Heroes of Hockeytown

Gonna take an ugly one to get this PP going I guess.

Luongo really stole the show in that period. Wings could be running away with this one otherwise.

Helluva play by Booth. Bit of a disappointing period for the Wings if it's one-all at the end.

Alas, same old same old. I have no idea how so much talent can accomplish so little on the power play.

An opportunity to jump out to a 2-0 lead this early in the game against a team like this is huge. Let's do it Wings!

Well Luongo brought his A-game tonight.

Ugh Flipper. And no call for the hook?

And, for about a hundred years, hockey.

Now here's a real road test. Had today off, everyone's healthy, so no excuses.

Can't disagree with that. Definitely doesn't make for good television though. Not that Flames do (or should) care about that. A nice contrast of the best and worst the game has to offer.

Christ that game was boring. Amazing to compare it to another recent game with the same score, but the game against the Blues was intense and thrilling, while this was a dreadful slog. Oh well, at least they won, and on the road no less.

On the road again... C'mon Wings, it's time to man up and play a solid road game or two, or you'll find yourselves looking up at a lot of people in the standings in a couple weeks.

It's a hockey player cliche for sure, but it's still impressive that someone who is essentially the best in the world at what he does can be so humble.

Pavel is probably a little too reserved to try the really wacky stuff they are hoping to see in that particular shootout event.

And lest we forget C-bus. It would be one thing to just lose to these bad teams -- it happens, and combined those three squads have still managed to win 51 hockey games this year. But to get walloped in such brutal fashion, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Don't think there's much question that his back makes it tougher and tougher to continue producing during an 82 game grind. He stepped it up last year with Pavel out but when he's not the main man we're looking at three of four seasons where he's below PPG (and as you mentioned in significantly worse fashion this time around). However, Hank always ups his game come playoff time. This is a consistent theme with most of the Wings, of course, but it may be even more relevant to Hank because there's no way he'd survive a full season at playoff intensity level with his injury woes.

There may be a little bit of noise in the ranks for SV% and GAA because of back up and platoon type goalies getting in there. I don't know where you set the limit for games played but I guess most starting guys have 30+ so that seems like a good number. So if we move from there Jimmy is looking at 3rd in GAA and 4th in SV%. Not that we really need to refine the statistics to determine that Jimmy is 100% pure Colombian awesome.

Datsyuk had a somewhat slow start to the season. For a while there no one could score and Jimmy helped the Wings gut out some wins by doing his thing and being the man. Pavs had been incredible since then but the goalie is always so important, and Jimmy's been outstanding, so while it's a tough choice Jimmy gets my vote.

^^^ More or less how I remember events. The "had to miss a game to prove injury excuse" was bulls*** anyways because Pavel was injured in the third period of the Wings' last game before the break, against Phoenix. He missed most of the third period when it was close (can't remember if it was tied or one goal difference) which is all the proof necessary. It's not like they would have benched him and risked the two points (which, in his absence, they didn't get anyways) just so he could duck the ASG. It was stupid politics and the guys that made that decision deserved to be slapped. Worse still, that Crosby was being held up as an example when the only other thing he had to do that weekend was play Xbox in Mario's basement, as opposed to Pav and Nick, two grown ass men with families and vacation plans already made.

Well, Nightfall, I think you are underselling the role that luck plays in the outcome quite a bit. I know people hate to hear it, but it's the truth, and hockey is probably the sport most susceptible to randomness and chance, including blown or missed calls by referees. I think there have been plenty of times where the better team in a series has lost because they didn't get any breaks. Granted, a much lower percentage of the time than when the better team wins because they are better. I also happen to think that all of the above is totally irrelevant though. It doesn't matter if you have the better team and play better; you don't necessarily win because of any of that. You win because you win; the final score is the only thing that ultimately matters.

If the season ended today they'd give it to Malkin. Leading the league in scoring while playing fewer games, plus the "no Crosby" storyline is a potent combination; meanwhile it's just "Wings are great, again," for Pavel. Fortunately there's still 30 games left for him to possibly crank it up and pull away. Go, Pavs, go!

Some interesting quotes from the recap: I have no problem with you taking dumb penalties that cost your team the game either, Chris. This just made me laugh. Finally, a comparison: Verus...

Whale of a game from Homer, Helm, and Howard. The three Hs?

This is the big one. No more shootouts, I think. Hopefully the Wings will make a statement and turn this into a laugher, but I'll take two points any way I can get them.

Seeing as the Hawks won yesterday, and they and the Blues will doubtlessly win tonight, this game (just like every other one) is a must-win if they want to keep pace in the Central.