Octopus's Garden

Yea, agreed. They were definitely sluggish tonight, but even so, still had a lead with 10 minutes left on the road. I feel extremely confident that the Wings can hold serve at home in this series ... they just HAVE to find a way to win in San Jose somehow (obvious, I know). But the OT was much more important for the Sharks - they outplayed Detroit, and it would have been a killer for them if they had lost home ice in that game. The Wings can hopefully regroup and move on. They know they had a great chance to win without playing even remotely up to par. That should be a confidence boost.

I mean ... that wasn't a bad OT. Franzen almost won it on a deflection, the top line was buzzing on its first shift and if Datsyuk had shot from the circle instead of dropping it back to the line, it might have been lights out. And the Abdelkader group had a 3 on 1 that he just took a steaming dump on. They killed off a 4-minute penalty. They just got caught at the end of a long shift and San Jose got a stupid, ridiculous bounce for the win. The OT period was the best the Wings skated since the end of the 1st.

Yep. Sharks are still a bunch of divers. It's disgraceful.

The problem is that even when the Wings try to sell a call, nothing happens. Anyone remember Zetterberg getting clipped with a high stick in the first, throwing his head back and reaching for his face, but not getting a call? Or Helm getting nicked and laying out while on a rush a few minutes later? Neither was a call and both easily could have been. But rather than just putting the whistles away, the refs TAKE OVER in the final minutes. It's completely against the unwritten rules of the NHL ... let the players decide the game. Or if you're going to buy the bulls***, buy ALL of the bulls***. For some reason, San Jose's acting jobs get more respect.

I don't disagree. Hell, Franzen almost won it on that redirection about a minute in. The 3-on-1 was the best chance Detroit had all game and they didn't get a shot on net, then wound up with a 4-minute penalty that led to the GWG. I have to believe there's too much offensive talent to struggle like this all series. Everything was just a touch off tonight ... Detroit is the better team.

It bothers me about 10,000 times more because this is exactly how last year's series got away. Outside of the Game 3 collapse, the Wings were right with the Sharks last year and all the diving and embellishment gave San Jose every chance in the world to win the series. The fact that this series started with the same B.S. is just extremely frustrating.

Detroit needs to find a way to get more shots to the net, plain and simple. The first line generated some chances, and they actually cycled pretty well in the first period, but that was about it. Niemi is ripe to get blown up ... just gotta get some shots and get to the net.

Saying that the refs suck doesn't mean that I think the Red Wings played well. All I know is that Detroit had a 1-0 lead on the road halfway through the third period, then proceeded to get slapped with 8 minutes of penalties in the next 13 minutes of game action and wound up losing 2-1. If that game finished 5-on-5, I'm pretty confident Detroit's up 1-0 right now.

What a disgrace NHL officiating is.

Of course. I quit.

Really can't discount how rusty the Wings are. It's been over a week since they played, that's an eternity in the NHL. They'll get plenty of goals in this series before it's over.

All the cards ... Except that the first line has created chance after chance. Only takes 1 in OT.

If that was a boarding penalty on Bert, then the hit on Ericsson in the corner later on was a 5-minute major, game misconduct and 15-game suspension.

You need to use air quotes when you say "boarding" call. Amazing Pavelski could come right back out for the PP after Bertuzzi broke his neck and face.

Yes, because it almost led to the game winner.

The Wings just need to start firing from all angles on Niemi. He's not seeing the puck well ... how many of Detroit's shots have resulted in huge rebounds? Someone's going to be on the end of one of those eventually.

Well, all the hope I had that this series would go differently than last year in terms of the Sharks playing straight up and the refs not buying their crap is out the window in Game 1. They're flopping EVERYWHERE, getting away with obvious penalties, and I'm about to throw my TV out the window.

European soccer teams think the Sharks dive way too much.

Seriously, f*** this Sharks team and f*** the NHL refs.

This could be a good one. With the way both teams play, I'd expect a LOT of one-goal games. And those can go either way in the playoffs. I'll say Caps in 6, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lightning take it.

Preds, because it would mean less travel ... and it would also mean that Vancouver's out and Chicago-San Jose are beating the crap out of each other in the other semifinal.

I beg to differ on that point, I think the Sharks look more vulnerable than last year ... I'm certainly not afraid that Niemi's going to steal any games and San Jose looked downright mediocre on both ends of the ice in stretches during this L.A. series.

Looks that way ... as much as Detroit struggled with Nashville in the regular season, going Phoenix-Nashville-Chicago/San Jose feels a lot more doable than going Phoenix-San Jose-Vancouver. That 2nd route would be absolutely brutal, both on the ice and in travel.

Go Blackhawks. Writing that almost made me throw up.

This series once again begging the question: If Shane Doan is such an incredible captain and leader, how come Phoenix/Winnipeg can't get out of the first round?