Red Wings 1, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I've seen the Wings lose a lot of playoff series over the years.  I've seen them lose because they ran into a hot goalie, because they were devastated by injuries, and because they just didn't seem to try hard enough.  I really don't ever recall seeing them lose because they were straight-up outmatched.  Nashville was honestly the better team --in goaltending, defense, and offense.  The Wings just had no answer for any of it, and it showed.
• The Predators seemed to make the Wings pay dearly for every mistake they made.  The Wings didn't return the favor.  That was one of the biggest factors in the series.
• Too many key guys disappeared when it mattered most, and not enough unsung heroes stepped up to provide that little extra spark.
• The more you watched, the more apparent it became that Nashville's defense was just too good.  And the few times when the Wings got a quality scoring chance, they still had to beat Pekka Rinne.
• I really loved Zetterberg's effort on that one PK early in the game.  It was reminiscent of 2008 just for a minute.
• Sure, the bounces didn't go the Wings' way (Except for that bizarre time when Intent to Blow actually worked in their favor -- which I'm still not convinced actually happened, despite seeing it with my own eyes.  I'm still leaning toward it being an anomaly in the space-time continuum or a trick of the wibbly-wobbly nature of time.), but they didn't do all of the little things that you need to do to earn the puck luck.
• Lidstrom: I don't pretend to know what he's going to decide to do.  I just hope that everyone out there tonight took a minute to really watch him closely and appreciate how much better he is than everyone else.  Just in case.
• Don't forget Homer either, for sure.
• One of my favorite parts of the third period was when Homer got booed by the Preds' fans for being blatantly interfered with by there goalie.  You can give a fanbase a good hockey team, but you can't give them a good understanding of hockey.
• I also really enjoyed the start of the first period when two penalties were called in the first 31 seconds, but that's neither here nor there.
• For those of you out there on Twitter saying that this loss was as devastating as 2009...really?  This was really as bad as you-know-what-happened?  This was just as agonizing?  Get a grip.
• Firing Babcock is not the answer either, sunshines.  Let's all take a step back from the ledge, ok?
• All I'm saying is that prior to the start of the playoffs, Nashville topped my list of teams that I didn't want the Wings to face.  Pekka Rinne was the #1 reason for that.  I wasn't wrong.
• I hoarded enough playoff cupcakes to last seven games if necessary.  Who wants to join me in eating our feelings as we feast on the leftovers?
• This should be an interesting off-season.  Not summer of '01 fun, mind you, but interesting nonetheless.
• I still, and always will, love this team.