Red Wings vs. Sharks GP...

Red Wings: 5-2-0

Sharks: 4-3-0

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

Red Wings: 5-1-0

Blue Jackets: 0-7-1

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

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

• How great did it feel to drop the puck on the new season? Birds were singing, there were rainbows, and unicorns frolicked in my living room. Actually, that's a lie. It was pouring outside and I was trying to clean pizza sauce off of the couch when the game started, but that's how I felt in my mind.
• I pretty much love Budd Lynch. His voice makes me happy. Sometimes I wonder if the players slip him cash to mispronounce their buddies' names as a joke. That's what I'd do if I was a hockey player, anyway. Either way, I love it.
• I think Ozzie's officially the most beloved goaltending coach of all time, judging by his introduction tonight.
• The pre-game ceremony with Brad McCrimmon's family was nice. It was super sweet (and a little heartbreaking) when his son put on the jersey that he was presented.
• If I had to predict which one of the Wings would give the most awkward hugs, I'd choose Pavel Datsyuk.
• It's a good thing that they switched to those low-energy goal lights at the Joe before the opener what with the Wings scoring five goals and all.
• I know some people want to panic about the three goals that the Wings gave up towards the end of the game, but I'd like them to take a deep breath and a chill pill (yeah, I actually used that phrase). They let up on a big lead late in the game against a lousy team. Of course, in an ideal world, the team would be absolutely flying for every minute of every game, but that would only be realistic if they were all robots. Nick Lidstrom aside, that's just not the case. Let's wait and see for a few more games before we start hyperventilating, ok?
• Speaking of Lidstrom, Datsyuk's apparently been teaching some of his dangling tricks. He pulled a nice move waltzing in on Anderson for his goal.
• Cory Emmerton is evidently the first Red Wing in possession of a Twitter account to score a goal in an NHL game. Because you needed to know that.
• I liked pretty much everything about Bert's goal.
• So how about those special teams, eh?
• We're only one game in, but consider me sold on the Ian White signing. He was impressive all night. I will, however, continue to call him Not-Kirk-Maltby until further notice because I don't handle change very well. That's what happens when you take over the number of one of my childhood icons.
• Please, pretty please let Hudler continue doing what he did tonight all season long.

Final Thought:
There is nothing worse than spending the hockey off-season in Florida. I'd take a never-ending Michigan winter with permanent hockey season over four hockey-less months in this live-in oven.

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Four GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• One game at a time—If Philly could do it last season, who's to say that the Wings can't?
• Pride—Please, for the love of the Hockey Gods, don't go down with a sweep.
• Franzen—This is the game where he's supposed to go crazy and play like an unstoppable machine according to last season's series blueprint.

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

1-2-3, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Blackhawks GP...

Red Wings: 46-24-10

Blackhawks: 43-28-9

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

10-26-36, +/- -5, 28 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Patrick Sharp

34-35-69, +/- -3, 36 PIM

Red Wings 4, Maple Leafs 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Hey, look, I'm actually writing a game recap! This one comes to you courtesy of the fact that I have to work in the morning and had to skip a night out with my roomies. And also my rage over the Lupul goal/Howard's injury. It's always nice to put a good rant down on paper (or, you know, the internet) every once in a while.
• The first was one of the best periods I've seen the Wings play in a while. Passes were crisp. Their puck possession was dominant. Even though it ended tied at one, the Wings looked to be in control.
• The second was a little rockier, and the Wings found themselves in penalty trouble toward the end.
• They took a 2-1 lead into the premature intermission thanks to a classic Homer deflection in front of the net. How sad is it that his first reaction to the goal was to look over at the ref to make sure he wasn't going to wave it off?
• Since Dion Phaneuf's shot broke a pane of glass during a Toronto powerplay with a couple of minutes left in the second, the teams took intermission early to avoid a long delay. This kind of played in Toronto's favor since they got clean ice for the second half of their powerplay, but it ended up not mattering. The Wings took another penalty right before the carryover time wound down anyway.
• The real disaster came in the third period when Jimmy Howard went down with an injury. I've got some ranting to do about the ensuing goal, but I'd happily spot the Leafs ten such goals if it meant that Jimmy finished the game healthy. All this talk of the Baby Pegger (who, despite being my favorite goalie prospect for his Training Camp snipe, I have absolutely no desire to see in a Wings uniform right now) possibly being called up has me in full RSV mode.
• Just to be clear, in the NHL, this is not a goal, but this is. Listen, I like to think I'm a pretty smart lady, but I once again find myself confounded by events in an NHL game. I fail to see how a goal can be called back one night because a goalie initiated contact with a skater who was outside of the crease because of “incidental contact,” and then a few nights later, have a goal stand when a player bumped into the goalie in the crease and proceeded to fall on his back, pinning him to the ice. Take the jerseys the players are wearing out of the question. Only in the NHL does this make sense. Or at least we're supposed to think it makes sense. Or something. I'm not sure anyone really gets it.
• Luckily for the Wings (and my sanity), Jiri Hudler put them back in the lead for good with a quick shot off of a rush.  Check out this picture of his celebration at your own risk.
• Justin Abdelkader was all over the ice tonight. He must've had at least thirty brilliant chances. He didn't finish any of them, but it was a nice effort. Plus, he got into a fight after a big hit on Rafalski, which was also nice to see.
• It looks like Rafalski got lucky after the hit, as his knee brace protected him. It looked pretty bad at first though. I would've been pretty happy if that was the scariest moment of the game. Now that the playoffs are approaching, I'm becoming increasingly paranoid.
• Nick Lidstrom broke up a great scoring chance for the Leafs with a brilliant defensive play. You know, just another day at the rink for him. Sorry, boys, he's just better than you. It's not mean; it's just a fact. Please never leave us, Nick.
• On the other end of the defensive spectrum, Brett Lebda played exactly as you would expect Brett Lebda to play.  How's that Stanley Cup experience treating you now?
• Hey Maple Leafs fans: Todd Bertuzzi's empty net goal effectively ended your team's slight playoff hopes. TAWD Bertuzzi. Hahahaha. Snack on that for lunch.

Hero: Joey MacDonald
He's been astoundingly solid in his last few games, and performed admirably after taking over for Jimmy in the third. I still don't like it one bit, but I guess it does offer some glimmer of hope.

Villain: Joffrey Lupul
Bet you saw that coming, eh?

Final Thought:
This injury nonsense is making my annual post-season nervous tics come early this year.

Red Wings vs. Predators GP...

Red Wings: 43-20-8

Predators: 36-25-10

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

8-24-32, +/- -1, 24 PIM

Point and Laugh:

JP Dumont

10-8-18, +/- 3, 16 PIM

Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

Red Wings: 31-13-6

Blue Jackets: 23-22-5

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

4-4-18, +/- -7, 12 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Kristian Huselius

9-6-15, +/- -15, 8 PIM

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

• Free curly fries tomorrow! The Hobo's treating us all to lunch. I know having a hobo buy your food might seem a bit backwards, but just go with it. There are free curly fries.
• I'd like to take partial credit for the curly fry accomplishment because when I was getting ready to ski today, I reached into the inner pocket of my coat where I sometimes stash hidden treasures and forget about them (hey there, bluetooth headset that was missing for eight months), and I pulled out the curly fries coozy I got at the Big Chill.  It was fate.
• Hey, Jiri Hudler. Guess what happens when you start shooting the puck.
• I went skiing tonight, so I only got to watch the second period live. It just so happened that we went into the lodge as the puck was being dropped at the start of the second and we hung out at the bar until the next intermission. Some are convinced that this was more than a coincidence, but I assure you that it was just a happy accident. I managed to catch the third period on the late-night replay because, you guessed it, someone messed with my DVR recording again.
• I figured the Wings were sunk when they had their little three-goal implosion during the second. It was pleasantly surprising to head back out on the slopes with a tie game in Dallas.
• I get score updates texted to my phone, and my goal horn alert kept going off inside my jacket while we were out skiing. I couldn't read the texts because I would've had to take my gloves off and unzip my whole jacket to get to the phone. It was killer because we didn't know which team was scoring all of the goals. I finally caved and checked the texts and we had a nice little celebration at the top of the mountainhill.
• I really enjoy it when the Wings score seven goals.  It's a lot of fun.

Hero: Patrick Eaves
Hobo is feeding the masses tomorrow. Also, probably playing some ping pong to celebrate.

Villain: Steve Ott
I still hate him.

Final Thought:
This has nothing to do with hockey, but if you ever find yourself on a ski slope, queue up the Top Gun Anthem before you take a nice, long run. It will be epic. I promise.

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

• First of all: congrats to the old man on win #400 tonight. You kids stay off his lawn now, you hear?
• This game was a tale of two Ozzies. The second goal he gave up in the first period was incredibly typical of his play for the last two seasons. Then, he somehow found another gear and played like a crazy man for the rest of the game, looking like he did back in the '09 playoffs.
• I loved the celebration after the game. I especially loved the fact that Draper was the first one out to congratulate the old man.
• As those of you in the twitter crowd know, Jenn Ho caught Ozzie drinking a Pepsi during practice on the first day of training camp this fall. I don't think it's a coincidence that he played like that in the Pepsi Center.
• So that Jiri Hudler guy scored a goal. I'm not sure what's up with that.
• During an interview, he referred to Tomas Holmstrom as a “Swedish Terminator.” I loved it. I loved it a lot.
• How about the powerplay tonight? It was absolutely lethal.
• Did the Wings even touch the puck during the second period? It's been a while since I've seen them get worked over like that. Ozzie absolutely stole the game for them during that stretch. He was especially spectacular during the 5-on-3 kill.
• Toward the end of the game, the Wings fans in attendance got a couple of, “Ozzie! Ozzie!” chants going. I want to track each and every one of them down and hug them. Way to represent Hockeytown.
• That late-game tying goal was oh-so-reminiscent of the game against Dallas. I was crushed. I was sure the Wings were going to blow it for Ozzie. Luckily, the Wings got a powerplay late in OT and were able to salvage the victory for him.
• I'm not normally one to talk to my TV and try to vicariously coach the players (the playoffs being the obvious and understandable exception, of course), but this game had me mumbling things about shooting lanes and making shots count during OT.
• Jan Mursak wasn't terribly noticeable, which is good for a rookie making his NHL debut. The one thing (other than the penalty he took) that stood out was when he hustled back to negate a break for the Avs. It was a small play, but it stood out in my mind.
• How many times over the course of your Wings fandom has there been an odd-man rush against the Wings that's caused you to panic until that glorious moment when you realize that Nick Lidstrom is the man back? As soon as you see TPH back there, it seems like the odds are suddenly stacked in the Wings' favor, despite being outnumbered on the rush. Please don't ever leave us, Nick.

Hero: Chris Osgood
The old man stole the show tonight. It would've been good form to make him the hero on the night of his 400th win as a congratulatory measure, but this honor (Oh look, I've gone and developed an exaggerated sense of self-importance.) was earned, not given out of a sense of decorum. I want to see more of this edition of Ozzie.

Villain: Matt Duchene
He opened the scoring for the Avs in the first period, and then almost ruined the game by tying it up late in the third.

Final Thought:
Even the most die hard of Ozzie haters has to feel good for the guy tonight. It's been a long time coming.

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 vs. Stars GP...

Red Wings: 20-8-3

Stars 19-10-3

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

1-5-6, +/- -7, 8 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Tom Wandell

3-1-4, +/- 1, 6 PIM

Ozzie's got a shot at his 400th win this afternoon.  In addition to that, this is a battle for the top of the Western Conference.  The Stars can tie the Wings with two points tonight.  Here's hoping the Wings show up to play some real hockey.

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 2, Sharks 5: Post Game Snipes...

• I got a last minute invite to the game, so I headed down to the Joe straight from work. Unfortunately, I was wearing a shade of blue that was dangerously close to the Sharks' colors. Fortunately, I was also wearing an ugly, old man cardigan that covered most of it.
• Tonight was the quietest I've ever seen the Joe. Even during the first when things were going smoothly, it was quiet.
• During warmups, someone set their pop on the boards. Jiri Hudler noticed and shot the puck at it, knocking it off and spilling it all over. That was about the only good thing he did all night.
• Poor Budd Lynch must be coming down with a cold. His voice sounded awful, and kept getting worse as the game went on. He barely made it through the post-game announcements. Someone really should've gotten the man a cough drop. Feel better, Budd.
• San Jose's powerplay in the first period looked like it was moving in slow motion.
• I was pretty optimistic after the first period. The Wings looked pretty good and looked like they were getting ready to cruise to a win. Apparently they thought so too, as they proceeded to fall asleep.
• The Sharks' goals eight seconds apart just killed everything. What little crowd energy there was was gone, and even though the Wings were only down by one, it didn't seem like there was anything going.
• Why was there a dude in a Rangers jersey sitting behind the Wings' bench?
• I'm not sure if this ended up on the broadcast, but at one point, Homer took a pass at center ice right in front of the penalty boxes, and promptly fell flat on his back. The puck was scooped up by a Shark and returned to the Wings' zone. This is the conversation that ensued: “Was that Homer?” “Of course it was Homer. Who else would it be?”
• There was a trivia question posted on the big screen in which Sid Abel's name was spelled wrong. It's not like his last name is displayed prominently somewhere in the building that could be used for a spelling reference or anything.
• Hudler just isn't working. He makes me angry nearly every time he's on the ice and contributes nothing postive.
• Zetterberg was an impressive -4 on the night. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he hasn't had many games like that in his career.
• Stop being a baby when you get hit. Just because someone nailed you doesn't mean you need to fight them. Try keeping your head up next time.

Hero: Mike Babcock
“Cute-fest.” I love it. It reminds me of how I like to say, “Awww, you're so cute,” in a baby talk voice to my dad. He usually snarls and says, “There's nothing cute about me,” and tries to do something macho like pretend to be Rocky.

Villain: Dany Heatley
As this debacle was going down, I thought to myself, “well, at least Heatley's on my fantasy team.” Of course, then I realized that since I went to the game straight from work, I hadn't had a chance to set my lineup and Heatley was benched. Thanks for nothing.

Final Thought:
Bert winked and did a finger gun at some guys standing near us during warmups. There's no word on whether or not they made it home alive.

Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 2: Post Game Snipes...

• I was concerned about how the Wings would start this game since it had an early start time, but they actually looked pretty lively in the first period.
• During the pre-game show, FSD did a segment where they asked players about their hidden talents. Darren Helm's talents were walking on his hands and doing the Worm.
• I've had a long-standing suspicion that when Chris Osgood is on the bench, he's doodling instead of charting faceoffs. The hidden talents segment made me positive that I'm right, as Ozzie revealed that he likes to draw pictures.
• Jiri Hudler claimed to be a good BBQer. I'm not sure I'd want to eat something he cooked.
• The Circus line looked threatening all night. Zetterberg, in particular, had a lot of good chances and looked dominant with and without the puck. He didn't end up with any points to show for it, but it was definitely one of his best games of the season.
• We were subjected to the Blue Jackets' hideous third jerseys for the second game in a row. I'm sorry, are Wings fans being punished for something? Evidently Mickey Redmond likes them. He said something about Columbus looking like a whole different team when wearing them. Ken Daniels responded by saying that they looked like the Florida Panthers. Boom.
• Kronwall and Helm scored fourteen seconds apart in the second period. Just like that, the Wings went from trailing to being in the lead. That's what this team can do to you.
• The penalty kill in the third period was outstanding. The Wings out-worked and out-played the Blue Jackets for all of Filppula's double minor, as well as the two-minute 5-on-3 kill in the middle of it. The fans at the Joe were on their feet applauding the team. Everything about it made me smile.
• Filppula ended up with the game-winner for the second game in a row. I'm guessing his finely-tuned fashion sense finds the ugly third jerseys the Blue Jackets were wearing objectionable.
• The Wings were 0-5 on the powerplay tonight. Ouch.
• After the game, FSD showed a slo-mo replay of Jimmy Howard squirting water on his face from the water bottle. It prompted my little brother and I to laugh hysterically. Was that really something we needed to slo-mo?

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He didn't pick up any points on the evening, but he was dominant throughout the whole game. I was really convinced that he was going to score tonight. Obviously, I was wrong, but that doesn't take away from his effort.

Villain: Steve Mason
He looked like he'd been shot after Abdelkader's goalie interference penalty. The little peek he took to make sure the ref had noticed his acting was cute, too.

Final Thought:
That's not a bad way to close out Thanksgiving weekend at all.

Red Wings vs. Thrashers GP...

Red Wings: 13-3-2

Thrashers: 9-9-3

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

1-4-5, +/- -5, 6 PIM

Plus a special bonus picture:

Point and Laugh:

Zach Bogosian

1-2-3, +/- -8, 12 PIM

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 vs. Avalanche GP...

Red Wings: 10-3-1

Avalanche: 8-6-1

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?
2. Now that Mule finally netted #100, is he going to go on one of his tears again? I certainly hope so.
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.

Red Wing Zen:

Johan Franzen

7-3-10, +/- 4, 8 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Jonas Holos

0-2-2, +/- 4, 2 PIM

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, Coyotes 2 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• I don't know what the first period looked like. I also don't know what all but the final 1:22 of the second period looked like. Why? Nobody's been able to explain that to me. Somehow, the recording that I had set to begin at 7:30 didn't begin until 9:06.
• I'm told that the first two periods weren't that exciting anyway, so maybe it's better that I only got to watch the third period. Sadly, I also missed overtime for other DVR failure-related reasons.
• What I did get to see of the third period looked like solid Red Wings hockey. The Wings were carrying the play to the Coyotes and playing their standard puck-possession game.
• You know what Justin Abdelkader has done since coming back into the lineup? He's made those around him better.
• You know what Jiri Hudler has done? Nothing.
• How nice was it to see Rafalski back in the lineup?
• Zetterberg's overtime tip-in was beautiful hockey.

1. We get to see how the Wings bounce back from a less-than-stellar performance in Vancouver on Saturday tonight.
They definitely looked better in the portion of the game that I got to see. It's hard to make an assessment based on such a small sample, though.

2. How about playing a little defense tonight?
There were more turnovers than I would've liked to have seen during the third period, but it was a much improved effort over Saturday night.

3. The Wings dropped their last game against the Coyotes, so here's hoping they find a way to solve Bryzgalov this time around.
It was indeed a much happier outcome than the last time around.

Hero: Henrik Zetterberg
He came through with the winner in OT. Not only was it a pretty tip-in, but it also ensured that we wouldn't have to witness a shootout tonight.

Villain: Lee Stempniak
I still haven't witnessed the Jimmy Howard writhing in pain incident, but perhaps that's for the best. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous. And stabby.

Final Thought:
Have you ever ordered a Coke in a restaurant and gotten served a root beer? That's what it feels like to come home, sit down on the couch, and prop your feet up expecting to watch your recording of a hockey game only to discover that someone decided that you shouldn't be able to watch the Red Wings that night.