VM1138

Holmstrom is the only guy screening the goalie. It's not his fault nobody is bothering to take advantage and shoot closer than the top of the circles or the blue line.

Oh, and to clarify something, didn't Ken Daniels say that Rafalski will NOT be back for next game, though it's not official yet? I think he said it in Period 1.

Sigh. Point is, a 2-2 tie is good for the Wings, not the Ducks. Correct? What happened in the past means jack right now. A 2-2 tie gives Detroit allt he momentum, going home. It would also likely mean Detroit is playing their game, which means Anaheim wouldn't have a prayer. So yes, the next game is a must-win for Anaheim as well. If they lose, they lose momentum and their chances of defeating the Wings shrinks significantly. Oh, but I digress, "The Wings suck and always have, nothing they do can ever be right, Europeans suck, argh!!! Downey would win us the Cup, get rid of everyone, start over, we're down 2-1, I knew this would happen, we suck so bad!"

We're using a loose definition. The concept of "must wins" can really only apply to elimnation games. Thus, next game is not must win for the Wings, either. If we adhere to the concept.

If they lose a game that they by all means "should" win at home and the series is tied, a dangerous Wings team finally has momentum, going home, to go up 3-2. If Anaheim loses Game 4, the series is only tied, but their odds of winning significantly decrease. Game 4 is a must win for either team, like it or not.

Overall, Chelios was great tonight. Got us two powerplays and even shot more than he had in months in a single game.

I think the best thing about this game is that the Wings were outplayed for the first half, came on srong in the last half, and tied the game. Forget about the bad call. Hossa finally got the monkey off his back. He's going to be huge in the next game. The only thing that really frustrated me tonight was the perimeter shots. It really did remind me of those dark years between 2002 and 2007. No more dump and chase. Carry it in, you'll inevitably lose it, and have another player swoop in and pick up the bouncing puck. Only way to get it in. We cracked Anaheim the last half of the game and were making things happen. Hiller saved Anaheim repeatedly. We'll solve them eventually. Nothing better than tying it in Game 4, going back to Detroit with momentum. Game 4 is a must-win for Anaheim, too. If they don't put us away, they're in trouble.

I'm not going to jump on the conspiracy boat, but clearly playing against Anaheim somehow generates bad juju. Non-calls, bad calls, fluke accidents, bad luck, it's all over the place year in, year out. We can still win this, but they've gotta show up strong in the first period for once. I would think the Wings will. Being down 2-1 isn't really impossible or even unlikely to come back from. We're just psychologically drained because of what ******-bags Anaheim is full of and how often they get away with ridiculous behavior. Hopefully the Wings don't let it get to them and show up in a big way next game.

What a bulls*** game. Horrible reffing. But now the Wings have a chip on their shoulder and they play best when doing this. Anaheim is starting to get tired, worn out. Hiller is lights-out amazing, but Ozzie has been, too, for the most part. They've been one goal games so we can't fault either goalie yet. I felt some 2007 vibes with the bad calls and frustration. But this series is far from over.

Adversity brings out the best in the Wings. We've been in similar spots each time we won the Cup, so I'm not worried. So long as nobody starts panicking (which the Wings never do) we can grind out the wins we need. EDIT: Just imagine how sloppy tonight is going to be. Playing 5 periods and some odd minutes of hockey only the day before yesterday, flying out to the Left Coast and playing what your body feels is a night game? The only advantage is Anaheim should be just as exhausted as we are, if not more. I expect to see some dirty hits and fighting, what with everyone being a bit on the exhausted and irritable side.

Amazing. Our team sucks yet we went to 3 OT with the superhuman, amazing Ducks? Excuse me, I think I need to vomit. The Wings now have something extra to play for. I seem to recall games in each round except the 2nd last year that were the "end of the line" for the Wings. They weren't going to recover from being down to Nashville. They werent' going to be able to stop Nashville's late-game surges, they weren't going to be able to stop Dallas, Dallas was going to come back from being down 3-1 and win the series, the team wasn't going to beat the Pens. Lord almighty that OT game in the Nashville series had everyone s***ting bricks and bailing out until we scored. We love to overreact. One loss to a quality team in the freaking playoffs? A tie series? And people are bitching?

Hossa is a freaking sniper. That's what he's supposed to do. You forgot to mention: S ammy shoots, doesn't score, Hossa shoots, scores. If by saying Hossa is a glorified version of Sammy you mean he's infinately superior in every way possible, then you are right.

Only Wings fans would declare going 5-1 in the playoffs a disaster. Babcock will do the right thing. We all (well, the smart ones) all expected thsi series to go the distance. It will and they will be close, white knuckle games. I wouldn't throw in the towel after a 4-3 3OT loss. Although I do think Hossa and Dats need to get going. But Dats is a beast on the road and he'll have something to prove now.

This time he's right. Game 1 was almost perfectly even. This series is going to be tough. Anaheim is by far the best team left in the playoffs other than Detroit and maybe Boston. It's not going to be a cakewalk. Detroit can win this series, but they have to keep grinding away at Anaheim.

Maltby and Helm were great for us last night. Maltby has completely turned his season around.

Shanny a one or two season guy? He was a rock for this team for years.

http://www.japersrink.com/2009/5/1/861535/...mining-the-pens One of the things in thsi article struck me. The author seems to think that Pens fans look down on Cap fans for not being knowledgable about hockey and being bad fans in general. Which made me realize: Cap fans must really suck if fans as terrible as Pittsburghians look down on them.

Hate to say it but Pittsburgh is going to the FInals this year. Rematch of last year, same result.

It's kind of his trademark. His wrists must be made of steel, because he's always used one hand to force the puck through tough areas. I don't think he's capable of stickhandling with two hands.

Unfortunately, they already voted for the Norris. I always thought it was dumb to vote before the playoffs, considering they're all that matters.

Yeah, the best part was Ericcson not letting him hide or escape. He tossed him around like a rag doll, held on to him, and laid a bit of a beat down on the *****.

I don't have a problem that Hudler got hit, maybe Brown didn't react in time or just wanted to follow through. But he didn't need to use his stick or elbow. A hip check or something would've been much more acceptable. The Ducks ALWAYS resort to high hits. Scum.

Gotta love how they're telling viewers how to sneak an octopus in and rules of throwing it, considering it's technically "illegal" in the NHL.

Datsyuk, too. Only heard their names a few times tonight. THey'll be huge in the 3rd.

Haha, that's such a repeat of this game. The lady fakes a fall after getting hit BEHIND her head, and then the judge says "She got hit in the eye!" replace the Judge with a ref and you have this game.