Red Wings 1, Predators 0 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• I got to watch most of this game from The Emperor’s house which I have named Kukla’s Kasa. Inviting us crazies over was incredibly nice and we definitely enjoyed his hospitality. He grills a mean hamburger too, by the way.
• Early in the game, Baroque predicted a 1-0 shootout loss. Luckily for us, she only got the score right.
• The Wings currently find themselves in 6th place. That has never before looked so beautiful. It makes me sad how excited I am about that.
• I still can’t believe the Wings won a shootout. What is this world?
• It would’ve been nice to have gotten it done in regulation, since Nashville’s one of the teams the Wings are chasing, but I’ll take the two points any night.
• I know we’ve been saying this all season, but the Wings really shouldn’t be that bad at shootouts. Todd Bertuzzi and Nik Kronwall were really the only two guys who could get pucks past Pekka Rinne? Really?
• After Bertuzzi scored his goal in the shootout, we were really hoping Jimmy would make the next save. Not just because we wanted to win, but we also thought it would be the perfect ending to the H2H weekend for Petrella.
• I guess in the end it was a good thing that he didn’t make that stop since it allowed us to see Patrick Eaves’ “attempt.” It’s a lot funnier now that it didn’t cost the Wings the game. I really liked the fact that he got up laughing right away. What’s life if you can’t laugh at yourself?
• I’m willing to nominate the DJ at the Town Pump last night for worst of all time. I know Brian was a big fan of his, but good lord, what was that? Not only was it terrible, but it was so loud that the only way to carry on a conversation with anyone was to talk three inches from their ear.
  

GP Answers:
1. This is one of those key 4-point games against a team the Wings are chasing in the standings. Can the boys cap off a perfect H2H event with another win tonight?
I don’t think it would’ve been possible for H2H to have gone any better than it did. It was wonderful and incredible and amazing, and I miss all of you sunshines already.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
You pitch a shutout, you get the baked goods. It’s as simple as that.

An Extra Stick Tap for Niklas Kronwall
By that point in the shootout, none of us could even guess who was going to be taking the next shot. We figured Ozzie was getting ready to make an attempt. I’m pretty sure Kronner’s game winner got Dena pregnant.

Patrick Eaves gets the Golden Facepalm
This one’s pretty obvious:


What I Learned:
Red Wings fans are the greatest people in the universe. I know this is the same as last time, but I can’t say it enough. This weekend was incredible.

Wings 1, Predators 3: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings were lucky to survive the first period only down by one. Their effort was sad.
• Drew Miller had his best game in a Wings uniform tonight. He was rewarded with his first Wings goal. It came off of a great individual effort.
• I really strongly dislike Todd Bertuzzi. More and more each game.
• Pavel Datsyuk had a beautiful check at one point during the second period. That’s an aspect of his game that continues to be underrated.
• Every time a goalie made a save, the Versus announcer would say, “____ says no.” Every time. I swear.
• The Wings really turned things on during the third period. It looked like one of their patented late-game awakenings. Unfortunately Pekka Rinne stood his ground and nothing came of it.
• Train whistles should be permanently and unconditionally banned from every live sporting event ever. Really, unless you are a train, there is no need for you to have one of those.
• A Predators fan decided that it would be a good idea to throw a hat on the ice after Erat’s second goal. Lame. Very lame.
• Darren McCarty did a decent job in his Versus debut. He looked nervous and I didn’t quite follow what he said during the first intermission, but he looked much more comfortable during the second one and in the post game.
• There is a very real problem with the powerplay in that if the Circus line fails to score…the team is left with a line of Cleary, Leino, and Bertuzzi.
  

GP Answers:
1. Well, the defense didn’t look spectacular for most of the game tonight, but neither did the rest of the team.
2. Well, Big Rig didn’t see any powerplay time but led all Wings skaters in time on the PK. This picture tells the story of the Preds’ first goal.
3. I didn’t notice Ericsson often, which is a good thing for a rookie defensemen. There’s no doubt that having a better defensive partner will improve his game. Just how much remains to be seen.
4. No answer for the lack of offense. Another game with only one goal scored. That’s not going to cut it.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Chris Osgood
There’s no doubt that he kept the Wings in it when they were busy sleepwalking through the first half of the game. He made some huge, huge saves.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
This really could’ve gone to Tomas Holmstrom too, but Homer has actually made a contribution to the team so far this season, so he gets a reprieve. Bert took two stupid penalties, one of which led to the Preds’ first goal. The Versus announcer, in what may have been the first display of intelligent thought by one of their guys, said that he just didn’t think that Bertuzzi had the speed to play the Wings’ style of hockey.

What I learned:
This really is going to be a long season.