BlueMonk

I like these 3-0 series leads! Great win. That might take all the life out of Dallas for game 4, I guess we'll see.

Datsyuk's first playoff hat trick, or first career? I can't believe he's never had one before.

I want McCarty, Drake and another 3rd or 4th liner out there a lot now.

Hat trick!!!!

The Versus guys are fine, they're not anti-Detroit in any way.

Morrow's a warrior, he'll be back. He landed funny on his left arm.

"Hooking," in the new NHL.

Suck it, Turco!!!

See, this peeves me. Stupid penalties now by Maltby and Sammy, from the team that supposedly avoids retaliation because they're "smart." Yeah, killing PPs because of dumb penalties is way worse than settling things with a fight or two, where both teams send a man to the box and they skate 4 on 4.

Dallas is a good defensive team, sure, but you have to take it in the context of this brutal "ice surface" they play their home games on. That's 41 games on slush, where neither team can complete a pass. HUDLER!!!!!!!!

Fluke bounce off Stuart's skate.

If Marty Turco slipped and cracked his head open on the ice, Detroit Red Wings would spill out.

I'm certainly no authority on medicine, so I'm speaking out of ignorance. But if the diagnosis ever suggested blood clots, wouldn't ASAP medical treatment be in order, rather than waiting a few days?

Team toughness is hugely important, but the crap we saw between Osgood and Ribeiro is what bothers me. This particular situation is tough, because even though the Stars had a man in the box, it was still a one goal game and you need good players out there. But things were getting chippy, thanks to Ott's antics, and the Wings had nobody on the ice to really deal with it at that point. I'm not saying it was the right time to put a goon on the ice, because I don't think it was. But the point I'm getting at is, when you don't have anyone to answer for something cheap like Ott was handing out, players tend to resort to cheap shots. This is still an issue for the Wings and I think they've been pretty fortunate not to have been burned by it throughout these playoffs.

I have to say, the Hatcher call was one of the most ridiculous penalties I've ever seen. If a defenseman can't do that, just take the sticks away from all the players. Nothing to do with player or team bias, I'm not commenting on that at all. That was a just a terrible penalty call by the official.

I feel pretty much the same way. I do think the hooking calls, in particular, are called too easily. Just having a stick in the vicinity is not a hook, in my estimation. If it clearly impedes progress, then yes, it's a hook. But there's no doubt in my mind that more stuff is let go by the officials late in close games. I'm generally in favor of letting the players play. But the league was crowing after that lockout that playoff games would be called just like regular season games, etc. I don't hear them banging that drum anymore.

I don't disagree that it's a penalty, but comparable calls were not made in the moments leading up to that penalty. I felt the same way about the OTs in the Stars-Sharks game 6. There was massive interference going on and they were letting them play. There were no penalties from the 10 minute mark of the 2nd period until the 2nd or 3rd OT, I forget which. My point is, if they're going to put the whistles away, put them away for good.

toby, where the hell do you get off being so sensible about this? Seriously, some of the fan responses here are embarrassing.

This was what I expected and thought was right. The whole incident was way overblown. I don't believe for a second that what Ozzie did was an accident. I just wonder what provoked him to do it? Maybe seeing Ott punch Draper? Hopefully both teams bring some bad blood to tonight's game and we see some phyiscality!

I agree. And anyone who thinks preferential treatment is being handed out, consider the Caps-Flyers series. Overtime in a game 7, and they call a weak Caps penalty that leads to the Flyers eliminating Washington. If the league was really pulling for a team to win, that would have been an opportune moment to ensure the advancement of one of its most marketable and talented stars (Ovechkin).

I think the game 4 talk is a typo/error on the part of the writer. That's the only story that mentioned anything about game 4, and it only mentioned games 3 and 4, not even game 2. I think he meant to write, games 2 and 3.

Great call. This is pretty much how I saw all of it, too, except I'd prefer no suspensions. Hey, like someone else already said, go easy on Ribeiro; he's just practicing his golf swing

I didn't watch the Versus feed, I watched CBC. And I thought CBC was fair in their coverage, as usual. Let me preface what I'm about to say with an, "I don't usually complain about this stuff" qualifier. But... I do think the Wings are getting short shrift from the sports media in general during this playoff run, and I'm not sure why. They have star players who are as exciting as any in the league. They have history and tradition and they have a gigantic fan base, bigger than any other team in the country. And yet, the coverage has focused almost exclusively on what the other team has to do to win. I understand that to a point. That's a significant part of what the coverage should be about. But outside of talking about Franzen, there isn't anything resembling gushing about how well the Wings are playing; it almost feels like there's a sense of disgust over how overmatched Detroit's opponents have looked. I understand playing up the competitive aspects of the series. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is, those things haven't stopped media slobberfests in the past. Ever watch a Yankees game? The Patriots? Kobe and the Lakers? How about the Penguins, with Crosby and Malkin? When I see those teams play, there is a gag-inducing, disproportionate amount of time spent by the media - from the broadcast team to radio and newspaper coverage between games - raving about how great these teams and their star players are. All I wanna know is, why is it so different with this team? Maybe they need to win a Cup with this roster to finally get the love.

I pretty much agree with BetterRED's synopsis 100%. Not a terrible slash, Ozzie sold it, but they're probably going to hand Ribeiro a game for it because you really can't do that. Ozzie played a great game. Hell, he's been great for the whole playoff run so far.

I think they got it mixed up. Al can do it in the entrance for the Zamboni, which is what he did. It's only on the ice he can't do it.