VM1138

Wow, Tampa is up 3-0? I definitely didn't see that coming. But way to go, Bolts! I bet Washington steals the next game or two, but Tampa's got this locked up.

St. Louis with the game winner, I predict.

Cleary and Zetterberg in playoff mode will do wonders, especially if Bertuzzi steps up the hitting. I think this will be just what Z and Clears need. Not really, because theoretically, San Jose can't counter it.

Yeah, Niemi hasn't been spectacular. The Wings have only gotten a few good shots that San Jose's defense have cleared. Howard, on the other hand, has had two amazing games and a really good first round.

And people forget, Babcock would have intimate knowledge of McClellan's strategy as well.

Fixed it for you.

Every season he should develop an ace in the hole strategy, a strategy nobody would be expecting, for cases like this.

Cleary is the hardest working guy on the team and was the leading scorer until he was injured this season. He'll be healthy again next season and I fully expect him to return to that form. I can see trading Flip, I've advocated that for years. He's good but not essential, and we could probably get someone in return who fills one of our pressing needs for him. Quality for quality trade. Hudler I'd like to keep, because he's shown signs of his offensive flair, but again, if we lost him it's not essential as long as we replace him with a 2nd line scorer. Those are really the only moves I'd make on offense. Obviously we'd need a faceoff specialist in return for one of them, preferably a big body with a long reach to get a cycling game going. On defense, Ericsson could be traded, but he'd have to be packaged with someone to get anything of value. Our top four is locked up pretty tight, btu we either need a new defensive coach or to trade one of these guys. I hate thinking that because they are all valuable, but it would have to be between Stuart and Kronwall. I'd hate to be the guy pulling the trigger on which one to trade. Hopefully with extra cap space they can sign a Top 4 defenseman for the 5th spot and they can have an even rotation like they had this year.

The only way Modano plays is if he plays with Datsyuk. He's next to useless anywhere else and his lack of work ethic can only function with Datsyuk feeding him pucks wherever he's floating.

It was pretty clear when watching it, but I just assumed Niemi was shoved in and therefore wouldn't have counted, or something.

I fully expect a series tied after Game 4, with Wings winning by multiple goals in Games 3 and 4, carrying momentum into San Jose where they win Game 5. They lose Game 6 at home and then finish up with a spectacular Game 7, patented blow out series victory.

Exactly. This isn't Dallas Drake we're talking about. Modano won't have that sort of psychological motivation effect. The best we can hope for is pairing him up with Datsyuk again and seeing some magic at home, while Zetterberg takes crazy backhands on the second line for Franzen to swat in.

I would just like to point out that this is a Best of 7 series for a reason. Two games, no matter how dominant, do not determine the outcome of a series. In 2007 the Sharks "outmatched" Detroit and Detroit was the team that advanced. Yes, San Jose has been the better team but all it takes is two convincing wins to level the playing field not just on paper, but in the swagger of each respective team. Two wins with consistent play will destroy the illusion that San Jose is some unbeatable monster. Detroit has beaten San Jose before and it can happen again. They just have to find the magic key, whether it's splitting up Datsyuk and Zetterberg, firing nonstop at the net, whatever it is. All I know is Detroit half-assed this game and only lost 2-1. They dominated 40% of Game 1 and lost 2-1 in overtime due to s***ty reffing. If a half-assed Detroit team is forcing San Jose to eke out wins, no matter how dominant their play, once the Wings find a rhythm San Jose will be the team in trouble. And until Game 3, we won't know what that magic key is or if the team can elevate like that. But for all the frustration this series is not over. And I'm not being one of those overly optimistic people who can't see the writing on the wall. San Jose has been the better team, but 2-0 series lead evaporate all the time. EDIT: ANd all the old comments are just stupid. I'm sorry, but our core is in their prime. Only sports fans would look at something Average age 31 vs a team with an average age of 29 (pulling numbers out of thin air, but you get the point) and think it gives either team an edge. The fact is this team didn't have any luck, puck was bouncing over sticks and they were sloppy passing. They lacked intensity because they were getting frustrated. Maybe San Jose is getting into their head. All have nothing to do with age. What I do hope is that, win or lose, Flip is traded for a more reliable 2nd line center who can do more than make an impressive play once in a blue moon. In fact, I'd argue the sloppy passing and cute plays were what cost Detroit most this game. If those passes were crisper and harder, not waffling through three San Jose players, and if someone would use their body and crash the net, things would begin to swing into Detroit's favor. Instead, what I'm seeing is one guy carry the puck in, take a long shot from just inside the blue line, and then race back when San Jose makes the long pass for a breakout. If they hold the puck and close in on the net, they will inevitably lose the puck but with clever support behind them a good play could result.

The Abdelkader hate is mind-boggling. The guy took a couple of bad penalties, move on. He's done nothing else egregious. No one really got anything going today. The thing that scares me more is that Helm has been subdued of late.

I think the refs probably know what San Jose is up to now and the rest of the series will be called fair enough. The problem is Detroit not scoring on that 4 minute power play early in the game. Special teams needs work. But you know, Red Wings were rusty for the first two games and San Jose was riding high. I feel bipolar, going from complete frustration to anger to feeling pretty good about the Wings chances in Game 3 and 4, haha.

I'm glad other people realize Flip has been doing nothing, I thought it was just me. But as frustrating as this series has been, and obviously San Jose has gotten into our heads (hopefully not the Wings' heads, though), the Wings hit a few posts and just barely missed on a few really good chances. Sooner or later those go in. We just have to hope they go in during Game 3. I feel like Detroit is due to blow out San Jose, but it's hard to be that optimistic seeing how nothing went Detroit's way. I second the calls for Draper, we need faceoff wins, speed and grit. But calling for Modano for offense? I don't know, I don't view him as a hungry or hard working player. He played good in the Phoenix game he was called into, but do we risk him once we're down 0-2? Even Franzen, who is clearly hobbled and playing sub par, had an awesome play at the net and had the game not been surrounding in anti-Wings karma probably would have gone in and we'd be singing his praises. But Datsyuk and Zetterberg do need to be split up. Flip isn't cutting it as 2nd line center, and we know both of them can handle lines of their own. Even Zetterberg at 80% is better than most other players in the league and I would trust him centering his own line again. I think we'll see that, because all along Babcock said he would play them together in San Jose and apart in Detroit so that they would San Jose would have to respond to both.

I usually hate the negative nancies who predict doom and gloom, but this game was all the Wings fault. Terrible passes. It seemed like everything was intercepted, or bounced over a stick, and every single time they ground their way into the Sharks zone, they took one shot, had it blocked, and then spent five more minutes in their zone. I'm not going to lie, the Sharks have dominated and are scary the way they can seemingly be everywhere at once. Detroit simply had no room. I never root against the Wings are expect them to lose, but San Jose thus far has been a better team. Detroit's only hope is to use last change to their advantage to tear apart Niemi at home. If they can even the series at home they might stand a chance at carrying momentum into the Shark tank. At any rate, I don't see the Wings winning in less than 7. Sadly, if the Wings continue to lack intensity, miss out on lucky breaks, and just constantly have the worst possible things happen to them there's a danger they get swept. At any rate, there are way too many factors that need to align in order for the Wings to win for me to be completely calm about this deficit. What bugs me is that the Kings can give the Sharks so much trouble, but the Wings' offense, solid defense and Howard playing out of his mind is not enough to win at least one game on the road?

Honestly, tomorrow is making me nervous. It has the recipes for a disaster. Afternoon playoff game on NBC against the Sharks in which the reffing is terrible the Sharks continue to use diving to their advantage. On top of this San Jose feels they are better than Detroit and now has confidence, and there's a chance Detroit could be letting San Jose get into their head with repeat of last year and all that. The Wings have their work cut out for them, and I really hope it doesn't go badly. But at any rate, I'll always support the Wings and I know they can pull this series out. 4-2 Wing victory!

You're high. As others have stated, it doesn't matter that the Sharks had more shots, or even if they played better overall. This game was not decided by the Sharks "better" play. Both of their goals came off very, very questionable calls in a mess of questionable calls. So regardless of who played better, the Sharks were losing 1-0 and if we're looking just at stats and scoreboard, only scored because of those power plays on s***ty calls. So yes, reffing did decide this game.

Abdelkader had a good game overall, people are just blaming the OT goat, per usual. If anyone new gets inserted it has to be Draper. We need the PKing help, speed and faceoffs.

For most of the game the reffing wasn't bad. But then the patented NHL Inconsistent Refereeing kicked in. You can't tell me the boarding call and Abdelkader's double minor for no blood were good calls? And what do you know, those were the crucial moments of the game. Honestly, as pissed as I am, it does feel good to know that despite outshooting the Wings the Sharks still couldn't score on us 5 on 5 (I don't count the game winner as even strength, even though it was). Niemi looks shaky and like people have said, pepper him with shots and he collapses like a house of cards. I still like the Wings chances in the series, but they're going to need to be up by 2 or 3 goals at least to overcome the last minute ref factor. In think most Wings fans would admit the bad reffing isn't just against the Wings, it's just against whicever team is winning, which happens to be the Wings most of the time. It's like clockwork and while reffing wasn't the only problem with this game it was the decisive factor, as it was last year against San Jose. My only hope is that because of last year, it's more obvious what's going on and they'll straighten out the reffing by Game 2 or 3.

Just wanted to quote this because it's logical and makes sense. No need to call for Wings players heads, just the referees. Ironic, too, that they seemed to be letting the teams play in the first two periods, and then, like clockwork, start calling random s*** with 10 minutes to go against the winning team. Someone should research this and see how often it happens.

I don't see how Detroit played terrible. You guys are delirious. Howard was great, and the Wings played excellently for 2 of the 3 periods. The second period was crap but it was expected that San Jose would step it up. The teams are evenly matched, we're not going to see one of these teams run away with a game this series, I don't think, so we shouldn't expect it. The only thing I'd like to see more of is heavier hitting. I did notice the puck was taking weird bounces all night, always jumping just past someone's stick.

Oh come on. They weren't "stupid penalties." The Wings were fine until (predictably) the last 10 minutes of the game, when suddenly all across the NHL the winning team because completely unglued and commits all sorts of irresponsible penalties. ******* garbage.

Honestly, we knew the outcome of the series depended on the reffing. Now that we've seen it, we know the Wings don't stand a chance. Can someone please explain to me how that penalty was a four minute one? There wasn't any blood.