dr_lobster

Thanks for posting on this, yeah. I've been in a similar boat of "wait, when did the rule change?" for awhile now.

It's kind of a weird situation in hockey for us, I think. In baseball, most days...if the Yankees or Red Sox drop one to the Devil Rays or Pirates, etc. -- the headlines are always "New York/Boston loses in 7-2 game," not that the team they were playing against did well. For sports writers, that's where the bigger story lies, I guess.

Turco had some good stops, but hey. It's a credit to us that we don't give him an opportunity to make a save on three of our goals.

Hopefully they'll be able to get enough rest before Thursday, heh. Great, exciting game. I love the tension that build with every OT period. Here's to round three.

Dang. I really wanted to see Kovalev & Co. play against Pittsburgh. Hopefully Philly will at least wear 'em down.

Not to state the obvious, but our front office having realistic confidence in what we've got to not sell the farm for a rental or semi-upgrade was a smart move, I think. Prospal, Hossa, and Richards are all great players, but like Holland said again and again, the cost would've been too expensive. Hudler had a sub-par season, he's produced some good plays and is fitting in well on the second power play and fourth line. Stuart was coming off an injury, but has delivered consistent physical play. Kronwall's put up great assist numbers and added another physical layer to our game. Pavel and Henrik have done what they needed to do -- be dependable, productive leaders in both zones. It ain't over yet, but I think it's another example of having faith in your organization to make the right decisions -- we watch the games, but we don't see the entire spectrum of experiences they're privy to with players: they know their attitudes, how they practice, their ability to work together and overcome adversity. I'm just grateful Holland didn't go all-in on this season when, at least so far, it seems like it wasn't necessary for him to.

Thanks for this, good stuff. I'm always more encouraged to admire players like Datsyuk and Draper knowing that they're such humble, fun people.

Best line in the article: Forsberg and Swedish King Carl Gustaf XVI have the same number of points in this series.

Dang, that was a fast vid post. But yeah -- what's the (objective) call? Was Foppa an anti-asset to his team tonight?

Bad break for them, but Smyth is trouble. Great on the rush, big body, and does damage in front of the net. We'll take it.

Colorado should look better at home, but the Wings usually play with good energy at the Pepsi Center. If we can limit their chances on the rush and not give up multiple powerplay goals, we'll be in it all night. Has Theodore been taking his NyQuil? Also: let's keep this whole "early goals" thing going, plz. UNLEASH THE MULE.

Dude gets to loose pucks super-quick. Aggressive play, and the only reason I can't judge his defensive skills is because it seems like our fourth line is always doing damage in their zone when they're out.

I dunno, but. I really hope it was one that someone threw on the ice, that's all I was thinking when I saw it.

Power forward's absolutely the right description for Franzen. Ridiculous hands, ugh. More people need to refer to him as a PF.

Phew. Seems like Babcock had our guys ready. Great to see the PP get one in. Let's keep it going. Next periods: play solid defense, don't let up, get Theodore pulled.

I doubted Double D in the regular season a little, but he's bringing it in the postseason, it seems.

Pavel was a force, for sure. Just plain fantastic. Drake showed his value as an antagonizer (in Maltby's absence, especially) and really led by example with his hitting, I think. Lidstrom made some subtly goal-saving plays, especially today.

Streaky, and not someone that executes well outside of the offensive hashmarks. Like someone else said, he contributed nicely on the fourth line today with Helm and McCarty, why break that up?

Even discarding the fact that we routed them in the regular season and that they've got Foote and Forsberg back, I like the way we match up with Colorado. They get inconsistent goaltending from Theodore, and don't have enough intensity in skating/physicality (save for Laperriere) to push us around. Calgary has a quiet intensity about them, and Miikaa's Miikaa.

Can I just note what a horse Dallas Drake was for us today? Good lawrd. The guy was creating havoc, getting shots, playing tough on the boards and doing good forechecking. Really showed his value today.

I don't like the guy in the least, but I think he did great work today, showed some real restraint and made timely comments. Interviews weren't anything special, though.

We just haven't gotten any lucky/dirty goals the past couple games. Whether you want to blame it on Dom or not, when the other team's throwing the puck at the net from the blue line and getting consistent goals from it, you're not gonna come out on top.

As much as we could've played better in the first two periods, the Wings generated some good chances in the third. I'm confident about their ability to win if they can get some urgency going.

Seriously though, someone needs to take initiative. Other than maybe Draper, everyone's expecting someone else to do the work offensively it seems like. Be aggressive, carry the play.

Let's get a cheap goal and turn this game around. Come on, Wings. You're more than capable of putting in 3+ against Nashville.