Red Wings vs. Avalanche GP...

Red Wings: 16-7-1

Avalanche: 12-13-1

Season Series: 2-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Ducks GP...

Red Wings: 10-7-1

Ducks: 6-9-4

Season Series: 1-0

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Caption Fridays (Er...Saturday) Volume Six...

Observant readers may have noticed that this is, in fact, not Friday.  We're just going to pretend that I didn't choose to work late, take a nap, and go to a Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom dressed as Mickey Redmond in drag instead of writing this post last night.

Last week we had an anonymous winner:

"Danny, this guy won't quit staring at me grinning, it's creepin' me out!"

"I know just don't make eye contact."

This week's picture:

Caption Fridays Volume Five...

This week's winning caption comes from one of my favorites, Mr. Stabbityjones.

Stuart: "I warned you Abby. If you eat all of your Halloween candy in one sitting, you're going to get a tummy-ache."

Here's another picture from Sara Neuie to caption:

Caption Fridays Volume Two...

Here's the lovely Sara Neuie's caption from last week:

Z: Ugh, shouldn't have eaten that last cheeseburger...

Cleary: Just aim away from my skates, k?

Kronner: Gross dude.

Here's this week's photo.  Caption away!

Caption Fridays Volume One...

Raise your hand if you're excited for the start of the Wings' season!  Everyone?  Ok, good; that's what I thought.  Now raise your hand if you're excited that last season's photo caption game has been moved to Fridays.  Nobody?  Nobody?  Bueller?  Ok, well, not quite what I was hoping for.  Anyway, here's the 2011-2012 season's first installment:

This one was taken during last year's pre-season.  What are the boys up to here?

Red Wings 6, Coyotes 3: Post Game Snipes...

• Pavel Datsyuk's pass to set up Homer's goal was just ridiculous. We should be used to him doing crazy things by now, but it's impossible not to marvel at the things he does with the puck.
• Homer's shot as he was falling was equally awesome.
• Phoenix got lucky as their first goal deflected in off of Ericsson's skate.
• As distressing as Franzen being a last-minute scratch was, it's kind of nice to be able to just pop a guy like Mike Modano into the lineup like that. Mo even picked up an assist on the first goal of the game.
• Darren Helm is everywhere. He's giving the Coyotes absolute fits. They don't even know what to do with him. It's deliciously fun to watch.
• Jimmy looked shaky in the first period, but got stronger as the game went on. That's better than the reverse.
• In hindsight, these late games aren't so bad. Watching hockey in the middle of the night means that my roommates who do not get hockey at all don't have to see me during the third period of a close playoff game. It's probably for the best.
• The Wings swept the first round without Henrik Zetterberg. And they played Game Four without the Mule. That should be scary for future opponents.
• So do you think Doan wants to rethink his proclamation of Bryzgalov as the best player in the series?
• Hopefully the Wings figure out their penalty kill between now and the start of Round Two. They did at least come up with a big kill in the third when the game was tied.
• I loved Jimmy's post-gamequote: “I'll smile in June.” Swagger is a beautiful thing when it comes from the Wings.
• I've been on the leave-Phoenix side of the debate from the beginning, just from a practicality standpoint. There's no point in forcing a franchise to stay where it can't be financially successful and causing all kinds of drama. The Coyotes' salute after the handshakes and seeing Shane Doan (who I still dislike) fighting back tears before starting his post-game interview did make me feel bad for the fans who do live in Phoenix.

Hero: Dan Cleary
He had a goal and two assists, and his game-winner gave us an excuse to do the Newfie Stomp. He also led the team in shots and was buzzing all night.

Villain: Shane Doan
Why does he hate Nick Lidstrom?

Final Thought:
This long wait for Round Two should give my blood pressure a nice break.

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

• I love it when I can snag a good feed.
• That chance Mule missed in the dying seconds of the second period was killer. At least he capitalized on his chance at the end.
• The next time a Wing goes down after blocking a shot is more than likely going to send me into cardiac arrest.
• I really dislike playing the Devils.
• Isn't it nice when the Wings manage to not give up boatloads of goals?

Hero: Darren Helm
That kid knows how to kill a penalty. Plus, he found some hands and finished on a nice break.

Villain: Brian Rolston
For tying the game up and making us sweat for the next two periods until the Wings took the lead back.

Final Thought:
The next time the Wings suit up, there lineup will most likely include Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary. I'd say that's an upgrade.

Red Wings 4, Wild 1: Post Game Snipes...

• I didn't get to watch the first ten minutes of the game thanks to yet another round of DVR problems, but the rest of the game looked fantastic. The Wings haven't played like that much lately.
• Both of their first period goals were banked in off of the goalie. That's got to be frustrating for the Wild.
• It was nice to see Draper get his first goal of the season.  I've always liked the guy.
• Homer scored another classic Homer goal. It was actually kind of an impressive feat that he was able to get his stick on the puck at all.
• When I was watching the late-night game replay, they showed the team leaving the ice during the second intermission. As Dan Cleary walked toward the camera, I wanted to try to warn him to dodge that slapshot later on in the game. I'm going to chalk that up to it being almost 3 am.
• Seriously though, losing the team's leading scorer (at the time of his injury) and its leading goal scorer in the same week is killer. It's especially bad with all of the games packed so closely together now. I just hope Cleary can regain the scoring form he had when he comes back from the injury.
• Kindl didn't do anything terribly noticeable in his first game back. That's always a good thing for a rookie defenseman.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
I think this is the third game in a row that he's been up here. (I suppose I could go check...) He's absolutely stepped up in Datsyuk's absence. Without Dan Cleary in the lineup, he's going to have to be even better.

Villain: Eric Nystrom
He was trying to challenge Brad Stuart to a stupid fight during the second period in an attempt to change the tide of the game. Luckily, Stuey didn't take the bait.

Final Thought:
Alright, who got a time machine for Christmas and sent us back to last December with the injury plague? Not cool, sunshine, not cool.

Red Wings 5, Canucks 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• I was planning on going to the Joe tonight with student rush tickets, but when we got there, we discovered that it was already sold out. We ended up at a freezing cold bar in Greektown instead.
• Pav's been the Wings' best player this season, and losing him for a month is killer. Luckily, I was at Astoria when I got the bad news, so delicious baked goods were within reach. What had begun as a victory celebration at the bakery turned into the ever-so-rare celebratory/eat-your-feelings pastry excursion.  Thank god for carrot cake.
• I already miss Pav...the most.
• We were quite amused (after it was over, of course) by the play when Jimmy Howard was way out of the net and Rig was left to play goalie. It was terrifying at the time, but we got a good laugh out of it.
• Except for that one play with Rig as a goalie, the beginning of the game was all Wings.
• Look, it's a Homerfly!

• You know what's awesome about being a Red Wings fan? Sitting back after an exciting overtime victory and picking apart all of the things your team did poorly during the game.
• Our reaction to Fil's goal went something along the lines of, “Wait, he shot the puck? Are you sure that was Flippy?”
• Dan Cleary continues to amaze everyone.
• Luongo should've made the save on Z's overtime goal. I would've been pretty upset with Jimmy if that shot had gone in at the other end of the ice.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
Two goals on the night are usually enough to earn a guy hero status.

Villain: Mikael Samuelsson
He's on my list now for sure. As if tripping Pav when he broke his hand/wrist wasn't enough, Sammy had to go and add a goal later.

Final Thought:
Fil, Mule, and Hudler all need to do more to make up for missing Pav for the next few weeks. Zetterberg needs to be as dominant as he was tonight for the rest of his fellow Eurotwin's absence.

Red Wings 0, Kings 5: Post Game Snipes...

• My little sister and I braved the weather to head down to the Joe tonight (Huge thanks to Petrella and Sara) to watch that disaster. After risking life and limb venturing out onto the roads, we would've appreciated it if the Wings had at least scored a goal.
• I didn't realize that the game was on Versus until after I got home. Driving down to the Joe was worth it just so I didn't have to sit through their telecast.
• This third-period picture of Salei pretty much sums up the game.
  
  
  
• I'm currently riding an 0-2 streak at the Joe. The Wings have been outscored 10-2 in those two games. This makes me sad.
• I noticed Jiri Hudler doing decent things a few times tonight. Interestingly, he and Dan Cleary were the only two Wings who didn't have negative +/- ratings in the game.
• This was one of those games that just kills me. The Wings had 51 shots on Quick and not a single one of them went in the net. Every season, the Wings have one or two games that play out just like that and it still frustrates me to no end.
• Going into the third, it was nice feeling like the Wings had a legitimate chance to tie the game up. Last season, I would've written the game off as a sure loss at that poing. What a difference a year makes.
• The building was half empty tonight thanks to the weather. It was the sparsest crowd I've ever seen there, pre-season included. While it's always nice to see the Joe full, I have to admit that I enjoyed the short lines for bathrooms and concessions. Think about this: we had time to hit the bathroom, take a whole lap of the building, visit the concession stand, and make it back to our seats for the start of the next period. Those of you who are familiar with the Joe know that that should be physically impossible.

Hero: N/A

Villain: Jonathan Quick
There's nothing worse than seeing your team get shut out in their own building.

Final Thought:
There was not nearly enough butter on the popcorn we bought during the second intermission. It just added another layer of fail to the game. At least the donut we got from Timmy's was good.

PS. I wish post #FIVE-HUNDRED would've been about something happier.  I can't believe I made it this far.

Red Wings 4, Ducks 0: Post Game Snipes...

• I didn't get to watch this one live thanks to work, but thanks to the modern miracle of DVR technology (and the fact that I instructed my little sister to guard my scheduled recording with her life), I still got to see the Wings shut out the Ducks by a score of 4-0 for the second time this season. This game wasn't nearly as much fun as the first 4-0 win, but I'll take what I can get.
• Stop wearing your ugly third jerseys when you play the Wings! Even better: stop making ugly third jerseys in general. Ugliness aside, it's a smart business decision—if you're using them as a pull for extra attendance, don't waste them on a night when the Wings would've already drawn in extra fans for you anyway. Wear them when you play the Coyotes. Or just burn them. One or the other.
• The Wings got off to a pretty good start with Johan Franzen's goal less than two minutes into the game. They had the Ducks on their heels for most of the first period after that.
• Oh, Helm...you and your lack of finish. One of these days you're going to get some hands.
• The second period was much slower for the Wings. Anaheim took over late in the first after their powerplays and carried that momentum over to the next period. The Wings weathered the storm, though, thanks to Jimmy Howard and managed to add to their lead.
• We picked on Homer a little bit during this week's episode of TP:60. I like to think that inspired him to score his goal tonight. I'm sure he's a regular listener.
• Congrats to Henrik Zetterberg for picking up his 500th career point. It's fitting that the assist came on a Circus line goal.
• Hey, Corey Perry: you lose at life. (And hockey.)
• Were there any Ducks fans in the building tonight? The cheering was ridiculously loud after the Wings scored. That's got to be pretty embarrassing for the Ducks fans who were in attendance, although probably to a lesser degree than actually being a fan of a team that employs Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
• Dan Cleary just keeps on rolling. I love it. I also loved his candidness during his second intermission interview.
• I was amused by the play near the end of the game where Zetterberg lost his stick and made a kick pass to center the puck. It would've been sweet if Cleary had scored on it.
• Filppula's goal with less than a minute left made me laugh. I loved the scoreboard symmetry to the season opener.

Hero: Jimmy Howard
It's really hard to not get the top honors when you pitch a shutout. He looked sharp tonight and more than earned his breather tomorrow.

Villain: Corey Perry
Anaheim would instantly become 8000% more likeable if he no longer played for them.

Final Thought:
When the Wings play the Ducks, I find myself inordinately distracted by Hiller's helmet. A large part of me wants to hate it, but there's also a part of me that thinks it's exceedingly awesome. I guess I'm still on the fence about it.

Red Wings 5, Sharks 3: Post Game Snipes...

• Aren't you all glad the game went on as scheduled? After several hours of wondering whether or not the Wings were going to be able to play tonight due to a power outage in the Sharks' building, we finally got word through Twitter that the problem had been fixed and the game was on.
• The Wings got off to a bit of a slow start in the defensive zone, making way more turnovers than were necessary. Jimmy Howard made some good saves to hold down the fort until they got their act together.
• The Wings got a powerplay goal from Dan Cleary early on. I'm pretty sure the puck ended up in the back of the net because the Sharks were still confused about the fact that the Wings had just gotten a powerplay. After the playoff series last season, I'm guessing they thought that the rule book had been amended to prohibit that occurrence.
• This was one of those games during which all I could do was shake my head at the Eurotwins. They do ridiculous things with the puck every single game, and on those nights when they really dial it up, watching them go to work is glorious.
• Pavel Datsyuk's goal was just pretty. He embarrassed the Sharks' defensemen as he danced right through them and then finished the play with a shot into the wide-open net from a bad angle.  After the goal, Ken Daniels yelled, "He dangles, and snipes!" Just saying...
• Zetterberg looked like a baseball player as he swatted his first goal out of mid-air. The hand-eye coordination needed to do that is pretty impressive.
• San Jose's second goal should've been goaltender interference. Last time I checked, sitting on goalies wasn't allowed...unless you're Colton Orr. If Tomas Holmstrom so much as gives the goalie a dirty look, he's called for interference.
• Patrick Eaves scored. I guess you wouldn't know that he plays ping pong.
• Z's second goal was set up by a beautiful pass from Datsyuk. As I've already said...amazing stuff. Just amazing.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
We were all pulling for him to snag us some free curly fries roast beef sandwiches tonight. The fact that he didn't trigger the Arby's promo doesn't take away from his four-point performance, though. He was phenomenal, as was his partner in crime, Pavel Datsyuk.

Villain: Scott Nichol
He ended up with four penalty minutes for going after Kronwall late in the third period. Kronner obviously had no interest in fighting. Good job, dude.

Final Thought:
I could watch the Eurotwins play hockey 24/7 and never for one second be bored.

Red Wings 5, Flames 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• Friday night, it was the fourth liners who were featured on the scoresheet. Tonight, it was the stars who took over. Franzen, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Lidstrom each found the back of the net. That's a pretty awesome list.
• The Wings went three-for-seven on the powerplay tonight. It was nice to see them convert later on since there were so many missed opportunities in the first period. With the two late-game penalties that went against Calgary, it would've been a major failure if the Wings hadn't been able to convert to tie the game.
• Dan Cleary left the game after getting wrecked against the boards in the corner. There's still no word on his injury, but I'm guessing it won't be happy since he didn't return. Someone should start tracking players who are on the receiving end of big hits. Whereas Lidstrom almost never gets rocked, it seems like Dan Cleary gets laid out at least once every game. It's like he needs some convex mirrors mounted on the side of his helmet or something.
• Ericsson also left the game briefly after blocking a shot with his ankle. He was helped to the dressing room, but came back to finish the game. That was a relief because he's actually been playing well lately.
• The Wings' first intermission naptime evidently ran over because they were totally flat-footed at the beginning of the second when they allowed Calgary to take over the game.
• Defensive zone turnovers came back to bite the Wings again tonight in a big way.
• Datsyuk's goal was the result of his best Tomas Holmstrom impression.
• Zetterberg's first goal came off of another strong play on the puck. Z had a really quiet stretch there where it seemed like he was drifting, but lately he's been working his way through the defense with strength better.
• The last-second tying goal was a classic Eurotwins goal. It was even more exciting because when Calgary cleared the zone right before it, I said to my dog, “Well, that's game.” Then Datsyuk broke in, danced through the defense, and dished it off to Zetterberg for the shot. I loved the waterbottle pop, too. It made it that much more dramatic.
• Abdelkader threw a nice, clean hit at one point and then got jumped after the whistle by a Flame who felt that he needed to get revenge. They ended up getting offsetting minors for roughing. What a stupid mentality.
• Bert got a double minor midway through the third when he took an interference call and then was slapped with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (most likely for being named Todd Bertuzzi). I figured that was the end of the Wings' chances since even if they killed all four minutes off, they'd be eating up a huge amount of time off the clock. Shortly afterward, though, Calgary took a penalty of their own and Zetterberg scored on the ensuing four-on-four. All in all, it was a much better result from Bert's penalties than I was envisioning.

1. The Wings have managed to pull three out of four possible points over the last couple of games while not really looking good enough to earn them. Here's hoping they'll actually show up to play a full game. The early start has me less-than-optomistic.
It was another typical early start. If someone understands the Wings' problems with games that don't begin at 7 or 7:30, I'd love an explanation.

2. Jimmy Howard didn't have his best game on Friday night. How will he rebound today?
Four goals against isn't great, but I wouldn't rag on him too much. One of them could've been a little soft, but the defense didn't really do him many favors tonight.

3. I'm still looking for the top line to get going again. The Eurotwins have really quieted down lately and the Wings are going to need them to get scoring again.
They took over the game in the third period in true Eurotwins fashion. It was the best they've looked in a few games.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
His two third period goals sent the game to overtime and set the Wings up to win the game. His last-second tying goal was as exciting as they come.

Villain: Jarome Iginla
It was so nice of him to regain his scoring touch just in time to face the Wings.

Final Thought:
The Wings have come out flat three games in a row. In those three games, they've picked up five out of a possible six points. Think the rest of the league is scared?

Red Wings 3, Wild 4 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• I swear the Wings are trying to kill me. They waited until I was driving down the highway to tie the game and take the lead.
• This recap is going to be even more jumbled than usual because due to real life commitments, more DVR deletion issues, and the lateness of the FSD replay, I watched the game in this order: last ten minutes of the third-overtime-second period-first ten minutes of the third-first period.
• In the pre-game, Ken Daniels said that if you knew that Cal Clutterbuck was leading the Wild with 6 goals, you were a true hockey fan. I knew that. To be fair, it was only because the random number generator landed on his number for my GP, but I did know it. There you go: the Ken Daniels stamp of approval.
• This wasn't Jimmy's best night. He's been on a roll lately, so he was bound to have an off-night at some point and he just didn't look as sharp as he usually is.
• So since when did Rig learn how to play defense?
• Is it really necessary to say, “Here comes Helm with good speed?” It seems kind of redundant.
• Dan Cleary's goal-scoring streak finally came to an end tonight, but he still leads the team with nine goals on the season. Who called that at the beginning?
• Cal Clutterbuck had the audacity to score a goal after I was kind enough to feature him in the Point and Laugh section of today's GP. Wait, hmm...okay.
• Minnesota's first goal came right after Zetterberg's penalty expired, but for all intents and purposes, it might as well have been a powerplay goal. Even though he was out of the box, Z never got back into the play.
• Ken Daniels mentioned that Helm was the only Wings forward without a goal at least two-hundred times. I'm pretty sure Helm finally went out and scored just to get him to stop.
• Was it just me, or did it seem like Lidstrom's targeting computer was a little off tonight?
• I hate the trap. I just thought everyone should know that.
• The Wild really turned things on towards the end of the third period. I wasn't at all surprised when they scored. You could just kind of feel it coming.
• Patrick Eaves scored the go-ahead-goal during the third period. Drew Miller “scored” on Wednesday. Not bad for a couple of guys rotating in and out of the lineup.
• I really think the first intermission interview was the first time I've ever heard Ruslan Salei speak.
• The Eurotwins looked uncharacteristically out of synch tonight.
• The two goal reviews tonight were some of the most pointless reviews I've ever seen.

1. The Minnesota Wild bore me. I know that's not nice, but I'm pretty sure everybody but Minnesota fans agree with me.
Okay, there's no way Minnesota fans can't recognize how boring their team is. The folks in Minny are supposed to be smart hockey people, so they've got to see it too.  I can't fathom watching 82 whole games of that.

2. The powerplay had a bit of a resurgence during the third period last game. I'm hoping that'll be a spark that gets them going. Babcock is mixing up the units for tonight, so maybe they'll start to build some momentum.
It converted again when Johan Franzen scored during the third period. There's still a lot of room for improvement. Missing that five-on-three opportunity earlier in the game was unfortunate.

3. I want to see the top line get going again like they were at the start of the season. Will they be able to get back to dominance against a weaker Wild team tonight?
It was another quiet night for the Eurotwins. It's not a noticeable issue since the Wings are still picking up points, but you can't count on getting two goals from your fourth line every game.

Hero: Darren Helm
He was hustling all night long on the fourth line. He finally netted his first goal of the season meaning that all of the Wings forwards have now recorded at least one goal. Plus, he was thoughtful enough to score before I got in the car so there was no dangerous swerving.

Villain: John Madden
He sealed the deal with a goal in OT. The Wings had been looking pretty good through overtime until that point.

Final Thought:
I enjoyed the Wings' last game against the Wild much more than this one.

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.

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

• Bert's goal came on a shot that was just nasty. I could watch the replay all day long.
• Shortly afterward, Mule attempted the same shot Bert scored on from the other side of the rink like he was playing a game of H-O-R-S-E. Sadly, he was not successful. I guess that means he gets an H.
• Lidstrom extended his point streak to 11 games. Pavel Datsyuk did not.
• After two periods of total domination, the Wings decided to stop skating during most of the third. After Colorado finally got on the board, they really turned things up for a while and I thought they were going to score again and really make things interesting. The Wings looked a little better during the last five minutes.
• There was only one commercial break during the third period. It didn't come until 3:20 left in the period. If I'm not mistaken, the teams played almost nine minutes without a whistle.
• Eaves took a holding penalty in the third period. He definitely didn't get his money's worth for that one.
• Dan Cleary has been unstoppable lately. He's scored in five straight games now.

1. Jiri Hudler finally made an impact in the game on Thursday. Was that enough to wake him up and get him going or is he going to go back to being invisible again tonight?
The little guy finally put a puck in the net. Well, actually, he banked it in off of Budaj's skate. The result is all that really matters, though. Here's hoping he's finally going to look like the player the Wings thought they were getting back this season.

2. Now that Mule finally netted #100, is he going to go on one of his tears again? I certainly hope so.
Franzen picked up an assist on TAWD's powerplay goal in the first period. He didn't manage to score any of his own, but he looked threatening. It would've been nice to have seen him capitalize on that breakaway he #Eavesed.

3. Courtney, one of the co-founders of the other blog I write for—Chicks Who Give a Puck—is an Avs fan. In light of that, I think it'd be fun if everyone spent the day tweeting her to let her know where your allegiance lies for tonight's game. She's a good sport, so give her some good-natured joshing today. I'll let you know if we're still on speaking terms in the recap tonight.
Now that the game is over, we're all on the same side again. Liz, Ellen, and I get to retain CWGAP bragging rights now, though.

Hero: TAWD Bertuzzi
This was one of those nights when Bert looked like a giant (maybe a viking? A giant viking?) pillaging his way through some peaceful little medieval village. He was blasting through town, out-muscling the men, and rounding up kittens like a takeout meal.

Villain: John-Michael Liles
He broke the shutout in the third period. It added a little drama to the game and made things interesting, but it would've been nice to see Jimmy pick up the shutout.

Final Thought:
The Wings just keep on rolling.

Red Wings 6, Oilers 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Well, that was fun. The Wings started the game flying like bullets downtown (har dee har har) and never gave Edmonton a chance to get going. This was one of those wins where you sit back and relax because, well, the Wings are going to win. It's kind of the equivalent of putting your car in cruise control on the highway.
• I think Mickey Redmond said, “hot to trot,” at the beginning of the game. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds terrible.
• The clips of players thanking the veterans were nice, but incredibly awkward. My favorite was Jimmy Howard's. The sideways glance at the end sealed it.
• Hey, Jiri Hudler, welcome back to the NHL. How was Russia?
• You know what I liked about most of the goals the Wings scored tonight? They were ugly goals. They were scored from close range with traffic in front of the net. The Wings have a tendency sometimes to try to get too cute and make the highlight reel fancy pants plays, but goals like the ones from tonight win playoff games.
• Dan Cleary is the frontrunner for the title of Most Improved Over Last Season on the Wings.
• Bertuzzi's play to set up Cleary's second goal was impressive. Didn't Chris Chelios switch his hands on the stick like that on the point from time to time? I'm not sure I've ever seen it actually result in a goal, though.
• Penalty shots make for great drama, but when you have a great offensive team like the Wings, it almost seems like a waste.
• Immediately before Franzen scored I was telling my friend that he'd been stuck on goal number 99 for a while and that if he scored, he was liable to go on a tear. As soon as I finished talking, he swatted the puck into the net. You could kind of sense that he was going to do something good tonight. He was flying right from the start.
• Tomas Holmstrom was doing his usual Homer thing in front of the net tonight.  He was rewarded with a pair of goals.  
• I find it oddly amusing when Pavel Datsyuk hits people. I don't even know why. It just makes me laugh for some reason. I kept rewinding the part where he knocked Dustin Penner down over and over again on the DVR.

1. The Edmonton Sun posted a game preview article that featured this as the intro: “Welcome to Detroit, where the forecast, as always, is muggy, with a chance of murder. When you’re trying to breathe a little life back into your year, this is not the place to visit. And not just because they use more white chalk at crime scenes than they ever did in the schools.” There's nothing like a good old knee-slapping murder joke to introduce an article about hockey. I hope the Wings live up to their billing in the article and dominate Edmonton like they did last week.
I spent the evening downtown (although sadly not at the game), and the only thing I saw outlined in chalk was the Oilers' season (see what I did there?). Okay, to be fair, there was also a chalkboard at Astoria, so I guess there were things outlined there. I'm pretty sure the chalk was yellow, although I'll be the first to admit that I was a little distracted by the delicious and fattening (for you, Neuie) baked goods.

2. Mike Babcock was shuffling lines in practice yesterday. Will changing things up help spark things?
I'd say that six goals counts as a spark.

3. Brian Rafalski's return made an immediate impact on Monday. How will he look in his second game back?
The defense didn't really have a whole lot to do tonight. Rafalski was just fine.

Hero: Dan Cleary
That dude has been on fire.

Villain: Dustin Penner
It was hard to pick a villain for this one. There really wasn't a whole lot of hockey-related stuff to hate on. I went with Penner for breaking the shutout and netting the Oilers' first goal.

Final Thought:
This is totally unrelated to hockey, but after we ate dinner downtown, my friend and I were standing on the edge of the street waiting for traffic to clear. A helpful homeless man saw us waiting and decided to assist us in crossing the street by jumping in front of a bus and telling it to stop. I really thought the bus was going to run him over and was actually reaching for my phone in case I needed to call 911. The bus managed to stop, and the guy stood there in front of it waving us across the street. We were quite content to just wait for the crossing signal, but he insisted that we cross and we obliged since he had just had a near-death experience in order to get us on our way. According to him, he runs this whole town, so it was no problem.  Just another day in Detroit.

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

• Abby got the scoring kicked off early with his second goal of the season. Getting him back in the lineup has made a huge impact on the third line.
• Jiri Hudler, on the other hand, didn't really do a whole lot on the fourth line.
• My rant of the night centers around the two second period fights. Both of them were for stupid reasons. What was worse was the way the linesmen jumped in to break them up. In the first fight, Ericsson was dominating until the linesman grabbed him and tied him up so he couldn't get his arms free. Brule took that opportunity to land several punches while Rig couldn't defend himself. It was dangerous. The exact same thing happened during the second fight, except that time it was the linesman tying up the Oiler. If a fight's going to be broken up, both guys need to be tied up. Otherwise you're just asking for trouble.
• You know what else is stupid? The instigator rule.
• Khabibulin made a spectacular, highlight-reel save as he was laying flat on his back and reached up and batted a puck over the top of the net. It had everyone sitting around in my living room yelling in amazement.
• Jimmy Howard continued to be lights out. It was about this time last season when we all decided that he was worthless and was just filling a spot on the bench until one of the other prospects was ready to take over. My what a long way he's come.

1. The big mystery is who will be sitting tonight. Did the third line's performance on Wednesday change Babcock's mind about putting Hudler back in the lineup? Will he replace a fourth-liner? Will he sit Modano after he played his best game of the season?
Drew Miller drew the short end of the stick and had to sit out tonight. Hudler didn't accomplish a whole lot in his return to the lineup. It'll be interesting to see who ends up sitting tomorrow night. I would've bet on Modano with it being the second game of a back-to-back, but he's played much better the last couple of games. It might be hard to sit him now.

2. The other question mark is Johan Franzen. He sat out practice yesterday, and is iffy for the game tonight. Will he be able to go?
He was indeed in the lineup, but didn't contribute much offensively. The second line was pretty quiet tonight.

3. The Oilers are last in the Conference. Usually the Wings don't bring their A-game for matches like this. Will we get to see the team that dominated Calgary on Wednesday, or are they going to sleep through the start of the game?
I thought it was a good effort all around. It wasn't quite as dominating as the game on Wednesday, but the Wings got the job done.  Even when it was tied, the Oilers never really seemed to be in the game.

Hero: Dan Cleary
He ended up with a goal and two assists for the night. It's nice to see him finally getting rewarded for the hard work he's been putting in on the ice. The last couple of games have really showcased how valuable he can be.

Villains: Don Henderson and Jay Sharrers
Breaking up those fights the way they did was just wrong. Stupid, dangerous, and wrong.

Final Thought:
I love how much happier this season makes me than last year's did.

Weekly Wrap-Up Volume Two...

Caption Mondays: My favorite caption this week was submitted by Sara from A Neuie Perspective. Hide your kittens, Cleary!

C Bear: What do you mean by am I looking for a cat-sitter?
TAWD: Oh nothing, just curious...
Eaves: Uh oh, not this again
Salei:*cough* Don't do it *cough*

Trivia Tuesdays: Andy won this week's trivia quick draw. That makes the leaderboard:

Andy: 2
The rest of the world: 0

It's my understanding that Andy is literally online every waking moment, so challenging him for the lead here is going to be tough. The question this week was: The Wings are tied for the league record for fewest goals scored in a seven-game playoff series. Who did they play? How many goals did the Wings score?

Answer: The Wings faced the Leafs in 1945. Each team scored nine goals in the seven-game series. Sadly, Toronto ended up winning Game Seven.