dat's sick

Huh.. I wish Babs would do the Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary line for this game. Got nothing to lose, might as well reunite the line that got us to the final last year.

I have no (real) hope of winning the series, but I really don't want it to be a sweep. Wings deserve to win atleast one or two games.

For some reason that really made me feel like he's going to retire. He just doesn't want to make a big thing out of it before the season is over. I hope I'm wrong, but I could totally see it being that way..

Yeah you gotta be happy with what the team has done this year considering what they had to work with (and against). I hope we can win this game and go on to take the series, but if we don't it's not the end of the world. Nobody should have expected us to run over ANYONE in the playoffs, least of all the #1 seed in the West.

Well.. if the Sharks win, that's the series. If the Wings win, they're still in a tough situation.

Apologize. edit: I see you did. Good.

Whaaaa... Zetterberg was awesome that period. The missed penalty shot? It was a great attempt and a great save. No excuses for Howard though, he NEEDED to have that goal. Perfect example of one of his weaknesses, he sometimes scrambles around way too much in the crease. Had he just played it calmly that would have been an easy save.

Sharks can't freaking win 2 games in a row on terrible calls leading to 5-on-3's. The universe is not that unfair. Sharks can't be that lucky. Please score Wings.

It's because he doesn't fall to the ice flailing like the Sharks players do. The NHL is becoming like soccer. It's better to take a dive than to stand up and keep playing.

Yeah I hate awesome stuff too.

I like what I'm seeing from the Wings. In the 3rd... stay out of the box! And win the game.

Why was Abdelkader's line out there against the Thornton line several times? That shouldn't happen Babs. I'm happy with a tie-game after that 1st period though. Sharks look good, but they have to slow down in the 2nd and 3rd..right?

Datsyuk is the only guy who is doing well on faceoffs. Zetterberg is really underperforming in that area, not sure what's up. Wings need to keep this game atleast tied this period. Sharks will slow down eventually.

Red Bull. Lots of it. Most days I don't have school that early so I can atleast get 4-5 hours sleep after the games. But it's tough. During the regular season I mostly watch these West Coast games the day after without checking the scores, but now in the playoffs I want to watch them live.

This could have easily been a win for the Wings with slightly better special teams. Sharks are beatable. But it will be a long series and could go either way. A lot is depending on whether Nabby continues to play this well and whether Howard can step up his game a bit (not blaming him for more than one goal tonight).

Anyone with DVR who could grap a shot of Franzen tripping Seto? I didn't see a trip myself but I have a s***ty stream.

We're not getting good entries into the zone. Always get stood up on the blueline. Gotta make adjustments.

Our special teams are bad this game so I don't like it. 5-on-5 we have an advantage.

Typical Wings to play a decent period but have some kind of mental breakdown during 2 minutes and allow 3 goals. Looked okay for the most part though. Just need to step the PP up big time. It looked so good last game, but so far it's not working. Bertuzzi, Stuart and Kronwall are all making some bad decisions on the PP. Lots of time left, only 2 goals down. We can do this.

Stuart is not great on the PP. Would rather have Ericsson there, but Babs seems intent on not giving him a second of PP time.

Wings in 7 Blackhawks in 7 Penguins in 5 Bruins in 6 The West feels more open than the East. Although that's how I felt before Round 1 and there ended up being no (real) upsets in the West and 3 in the East.

I for one am glad the series is starting so soon. We want that Game 7 to be fresh in the minds of the players. Really looking forward to seeing what shape this series takes.. should be more open than the Phoenix series, now that there are two teams who want to have the puck and be constructive. I wonder if Babs will play Zetterberg against Pavelski? He is the main guy we need to shut down right now.. Datsyuk should be able to handle Thornton. Sharks have very good 3rd and 4th lines though, so it will be a big test for Helm, Abdelkader & Co. Howard vs. Nabokov is an interesting goalie matchup. Both have been inconsistant so far but are capable of some great performances. In the past, Wings have seemed to have Nabby's number. I hope that continues. Getting the 1st win would be big. Let's go Wings!

Would have wanted to see Bryzgalov instead of Ovechkin, but this was expected I guess. I obviously hope Sedin wins it, that would be huge, but I could see Crosby taking it mainly because Malkin had an off year.

Backstrom didn't act like Ovie in his postgame. Ovie hasn't been the same since the Olympics, I don't think he handles losing that great.

SJS/DET: 3-4 CHI/VAN: 4-3 PIT/MTL: 4-2 BOS/PHI: 4-2