Red Wings vs. Hurricanes GP...

Red Wings: 46-23-10

Hurricanes: 38-30-11

Red Wing Zen:

Henrik Zetterberg

24-56-80, +/- -1, 40 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Jeff Skinner

29-29-58, +/- 3, 46 PIM

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Seventeen...

Caption Mondays: The general consensus this week was that the gentlemen in the stands were checking out Henrik Zetterberg. In light of that, here are two sets of captions for your reading pleasure.

From Norm:
Linesman: "Hey 40, those guys behind the glass-are they checking you out too, or just me?"
Zetterberg: (silence)

From Sara Neuie:
Zebra: I just don't get it man... I'm not a bad-looking fella, I'm tall, I've got a job with authority, why can't I get a girl?
Hank (gnaws on mouthguard): I'm telling you, chicks dig beards. Especially Swedish chicks.
Zebra: Really? You think that'd work?
Hank: Well, whatever you do, don't go around making faces like the guys behind us...

Trivia Tuesdays: Clark beat TimFill to the punch this week. That'll teach you to read things, Tim.

This week's question: The Wings hold the record for most home overtime losses in a single playoff run. How many OT losses did they have? What year did they set this record?

The Answer: They set this record during the '02 Cup run with four home overtime losses. One was against Vancouver, two were against Colorado, and one was in the Finals against Carolina.

Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 1: Post Game Snipes...

• Hey look, the Wings looked like an NHL hockey team tonight. How about that?
• They didn’t exactly soar out of the gate, but you could tell right from the first shift that they had some jump in their step. They even controlled play for a few stretches there at the end of the first/beginning of the second. They definitely let off the gas after their second goal though.
• Mickey Redmond developed a newfound mancrush on Cam Ward after he saved a shot with his mask off. I have to admit that it did look pretty sweet. (UPDATE 9:23 AM 1/15/10) See?
  
• On one penalty kill, Patrick Eaves blocked two shots from Staal up high. Then on his way off the ice, he got clipped on the chin by his stick. I’m reasonably certain that Staal was trying to kill him.
• The Wings scored not one, but two powerplay goals tonight. If they can get that unit going, and keep Lidstrom scoring, things might be looking up.
• Speaking of Lidstrom’s goal, it ended a 43-game goalless streak. That’s more than half of a season. Incredible. The good news is that afterward, he seemed to be looking to take more shots.
• Kirk Maltby made a fantastic play near the end of a key penalty kill in the third period. At the time, the Wings were leading 2-1 and Carolina was really pushing.
• I don’t seem to remember Filppula taking this many penalties pre-injury.
• Hank’s goal came on a fantastic tip-in after Bertuzzi stole the puck and threaded a pass to the crease.
• Bert had another takeaway in the offensive zone and broke in on Ward. He managed to draw two penalties on that play, as he was hooked right after the turnover, and took a nasty slash right as he was about to pull his move. It was kind of a weird game.
• With the Wings getting two powerplay goals and another one from the top line, I felt like I was watching a replay of a game from a previous season. But for the presence of Helm and Eaves and Miller and the like, I would’ve been checking my cable feed.
• Lidstrom and Rafalski both logged 27+ minutes tonight. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Bertuzzi were all over 20 minutes. I’m not sure why I’ve suddenly started looking at ice times on the box scores.
  

GP Answers:
1. So Tuesday night was pretty much a demonstration of how not to win a hockey game. Having to ask this question over and over again is getting frustrating, but which Wings team are we going to get to watch tonight? The one that looks like it’s hungry for a playoff spot, or the one that looks like it already has golf reservations for April? Like the game against the Isles, this is one the Wings should win. Unfortunately that’s been a problem for…oh I don’t know…the last several years or so.
I wouldn’t say that it was the best effort I’ve seen, but it was good enough to get the win. There were a few points during the second and third periods when it looked like they might be letting Carolina back into the game, but they were able to finish strong.

2. I haven’t heard yet whether Ericsson is officially slated to return tonight or not, but assuming he does how rusty is he going to be? He had really been starting to turn things around before he got hurt, so will the long layoff have caused him to regress to early season Ericsson or he can regain his relatively decent level of play? On a side note, it’s frustrating that he ended up missing a month when the original word was that he’d only be out for a couple of weeks, but when you consider how bad the play looked when it happened, a month seems like a blessing.
He didn’t look half bad. I honestly didn’t notice him a whole lot, which is a good thing for a defenseman in my book.

3. At the request of Andy from Fight Night at the Joe, I’m not going to include my question about Nick Lidstrom scoring a goal today just to see if it gets him to score. Not that he’s not doing other things well, but the offense could sure use his help. I’m also concerned that if he turns in a season with only a couple of goals, it’s going to make him less likely to re-sign during the summer. Instead, I’ll pick on Datsyuk again. Where is his head going to be tonight? Seriously.
Well, whaddya know? It worked. I’m pretty sure in ancient times, this would be the point at which we’d put Andy on trial for witchcraft or something. Not only did Lidstrom score, but Datsyuk actually appeared to be playing hockey tonight. It certainly wasn’t his best game, but he did some good things out there.

4. Is there any chance that the Wings’ leaders are going to step up and lead by example tonight instead of letting the young guys do all the work? Or is that too much to ask?
They got goals from Lidstrom and Zetterberg. I’d say that that counts.

5. I figure Jimmy’s going to be starting again tonight. Will he be able to keep up his torrid pace after stumbling a little on Tuesday night? There’s no way that the loss was his fault, but I worry about his confidence issues. (Seriously, between him, Bertuzzi and Leino and their confidence issues, the Wings’ dressing room needs a support group for feelings of inadequacy or something.)
He looked pretty good. The Carolina goal came off of a bad rebound, but I’m willing to cut him some slack on it.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Drew Miller
I really was going to give this to Lidstrom for finally scoring, but had a fantastic game. There’s no way he’s not the best waiver pickup of the season.

An Extra Stick Tap for Nick Lidstrom
There. He gets the consolation prize.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
Shortly after Zetterberg’s goal, he broke in on the net, kind of got tripped up, and did a funny little fall flat out on the ice. It made me laugh out loud. (Remember, this isn’t necessarily for the worst player of the game…just the one who makes me want to smack myself on the forehead.) (UPDATE: 9:23 AM 1/15/10) This is what I'm talking about. I should also note that I stole that first picture from Petrella's post at TPL.

What I Learned:
Hey, look, the powerplay is alive.

Red Wings vs. Hurricanes GP...

1. So Tuesday night was pretty much a demonstration of how not to win a hockey game. Having to ask this question over and over again is getting frustrating, but which Wings team are we going to get to watch tonight? The one that looks like it’s hungry for a playoff spot, or the one that looks like it already has golf reservations for April? Like the game against the Isles, this is one the Wings should win. Unfortunately that’s been a problem for…oh I don’t know…the last several years or so.
2. I haven’t heard yet whether Ericsson is officially slated to return tonight or not, but assuming he does how rusty is he going to be? He had really been starting to turn things around before he got hurt, so will the long layoff have caused him to regress to early season Ericsson or he can regain his relatively decent level of play? On a side note, it’s frustrating that he ended up missing a month when the original word was that he’d only be out for a couple of weeks, but when you consider how bad the play looked when it happened, a month seems like a blessing.
3. At the request of Andy from Fight Night at the Joe, I’m not going to include my question about Nick Lidstrom scoring a goal today just to see if it gets him to score. Not that he’s not doing other things well, but the offense could sure use his help. I’m also concerned that if he turns in a season with only a couple of goals, it’s going to make him less likely to re-sign during the summer. Instead, I’ll pick on Datsyuk again. Where is his head going to be tonight? Seriously.
4. Is there any chance that the Wings’ leaders are going to step up and lead by example tonight instead of letting the young guys do all the work? Or is that too much to ask?
5. I figure Jimmy’s going to be starting again tonight. Will he be able to keep up his torrid pace after stumbling a little on Tuesday night? There’s no way that the loss was his fault, but I worry about his confidence issues. (Seriously, between him, Bertuzzi and Leino and their confidence issues, the Wings’ dressing room needs a support group for feelings of inadequacy or something.)

Wings vs. Maple Leafs GP...

Wings vs. Leafs @7 PM

1. Despite all of the Wings’ early-season struggles, we can still be thankful that we’re not Leafs fans. They have exactly 2 victories. Two. In 14 games. They actually doubled their win total last night by beating the lowly Hurricanes. The Wings, on the other hand have put together three solid games in a row. They’re in Toronto with all kinds of autograph sessions and media fanfare for Steve Yzerman to play against a weak, Eastern Conference opponent. In other words, this is exactly the kind of game the Wings like to sleepwalk through. Will they decide to show up and not embarrass themselves with a loss to the Leafs? Please, Hockey Gods, make it so.
2. Will Phil Kessel come into his own in his role as savior of the Leafs tonight?
3. With any luck, the Wings have taken their off-day to recalibrate their collective aim. The last game looked like the team dressed 18 versions of Mikael Samuelsson with all of the missed shots they took. How many shots are they going to send wide this game?
4. Every once in a while, Todd Bertuzzi does things that make me smile. Sometimes I even feel like I’m starting to like him. Then he does things like make behind-the-back passes right onto the tape of opposing players in the Wings’ defensive zone that inevitably lead to heart-attack-inducing scoring chances. Is he going to finally set himself on a course that will earn him my good graces, or is he going to continue to be the guy who keeps making me scare my housemates by yelling at the TV all the time?
5. With a win tonight, the Wings can overtake Chicago and Columbus for the Central Division lead (although, the BJs are playing Carolina, so there’s a pretty good chance they’ll walk away with 2 points to stay ahead of the Wings). Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the Central, who pretty much everyone agreed was the best division in the league at the start of the season actually has the lowest first place point total of any one in the league? There’s no way that will stay like that for the whole season, but I thought it was worth pointing out.

On a side note, I really like the look of the Leafs’ official website. I’m a sucker for old-timey photos like the one they use as the background. I probably won’t get to see the game tonight, which is disappointing because I always love a good Original 6 match-up.

Now, it’s off to the Big House for some football and glorious fall weather. Go Blue!

Evil Co-Workers and Gearing Up for A Big Game...

I've been in a surprisingly good mood today. There is absolutely no explanation for this. It's theoretically possible that my little Bob-Seger-and-Dire-Straits-fest before work this morning helped me chill out, but I like to think that it had more to do with wearing a Wings t-shirt under my work polo. To make things even better, miracle of miracles, my manager took pity on my and told me that I didn't have to work tonight. I can only interpret this as divine intervention on the part of the Hockey Gods. So at least I have that going for me. Maybe my begging and pleading is paying off.

Work this morning was actually a blessing because otherwise I would've spent hours sitting in front of my computer refreshing the Snapshots blog until I gave myself carpal tunnel. I didn't even care that the place was absolutely dead, and I made no money. If nothing else, it kept my mind off of Game 5 tonight and kept my stress levels somewhat in check.

Until one of my evil, evil co-workers decided to play a nasty trick on me, that is. He's a Carolina Hurricanes' fan (yeah, I didn't realize they existed either until I met him), and he's been giving me crap about the Wings since the start of the playoffs. This was totally uncalled for, since I didn't even give him a hard time when Carolina lost, figuring that the mere fact that he was a Canes' fan was enough punishment for one lifetime. He decided that it would be fun to run up to me and tell me that Datsyuk was officially out for the rest of the series. And then my heart stopped. I'm not even kidding. At least that's what I imagine having your heart stop would feel like. And I would've believed him until he told me that Lidstrom and Zetterberg were also out. At that point, I threw something at him and told him that we were no longer friends. If I had actually died right there, they would've had charge him with manslaughter for intentionally causing me to have a heart attack. He would've sold me on the Datsyuk front, at least until I had time to text a friend for confirmation, but he tried to take it too far, and I saw through it.

In actual news, it's sounding pretty certain that Datsyuk will, in fact, be back. It goes without saying, but this is a very good thing. However, I'm holding my joy back until I actually see him on the ice after the puck drops. You can fool me once, Pavel and Mike, but I'm not that gullible. So we'll see.

On the other hand, neither Dan Cleary nor Brian Rafalski took the morning skate, and this is troubling. I know Rafalski didn't skate the other day and was still good to play, but it's still not particularly good news. I'd even go so far as to speculate that it played a role in him getting beaten on Staal's shorthanded goal. All we know of Cleary's issue is that it's being called a "lower body injury." So really, that could mean anything from a separated shoulder to herpes. The Wings need him going full-tilt too, and tonight would be a fantastic time for him to re-ignite that little scoring bonanza he had going during the Western Conference Finals.

Over the last couple of days, I've been informed by nearly every media source that Gary Bettman's dream has, in fact, come true, and his Little Buddy is all but assured the Stanley Cup. This might terrify a normal person, or a fan of another team. But over the course of my fandom, I've noticed that the Wings tend to play their best hockey when their backs are against the walls. I think they thrive on being counted out. I think Mike Babcock makes them sit down and read every single word written by the naysayers. In Games 1 and 2, when everybody assumed they were done for without Datsyuk and with such a short break before the back-to-back games, they came out and got the job done. After they went up 2-0 and everyone switched around and said that they had it all but locked up, they proceeded to play like a peewee team. So now here we are, exactly where we were a week ago, except for now it's a best of three instead of a best of seven series. Pretty much everybody is expecting the Wings to go down like the Titanic. But my boys? They're not ready to let go. They get their jollies by proving that they can do things that nobody else believes they can do. Kind of like how I enjoy proving that I can lift heavy things and open jars even though people assume that a short little girl like me is helpless.

The bottom line is that the Wings are capable of winning with or without him, if everybody steps up and performs. If they sit back and play like they did in Game 4, then getting Pav back won't make any difference at all.

Now that I'm done with this post, it's time for me to commence my pre-playoff game ritual of cowering in a fetal position hugging my Steve Yzerman jersey and 2008 rally rag like security blankets. I'm tossing around the idea of pulling out all of the considerable amount of Red Wings clothing items I own and burying myself in them until game time. I understand that this is pathetic; that it's not normal. But it is what it is, and it's the only thing that gets me through the day during the playoffs.