BlueMonk

That's basically what he said. But look, what's he supposed to say? "They're better than us?" He has to try and keep his team thinking positive, taking good things away from the loss. To do anything else would be to give up on his team. I'm sorry, but as annoying as his comments are, they're what he has to do.

Sid asking the reporter somewhat rhetorically, "Did they really get that many chances on us? I don't think they did." Not sure what the official scoring chances were, but I thought the Wings outchanced them pretty solidly.

I agree with Cherry, the Wings didn't have to fight or take a penalty, just get in a guy's face. I'm glad they stuck up for Ozzie, but the irony is that that wasn't even really a big deal, because Ozzie appeared to initiate it and then dive, while the Franzen stuff was repetitive and blatant. Up 3-0, it's not like the Wings were going to lose the game if they took a penalty. Oh, well. Not that important right now. But if the Pens continue that type of thing, the Wings can't expect the refs to bail them out.

Absolutely they were. The Pens will be on better behavior to start game 3, though. They waited until the game got out of hand to start that crap tonight. Although hopefully, they'll be that frustrated at the end of game 3, too.

I'm not really arguing about which team was most dominant, but how is winning a game in the 3rd OT "incredible domination?" Shouldn't we reserve that for the blowouts?

Except having his team take shots at his head every chance they get. Or did he improvise that one during the game? If so, that's his most successful coaching move so far, because it's one of the few things the players actually accomplished.

I like 2-0 series leads! Good to see the Pens frustrated. They got nothin' so far. The Wings have to NOT let this go to their heads and come out storming in game 3. They should know better after what happened in Nashville, let's hope they don't make the same mistake again. I'd like to see something more substantial in terms of a response from the Wings after guys were taking shots at Franzen's head. It doesn't have to be a fight, but something besides everyone skating away. Still, hard to argue with the Wings' play in this game. Osgood is playing unbelievable, as is the Wings' team defense.

Chris Osgood is proving all the critics wrong and he's been an important part of this playoff run. He's been better than almost anyone wants to give him credit for. He's also been the perfect goaltender in that he handles what a Wings goaltender has to handle - facing very few shots, but the few he does face often being great scoring chances - better than anyone they've had in net since the 2002 version of Hasek. Unfortunately, a game stealing effort by a Wings goaltender is almost unnecessary to the success of this team, and therefore seen as less valuable. A simply solid NHL goalie will probably be enough to win with this team. That may not be fair, but that's the way it is.

Penguins 15, Red Wings 3 Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, on his 3 favorite movies: "Cry Baby, Boys Don't Cry and The Crying Game." Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is cleared to play despite a near-setbackearlier in the day. "My head fell off during the morning skate, but the doctors sewed it back on and say I'm ready to go." Penguins coach Michel Therrien spent his Sunday evening in Greektown in Detroit. Questions about Therrien's frame of mind arose when he nearly set the Pens dressing room on fire, showing the team how his waiter served him flaming cheese and shouting "OPA!"

I can't believe people are citing the rulebook. If the rulebook was followed to the letter, we'd have 8-6 scores in every game. It's like the strike zone in MLB. No pitch that's halfway between the top of the shoulders and the waist is ever called a strike. In the NHL, I can't recall what Holmstrom did ever being called a penalty this season. If someone can show me an example, I'd love to see it.

Absolutely, BRTD.

Nobody has been more critical of him than me. It's not even an objective thing, it's just the way he plays drives me crazy. But yeah, I'll pop the top off and chug-a-lug a big can of STFU after tonight. Those two goals were both absolutely huge. Well done, Sammy.

What were the hit totals in the game? I hate to rely on hit totals because they're usually pretty homerish, but the Wings seemed to be finishing all their checks tonight.

Oh, absolutely. The Wings played a perfect hockey game. I'm just in disbelief over how easy that was. Even when the Wings were only up 1-0, they were in complete control of the game. What a game by Osgood. WOW. And Sammy! I will never criticize him again. Keep shootin' the puck, big guy!

Welcome to the Western Conference, Penguins! I can't believe Pittsburgh is going to play that bad the rest of this series. But man, that was as one-sided a beatdown as the Wings have had in the playoffs so far. The score wasn't as lopsided, but I think that was more dominant a performance than the 8-2 win over Colorado. Not even competitive.

Man, I can't wait for NBC to start carrying the games so I can watch in HD. I prefer CBC's coverage, but I can't get CBC or Versus in HD from my cable company. Game 3 will be my first chance to watch in HD.

Penguins 13, Red Wings 1 Johan Franzen does not play, and causes a stir when he appears at the postgame presser holding his own detached head in his hands. "I'll be fine," Franzen said through the disembodied head. "I'll probably play in game two. They have some more tests to run." Members of the Penguins staff carried over one hundred bath sized towels to the visitor's dressing room from the team bus. Asked what they needed so many towels for, Penguins forward Ryan Malone answered, "To soak up Crosby's tears before they melt the ice." Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby, usually gracious with reporters, was in an uncharacteristically sour mood and seemed agitated as he answered questions. "Sorry, guys. It's just that I was the biggest dick in the NHL for years, but Ruutu has taken that away from me and it's going to take me a while to learn to accept it. It really stings."

Don't worry, proceedings to do just that are already underway.

I just bought mine recently, a 52" Samsung LCD with 5.1 surround system. My only gripe is that my cable provider, WOW, doesn't offer Versus in HD. Since CBC isn't available in HD, either, I have to wait for the NBC broadcasts that start in game 3. So, no HD for me for games 1 and 2. But yeah, watching hockey in HD makes standard def viewing almost unbearable.

You think so? The year he was fired, I thought Rick Tocchet seemed to be undermining his authority. You'd routinely see the two arguing behind the bench when the Avs were struggling, and to me it looked like Granato was overmatched and didn't have control of the team. But I'll defer to the Avs fans, who I'm sure had a better feel for the situation following the team much closer than I did.

The important impact Kronner has on a game is not just the hit, but the fact that opposing players (as evidenced by Malone's quote) have to be aware of him. Kronner has done a great job of not sacrificing sound play going for the big hit so far. If he continues to pick his spots he can be a very effective presence just by keeping the Penguins forwards honest. It's true that Georges Laraque goes about his role as enforcer in a "gentlemanly" style, for lack of a better word. But man, I love Big Georges. He's a class act and a pretty decent hockey player, too.

This really is the best news since game 6 of the WCF. We've all been concerned for a couple weeks now. I guess we won't know the full details until after the playoffs end, but that "blood clot" report sure seems bogus right about now.

Hahahahaha. WTF is Colorado thinking? There are decent NHL coaches out there, why this clown again?

There are other things about Samuelsson that make him hard to like. Regardless of how hard he may actually working out there, he - like Lang when he played here - really looks like he isn't even trying very hard. Then there are the lame attempts at "mixing it up" with the other team, which usually involves silly posturing and playing patty-cake with an opposing defenseman in a scrum. He just doesn't have that one redeeming quality that fans can latch on to.

The thing with Franzen is that if you go back to the regular season, he has 27 goals in his last 27 games. That's beyond ridiculous, and it's a little too long to just be an aberration. Not that he could continue at that pace, but he obviously can score goals for real.