VM1138

What has happened to him this year? Any other player in hockey, regardless of position, would have tried to stop that shot, regular season or playoffs with the game on the line. He should be stripped of his C for that. I wouldn't trust him if I were a teammates, regardless of offensive skill.

Emmerton. I guess he's good defensively. Heck, Flip has been solid without the puck, but he kills a lot of offensive chances by being afraid to shoot the puck. We were brutal on faceoffs, so I don't know who we can spare down the middle.

These tics have nothing to do with intelligence. It has to do with comfort talking. And clearly they are asked stupid questions frequently and they're not focused on the interview.

The more he plays against such elite talent and thrives, the more convinced I am he is not only solid but actually good. He's turning into a legit top pairing defenseman. The fact that E looks good while Kronwall struggles means he is really food, not that he's a second pairing guy at best. If your partner struggles, usually you do, too. And E is thriving.

Smith was never hyped to be an All-Star. People hoped he would be but realistically his peak was set as a top 4 guy, wasn't he? Give him time. The matchups will be in our favor in Game 6. Wings need to make a statement and seize momentum. Honestly, you can't put in Cola or White now. Definitely not in a Game 7. If Zetterberg can start producing like he should, that will make rookie mistakes hurt less.

He was showing confidence in them. Honestly the OT goal wasn't on them. Andersson had his man, he just missed the stick. Crappy development but what can you do? Andersson had another great game.

Quit attacking each other and focus on the game. They can pull out two wins under pressure. But Game 7 is on a Sunday...don't we have a terrible record on Sundays? They Hung in there, I'd say each team dominated half the game. Had a bad feeling, Lashoff and Kindl were atrocious. Ericsson, Kronwall and Quincey were great. Smith okay. Inexperience is showing under Anaheim's forecheck, though. Bertuzzi's controlling the play down by the net so that's good, too. What more can be said? It was a back and forth high flying game. Move on to the next one and persevere.

Games have been so close with the exception of Game 3. I still see this as a 7 game series. But I hope we win tonight to put us in a better position.

As much as I hate to say it, Crosby is unreal this season. But as long as they keep scoring the Isles can stretch this out and maybe win the series. Pittsburgh lacks goaltending and defense, I think.

Let's not overstate it. Teams have come back from being down 3-2 in a series, so it's not a must-win. But it'd sure help a lot more if they did win!

Only players who had bad games were Sammy and Smith (despite the points). Sammy settled down as the game went on but he made three mistakes in his first two or three shifts. Zetterberg needs to score, too. And that's two games without a Franzen goal. I hope we can close them out in 6, because we've had jitters in game 1, and the first game at home. I imagine they'd have jitters in a Game 7, too. I'm loving the passion I see that was missing all year. Our rookies are going to be better than I thought!

Brunner quietly leads the team in points, 4 in 4 games. He and Nyquist are effective together.

Sammy can hit, too. He plays a different game than Abdelkader, but maybe mixing up our attack won't be such a bad thing. I still don't get why Tootoo isn't allowed to play. Isn't this type of series exactly what we got him for? He must be annoyed. I don't remember him making stupid mistakes or anything to justify his removal from the lineup.

Quincey was pissed in the post game interview and said that's why he doesn't hit. He called out the league for making guys second guess their hits. Even said if you hit a guy its almost always a penalty nowadays.A better way to go about handling suspensions is NOT to consider the aftermath. Punish the act, not the effect. That will stop the melodramatics, keep the games flowing, and stop the gamesmanship. Doesn't make much sense to punish the effect anyway.

Besides, the team can bounce back and having Tootoo in the lineup will help. I hope Bert is up for playing with Datsyuk again. Although Cleary seems to have Anaheim's number. In this one scenario it might not be a bad idea to put him up there.

Quit with the Shanahan hate. Sometimes I hate being associated with other Wings fans. I disagree with his call but its not crazy to see how he came to his conclusion. Remember how bad things were before Shanahan got the job? At least there is an overall consistency, and what's more, explanations on the decisions. And he owes the Wings no favors. He considers himself a Wing but he has a job to do. How about we hate Yzerman for not offering us Stamkos for a 7th round pick?

Howard is part of the issue. I usually defend him, and he's played well a lot of the time, but he can't be allowing 3 or 4 goals every third period. He isn't Hung out to dry on all of them. We are getting just as good chances as Anageim, but Hiller is making those saves. He's not the only problem but he needs to be better.

No team competes for 60 minutes. It's an impossible ideal. I'd be happy with them scoring and not allowing 3 or 4 goals at the end of games.

I don't see a suspension coming. Looking very closely and adjusting for camera angles, he stayed on the ice until after contact, and he didn't target the head. I can see how people could see it either way, but when you look very closely and adjust, it just isn't suspendable. Maybe Bertuzzi replaces him and shows him how to finish Datsyuk's plays if he does get suspended. That'd be nice.

I was trying to remember what series we won big in game 4 or 5 but still lost. Thanks! I didn't see the game, but sounds like we hung in there until a patented third period collapse. Being down 2-1 isn't the end of the world. Most of us expected a 7 game series, so I'm not surprised yet. Still think this team can win the series.

I don't understand the logic in willingly getting softer in a very physical series.

Lashoff in? That's surprising. I mean, DeKeyser was a rookie but he's got way more poise than most rookies. Replacing him with a rookie like Lashoff, even if he has been good, is a risky, risky move when we're already trying to handle playoff jitters, which I've never seen the Wings struggle with before. Hopefully it pays off.

I feel the same way about Lashoff as you do about White and Cola. Lashoff will try to be physical, but with Anaheim's speed and reach I feel like he will wind up out of position. White isn't mobile enough to hang with Anaheim, so I think Cola has to get the signal. I have a feeling it'll be White, though, because he most closely replaces what we lost in DeKeyser.

It didn't look like the head was targeted. Does intent matter in cases like this? Looked to me like a clean hit that just had an unfortunate freak connection.

That hurts. I felt like we can win this series, but it'd be by the skin of our teeth. It's been way too close to lose our best defenseman. I'd like White or Cola for their veteran status. They can help calm the back end. I'd prefer Cola because he can move the puck, but since White is a defensive defenseman it'll probably be him.