RedWingsFanatic

Jesus Christ, guys. Shut the f*** up about wishing ill on the guy. That's so low and classless. Have some respect for yourself. God damn.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the Ducks are playing sensational hockey. They are everywhere. It seems like there are 8 of them on the ice all the time. They are frustrating us so much and it's difficult to watch. Chris Chelios should not see the ice again. For the rest of the series. Bring back Uwe Krupp. I don't care. Do not play him. Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom. Do it. Do something, Babs. Play Helm with Pav and Z. I don't care. The lines need to be switched up.

It just kind of gets to a point where you can't say anything anymore. I have all sorts of problems with the Ducks goal (wasn't a penalty on Stuart, Getzlaf slashing at Ozzie, the interference in front), but we're BETTER THAN THIS. I'm so mad at this team right now.

That was pretty brutal, all things considered. Just no cohesiveness, no life, no energy. The Ducks have clearly come to play and are acting like they actually WANT TO WIN. I just don't get that from the Wings at all. I mean, where the hell is Marian Hossa? I feel like we're beating a dead horse with this, but didn't he come to Detroit to play in games exactly like this? It's his chance to prove himself and he's been invisible. Seriously, the defense can't get Brian Rafalski back quick enough. I don't know what his deal is or what is ailing him, but it needs to be fixed. I'll take a half-effort from him over Chelios every day of the week. Hell, if Raffy can't get back, why not Derek Meech? I realize it's nice to play Chelios and he's so legendary and honored and historic and blah blah blah, but the guy is costing us the series. I really don't think that's a stretch. Yes, the Anaheim goal was just as much Lebda's fault as his, but you can't tell me Meech wouldn't have caught up to, or at least impeded, Selanne. The Wings need to be an entirely different team the rest of the way. If not, we lose this series and I won't be able to see a duck again for the rest of my life.

God damn, Rafalski can't get back soon enough. A 25% Brian Rafalski is better than a 100% Chris Chelios at this point. He needs to be in for Game 4 if he can ******* walk. The Wings are timid again. It's not fun to watch. I'm getting very, very nervous.

PK has been good. Ozzie looks steady. We need to stay out of the box and get some offensive pressure going. I already like the way Pavel is playing tonight. He's going to get one.

Not really the start the Wings needed. That power play was, like, the worst Detroit power play in 20 years.

Wait, what the hell is going on on Versus? I get the game on FSD. But what's going on?

I hate feeling like this before a game. It's the first time I've been nervous in a long time. Not looking forward to this at all.

On the Fan 950, Ken Holland just said Rafalski is doubtful for Game 3 but does expect him to play at some point in the series. Ugh.

I certainly think the Wings were far better in overtime, but I think it can be argued that they were lucky to even get out of regulation tied. In that sense, I don't know that you can say they deserved a win. When it gets to overtime, everything just goes out the window. In addition, when you fail to score on a power play in overtime, you don't deserve to win.

Yeah, exactly. I think a fourth line of Draper-Maltby-Helm could work really well. Maltby has been pretty solid thus far this postseason and Helm has, as I said earlier, been sensational. Those three would be able to play off of each other.

There is no explanation for any of this. None. You can try, but it's just not going to happen. I hate playoff overtime. So much.

I think getting Rafalski back is huge. For so many reasons, too. It will be nice to get Draper back, too. I mean, I'm assuming he's back in for Game 3? I have no idea what his mystery ailment is. Anyway, I would also assume that it's going to be Maltby or Kopecky that he replaces. I was worried that Babs might take Helm out, but there is no way that's happening after his monster effort today.

I mean, I don't think it's hard to understand why people would be upset following this game. No matter the circumstances, it's tough to lose a triple-overtime playoff game. I still have complete faith in the team, but this naturally puts people on edge a bit. It feels very similar to '07 and that didn't end very well. Folks are just a little anxious. And say all you want about how much more talented the Wings are, they certainly haven't shown it thus far. They'll need to be much better from here on out if they want to win this series.

Also, I'm not sure if it's appropriate for us to be whining about the officiating when we got only power play in overtime.

It's strange how historically poor the Wings are in overtime at home. It's just a sinking feeling the entire time because we've been hurt so many times before. Oh well. This makes the two games in Anaheim that much more important. I'm glad I won't be home to attend them with my family. That s*** would be too intense. In order to win this series, our stars are going to need to be better. Simple as that. They are falling back into old trends and stereotypes.

I don't think it's out of line to call that last goal a bit soft. Blaming the loss on him certainly would be. That's not what Matt was attempting to do, obviously. Is it Tuesday night yet?

Can we bring back Lang and Schneider?

Yeah, this is what I keep telling myself. The Wings were striding along pretty easy this postseason, so hopefully this will jolt them to life.

Yes, unfortunately. I mean, it obviously goes without saying that Game 3 is monumental. I'm going to be a ball of nerves. I was really coasting along pretty well this postseason, not really getting too high or too low. I'm feeling a little low right now. The Wings need to bounce back big time on Tuesday night. I hate those late West Coast playoff games. Ah, this is tough. I have supreme faith in our guys, though. A little bump like this should hopefully get them going.

This hurts. I'm trying to put it out of my mind, but the tought of losing to the Ducks in the playoffs again literally makes me sick. I still think we have this series but the Wings just made it a whole hell of a lot harder on themselves. There just wasn't enough jump or energy or charisma from them today. They are going to need to amp up their game in Anaheim or this thing could swing horribly out of control. All my motivation to do anything the rest of the night is gone.

I've been strangely calm all game (all playoffs, really), but there some incredibly tense moments in that overtime. I hate not scoring on the power play. First of all, it probably means Anaheim gets the next one. Secondly, I always say that if you don't score on the power play in overtime, you don't deserve to win. The Wings had most of the pressure and control in that period, though. Hiller has been very, very good. We're so close. Keep up the intensity and we should be good. A 2-0 series lead sounds really nice right now.

Yeah, exactly. There has been very little effort to diffuse what the Ducks are doing at their blue line. We've attempted to break through it a couple of times, but even in those cases it's been one-on-three and they have an easy time negating the threat. We have to push harder and, hopefully, create chances and penalties.

Eh, I don't think the officiating has been that bad. I can think of a couple calls I would have liked seen thrown our way. But, like everybody keeps saying, we can't rely on the power play to win us the game. We've been so uninspired at even-strength. I wouldn't mind seeing Darren Helm get thrown a bone and get a chance to play a couple of shifts with the big boys. He's been the Wings best player today. Reward the guy that's actually creating some offense with some ice time with high-caliber linemates.