Matt

What is with us getting #$^#ed in the 3rd game of a series the last two rounds? Keep your Fing head up, moron. Not late, didn't leave his feet, elbow in, puck was there... CLEAN HIT. Extremely fortunate to not be down 6-0 after spending the whole first period shorthanded. Absolutely pathetic.

I'll call it now: If Maltby's in for Abdelkader (and not someone else) we will NOT give up a PP goal on Friday night. Maltby is the cooler!

Couldn't resist...

The game was pretty even from what I saw, but if I were to give a team a slight edge I'd have to give it to Chicago, for sure.

I wasn't saying that the Red Wings didn't play a good Game 1, it's just it wasn't what we were seeing previously in terms of the vaunted effort, strong forecheck, willingness to pound the opposition defense. I haven't seen that in either game of this series yet. Hence my comment about the Wings getting by on skill and intelligence and notsomuch on determination and dogged effort.

Couldn't resist...

I don't believe fatigue to be the only 'excuse' here. The emotional engagement in this series is absolutely, 100% not there (yet, hopefully). Let's face it, when you're going from an experienced, physical relentless Ducks team that was the last club to bounce you from the postseason to the peach-fuzz gee-wiz look-where-we-are Blackhawks you're going to have a letdown. The Red Wings' overall talent has carried them to two opening victories in this series. But make no mistake, it's going to take more than just that to earn at least a split in Chicago. Detroit should not be comforted by the fact they have a 2-0 lead in this series.

I missed Babcock's presser as I was writing the recap and just caught the last couple of questions when Osgood and Samuelsson were on the dias. If Babcock said they were gassed I definitely believe him and the two-day break comes at a perfect time. I'd probably just have an optional skate on Thursday (day off, obviously, on Wednesday) and let the guys recharge since it's the first decent break since the Anaheim series (not counting the two-day gap between each series, especially with all of the travel involved in it). They'd better be ready for Friday. The United Center is going to be crazy for sure. Thank god we just need a puddle-jumper for this series. ... And I still think we need to mix up those lines... Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Cleary-Helm-Hudler Maltby-Draper-Samuelsson I'd prefer to have Cleary up and Holmstrom down, but I think it'd just really, really hamper the 4th line to have Homer there.

Agreed. It was very weird to see Helm out there taking a defensive zone faceoff with Draper at the hash marks. Speaking of faceoffs, what's the ratio for Red Wings-to-Blackhawks for getting thrown out of the faceoff circle? 12-1?

I don't think he was bad per se, but he was by far our lowest TOI among the forwards tonight and he's not going to hop over the boards on a PK. Besides, whenever Maltby has been benched he's come back strong when he's been plugged back in. Overall I think he's more versatile. If the first two games are any indication it's not about the physical play, it's about being responsible defensively and not $%@#ing up. In that case, you need experience and versatility and Maltby brings both of those to the table. Was anyone else amused when they showed the career playoff OT goals by the Red Wings and Maltby, riding the pine, had two?

Uh-oh... Chicago police and the FBI will be investigating that.

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but if the Wings play with the same (lack of) urgency and engagement in Chicago like they did tonight we'll be looking at a 2-2 series when if shifts back to Detroit. Very disappointed in the overall game -- but not with Osgood. He was outstanding. Hopefully Maltby is coming in for Abdelkader. I think we need to get Maltby/Draper out there on the PK and stopping having our scoring forwards (at least half the time) out there.

I'd rather they do that when we've got a 4-0 lead. I don't see how the Chicago defense could handle a forward line with the twin towers in Franzen and Hossa out there cycling. It's not going to happen. Have cleary up with Pavel and Hank. Heck, I think Cleary would be just fine on the 3rd line. But those top two have to get mixed up. Neither line has been remarkable tonight but that Pavel/Hossa unit has been abysmal. How many times are we going to overskate or be in too deep to slam home juicy rebounds? I got sick of counting.

Can we please mix up the $^#$^@#%@%&$% lines? What more does Babcock need to see? These guys are playing passive, emotionless hockey out there. It's a disgusting departure from the Anaheim series. Like I said earlier, will they take this series seriously if they end up losing this game? It's frustrating as hell to watch, and it sure as hell isn't anything Chicago is doing. The Wings are shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly.

Oh, and we need to go back to the lines that we had in Games 4 and 5 of the Anaheim series. I think that's a no-brainer.

Sorry, that's a horrible call on that Lidstrom play. Putting a hand on a player's back is NOT a penalty. There's absolutely no hold there. Bad call. Red Wings hardly have any semblence of a forecheck -- far too concerned with the stretch pass. I think though almost two full games that the Hawks' defensemen are prone to turnovers when pressured. The best forecheck of the night was just before the end of the period when Abdelkader, Helm and Draper went in and forced a turnover. Wings are noticably not emotionally engaged in this series yet... Is it going to take a Game 2 loss? Hopefully it doesn't come to that -- it shouldn't have to.

What a sloppy first period. Wings still looking for the cute play with the open ice they didn't get with Anaheim. Guys on power play are standing around rather than quickly moving the puck and/or players to open up lanes and teammates... Pretty bad all around, though Osgood looked great.

The Conference Final Desktop Bracket Wallpaper is now available! The wallpaper comes in seven different screen resolutions and features a quote Greek philosopher Epicurus: "The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests." Click Here to Go to the Download Page Enjoy!

Now my avatar... I had originally planned to use the next one on the sheet above, but it's too small to see the alterations. Nontheless...

Well, the wallpapers take a little bit longer. That and I really wanted to take Friday to settle the nerves down -- it was hard to get to sleep Thursday night as I was pretty amped up hours after the game. Saturday was yard work, haha. Gotta love weekends in the spring!

8 Detroit giveaways in the first period? Good lord. Not satisfied with that first period at all. Despite ramping up the pressure late they're passing up shots, making lazy turnovers and weren't skating hard in the defensive zone. Not to mention the overall sloppiness. Now I wasn't expecting them to really come out like gangbusters after the Anaheim series, but it did seem that they got engaged as the period wore down.

The Conference Final Desktop Bracket Wallpaper is now available! The wallpaper comes in seven different screen resolutions and features a quote Greek philosopher Epicurus: "The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests." Click Here to Go to the Download Page Enjoy!

Let's get it on! Reminder: This thread is for photoshopped images only. Don't post original unedited images here -- they will be deleted! A look back: 2007 WCF Wings/Ducks Photoshop thread

If Hiller had it pinned under his pad then they'd have an argument. He didn't, so they don't... good goal. Tee time at 8am -- don't be late!

Apparently I have no idea what I'm talking about.