dat's sick

That was one of the best games I've seen in a looooooooooong time. Wow. Amazing effort by the team. Yes we had some defensive breakdowns, yes I would have liked to see us score more goals based on all the pressure we had. But wow. This team. I LIKE OUR TEAM. It's not perfect, it's not always good, but it's OURS. How money is Nyquist in OT? How great was Howard tonight? What planet does Datsyuk come from????? I don't even need answers, I just know one thing: we have a chance in this series. Bring on Game 5 !!!

We played a great game. We definitely deserve the win. But it's a one-shot game so all bets are off. All I can say is that win or lose this is the kind of effort that makes me a proud fan. It's very clear we're short 1 or 2 d-men for this team to be really, really solid (basically Dekeyser and maybe one more solid guy), but that we have some great pieces. Ericsson has been magnificent this game, Kronwall's been really good. Kindl's been mostly good. Howard's played his best game of the series. Most of our forwards have been good. And Datsyuk. I...there aren't words to describe that guy anymore. He's special. Let's go Wings, I believe in you!

Like I said, we are a fragile team and we needed all our pieces and everyone of them to be playing at close to their best to have a chance of doing much in the playoffs. Now we lose Dekeyser, and honestly Lashoff wasn't awful until the 3rd when the team was deflated. But still, Dekeyser brought a great calming effect on our defense, nice outlet passes and just a confidence that almost no other of our d-men has. Also I don't have a clue why Babcock felt the need to mess with our 4th line by throwin Bert/Sammy on there. It was a complete non-factor the last 2 games. If Abdelkader is suspended I expect Bert to play instead of him on the top line, but we need Tootoo back on the 4th. Howard had his best game of the series and still allowed 4. Not blaming him whatsoever for tonight, but we're gonna need him to be unreal going forward.. I absolutely have hope, but realistically.. we shouldn't be able to win. Next year I look forward to this team with Dekeyser and Darren Helm on it.

Well basically this is a pretty fragile team. We had a lineup that worked well for us. But we lost a big part of it, Dekeyser. Also Babcock decided to insert Samuelsson? For some reason. Even inserting Bert was a questionable move imo. But Sammy? Why... Then we lost Abdelkader in this game. And suddenly we're not really clicking. But really this game was lost on the Abdelkader hit and on Getzlaf taking advantage of Brunner being careless. 2 individual mistakes in what was otherwise a 50-50 game. Game 4 is a must-win. Can we do it? No Dekeyser. Abdelkader maybe suspended. Cleary not benched. Samuelsson/Lashoff in the lineup? I'm not sure..

Kind worried about this one with Danny D out and Sammy+Lashoff in the lineup. Matchups will be a huge part of the outcome and Babcock has to stay on top of getting the right guys out against the Getzlaf line. A win would be huge of course. Get it done.

I'm not sure how and why you posted that in this thread lol.

Right move imo. I liked Lashoff when he was up, and sink or swim the experience will be worth more for his development than for White/Cola, neither of which I see as part of our future.

Isn't this exactly the typ of hit the NHL wants to stop? Blind-side, player extremely vulnerable. Even if the principle point of contact isn't the head it's still dangerous as hell. I honestly felt sick watching that guy lie knocked out on the ice and blood pouring out on the ice. Suspend Gryba a couple of games.

I don't know what Smith is doing on the PK... Kronwall, Ericsson, Dekeyser, Quincey, Kindl are all better choices on the PK. Now with Dekeyser out Cola/Lashoff are also better PKers than Smith.

That's about the same feeling I have. To be competely honest I thought the kid looked nervous in Game 1, but in Game 2 he was back to playing his calm and collected defense and had those great outlet passes. It's a tough loss. Only 4-5 guys that would be worse losing imo. Hope isn't gone. But the guy I am looking to now is Jimmy Howard. He looked a bit shaky in Game 1, and Game 2 was one of the worst games he's played this year. If we're going to have any chance going forward he'll need to carry us when our defense can't.

After that 3rd..? I don't know. Anything can happen in OT. I certainly thought our chances of winning looked much better when we were up 4-1 than now when we're going into OT and one shot/bounce could mean 2-0 Ducks.

Almost incredible how predictable that was when the Ducks made it 4-2. You could literally see the panic in this team. Howard looks shaky as hell and will not save many shots in OT I'm afraid. We need to strike fast and first if we are to have a chance. Can't stay awake any longer so I'll watch OT in the morning.. preparing for disappointment.

Danny Cleary. He'll still have a few years left on his next contract by the time Hank calls it quits. On a more serious and hopeful note, I think Dekeyser has an A or even a C in his future, and hopefully Järnkrok, Nyquist and Tatar will continue developing and atleast one of them become a leader-type guy. Don't see Smith as a captain. Helm is a no-brainer IF he can shake all these injury issues and stay healthy.

Gonna take some kind of miracle for us to win this game. But it's just one game. Let's figure these guys out if not sooner then later atleast.

Bad stretch in the 2nd period leading to the Kindl penalty. Also just somewhat boring hockey, lots of stoppages and broken plays. Hope we can turn it on in the 3rd. I think Hank and Pav have had some attempts to do stuff, Nyquist is trying, but overall we're having difficulty creating sustained offense. Guys also need to get the puck to the net and hit the net.

Just watched the game. I LOVE this team. The way they've been playing the last 5-10 games has been fantastic to watch. Everyone's stepping up, and it's been lead by Z, Dats, Mule and Howard. Feels good to have one's faith in the team and players rewarded, and I think we have a chance against the Ducks. We're underdogs but crazier upsets have happened. This team, right now, is better than a 7th seed. Get Tatar in there above Cleary and ride this wave we're on.

Any team can say that about almost any of their players. What makes Franzen a 4 mil player instead of a 7-8 mil superstar is he doesn't have the drive/focus/heart/dedication/interest/want/will/ability/energy/stamina/mojo to play like this for 82 or even 48 games. Even players with much, much more skill and talent can suffer from that problem. But in general I will rather have a player that brings it when it comes down to the wire, than one who dominates in nothing games against nothing opponents and then disappears when it's make-or-break time.

He gets way too much hate. Some of it is understandable, when he's not playing his heart out like he is lately it can look like he doesn't care. But for his cap hit he is a good deal, and I agree with Babcock that he's our "x factor". When he wants to he can dominate games like a 7-8 mil player can.

Imo Cleary hasn't been bad enough the last couple of games to warrant a benching in favor of a Bertuzzi who probably isn't 100% and hasn't played in forever. If we can clinch tonight (god I hope we can), then I'd like to see Bert play in the last game, him or Tatar should take Cleary's spot in the playoffs. Otherwise this lineup is doing too well to mess with.

....what? Basically you seem to think everyone either sucks or is 'decent'.

I think it's the right move to not play Bert/Sammy even if they're cleared to play. Last couple of games, especially against Phoenix, have been some of the best hockey we've played all year and messing with the lineup now is dangerous. Both Bert and Sammy will be far from up to speed in the playoff-type hockey we need to be playing. The Kings don't have a lot to play for, while our lives are on the line. Also they played last night so there are no excuses tonight. Play like you did against Phoenix and this should go our way. I'm nervous as hell, but last game gave me a good vibe about this team. Playoffs or no playoffs this year, I'm excited about our future with guys like Dekeyser, Brunner, Nyquist etc.

Trying not to get my hopes up for the teams around us to lose. For one, it's better to just assume they'll all win to spare the disappointment, and also I want the Wings to get in through force of their own instead of other teams failing to let us in. But yeah, go SJ and LA.

Best D-Man On Our Team

The effort was outstanding !!! Wow. How anyone could complain about the effort level... everyone was hustling like it was a Game 7, throwing hits (wow Abby) and blocking shots. All I can really complain about is Cleary and Smith taking some penalties but that's not an effort problem. And Franzen has been one of our best players lately. He was a beast tonight. What I saw tonight is basically the team that I've known we can be all season, but I was beginning to doubt it was going to show up. I hope we can play like this the rest of the way, but even if we don't make the playoffs I'm so happy we got to see the potential of this group. Remove Cleary for Tatar and add Helm and this would be a very nice lineup.

I agree, especially last night they played a great game. Everyone was hustling and the defense was solid. Loving the Dekeyser-Kindl pairing. Suck that we've had so many games lately where we play good enough to win but we can't get it done though. 3 shootout losses that could have been wins, that would have been 3 points more in the standings and we'd be looking much better in the standings. And a fluke loss against Calgary, 2 points gone there. There is some truth to the old saying that you make your own luck, but I wonder if there's enough time left for the luck to actually turn in the Wings favor?