VM1138

This is a disaster waiting to happen.  Roy loses his cool way too easily and is mentally unstable (in hockey).

He's always been a good player.  People just irrationally translated his injury history as meaning he is a bad player.

I hope he stays around.  Obviously with his history we can't rely on him, but it's good to have him for insurance.

God, I almost forgot about the blue streak following the puck.

On the bright side this wasn't the worst loss of the playoffs for us.  I fully expect the Wings to bounce back.  They can beat Chicago.

The arena looks dark. 

Well it is the lair of the darkest souls in hockey next to Philadelphia fans.

San Jose needs to win if our exorcism of ghosts past tour is to continue.

Anaheim-Chicago-San Jose-Pittsburgh is the way it has to unfold.  I have foreseen it.

I keep thinking of reasons the Hawks will eat the Wings alive, and then I realize the same things were said of Anaheim.  Speed, firepower, goaltending.  

I know the Hawks are better but I can't help but feel like the series will be more run and gun.  As long as we can score more than 2 goals a game we will be fine.

What has happened to him this year?  Any other player in hockey, regardless of position, would have tried to stop that shot, regular season or playoffs with the game on the line.  He should be stripped of his C for that.  I wouldn't trust him if I were a teammates, regardless of offensive skill.

The more he plays against such elite talent and thrives, the more convinced I am he is not only solid but actually good.  He's turning into a legit top pairing defenseman.

Yes E has played well. But Kronwall has played poorly this year from a defensive stand point, which makes E look even better. He is playing on a top pair, but he really is a 3/4 not a 1/2 Dman.
 
The real question with E is, can we afford to keep him. He is a UFA after next season, and the market is 5 million per year. Is E worth it? That one is a tough choice. We do have 4/5 young Dman pushing for time: Kindl, Dekeyser, Lashoff, Smith, and Sproul. Maybe this summer is the time to flip him for a top 2 line forward-something we don't have.

The fact that E looks good while Kronwall struggles means he is really food, not that he's a second pairing guy at best.  If your partner struggles, usually you do, too.  And E is thriving.

Smith was never hyped to be an All-Star.  People hoped he would be but realistically his peak was set as a top 4 guy, wasn't he?  Give him time.  

The matchups will be in our favor in Game 6.  Wings need to make a statement and seize momentum.  Honestly, you can't put in Cola or White now.  Definitely not in a Game 7.  If Zetterberg can start producing like he should, that will make rookie mistakes hurt less.

This was mentioned, but the fact that 5 rookies were on the ice is a coaching faux pas. This isn't the fab 5 we're talking about.

He was showing confidence in them.  Honestly the OT goal wasn't on them.  Andersson had his man, he just missed the stick.  Crappy development but what can you do?  Andersson had another great game.

Quit attacking each other and focus on the game.

They can pull out two wins under pressure.  But Game 7 is on a Sunday...don't we have a terrible record on Sundays?

They Hung in there, I'd say each team dominated half the game.  Had a bad feeling, Lashoff and Kindl were atrocious.  Ericsson, Kronwall and Quincey were great.  Smith okay.

Inexperience is showing under Anaheim's forecheck, though.  Bertuzzi's controlling the play down by the net so that's good, too.

What more can be said?  It was a back and forth high flying game.  Move on to the next one and persevere.

I think whoever takes tonight's game takes the series. Hopefully Detroit plays a full 60 minutes worth of agressive hockey. PUT THE PUCK ON NET, and capitalize on rebounds. No need for any fancy tic-tac-toe passes. Please Wings do not lose the game and cause me to have a stroke.
 
 
GO WINGS!

Games have been so close with the exception of Game 3. I still see this as a 7 game series.  But I hope we win tonight to put us in a better position.  

Only players who had bad games were Sammy and Smith (despite the points).  Sammy settled down as the game went on but he made three mistakes in his first two or three shifts.  

Zetterberg needs to score, too.  And that's two games without a Franzen goal.  
I hope we can close them out in 6, because we've had jitters in game 1, and the first game at home.  I imagine they'd have jitters in a Game 7, too.  I'm loving the passion I see that was missing all year.  Our rookies are going to be better than I thought!

Brunner quietly leads the team in points, 4 in 4 games.   He and Nyquist are effective together.