Red Wings vs. Blackhawks GP...

Red Wings: 44-22-9

Blackhawks: 40-26-8

Red Wing Zen:

Joey MacDonald

5-4-2, 2.05 GAA, .928 SV%

Point and Laugh:

Fernando Pisani

7-9-16, +/- 3, 10 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 1, Penguins 4: Post Game Snipes...

• I actually got to watch the game tonight, although the choppy feed and the fact that my internet was constantly cutting in and out made it tricky to get a good feel for the game. Still, it was live Red Wings hockey, and it made me happy.
• I ended up with the Pens feed, and at one point in the first period, their announcers described the Wings as a wounded animal that you just want to put out of its misery.
• As soon as the Wings got something going with a Mule goal off of a strong play by Zetterberg, the Pens came back and answered.
• I love Patrick Eaves, but seeing him on the top powerplay unit isn't really what I'd call awesome.
• I didn't get to see the first goal, but Joey MacDonald looked pretty decent.

Hero: Johan Franzen
He got the Wings on the board and gave them hope, albeit briefly. He had a couple of other good chances that he couldn't quite finish on.

Villain: Chris Kunitz
He ended what little momentum the Wings were able to build by scoring almost immediately after Mule cut the lead to one.

Final Thought:
At least half of the Pens' broadcast was devoted to showing clips of their most recent Cup win and talking about stats from it. Can you say, “inferiority complex?”

Red Wings 1, Thrashers 5: Post Game Snipes...

• The Wings looked awful tonight. They never even got going in the third period. It wasn't hard to predict that their habit of starting slowly and sleepwalking through large portions of games was going to catch up to them eventually.
• There were a ridiculous amount of turnovers tonight. Everybody was making them in every area of the ice.
• The blue stanchions in Atlanta annoy me.
• Joey MacDonald played the third period and wasn't awful. That's somewhat reassuring in a strange way.
• Zetterberg made some nice plays with the puck, particularly late in the game, but to no avail.

Hero: Todd Bertuzzi
He scored the Wings' only goal of the game. It got them back into the game after falling down 0-2 at the beginning. Sadly, it was only a glimmer of hope.

Villain: Andrew Ladd
He scored the killer shorthanded goal that ended up being the game-winner.

Final Thought:
I think the Wings were already thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. Not a good night, but it's not the end of the world either.