GMRwings1983

I wish there was a thread going on this now started by yours truly.

You haven't been here long, have you? Eventually you'll realize that there does tend to be much overreacting around here. I don't mind it, but many other posters do.

It sounds like you want this to turn into an enforcer debate, which is not where I was going with this, but if it goes that way, it's fine with me. I'm just calling people out for hating on Downey over one damn incident in the minors, since he didn't have any such unfortunate incidents when he played for the Wings. What is it exactly that people expect from a guy like Downey? For him to play tough but to never go over the edge? I've never seen any tough guy do that. I still say everyone is overreacting over this.

This is coming from some Pens fan, who's fanbase overreacted about Hossa being some kind of traitor, even though he only played several months for their team, and not 10+ years. We do overreact as Wings fans, but it's still funny seeing a Pens fan criticizing us for overreacting over Hossa. What irony.

Why would they criticize him? What did he do wrong last season? There seems to be some fact that's alluding me, related to Downey somehow costing us some big game last year. He had a role on this team and he fit it perfectly. He didn't do anything wrong for this team.

How does that disprove the point I was making? Fact is that posters here have forgotten that having a tough guy around means that he'll do something careless from time to time. That's part of the deal. Every fan in the league would be screaming for his team to get rid of their enforcer if they had the same mindset that some of the people in this thread have. Oh no, a guy made one overly aggressive play even though he's on the ice for his toughness and edginess. Let's get rid of him this instant. Come on, that's overreaction.

I'll never forget that game, since it was Giguere's coming out party. That game also went 3 OT periods, and not 2. Also, Kariya scored off a faceoff on that goal, right after we iced the puck. Just too many bad memories in overtimes against this damn team.

Now that I think about it, neither Datsyuk nor Zetterberg have ever scored an OT playoff goal. That may not sound like a big deal since even Yzerman only scored one, but it's not surprising that we're always losing if our top players don't play clutch in those situations like they're capable of doing. Both of those players had their chances but they just can't finish the job. The answer to the poster above is last year against Nashville in game 5. So yeah, we do have some wins, but they're few and far between.

I think another valid point is that too many guys try to be unselfish in OT's, when the best bet is always to shoot the puck. The Wings love to put pucks on net during regulation, but it seems like in OT, they try to make the extra pass in certain situations where it would be better to shoot.

I think it's fair to blame Bettman a little. The NHL needs the Wings in the finals, since we'd be good for the NHL. The Ducks have proven that nobody watches the finals when they're playing. Bottom line is that we should have gotten more calls in OT to win the game on the powerplay. Hey, they did it for the Pens last year in game 5 with all those goalie inteference calls.

I guess from now on we need to let the other team control the play in OT's, and let our 4th liners have one lucky shift which happens to be the one they score on. I had a feeling in this game that Chelli would have scored if Babcock had played him in the OT.

Exactly. I want to see one of our players rip a shot like that in OT, instead of making the other goalie look famous like we did against Giguere in 2003. It all comes down to who makes the mistake, and it always seems to be us. In this case it was Datsyuk (or Kronwall) who bit on a play at the blue line and gave Marchant an open shooting lane. For such an experienced team, we shouldn't be the ones that usually make mistakes in these overtimes. It might even be a mental thing. Even though I don't blame Ozzie, it seems like our goalies are always the ones who get outplayed in these OT's also. Say what you want, but Hiller outplayed Ozzie and made more saves than he did.

I blame Getzlaf for playing better in the playoffs than our top forwards are doing. Why can't he look lazy and unemotional out there also? When Darren Helm is your best forward during the game with all the talent we have on our team, there's something seriously wrong out there. If this is like 2007, then we'll win the next game 5-0, with Homer getting ran from behind by Pronger.

This thread is not just about this game, it's about how the Wings have struggled in the playoffs in OT in the last decade or so. I was hoping some posters here would have input as to whether there's some strategic reason for this record, or is it just hot goaltending for the other team? I think it's a valid question to ask, when you can't even win 1 out of every 3 games that go to OT.

Actually, our D are the ones getting worn down only playing 5 guys. You saw how the minutes that our defensemen played in this game, right? If Rafalski doesn't return, Chelli needs to be given regular ice time. This is getting silly now.

It'd be nice if our players could shoot like that instead of shooting it into Hiller's glove. Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Hossa have 0 goals in this series. Getzlaf already has 5 points in 2 games. Also, Pavel made a lazy ass play there on Marchant at the end. That goal was on him.

That's a pretty big con, considering how the game could be over already.

Is it just me or is Anaheim's top line the only one that got any sustained pressure in that OT period? Their other lines are useless?

I'm afraid the Ducks are due for a PP now, since that's how it usually works in OT's.

The NHL needs the Wings in the Finals. Please give us some cheap PP's in the OT period, Bettman.

I meant in recent memory. Milbury just called Franzen a "wuss", and you know what, I agree. He needs to stop this embellishment.

Sammy will score in OT right off of Pronger's face.

We don't have a good history against this team in the playoffs in OT. On the bright side, Giguere will not be playing out there.

If Downey was playing, this series would already be over in our favor. It'd be funny if we won this game, just to see what happens to these 3 "panic" threads.

We have to change our "dump and don't chase" strategy right now. It's clearly not working. Someone has to work their ass of to get a goal. Both our goals so far came off of fortunate situations.