot, against the Wings? Columbus conveniently taking the next three straight penalties? Changing standards for hooking? Tonight was a classic example of NHL officiating.

Final Thought:
The most important regular season game in franchise history didn't turn out so well for the Blue Jackets.