haroldsnepsts

Great D by Raf on Ovechkin there.

Maltby diving to block a shot without a helmet.

Nice play by Ericsson there, using the body.

weak one handed hook. I don't have a problem with that call as long as they call it both ways and consistently.

great pass by Dats. Damn Bert, waited a bit too long.

wow nice little pass and shot from Filp to miller.

Leino's in too. I guess Babcock is emptying out his doghouse for tonight's game?

Like you pointed out, there is a HUGE difference between Luongo, Brodeur, and Jimmy Howard. I don't think Ozzy has earned anything like splitting time with Howard, but even as the backup for a rookie goaltender, I think he should be worked into the mix a little more.

It'll be interesting to see Lidstrom and Green on the ice together. Maybe Nick can learn a thing or two from the best defenseman ever to play the game. Mike Green. (yes, I'm being extreeeeemely sarcastic) Hope Ozzy finds his form tonight, and fast. should be a fun game to watch.

It'd be interesting to see what he could do, but I'd guess that if goalies saw Helm coming at them, they'd play the shot and not get ready for some crazy ass deke.

I completely agree with what Ozzy is saying, but he shouldn't be saying it to the press. They don't need to be 50-50 on games, but even as good as Jimmy's playing, they should be throwing Ozzy in enough to keep him in some sort of rhythm, even as a backup. And having him not play for this long and then playing the Caps? HIs last start was what, a month ago? To me that's either protecting Jimmy or throwing Ozzy to the wolves, or both. I hope he manages to flip that switch he only seems to find come playoff time. Because our playoffs are essentially starting much earlier this year, or there will be no postseason for the Wings.

Yeah, I always thought the spin-o-rama move shouldn't be legal in a shootout, since the player usually comes to a complete stop, backs into the goalie and flips it home on the backhand. But that's part of the problem with a joke event like the shootout, you have to create these fairly arbitrary rules. Still glad he scored. And crazy move by Dats.

I'm not sure there were people crying "heat of the moment" but either way, it's not a valid excuse. Hockey is a fast paced, intense sport. If players couldn't control themselves even in the heat of the moment, plays like this would be happening practically every game.

True. But now we've got teams sitting on the tie so they're guaranteed a point and can try for two in the skills competition.

I guess it'd feel a little better than being on the outside, but honestly I don't care so much about LA specifically as much as just racking up points wherever they can. LA, Calgary, Vancouver, and the Avs are all within 4 points of Detroit, and Nashville and Phoenix are only 5 points away. They need to climb up higher than the 8th spot near the end of the season so it doesn't come down to a shootout or a bad call.

Yup. 8 SOG according to the box score. And it sounds like Dats was more like his old self, which is a great sign. Hopefully they all keep it up. It's so friggin hard to claw your way up in the standings, we need every point we can squeeze out from here on out.

Make it 10 minutes of 4 on 4 OT and you've got yourself a deal. The shootout is a lot less fun to watch when it's inflating the standings and keeping the Wings from gaining ground on anybody.

Not sure if I'm supposed to be Sherlock or not. But pretty much everything on LGW is hyperbole. This still seems like the best place to discuss Dats underperforming, rather than create a new thread.

like I said, completely bombing is a total exaggeration. But I've seen most of the games this season, and more often than not he hasn't looked like himself offensively. No crazy moves, not great passing, no big hits. It's not like he's been making great passes all year long and guys are flubbing them. Sure the lack of talent around him is a partial factor, but in a lot of games, he just hasn't looked like Datsyuk of last season.

That's the thing. On paper I'd pick Flip over Cleary, guessing he's got some euro moves he could bust out. But they run shootouts in practice and pick the guys based on that. Who knows what's actually going on. Maybe Cleary really is the next best guy in the current lineup. After the first three, the pickings get pretty slim.

I didn't see the game, but Z had a goal and an assist and 8 SOG?? I'm hoping this means he looked more like himself?

Glenn Healy raised the good questions of why Burrows was fined $2500, when apparently in the CBA the max fine for that is $1000. And the money isn't going to the usual emergency fund that it normally does with these fines.

except Ozzy showed up last playoffs. Zing! *running for cover*

I'm not condoning hurting Ott, but first off, he left his feet with elbows up on a hit from behind on Stuart. Luckily he mostly missed. He is also the second guy in on several hits that game. Sometimes they're a little late, but not illegal. He's definitely out there trying to hurt people. And you know who really tried to get to go in this game? Brad friggin Stuart. Ott is a spot picking douchebag and a dirty player. May should've at least put him in the situation where Ott had to chicken out of a fight.

I'm not claiming any of those things, other than he's not playing that well this season. And frankly I'm not really that interested in what Malkin is doing.