Saturday, March 6, 2010

Red Wings 5, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

  • One of my favorite moments of the night was when Bertuzzi took a pass while still standing in the penalty box. It almost made the whole penalty kill worthwhile.
  • Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was absolutely amazing. It was Danglelicious in every sense of the word.
  • Early in the game, my dad informed me that he thought Helm was a bust. We bickered about it for a while, because that’s what we do when we watch TV together. Helm resolved our dispute by scoring two goals. No only does Helm love children, he also promotes familial harmony.
  • I was really hoping for Helm to get the empty netter, but there are no free curly fries in Hockeytown today.
  • This is the kind of game that the Wings need to play on a consistent basis from here on out. If they keep that up, getting into the playoffs won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything this season that has convinced me that this could be a reality.
GP Answers:
1. The Wings are currently hanging onto the 8th spot in the West thanks to the teams they needed to lose actually losing for once (Is that a sign of things finally turning their way? I’m guessing no, but it’s nice to fantasize about things like that every once in a while.). Nashville’s managed to open up a 5-point gap ahead of them, and St. Louis and Calgary are tied one point behind the Wings. Only four points separate 8-13 in the West. This is scary stuff. What are the odds that the Wings ease some of our fears in this important game against Nashville? (Yes, I’m still getting used to the fact that we’re now forced to consider regular season games against Nashville “important.”)
I don’t know about everyone else, but I feel a lot better after that game. The Wings have consistently been failing to show up for important games against teams they’re fighting for position, and the fact that they came out and played like a team that wanted to win is reassuring. Of course, I’ll probably be back to banging my head against a wall tomorrow, but it’s always nice to see proof that we’re not all crazy for continually saying that this team can still dominate.

2. How will Jimmy Howard rebound from his less-than-stellar outing on Wednesday? The Wings need him to be strong down the stretch.
Howard was fine, not that he needed to be spectacular. Nashville only had 8 shots total in the first and third periods. They picked things up in the second, but they still only finished with 22 shots on net.

3. What percentage of the game are the Wings going to show up to play? We should start a pre-game betting pool to guess numbers.
I’ll give them a 100% because I’m feeling magnanimous today.

4. Can Franzen keep up his red hot scoring streak? Can a scoring streak be considered red hot after less than a handful of games? I vote yes in the context of this season.
He was actually held to no points for a change. It’s okay though. He’s probably going to exact his revenge on Chicago tomorrow.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Darren Helm
Where did that finish come from? I’d completely forgotten how long it had been since he scored a goal. There aren’t many guys who can electrify a crowd like he can.

An Extra Stick Tap for Pavel Datsyuk
That goal he scored was just beautiful and fun. In fact, fans enjoyed it so much that Gary Bettman is currently working on a way to remove plays like that from the game.

Brian Rafalski gets the Golden Facepalm
On the Predators’ first goal, he made a bad turnover on a poorly-advised pass and then proceeded to get embarrassed as he was walked around en route to the net. Not good.

What I Learned:
Playing Nashville is so much more enjoyable when it’s at the Joe. The train whistle thing they do at whatever their arena’s called now drives me up a wall.

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