Red Wings 7, Blues 3: Post Game Snipes...

• This was one of the Wings' worst games of the season. I know you're thinking, “But Kris, they won by four goals. This is very true, however until they came alive in the third period, things were looking pretty ugly. There were turnovers galore and it seemed like the Wings couldn't complete a pass.
• The first goal of the game was batted into the Blues' net by Jaroslav Halak. Instead of clapping or cheering, I just sat there and laughed. It was enough to send my brother running into the room to see what was so funny.  Drew Miller ended up getting credit for the goal, but even he laughed it off.
• Jimmy Howard ended the first period with an absolutely killer save with fractions of a second left on the clock.
• Johan Franzen got called for a weaksauce holding call during the second period. Predictably, it led to a powerplay goal for the Blues. It always seems like it's the cheap calls that lead to pucks going in the net.
• Justin Abdelkader scored on a pretty deflection in front of the net to retie the game after the Blues' powerplay goal.
• Cleary continued his hot streak with two goals tonight. He's been unbelievable lately. I drafted him in one of my fantasy leagues and people said I was stupid for taking him so high. Who's laughing now, little bro?
• Zetterberg's goal came after he made a strong, strong play on the puck. It was nice to see the first line do something good since they hadn't done a whole lot up to that point.
• Kronner gave us all a scare when he took a blindside hit. He took his time getting up, but returned to the game afterward. Though it was blindside, it wasn't a headshot as it didn't look like any head contact was made in the couple of replays that were shown.
• That offensive outburst in the third period was a glimpse into what the Wings can do when they're firing on all cylinders. In a little over three minutes, they took over the game and turned a mediocre game into a lot of fun.
• The Wings scored their last two goals on the powerplay. Up until then, it had looked pretty ugly. Here's hoping that that success continues. The Wings are way too good to have such a lousy powerplay.
• Good job going after Jimmy at the end of a blowout, Backes.

1. The Wings had another lengthy break between games, having been off since Saturday. Will they be ready to go on time?
No, it was another one of those games where they don't show up to play at the start of the game. They really didn't wake up until the third period.

2. The Wings get to face off against Jaroslav Halak for the first time tonight. It definitely has the potential to be one of those games where the Wings skate circles around their opponent but can't seem to put a puck in the net.
That definitely wasn't the case tonight. Halak let in (scored on himself, really) a laughable goal to kick things off and then got lit up in the third. We got plenty of Jaroslav HaLOLk.

3. The Blues sit only two points behind the Wings for the Central Division lead. This could shape up to be the main battle for the Wings down the road. It'd be nice to be able to pick up a couple of points against a division rival to stay on top of the pack.
The Wings did indeed stay on top with what looked like a decisive win on the scoreboard, but wasn't really that great.

Hero: Dan Cleary
He turned in another two-goal performance. He's now in the midst of a six-game goal streak. Night in and night out, he's one of the hardest-working Wings on the ice, and it's nice to see him getting rewarded on the scoreboard.

Villain: David Backes
I don't care if he's an American hero. Going after Jimmy is a major offense. Plus, my bro wants to buy his jersey, and I consider wearing another team's logo to be an unforgivable sin.

Final Thought:
The Wings pulled off a win tonight that they didn't really deserve.  They definitely didn't deserve to win by four goals.