VM1138

Putting Z and Dats together would have decimated us at center. We were already losing faceoff battles. The problem was quite simply having a random hodge podge of forwards thrown together instead of a carefully assembled forward corps. And Babcock recognizes this and said offense was the big problem, which means that will be the focus in the offseason, which is good.

It's certainly possible. 3-1 is not the same as 3-0. It happens relatively often. What shocks me is that these particular teams are down 3-1. Talk about an end of an era of dominance. Upstart teams are winning across the board in the West it seems.

They had trouble getting sustained pressure, but they did go to the net and cause some chaos, I thought that was pretty obvious. The trouble is, as soon as the puck gets into the front of the net, even if it gets as far as Rinne, a Nashville player scoops it up and passes it up the ice. The Wings just need a second man going in for when the puck carrier inevitably loses the puck so someone can recover it and stop Nashville from getting a breakout going.

Agreed. The best scenario for the league is some combination of a Wings/Chicago....maybe LA Conference final. The best scenario for the Finals would have to include Detroit or Chicago in the West and the Rangers or Boston in the East. I'm still dreaming for that Original 6 final.

I'm not ready to dismiss this team just yet. Game 4 was an almost perfect game by the Wings except for the bad coverage on the second goal, which was on Howard and those three in the corner. But you can't really argue with 40 shots against what, 20, if that? They even crashed the net a few times. I know Babcock and Holland have urged "staying the course" at various times this year, and denied anything being wrong, but this time I think they are right. They SHOULD have won the last game. What more can they do except hope a few go in and Howard stays sharp in case he doesn't face a lot of shots?

You guys are high. Lidstrom only dropped off because of his ankle injury, which will heal over the summer. He's still got game and was in talks for the Norris again at the beginning of the season. He's not going to take less than 5.5, if he goes that low.

Well, it couldn't hurt those markets. I'm not sure if it'll help all that much, though. A lot of crappy teams have had playoff runs and went right back to disappearing. Florida, for instance, won't benefit much even if they won the Cup, and in fact would hurt the league because it would only delay their inevitable relocation to a more profitable place. I'm disappointed. It seems like these playoffs have been great, but I've only gotten to watch the Wings/Nashville series which has been a bit of a snorefest for the most part.

Look, we know the Wings can win. They haven't been outplayed or manhandled like they have in past series'. In fact, I'd say they have dominated all but Games 1 and 2, and even Game 1 was pretty even. Only in Game 2 did Nashville have any real advantage. So we know that they're playing hard enough to win. The challenge comes in scoring goals and Howard not letting in soft goals. Honestly, I'm tired of getting my hopes up only to have them raped. So I'm not going to go out and pretend like the Wings could realistically win the series (they could, but given how much luck has played a role so far it's unlikely). However, I do know they are capable of winning Game 5. And so that's about all we can do as fans. Hope for a win and another hockey Wings hockey game to watch. Frankly, I do think they could win Games 5 and 6. But my cynical mind says that would be just enough to get our hopes up, only to have them crushed in Game 7. So to cut this rambling rant short: the Wings can win game 5. They just need to keep doing what they did in Game 4, only score more goals by pressing Rinne early and crashing into people if need be to get that pick in deeper. And coming back from 3-1 is rare, but it's not really all that rare like a 3-0 deficit.

I agree, but Rinne is too big. It's sort of like Giguere in the early 2000s, only without the pads. Half of his saves are just because his body takes up so much space and he barely has to move. He's a good goalie, especially for such a big guy, but a lot of his saves were just because his leg covered the entire base of the net, or his shoulder blocked 99% of it.

Howard violated textbook goalie training. Cover the posts when action is down there. This game was all on him. Sure, the offense should have buried their chances, but if not for Howard the Wings could have won 1-0. Every goal he let in was a softie. When they were asked after the game what they change after dominating a game like that and still losing, I couldn't help but think that THEY can't do anything, it all hinges on Howard not sucking the next three games.

1. A pure goal scorer. 1a. Acquire one or two faceoff specialists. 2. A new defensive coach who can stop them from pinching and creating endless odd men rushes (hasn't been a problem in the playoffs too much, but regular season was brutal) 3. Acquire a great backup goaltender. A lot of players simply aren't pulling their weight. Abdelkader has been all over the ice, but we expect him to get some offense going too and he hasn't all year. The bottom six needs an overhaul and we need to acquire a lot of depth because we'll get plagued with injuries again late in the season. Franzen-Datsyuk-? Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Filppula Miller-Helm-Abdelkader Nyquist-?-Tatar ?-Kronwall Ericsson-White Quincey-Smith With this debacle of a series I don't see Lidstrom returning. He can't contribute due to injury and that's going to play a big factor in his decision I'm sure. He can't play the way he wants to anymore. Even with a big-name acquisition that defense is not the best in the league. We need to add scoring ability to all lines, too. Howard...well...he's been pretty cold this season and in this last game, but we can't do anything about him. Just acquire a new backup who can carry half the load if need be.

Although this Sharks team is the weakest in years, and the Wings ran up against them when they were at their peak.

That was probably the coolest thing I've seen at a hockey game other than the game. Wish I was there. I wonder if they'll ever convert that to a regular video? That'd be a pretty amazing intro for FSD or something.

Let me explain something to you since your team is still new to this whole playoff thing: You do everything and anything, no matter how small, to screw with the other team. Yeah, it's childish, but it's part of the whole experience.

I'm going to go against the grain. 1. Howard has to be better. He had some huge saves in the first two games but Game 3 was disappointing. 2. The Wings need to drive to the net even more. Stop trying to be cute. Only shoot from the perimeter if you're going to go in for the rebounds. 3. Keep level-headed. Nashville is calmer and will continue to try to rattle the Wings. Franzen can get angry all he wants, but he needs to be scoring in order to do so without hurting the team. That's also a good point about Franzen's position. Some of his best hockey was at center, was it not?

1. This is hilarious. 2. Anyone else bothered by the fact that the Wings are acting more rattled than they should be? Nashville has seemed relatively calm (with the exception of Radulov) even when they lost, but the Wings are just looking aggravated.

Franzen has two goals (one unfortunately disallowed) in three games, while drawing the attention of the entire Nashville team, opening up space for Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It's not distinctly Franzen-like statistics but it's also only three games into the playoffs. He's going to deliver, and in a big way.

There's no way Crosby goes through the handshake line. I've never seen such an entitled player before. The guy is an overgrown child with his whining and attitude problems. You don't like them so you do petty little things that a kindergartner would do? What a loser.

Agreed. I'm not a hockey player, so maybe I don't understand, but I hate how they always dump the puck when carrying it in the zone. 90% of the time Nashville comes out with it. I'd rather them carry it in, risk losing it but be close enough to fight to get it back instead of coming all the way back into their own zone. And I'm tired of perimeter shots when no one goes to the net to catch those juicy rebounds.

Wings played really, really good...but still can't knock that puck into those open nets. Need more net presence but they're making progress. I'm really, really tired of playing good not resulting in wins, though. Really tired of it. I'm tired of having to say "bad bounces" and that garbage. And Franzen had a great game. He scored a goal a tenth of a second too late, you can't fault him for that. He's letting Nashville rattle him way too much, but maybe that's what he needs to play with a chip on his shoulder. I think part of it is playing Nashville. None of these games have been all that exciting, and I bet it's hard for the players to get up for playing Nashville and stay focused, at least one some level. Datsyuk, Zetterberg and White have been great. Franzen hasn't been 100% but he hasn't been bad. Everyone else has been pretty...meh. Including Howard in Game 3. Flip to me is probably the biggest disappointment. Every time he has the puck he takes it along the half boards and loses it or takes a weak perimeter shot. They had it figured out in the 3rd period, if they can keep that up and score first they'll be fine.

They're used to having garbage on their lawns, why not on their ice?

I haven't had the Internet the past few days to comment on the first two games, but I'd like to give me two cents on how things have gone: I don't think either game is indicative of how this series will go. The first game was obviously a fluke due to the penalties and neither team could really get anything going. That being said, the Wings played well, had lots of open net chances that deflected off the post or off of sticks or legs. Game 2 was much better penalty-wise, and both teams played well, with the Wings seeming to control the play up until the 3rd period. That being said, Nashville had crazy good chances that deflected off of sticks, legs, etc and Detroit lucked out many times when they gave up two on ones. I don't think Game 2, with all the good/bad luck, is very indicative of the whole series either. I'm happy with the way the Wings have played in both games, with the exception of the let-down in the 3rd period in Game 2. If they can keep playing consistently well and tighten up defensively we should be able to beat Nashville. Both goalies have been outstanding. There have been some amazing saves and lucky bounces that has kept scoring low. I don't think this will continue for very long. I guess I just can't emphasize how lucky both teams have been, with lots of great shots somehow not going in even though they looked like sure things. The defense on both teams has left a lot to be desired for a playoff game. Too many odd man rushes. The difference is: I think we've seen the best Nashville can bring (I hope) and I still think the Wings can reach another level of dominance, probably at home.

He sort of stands there like "What the hell are you doing down there, Krejci?" And then seems to realize "OH, a giant pane of heavy glass slammed into your head!"

Vancouver in 5.

I admit the warrior mentality, and Cleary deserves props for this. However, he's not an Yzerman. When he's on the ice injured he's not contributing. Babcock needs to rest him because he doesn't help the lineup injured. Maybe he can play when he's 80%.