Too many weapons.

[Husker BigGuy 0]

A couple of takes on the game tonight.

1. The Wings just have too many weapons for he Ducks. The line changes tonight were intended to put the Euro twins togehter on the first line. The resulting chemistry of Hossa, Franzen, and Flip just shows we have too many ways to win to be stopped.

2. Attacking Hiller's stick side reminds me of how we solved Mason in the BJ series. Hiller is solved. The Ducks MUST adjust. Playing Giguere, their current #2, is not likely to win a series.

3. Cleary, Helm and Erickson have added an energy that is serving to wear out the Ducks. Add Pavel to that mix. Pavel is not scoring, but is dealing fits to the Ducks anyway.

4. My faith in Flip was not misbegotten.

5. Just imagine what happens when Rafalski is added to this mix.

Just a few thoughts.

[Theophany 110]

Er, were we watching different games?

The goals on Hiller were good goals, but they were also off of mistakes on the D of Anaheim.

Dats is near invisible thus far. He's not playing horribly, but he's also not playing extremely well.

The biggest thing to take from this game is that Hiller will not play as confidently in this series as he has thus far in the playoffs, thanks to the awful decision to pull him for Giguere, if Hiller even goes back in.

Giguere proved to be solid, but he's much easier to shoot on than Hiller was.

[cupcrazy 13]

I wouldn't get to arrogant just yet. We still have to win two more.

[ComradeWasabi 109]

I agree with just about all of that, especially Hiller. Stick/blocker and five-hole. Stay away from his glove and if necessary shoot low to look for rebounds off the pads. He will gobble up anything in his chest or glove area; elsewhere, he is vulnerable.

[j.hoop 64]

did anyone notic hiller relied on the first stop, then the d to clear the puck? he had terrible rebound control tonight, and his 5 hole was a canyon.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

Eh, that's what was being said before Game 1, and four games later it's all knotted up. True, if ZDH starts clicking again and FFH gives an encore, then the Ducks are surely in a whole mess of trouble, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[uk_redwing 495]

But do too many cooks spoil the broth?

[sean 19]

We didn't solve Hiller. He was never anything to be solved. We started getting beneath Anaheim's D, and that's all there is to it. The Sharks couldn't do this, and then Hiller was an all star . The second RW goal tonight was funny though, because it looked like he would have had it if he wore his pads correctly, haha.

Yeah having Raffi back will be sweet kinda because having Raffi back is sweet but really because our 6th Dman will be Lebda. I dunno what happened to Lebda after he got benched earlier this year, but he's been solid ever since. He's a serviceable 5th now, I feel, whereas a few years ago I was scarred whenever he came over the bench. Not sure I expected this kind of improvement from him

Also Babs has shown so much trust in his 3rd and 4th lines that really they aren't even 3rd and 4th lines anymore. Helm got 14:35 today, all even strength. That's more than Hudler and Sammy. That's saying something.

[Husker BigGuy 0]

But do too many cooks spoil the broth?

Too many cooks? sure. But the only chef here is Babcock.

This is a meaty chili with lots of steak and vegetables.

Anyone who thinks these observations are mere arrogance need to explain why so much open ice tonight. Either the Ducks are wearing down, or we are onto something especially between the blue lines, or some combinatioin.

Not only did Hiller show up with a five-hole, but a seven hole, too. He was unable to set up and keep his flaps in tonight.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Husker BigGuy

[puckbags 863]

We played 60 minutes instead of 20 minutes tonight..end of story...you can read all the other stuff you want into it...we worked hard..our skill took over...we win !!

[Decoy Jones 0]

Hey don't forget the Kopecky "fight". He may have not landed a good punch, but he did take the Ducks 3rd or 4th D-man off the ice for 5 minutes thus wearing down their D even more. I'll trade a 4th liner for a defenseman anyday.

[stevkrause 1,247]

A couple of takes on the game tonight.

1. The Wings just have too many weapons for he Ducks. The line changes tonight were intended to put the Euro twins togehter on the first line. The resulting chemistry of Hossa, Franzen, and Flip just shows we have too many ways to win to be stopped.

2. Attacking Hiller's stick side reminds me of how we solved Mason in the BJ series. Hiller is solved. The Ducks MUST adjust. Playing Giguere, their current #2, is not likely to win a series.

3. Cleary, Helm and Ericsson have added an energy that is serving to wear out the Ducks. Add Pavel to that mix. Pavel is not scoring, but is dealing fits to the Ducks anyway.

4. My faith in Flip was not misbegotten.

5. Just imagine what happens when Rafalski is added to this mix.

Just a few thoughts.

there, fixed that for you

and yes, I agree

[Hossa7.4 0]

We didn't solve Hiller. He was never anything to be solved. We started getting beneath Anaheim's D, and that's all there is to it. The Sharks couldn't do this, and then Hiller was an all star . The second RW goal tonight was funny though, because it looked like he would have had it if he wore his pads correctly, haha.

Yeah having Raffi back will be sweet kinda because having Raffi back is sweet but really because our 6th Dman will be Lebda. I dunno what happened to Lebda after he got benched earlier this year, but he's been solid ever since. He's a serviceable 5th now, I feel, whereas a few years ago I was scarred whenever he came over the bench. Not sure I expected this kind of improvement from him

Also Babs has shown so much trust in his 3rd and 4th lines that really they aren't even 3rd and 4th lines anymore. Helm got 14:35 today, all even strength. That's more than Hudler and Sammy. That's saying something.

great comments, we weren't getting the puck in deep enough that's for sure. I feel Hiller has been overrated, his d-men really help clear the rebounds.

if there was one positive to take from the (barely) 3 OT game it was that we roll 4 lines and all that ice time may now be showing up for the (S)ducks.

I actually hope they put Hiller back in.

Let's Go Red Wings.

[Opie 308]

Wiz being back would change things dramatically but I agree with the Depth which was my point from the start, although I called 5 games, I think 6 will do, especially if Wiz is out long. Their D depth is roughly 5 with healthy wiz. I think the new lines will help D and Z as well as Hossa.

D and Z will go back to what they did last post season, familiar and like your favorite house shoes. They know you, they can pick your day up, they always fit just right. Look at last night, D and Z both had many opportunities, I don't think the Ducks want to live by D and Z hitting posts and Hiller making great saves on them all night. I think they would much rather face a struggling D on one line and a defensive minded Z on another. Now also the ducks can't camp Marchant on D and Hossa, Z and D can easily defend the Getzlaf line to the same result Z, Cleary, and Mule were. And that second line is too much for any line the Ducks have. Mule and Hossa can and will use their bodies to get great postion, and the results we saw last night will be seen again.

Hossa and Mule are a way better combo than Homer and Hossa, Mule can do so much that him with Hossa, and a play maker like fil, is just awesome to watch. Remember last year when Fil Sammy Mule was one of the best lines, Fil and Mule are great together and add Hossa instead of Sammy, well do I really need to eloborate on how much better Hossa is! Their forecheck is MEAN, and that is what made that second line so great last post season!

But most important, Z and D have what seems to be unbreakable chemistry and I think can put both of them in a groove.

Wiz being out and Babs line changes made for what seemed like a very mismatched game.

Carlyle is great at adjustments, look how he handles last line change when in Det. I would expect to see changes again, but with Wiz out he is playing 4 d-men all night, and if Kop wants to get smashed in the face to take out one of those 4, the PK for the Ducks will tire out the other 3, which will wear them thin after that, mad props to kop!.

I am not saying the Wings win the next 2 (3 in a row) for sure, but what kind of fan would I be if I were predicting my team to lose!

[T.Low 1,011]

Salame didn't have one shot (what's a teamu, anyway?)

The PING off the post of Sammy's goal rang thruought the Ponda like a shot heard round the world, it sounded awesome coming thru my Yamaha sound system.

Weapons; yeah, Dats hasn't even gone off yet, and you know he's going to.

Some great hockey left to be played in this series. Go Wings.

[Vladifan 680]

did anyone notic hiller relied on the first stop, then the d to clear the puck? he had terrible rebound control tonight, and his 5 hole was a canyon.

I believe that this is his thing, and has been their D's thing too. But their D is wearing down, and that is definitely to the Wings' advantage.

[titanium2 867]

What would a realistic picture of the Wings firing on all cylinders look like?

Simple dogged and constant two-way pressure from all four lines or points from all four lines? Or both?

Realistically, I'd be happy with the former.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Take the last game with a grain of salt. They were playing without Wisniewski, who could be back into the lineup as early as the next game. The Wings had the right idea by grinding away at their defense early on, and it paid dividends, but if Wisniewski gets back into the lineup, the Ducks will be able to skate with the Wings' pressure for longer.

[Husker BigGuy 0]

I'd just like to know what we did to have so much open ice. It was night and day from the other three games. It's almost as if we had some kind of new strategy in place to clear through center ice. The Ducks were just not there in the numbers they were previously.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Husker BigGuy