edicius

And Columbus scores first. Looks like it could be one of those nights again. Ozzie with a great first save but no chance on the second one. Datsyuk left that guy wide open.

Flip is just killing me lately. Which is a shame because he's got the skills, damn it. His hockey sense is just lacking right now.

Guh. Waste of a chance there.

PK upcoming again...but Lilja might have just drawn one by being blindsided?

GREAT PK work by Lilja. THAT'S how you clear the puck.

Nice chance for Kopecky there...and then he gets called for goaltender interference.

Broken stick for Rex. Blargh. Tells the tale of that PP.

Okay, this PP is looking like absolute garbage so far. Could we, I don't know, get it in the zone? Without it getting cleared out immediately?

If we're displeased with it, Ozzie's gotta be furious about it. Delayed penalty, PP upcoming.

I want to see an insanely solid game from both Ozzie and Cleary. Eww. FSND needs to brighten up their feed a little bit.

Ah, nice to have the Detroit feed for this game. I miss anything? Just finished beating "de Blob" for Wii.

Well, if that was the only criteria, they could have probably gotten other one-Cup-wonders like Jay Feaster or Jim Rutherford for much cheaper (and yes, I know the Leafs HAD contacted Rutherford).

Friday: NY Islanders @ Boston Carolina @ Philadelphia Tampa Bay @ Minnesota Chicago @ Anaheim Colorado @ Phoenix Montreal @ Washington Pittsburgh @ Buffalo Nashville @ Atlanta NY Rangers @ Florida Columbus @ Detroit San Jose @ Dallas Saturday: Edmonton @ St Louis Chicago @ Los Angeles Detroit @ Boston Philadelphia @ Toronto Buffalo @ Montreal Ottawa @ NY Islanders Washington @ Columbus New Jersey @ Pittsburgh Minnesota @ Nashville Tampa Bay @ Colorado San Jose @ Phoenix Vancouver @ Calgary Sunday: Florida @ NY Rangers St Louis @ Atlanta Edmonton @ Dallas Anaheim @ Carolina

I'll make a good example here with this. Plus/Minus rating. Lids is currently tied for 23rd among defensemen with a +5. That's gotta be significant. Next closest Wings defenseman? Andreas Lilja. Tied for 47th among defensemen (with Pronger, among others) with a +3.

I'm glad I'm not the only one to think this. I know it was a whole big goof to hop on board the Pain Train, as it were, but Lilja has seriously become one of my faves on this team because of his new found consistency. Hell, look at some old posts of mine - I never hesitated to eviscerate Lilja in a GDT. Now, he genuinely impresses me with his work ethic and his consistency. People can debate this all they want, I realize. It's my opinion (and clearly yours as well) that he's fitting in better with this team than he ever had in the past. Agreed. Because it's Nick Lidstrom, I still give him the benefit of the doubt. Just like his reputation keeps him on the first D pairing, his reputation allows him that as well. I wouldn't give him up for any other D-man in the league. But I just wish I knew what the hell is going on with him this year (if it isn't the visor). Players have slumps. Players have off years. Nick Lidstrom doesn't. And it's got me completely puzzled.

He played pretty well against us when he was with Chicago. Seems to be a trend for former Wings players to excel against us (of course, that could probably be said for a great many other former players of teams).

I think Lilja has been far better as well. And that's not me joking around either. I have honestly seen more quality things coming from Lilja this season than I have Lids. Maybe that's because I expect more from Lids than I do from Lilja, I don't know, but in any case, Lids isn't playing like he deserves that first-pairing. His reputation is the only reason he's got it right now as far as I'm concerned. I really think it's the visor too. A player's skill level/ice vision just doesn't degrade that poorly, that quickly. It just doesn't happen. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Lids. He's our captain and he IS the best defenseman in the league - just not THIS season thus far. Something's off with him and it's far enough into the season that we can be honest about it without thinking it's some sort of defensive slump.

I brought this up in another thread, but it bears repeating. For the average NHL defenseman, Lids has been just fine. For a six-time Norris trophy-winning defenseman, he's been, at times, god awful.

Pierre McGuire just admitted he was "really wrong". *head explodes*

IT NEVER CROSSED THE LINE. CONKS WITH ANOTHER HUGE SAVE. Which ref made that call on the ice?

Whoa...watching the review...it may not have crossed the line.

I bet that if it was Price making those saves, there would have been a whistle somewhere in there. Seriously.

Conklin with a bunch of huge saves, but the D does nothing to stop it from going in.

Dandenault outworks Rafalski. It's been that kind of game.

Conkblocked.