Ok, I am officially tired of it as well

[Nightfall 871]

Now, I don't mean to get all huffy here, but the attitude here after the game last night is just dumb. People throwing out half assed posts calling the players on our team (yes, the team we all love) goats and screwups. It just makes me shake my head in disgust.

Lets break down game 3 shall we?

Detroit played uninspired in the 1st and 2nd periods. The Wings didn't have the intensity they had the first two games. The Penguins capitalized on their chances in this game unlike the last two. When we missed passes or had turnovers in the defensive zone in games 1 and 2, they didn't capitalize on the chances. Lilja falling down resulting on that 2 on 0 chance on Ozzie. Rafalski's errant pass in game 1 that resulted in a wide open chance by Malkin. All these opportunities were wiffed on by the Penguins. In game 3, they didn't miss. Stuart's pass that hit Zets skate and comes right out to the Penguins. Then the pinball bounce off of a few people and Crosby's shot that beat Osgood. Tough luck on that one.

What about the third goal from behind the net? Posters here bitching about Osgood screwing that one up. Blame blame blame being tossed around. I haven't seen a single poster come out and ask, "Where is the defense?" Still, another opportunity they capitalized on.

Meantime, the Wings hit the post a few times. That wide open net that we missed in the 3rd period was crazy. How did we miss that one? It wasn't like the goalie or a defenseman was there to stop it. The Wings just clutched their sticks a little too tight.

There were a TON of missed shots last night as well that didn't hit the target. Come on Wings, put the puck on net. Force Fleury to give up some rebounds and scoring chances.

Point is that the Wings had their chances even though they had a bad 2 periods last night.

So, why did the Wings lose? Everyone is being tossed around as to blame. The only players that aren't mentioned are Dats, Zets, and Lids. Even Babcock is getting grief for his decision to not roll the lines in a certain way. I don't know what is worse. These fairweather fans that only come in to enjoy the Wings when they are playing well or the supposed "die hard fans" who rip the players and the team they love when they make mistakes or the puck bounces against them.

Instead of concentrating on Game 4, even this morning, the bitching continues. Calls for the heads of all the players except the franchise ones are loud and clear. Frankly, its disgusting.

Lets get past this game guys and gals. Stop butchering your team and players.

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

most of the posts after this one will whole heartedly agree with you and then go right back to bitching if the wings lose game 4, just fyi

[CUJO#31 0]

most of the posts after this one will whole heartedly agree with you and then go right back to bitching if the wings lose game 4, just fyi

[HoweHatTrick 0]

Now, I don't mean to get all huffy here, but the attitude here after the game last night is just dumb. People throwing out half assed posts calling the players on our team (yes, the team we all love) goats and screwups. It just makes me shake my head in disgust.

Lets break down game 3 shall we?

Detroit played uninspired in the 1st and 2nd periods. The Wings didn't have the intensity they had the first two games. The Penguins capitalized on their chances in this game unlike the last two. When we missed passes or had turnovers in the defensive zone in games 1 and 2, they didn't capitalize on the chances. Lilja falling down resulting on that 2 on 0 chance on Ozzie. Rafalski's errant pass in game 1 that resulted in a wide open chance by Malkin. All these opportunities were wiffed on by the Penguins. In game 3, they didn't miss. Stuart's pass that hit Zets skate and comes right out to the Penguins. Then the pinball bounce off of a few people and Crosby's shot that beat Osgood. Tough luck on that one.

What about the third goal from behind the net? Posters here bitching about Osgood screwing that one up. Blame blame blame being tossed around. I haven't seen a single poster come out and ask, "Where is the defense?" Still, another opportunity they capitalized on.

Meantime, the Wings hit the post a few times. That wide open net that we missed in the 3rd period was crazy. How did we miss that one? It wasn't like the goalie or a defenseman was there to stop it. The Wings just clutched their sticks a little too tight.

There were a TON of missed shots last night as well that didn't hit the target. Come on Wings, put the puck on net. Force Fleury to give up some rebounds and scoring chances.

Point is that the Wings had their chances even though they had a bad 2 periods last night.

So, why did the Wings lose? Everyone is being tossed around as to blame. The only players that aren't mentioned are Dats, Zets, and Lids. Even Babcock is getting grief for his decision to not roll the lines in a certain way. I don't know what is worse. These fairweather fans that only come in to enjoy the Wings when they are playing well or the supposed "die hard fans" who rip the players and the team they love when they make mistakes or the puck bounces against them.

Instead of concentrating on Game 4, even this morning, the bitching continues. Calls for the heads of all the players except the franchise ones are loud and clear. Frankly, its disgusting.

Lets get past this game guys and gals. Stop butchering your team and players.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Great post! We saw what is probably the best Pit has last night. Ended a one goal game, and we had plenty of chances to tie it up. So be it, now we need to come out Saturday night and bring it for 60 minutes.

[Gizmo 21]

The consensus was that we'd split them in Pittsburgh. We only lost by one goal and still out shot them. They weren't playing in "panic mode" like the Pens in Games 1 and 2. We lived through this with Nashville and Dallas... I think we're still on-track. So far we've blown them out of the water twice and lost a close one. I'm cool...

[BigWinston 15]

Now, I don't mean to get all huffy here, but the attitude here after the game last night is just dumb. People throwing out half assed posts calling the players on our team (yes, the team we all love) goats and screwups. It just makes me shake my head in disgust.

Lets break down game 3 shall we?

Detroit played uninspired in the 1st and 2nd periods. The Wings didn't have the intensity they had the first two games. The Penguins capitalized on their chances in this game unlike the last two. When we missed passes or had turnovers in the defensive zone in games 1 and 2, they didn't capitalize on the chances. Lilja falling down resulting on that 2 on 0 chance on Ozzie. Rafalski's errant pass in game 1 that resulted in a wide open chance by Malkin. All these opportunities were wiffed on by the Penguins. In game 3, they didn't miss. Stuart's pass that hit Zets skate and comes right out to the Penguins. Then the pinball bounce off of a few people and Crosby's shot that beat Osgood. Tough luck on that one.

What about the third goal from behind the net? Posters here bitching about Osgood screwing that one up. Blame blame blame being tossed around. I haven't seen a single poster come out and ask, "Where is the defense?" Still, another opportunity they capitalized on.

Meantime, the Wings hit the post a few times. That wide open net that we missed in the 3rd period was crazy. How did we miss that one? It wasn't like the goalie or a defenseman was there to stop it. The Wings just clutched their sticks a little too tight.

There were a TON of missed shots last night as well that didn't hit the target. Come on Wings, put the puck on net. Force Fleury to give up some rebounds and scoring chances.

Point is that the Wings had their chances even though they had a bad 2 periods last night.

So, why did the Wings lose? Everyone is being tossed around as to blame. The only players that aren't mentioned are Dats, Zets, and Lids. Even Babcock is getting grief for his decision to not roll the lines in a certain way. I don't know what is worse. These fairweather fans that only come in to enjoy the Wings when they are playing well or the supposed "die hard fans" who rip the players and the team they love when they make mistakes or the puck bounces against them.

Instead of concentrating on Game 4, even this morning, the bitching continues. Calls for the heads of all the players except the franchise ones are loud and clear. Frankly, its disgusting.

Lets get past this game guys and gals. Stop butchering your team and players.

I agree with most of what you said.

Can't expect them to win everytime they get out on the ice.

Sure I was frustrated last night, but it was an exciting game to watch. But, the Pens were desperate and the wings could still have come out on-top if it weren't for some sound goaltending from Fluery (whom I was really starting to doubt) and some good defense at times and the wings shooting wide a little too often.

The way I look at it, we handed it to them severely games 1 and 2 on our ice. On their ice for game 3 that had to fight for everything that got and came away with the win by a miniscule margin. Red wings need to address a couple of things... thats all.

[Hank 0]

Great post Nightfall!

I'd also like to see less bitching about the officiating. Yes, there were some bad calls, or non-calls, but we got away with a few ourselves. Sammy should have been called for hooking on Hossa as he was staring at an empty net before the 2nd period came to a close.

Just enjoy the games.

Despite losing, last nights contest was very entertaining featuring lots of hits, chances and nice goals.

I hope that game 4 is just as good but with the Wings coming out on top in the end.

[akustyk 84]

I'm tired of homers who flood this board this playoffs and attack people

who dare to mention Wings can do something wrong or have weaknesses.

I was virtually crucified after saying Hasek needs to go in Preds Game 2

only to see same people claim Oz should have started 2 weeks later.

I'm off to hfboards for a while. being able to read opinions of ppl who are

critical of Wings and able to praise the other team is really refreshing.

this has been a very civil forum during 2003-2007 period when Wings

were considered underperformers and were lucky to escape bandwagon

fans. this year they're right on top and so is the number of cocky as*

who discovered Wings team 2 weeks ago.

my take: just not get to involved into discussions with bandwagon. let'em

talk and just watch the games. hfboards is also a good way to keep

clear vision of what is happening.

[Nightfall 871]

Great post Nightfall!

I'd also like to see less bitching about the officiating. Yes, there were some bad calls, or non-calls, but we got away with a few ourselves. Sammy should have been called for hooking on Hossa as he was staring at an empty net before the 2nd period came to a close.

Just enjoy the games.

Despite losing, last nights contest was very entertaining featuring lots of hits, chances and nice goals.

I hope that game 4 is just as good but with the Wings coming out on top in the end.

I didn't even mention the officiating, which IMO, has been very good overall. A little more consistency in some situations, but I can't argue with the refs so far.

I agree with your assessment of the game last night. Lets hope the Wings kick it in the ass on Saturday night.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

The fact that we played uninspired the first 2 periods, should be a cause of concern. At this point in the season, effort shouldn't be a problem, yet we didn't have any until the 3rd period.

This isn't basketball, where you can play hard only towards the end and win. Hopefully, the Wings will learn from this, and come out more intense the next game.

And the fact that some people are panicking shouldn't come as a surprise? If some were panicking after meaningless games in February, we should be allowed to panic now when it counts most.

[WingsZR2 1]

Wings in 5, that's all that matters.

[Nightfall 871]

The fact that we played uninspired the first 2 periods, should be a cause of concern. At this point in the season, effort shouldn't be a problem, yet we didn't have any until the 3rd period.

This isn't basketball, where you can play hard only towards the end and win. Hopefully, the Wings will learn from this, and come out more intense the next game.

And the fact that some people are panicking shouldn't come as a surprise? If some were panicking after meaningless games in February, we should be allowed to panic now when it counts most.

There is a big difference between panicing and ripping the team you love a new ******* and calling for their heads. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[Nightfall 871]

Wings in 5, that's all that matters.

I called Wings in 7, with home ice being the key to the Wings victory.

[Texas Wingnut 0]

Great post. I wish that I could have said this as well. The Wings didn't get blown out or shut out. While many were hoping for a sweep it just didn't happen. Babs handled things well in the post game press conference. I'd be surprised if to a man the players and coaches didn't expect better in game 4. The better team should win a best of 7 series and IMHO the Wings are the better team. They proved it during the regular season (wins, goals against, ...) and have been proving it in the playoffs. GO WINGS!!!!!!

[Sebastian 0]

The best part is that the Pens had there best game and that was by far our worst in turnovers and everything and they only one by one goal, so you know what if we play a little tiny bit better than we did in game 4 than we did in game 3 than we will for sure win, and im damn sure they will play better, cuz i know Babs will probably yell at them for all the stupid turnovers they gave away in game 3.

[XxGoWingsxX 0]

THANK GOD, finally some sensible fellow wings fans. I'm 25 and have been watching the wings religously since about the 94-95 season..i was like 12 then. People who are whining about who did this wrong, who should be benched , the refs cheated, etc etc really don't get the game of hockey all that much i guess. To some degree, hockey is also a game of luck as it is skill. You have to have those lucky bounces go your way, and the pens did, and we had the bounces against us too. To be fair, crosby said that it was really warm on the ice last night which causes the puck to roll and bounce alot because, they freeze the pucks before game to take any bounce out of them.

When the ice is warm, the puck warms up and turns more rubbery, hence it bounces. Now i will agree that therrien's whining didn't help us, but its not like the refs were unfair about their calls against us. It just opened up the refs eyes so they'd pay more attention to the obstruction. When you think about it, the fact that we had only a couple obstruction calls against us, just shows that therrien was wrong saying we always did it. Thats the type of game detroit has played all season....we get in the way of their guys going toward the puck.

Did anyone else notice that we didn't play the neutral zone trap that much last night? And when we did it was very weak and sloppy? It seems to me the wings are always a bit aprehensive in every first road game of every series so far...it took them far too long to settle down and find their legs, and by the time they did, it was just too late. Really we only played 20 minutes of red wings hockey, which is unacceptable at this level. Babs will make some assessments, practice things a bit and have the team fired up and come out swinging on saturday.

Really, for as bad as we played for 40 minutes, the pens probably had their A game goin, with us with our like....D game for 2 periods and we still didn't get dominated like they did in games 1-2. I still say wings in 5...we will take sat's game, and come home to hoist the cup.

Good posts guys, i'm glad some of you guys are here, or i'd go nuts....by the way what are hfboards? Thanks

[VM1138 1,921]

Aside from a few bad turnovers, I didn't think the Wings played badly at all. When Pittsburgh did get something going it was broken up by a Wings player, and we had our fair share of chances. I was jumping up, celebrating Holmstrom's near-goal before I realized it wasn't a goal.

Could've easily gone the other way so I'm not too concerned about it.

The pessimism gets really old around here. I understand the panic the first few times, but this has happened every series so far (except for Colorado, but it was close at times there, too), we should've just expected a game like this. They will bounce back, they always do, and continue to play great.

[Graybeard 0]

Agreed. Barring the last couple minutes where we couldn't get the puck into their zone, the third period of game three was the best period of hockey so far this series.

[uk_redwing 495]

Instead of trying to find the real reason why we wernt as dominant as the first 2 games, we fish out an old scapegoat. Whos in the scapegoat bowl?

*Scapegoat Bowl- Lilja, Chelios, Hasek, Samuelsson, Hudler, Cleary, Flip, McCarty*

*Fishes in the scapegoat bowel, pulls out Hasek*

Hasek was absolutely useless on the bench tonight. No words of encrouagement, didnt throw an octopus, didnt poison Crosby...and we wonder why we lost?!

[wingslogo19 281]

Wings will play way better come Saturday.. Slow start from the Wings, but you knew that the Pens were going to start playing hockey at some point in the series.. I'am not worried at all, WINGS IN 5

[Nev 1,085]

The consensus was that we'd split them in Pittsburgh. We only lost by one goal and still out shot them. They weren't playing in "panic mode" like the Pens in Games 1 and 2. We lived through this with Nashville and Dallas... I think we're still on-track. So far we've blown them out of the water twice and lost a close one. I'm cool...

Exactly, Pittsburgh played as well as they could and it took a couple of bounces to go their way and the last 15mins clinging on by their fingernails to win. I highly doubt they will be able to generate the same level of emotion and intensity for game 4.

Oh, and UK_Redwing, "scapegoat bowl", love it

[akustyk 84]

Exactly, Pittsburgh played as well as they could and it took a couple of bounces to go their way and the last 15mins clinging on by their fingernails to win.

I beg to disagree. they played with basically 3 defensemen back on their blue line.

and were perfectly able to stop Wings from quality shots other than our PP which

was far from spectacular.

Pens looked very good at protecting their lead in 3rd period. and I hate to admit

it but it smelled like 2006 Oilers or 2004 Ducks which we could not penetrate

and were limited to perimeter shots.

sure, they may not get the lead in Game 4 nor Fleury has to be good again but

this is a real concern to me. I really want Wings to win this Game 4 and go home

with possibility to seal the deal. but if Pens score first this may be a huge hill to

climb for the Wings...