BlueMonk

Take the goalie arguments off the Game Day Thread and have them somewhere else.

McGrattan seems to be in his noodle a little bit, not sure why. It's pretty easy to see when he's grappling for control during this fight. Brash seems really reluctant. Brash is still clearly the #1 or #2 fighter, I'm not arguing that. The only problem I had with the Neil incident is he dodged McGrattan and then went with the much smaller Neil. Which only bolsters the argument that he's reluctant to go with Gratts.

Exactly. So refreshing to see that kind of response from this team.

You guys are getting me all nostalgic talking about guys like Berube, Belanger, Laus and Cummins. Cummins was a good Dearborn, Michigan boy. Brashear and McGrattan went the other night and Gratts appeared to get the win. Brash dodged Gratts in the previous Caps-Sens game, and even Grapes called him out a bit for it when Brash fought Neil instead. Even though Brash finally did square off with Gratts, it does seem like he's a bit gun shy from their last fight. Gratts is 2-0 now against Brash, pretty impressive.

I call Downey-Walker a draw in a crap fight. But I'm glad the fight happened. My goal is to see Detroit finish somewhere near the middle of the pack in team fighting majors. I need that. Sorry, I just do.

The Wings were going to have a game like this, it was inevitable. The Blues played a great game, too. Not much to say about this one. Get ready for the next game and move on.

Both Phoenix goals happened with Lilja on the ice, and in both cases, he was largely responsible for the problems the Wings had in their own end leading to the goals. I liked when he got in Doan's face after the scrum around Osgood, even though he took a penalty in the process. But his play the past couple of weeks is a serious concern. He may not be the worst player on the team, but the other weak links manage to hide themselves and avoid making catastrophic mistakes. Lilja doesn't seem to be able to do that. When he makes a mistake it winds up in the Detroit net.

No forward in the NHL has played better than Pavel Datsyuk is right now. What a f**king player.

Just because...

An old favorite.

The Ducks are the only team in the west that really concerns me. Throw out the games before Niedermayer came back. Now that he's returned (4-0-1 since he returned), they're winning games like they did last year, 2-1 and such. Their offense is a bit suspect, that's their weakness. But they can still try to make a move to address that. After Anaheim and Detroit, it's a pick-em in the west. Any team could get hot and make a playoff run.

I have no problem with the hit. I also have no problem with what Walker did, sticking up for his teammate. I would want someone on the Wings to do the exact same thing. I also appreciate that Franzen, a non-fighter, dropped the gloves and as a bonus he didn't just turtle. He clearly lost the fight, but he accepted the challenge and that's the main thing. John Davidson said in a piece I read today that they're not going to pursue disciplinary action through the NHL, that the hit wasn't dirty (although he thought a penalty may have been warranted) and that he didn't want to whine about it. I can respect that. Non-issue. Franzen will be somewhat a marked man for next game. The Wings will dress Downey, I'm sure, and there could be some fisticuffs and rough stuff. Cool. I like it that way. The Wings-Blues rivalry is still alive and kicking.

Tootoo fought Adam Foote last night, too. I give the win to Foote on my fight card.

Wiz is a good Michigan boy.

It was an obvious mistake Downey wasn't dressed for the previous St. Louis game. Babs didn't make that mistake Wednesday, and I doubt he'll make it again.

McNab is not good, but at least they unloaded John Kelly to St. Louis, where he's taken his brutal, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" with him.

Pretty exciting game. One thing that hasn't changed is the Avs still play pretty wide open hockey. They had some nice puck movement going on during their PPs and they can definitely skate. There was a lot of hitting on both sides. Good, clean hits, too. The Wings had every reason to lose this game playing on consecutive nights but gutted out a good win. Hasek looked good. Filppula, Hudler, Kronwall... the younger players are really making a name for themselves of late. It's good to see. The Wings look very good right now.

Murray said Downey did have the leash on him. Not sure how he came to that conclusion, though. "You know, who are they going to step up against on their team? Aaron Downey, maybe? But Aaron Downey was told, when they got the lead, to keep his gloves on, and so...I mean, we have to be tougher on their good players, and we plan to be."

Total domination, great win over the Blues. Wings never gave St. Louis a chance, they came out physical and asserted themselves immediately and didn't let up. Osgood was great. Props to Walker for standing up for his teammate. Props to Franzen for obliterating Jackman, too.

Win the game and answer St. Louis's physical play and I'll be happy.

Jackman-Lucic. Barrett Jackman got knocked the f**k out.

The Crosby fight might get a few people off his back. He's been taking some criticism lately for things like whining and diving, a lot of it either exaggerated or just silly. Laraque-Chara was an incredibly crappy fight. Parros-Parker was pretty good.

Babs not dressing Downey for this game surprised me, but I doubt he'll repeat this next game against the Blues.

Pretty cool that the Wings are under .500 against their division but 17 points up on the 2nd place team.

I thought Washington played a great game and the Wings looked unprepared for facing that kind of effort. Ovechkin is just a sick talent. Love watching the way he plays the game. Datsyuk is just ridiculous. I don't think Mike Babcock is far off when he says Datsyuk is playing the best hockey of anybody in the league right now. The third goal against was all Lilja's fault. I nearly screamed at the television when they scored that goal. Yeah, that's the shot you want to take your chances with, a slapper right in front of the goal mouth. Chase the puck around the boards and if they beat you with the wide open slapshot in front of the blue ice, tip your hat. Good lord.