- Well I think it’s safe to say that the Wings showed up for this one. The first period was the best period of hockey I’ve seen the Wings play all year. And then they followed it up with a solid second and third. Granted, Columbus didn’t put up much of a fight, but the Wings controlled play and looked absolutely dominant. They came out and set the tone early and never let up.
- One of the strangest aspects of the game was that the Wings’ first 6 goals were scored by 6 different players. Each one of them tallied his third goal of the season. Then Abdelkader scored two goals in the third for, you guessed it, his second and third goals of the season. All in all seven different Wings scored tonight, and each one of them notched his 3rd of the season. It was one of the flukiest things that I’ve seen in a while. With any luck, it’s a sign of good things to come for them and hopefully some of the scores have woken up.
- Speaking of waking up, Dan Cleary finally got his 100th goal on Saturday, and his goal tonight marked the second game in a row in which he’s scored. I’m quite happy that I stuck with him on my fantasy team.
- Early in the first, Datsyuk wound up for a shot and it hit a Blue Jacket right in the back of the head, knocking his helmet off, as he went down to block the shot. Pav hovered nearby while he was down on the ice, making sure he was okay. Classy guy.
- Classiness aside, Dangle Dangle was absolutely on fire tonight. It felt like he was everywhere. I can’t believe he only had 13:29 of ice time tonight.
- Eaves looked good in his return to the lineup. I absolutely love the third line right now.
- Leino also had a much better game. He scored a goal (his third of the season, of course) and had a couple of very good chances.
- Oh gosh I hope they’ve saved some goals for the Captain’s night at the Joe tomorrow.
- During the first intermission, John Keating was interviewing Dan Cleary and he pointed out that 14 of Cleary’s career goals have come against the BJs. Cleary responded, “Thank god they’re in our division.”
- At one point during the second period, Todd Bertuzzi found himself open in front of the crease with time to take two or three whacks at the puck while Steve Mason had his back to him. He didn’t score. I still don’t know how. He did manage to redeem himself with a goal (his third of the season, of course) shortly after though.
- Jimmy Howard made some pretty nice saves throughout the course of the night. The BJs ended up getting credited with 26 shots, but it certainly didn’t feel like they had that many.
These are the Wings that I’ve been looking for all season. The forecheck was strong, the puck was handled responsibly in their own zone, the special teams looked good, and I had a smile on my face the whole time.
An Extra Stick Tap for Pavel Datsyuk
He was far and away the best player on the ice tonight. And that’s saying something for a team that scored nine goals. Keep it up, please.
Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
But only because I made an executive decision that this must be awarded to a Wing every game. This is for that glorious opportunity he had when Mason’s back was turned that he failed to bury.
What I learned:
That watching the 2009-2010 Wings can, in fact, be enjoyable.
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