Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 5-4-0

Wild: 4-3-3

Red Wings Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 5-3-0

Wild: 3-3-3

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 3-0-0

Wild: 2-1-1

Red Wing Zen:

Point and Laugh:

Video Candy:

PS. Go Tigers!

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 45-23-10

Wild: 37-33-8

Red Wing Zen:

Ruslan Salei

2-8-10, +/- 1, 46 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Andrew Brunette

17-26-43, +/- -8, 16 PIM

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 36-16-6

Wild: 31-22-5

Red Wing Zen:

Darren Helm

7-17-24, +/- 7, 8 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Cal Clutterbuck

18-11-26, +/- 6, 36

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 vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 21-9-4

Wild: 16-13-4

Red Wing Zen:

Niklas Kronwall

7-9-16, +/- 6, 18 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Marek Zidlicky

4-14-18, +/- -1, 20 PIM

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 vs. Wild GP...

Red Wings: 12-3-1

Wild: 9-6-2

1. The Minnesota Wild bore me. I know that's not nice, but I'm pretty sure everybody but Minnesota fans agree with me.
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.
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?

Red Wing Zen:

Brian Rafalski

0-6-6, +/- 8, 2 PIM

Point and Laugh:

Cal Clutterbuck

6-0-6, +/- -2, 16 PIM

Red Wings 5, Predators 2: Post Game Snipes...

• Tonight was much more fun than Thursday was. It's always nice when the real Wings show up to play.
• I wasn't planning to go to the game, but my family attended the Hockeytown Authentic costume contest this afternoon in an attempt to win tickets. My brother and sister went in our two-person horse costume and ended up winning. Since my brother had a previous commitment, I got to be my sister's chaperone to the game. You can add our visit to Hockeytown today to the long list of ridiculous things I've done in the name of my Red Wings fandom.
• The team actually got off to a good start this time around. They slacked off a little in the second period, but still managed to hold off the Predators.
• During the second period, there was a play where Nashville had the puck at the blueline and TAWD dove at the defenseman and knocked the puck away. I have to give credit to him for making a nice defensive play, but in fairness to the Predator (I can't remember who it was), I'd give up the puck too if there was a serial killer lunging at me.
• Pavel Datsyuk is a ridiculous human being. Find me a better stick-handler in the NHL right now and I'll eat my hat.
• Jersey foul or not?
• One of the personal highlights of the game for me was introducing my little sister to the fine art of Kesler Dancing.
• There were quite a few people in costume at the Joe. My favorites were the guys dressed as the Blues Brothers who were running around high-fiving people on the concourse after the game. I also liked the dude in a Darth Vader mask that he had painted red. I though pairing it wit a Lidstrom jersey was a bit odd, since I would've thought a TAWD one would be more appropriate.

Hat Trick:
1. Ozzie's getting the start again. Here's hoping he looks better than he did on Thursday.
He looked much, much better, as did the rest of the team.

2. Nashville is inexplicably leading the division right now. Let's fix that.
Well, the Wings tied the Predators in the standings, but the Blackhawks jumped ahead with their victory over Minnesota. No worries, though. The Hawks have already played 13 games, as opposed to the Wings who've only played 9. Despite this disparity, the Hawks find themselves a mere 2 points ahead of the Wings.


3. Is the team going to show up on time for a change?
They looked much more prepared to start the game at puck drop tonight. The second period was a bit rough as they let Nashville carry the play more than any other time in the game, but they rebounded with a stronger third period.


Hero: Pavel Datsyuk
The man is on fire. He looks unstoppable out there right now. I said to my sister tonight that we're truly lucky to get to watch him play every night. Not many other guys out there can guarantee at least one moment of jaw-dropping brilliance during every game.

Villain: Shea Weber
He drilled Ozzie right in the mask near the end of the third period. Luckily Ozzie was fine, and the crowd spent the delay caused by his broken mask chanting “Ozzie! Ozzie!” just like old times. It made me smile.

Final Thought:
That game gave me some much-needed peace of mind to carry me through to Wednesday when the Wings finally play again. At least it's not Thursday, I guess.

Red Wings 6, Wild 2: Post Game Snipes and Wish List Results...

• I wanted to get this up earlier so that I could help those of the 19 who are having a little bit of difficulty piecing together last night’s events, but then I ended up sleeping until 2pm.
• First off: Last night was epic in every sense of the word. I loved meeting everybody, and I’m so excited that most of you turned out not to be serial killers. Everyone was fantastic, and I enjoyed literally every minute of the night/morning.
• Herm was treated like royalty by the Wings organization. The lengths to which they went to make this event happen were incredible. My brother called me and asked if Herm was an ambassador or a dignitary when he saw all of the great things the team did for him.
• At Hockeytown, one of the Wings’ staff, Nicole, informed me that after reading my post about the TweetSuite back in the fall, she had printed it out and given it to Steve Yzerman to read. I just about died. I’m still in awe of that.
• Prior to the game, I had this horrible feeling that there was going to be some sort of disputed goal that would result in the 19 turning into an angry mob and setting fire to the building before hijacking a freighter out in the river and sailing to a remote hideaway in the UP. To the surprise of absolutely no one, early in the first period, such an event almost transpired. The Wild apparently scored a goal that nobody in the stands saw enter the net. The play went to review, and even though I received text messages from home assuring me that the puck did not cross the line, I have no faith in the NHL’s review system. The 19 were getting restless. Torches and Molotov cocktails were starting to appear out of purses and pants. Shockingly, though, the call was reversed and was ruled to not be a goal. I was amused at how stunned we all were in the stands.
• The rest of the first period wasn’t particularly memorable. I was pretty concerned that the Wings hadn’t managed to convert on any of their powerplays during the first, since I figured even-out calls would be on their way.
• During the first intermission Malik got to ride the zamboni. He took one of the Bill-on-a-sticks with him. It was epic.
• Also during the first intermission, Lola passed out tin foil hats to our whole crew. I can only imagine what the people around us were thinking.
• As soon as we donned our hats, the Wings scored four goals. Coincidence? I think not.
• While wearing the hats, I figured out why we use them to cover things that are being baked. My head was on fire. My friend, Gabi, who is best known for getting her foot stuck in the back of the seat at the Joe in December, and I got a lot of questions about our headwear out on the concourse during intermission. I tried to explain, but people’s eyes kind of glazed over when I started talking about bloggers and insults and disallowed goals.
• I really, really, really wanted Franzen to complete his hat trick so that we could all show up to Arby’s together to receive our hard earned free curly fries. Alas, it was not to be.
• As far as I know, all but one of the LGRW chants started in the building last night originated in our section. If there was any doubt as to whether we’re the best fans ever, I think it’s safe to say that it’s long gone now.
• We sang Happy Birthday to Jimmy at least three times throughout the night. I was really disappointed that nobody else joined in, even after it was announced on the scoreboard.
• Several of us ended up stranded under the overhang at Cobo hoping that Hockeytown was sending another round of shuttles. Eventually we made it back to the restaurant, but it took quite a bit of pacing up and down the sidewalk, dodging taxis in the street, and debating about the best strategy to safely return to the Café.
• Herm got to go down to the locker room and meet Darren Helm. He got his stick, some game pucks, and an autograph on his jersey.
• We couldn’t get seated at Hockeytown so after milling around in the lobby for a while, we migrated over to the Town Pump a block away.
• This was the first time I’ve closed a bar in years. Years.
• Once the lights came on, we weren’t done yet, so some folks headed over to Greektown in search of some gyros. We parked in the casino parking garage and managed to get lost on the gambling floor and yelled at for trying to take a picture with the Bill-on-a-stick that I somehow ended up with. Once we found our way down to the ground floor, we got to take a walking tour of Greektown since we were on the opposite side of the building from the restaurant. We were denied entry to the New Parthenon because they apparently close at exactly 2:34am. Even though half of our group had gotten seated a couple of minutes before we got there, they wouldn’t let us in. Lame.
• Instead, we went to the first open restaurant that we found, and ended up at the Laikon Café. We had a fantastic time there, and our waiter was awesome.
• I finally made it to bed at 6am after having been up for 25 hours straight. It was just about 24 hours since I had left for work on Friday morning.
  

Wishlist:

• Todd Bertuzzi scores a hat trick and then winks rakishly at Petrella in the stands.
  No hat trick from Bert, but I think I captured him mid-wink on the way to the penalty box in the third period:
  
  

• My friend who is joining us gets her foot stuck in a chair at the Joe to the amusement of the entire H2H section. Again.
  I offered her five dollars to repeat her performance, but she was not willing to do it. Boo.
  

• The Megamix gets pumped.
  Did they play this? I guess I wasn’t paying that much attention.
  

• No one has to file any restraining orders against the fake internet people they just met. Don’t get me wrong, I’m coming prepared with the paperwork just in case, but I hope it doesn’t have to get put to use.
  No restraining orders. I’m pretty sure I didn’t pick up any stalkers last night. I’ve been checking out my windows regularly all day and have yet to spot anyone.
  

• A reenactment of March 26th, 1997 at the pre-game party.
  No reenactment. There’s still time at the gathering today, I guess.
  

• The people sitting near our group in the stands leave halfway through the game in terror.
  I didn’t notice anybody leaving, but the other folks in the stands had to be wondering what on earth was going on. Between Malik on the zamboni with the Bill-on-a-stick and the section of fans wearing tin foil hats, I can only assume that people thought we were on a field trip from an asylum.
  

• A round (or 19) of toasts for the Chief who is with us in spirit.
  Check.
  

• Finally getting to meet Herm and all of my other imaginary friends.
  This was so much fun. I’m normally pretty shy around people I don’t know well, but I felt right at home with all of you crazies. I don’t know if it was our shared level of insanity or the fact that on some days I twitter more with (former) strangers than people I actually know, but I had a great time.

• The Wingspan crew gets absolutely no footage appropriate enough to air on TV from the pre-game party.
  They actually did manage to put together some clips that were G-rated. So did Channels 2 and 7. Awesome. I even made it into a couple of the news clips, as did my mom.
  

• The Wings win (of course).
  Oh heck yes they did. It was glorious. Herm should be required to take up residence in Hockeytwon.
  

• Plenty of conversation about bacon, euchre, and Man Pocky.
  Check.
  

Cookies and Cupcakes for Johan Franzen
Too bad he couldn’t net that third goal or there really would’ve been pandemonium. Entire Arby’s franchises would probably have gone under if we’d showed up en masse for our free fries.

An Extra Stick tap for Darren Helm
For meeting with Herm and making his dreams come true.

Jimmy Howard gets the Golden Facepalm
Yeah, you know which goal I’m talking about. I was terrified when that went in because it let the Wild back into the game. Luckily, the Wings managed to keep going and put the game away shortly thereafter.

What I Learned:
Red Wings fans are the greatest people in the universe.

Red Wings vs. Wild Wish List...

Instead of writing a normal GP (Let’s face it; that just wouldn’t do H2H justice.), I’ve decided to write a checklist of things that I want to happen tonight. I’ll probably be adding to it throughout the day.

• Todd Bertuzzi scores a hat trick and then winks rakishly at Petrella in the stands.
• My friend who is joining us gets her foot stuck in a chair at the Joe to the amusement of the entire H2H section. Again.
• The Megamix gets pumped.
• No one has to file any restraining orders against the fake internet people they just met. Don’t get me wrong, I’m coming prepared with the paperwork just in case, but I hope it doesn’t have to get put to use.
• A reenactment of March 26th, 1997 at the pre-game party.
• The people sitting near our group in the stands leave halfway through the game in terror.
• A round (or 19) of toasts for the Chief who is with us in spirit.
• Finally getting to meet Herm and all of my other imaginary friends.
• The Wingspan crew gets absolutely no footage appropriate enough to air on TV from the pre-game party.
• The Wings win (of course).
• Plenty of conversation about bacon, euchre, and Man Pocky.
  

Wings vs. Flames GP...

1. Those games we enjoyed so much against the Wild and Sabres aren’t going to mean a whole lot if the Wings can’t pull this one off tomorrow. There’s only one question today: will they show up? This season, the Wings have had a stunning inability to rise to the occasion when these big games come up. Let’s hope that that trend reverses itself against the Flames. The big guns are going to have to show up, and the role players are going to have to bring their best game. Losing this one’s not an option.

Red Wings 3, Sabres 2 (OT): Post Game Snipes...

• The first ten minutes of the game looked like a continuation of the Minnesota game. The Wings were in vintage form, and I was as thrilled as can be. Then, oddly enough, the Wings started to sit back and allowed the Sabres back into the game.
• Pavel Datsyuk’s goal was from an incredible angle. I have no idea how he managed to put it in the net from that close to the goal line, with a defenseman in the way.
• Eaves’ goal was the result of straight up hard work. I liked it a lot.
• I skimmed through the last few minutes of the first period because my new housemate who’s moving in tomorrow showed up and we were chatting. I don’t regret anything.
• They managed to play the start of ‘Piano Man’ right at 9 o’clock. I was really amused. If I was in charge of the audio at the Joe, I know that I’d be hoping that there was a stoppage in play right at nine so that I could play it right on the dot. It’s the little things in life that amuse me.
• I really don’t like seeing Jason Williams (Who?) and Todd Bertuzzi on the ice together. It just seems like a bad idea.
• It turns out that the Sabres' tying goal came on a play that should've been blown dead because the puck hit the netting. I had no idea until that information found its way to Twitter via the Salers. FSD pointed it out later during intermission. Based on history and karma, we should expect the Wings to play the Sabres again this time next year and score a goal on an eerily similar play off the netting. At least that's what happened when San Jose was the beneficiary of a missed call like that two seasons ago, only to see the Wings get retribution almost exactly one year later on a bounce like that. See folks, this is why we believe in the Hockey Gods.
  
• The Sabres rang a shot off the post late in the third period that I was 100% sure was in the net. I was so sure that I started yelling at my TV for half a second. Luckily, I was wrong.
• That overtime goal was pure Olympic Rafalski. I’m sure Ryan Miller was wishing that they were still on the same side.
• I was a lot happier to see R. Miller give up an OT goal this time around.
• This game brought the Wings dead even in the goals for/against category. That makes me sad.
  
• All in all, I’d say that this was a pretty typical ’09-’10 Wings game.
  

GP Answers:
1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?
Drew wins! Sure he didn’t score on his brother, but I have a feeling he’d rather have these two points in the standings.

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?
How nice is it that the Wings have a powerplay again? They’ve got a nine-game conversion streak going on right now. In those nine games, they’re 6-2-1. I guess that’s what a real, live powerplay does for a team, eh?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?
He wasn’t nearly at the level we saw on Thursday, but he was definitely more visible than he’s been in the recent past.

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.
During the fist ten minutes of the game, it looked like we were seeing the same team that dominated the Wild. Then they went and let up. Still though, they’re looking like a team that can go places right now.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Brian Rafalski
You score an overtime goal and you get the baked goods. That’s the way things go.

Jimmy Howard’s rebound control gets the Golden Facepalm
Rebounds led to both goals. This continues to make me nervous.

What I Learned:
Drew Miller and Ryan Miller are brothers. Wowzers!!!

Red Wings vs. Sabres GP...

1. Miller vs. Miller tonight. I can’t tell you what I’d give to get a chance to take on one of my siblings in an arena like this. Which one will prevail?

2. The powerplay’s suddenly caught fire since Johan Franzen returned. Can it keep going after a having such a rocky first part of the season?

3. Zetterberg had one of his best games of the season on Thursday after having his line shuffled. Can that success continue?

4. The game against the Wild was remarkable in the sense that the Wings displayed a level of effort and commitment to win that has been lacking this season. What are the odds that we get to see a game like that twice in a row? If they play like that again tonight, I might have to call this the start of a trend. By itself, though, the Wild game doesn’t mean a whole lot.

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

• You know what the best thing about this win was? You never felt like it was going to get away from the Wings. Even after that goal they gave up at the end of the first period, it seemed like the game was well in hand.
• They started strongly, didn’t let up in the second period, and finished strongly in the third. It was as complete an effort as this team has given in a while.
• I’m not ready to call it a turning point or a statement game yet, though. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from this team all season long, but it hasn’t been sustained for any significant amount of time. That being said, the fact that the offense has really kicked things into gear recently (five goals tonight, five against the Hawks, five against the Predators) is a good sign. Over the last few games, they have started to put together bits and pieces of dominant efforts where they looked like the real Wings for stretches, but couldn’t string together a whole game. The fact that they didn’t quit once they had the lead and kept pressing is incredibly encouraging. Maybe, just maybe, they finally got the message. We’ll see.
• Zetterberg certainly turned things around after getting called out by almost everybody.
• Bertuzzi was completely invisible all night except for that part where he took a penalty. That was only the second time all game that I noticed him on the ice.
• I was incredibly uncomfortable when Miller’s goal went to review. It certainly looked like a good goal to me, but this season has killed any faith that I had in the NHL’s review system.
• Dan Cleary had one of his best games of the season, I thought. He appeared to be working hard and doing good things out there. Now he just needs to keep that up.
• Once again, if the Wings had had Franzen all season, we’d be a lot more cheerful around Hockeytown right about now.
• At one point, after some slick passing by the Wings, Ken Daniels called it “pinball wizardry.” Being a big fan of The Who, I liked it a lot.
• Seriously, this is what watching a Wings game ought to feel like. It’s been too long.
  

GP Answers:
1. Can Valtteri Filppula spark Z? I still maintain that he’s not 100%, but I guess that could just be Todd Bertuzzi’s aura dragging him down. Maybe getting some time away from Bert will help get Z’s offense going.
Zetterberg had his best game in a long while. His goal came when he was on the ice with Patrick Eaves and Kris Draper, not his normal linemates, but he seemed to be buzzing all night. Keep it up, sunshine.

2. In the event that the Wings manage to get a lead, will they be able to hang onto it?
Yes. Yes they did. And they looked good doing it.

3. What percentage of the game will the Wings bother to play tonight? I think I’m going to make this like the Lidstrom question earlier this season and post it in every GP until I see a 100% effort.
I’ll give them the 100%. I was going to go with 99% because of that letdown at the end of the first, but I’m in a good mood right now and I’m feeling generous. I’m still going to ask this question on Saturday though. One game of a solid effort doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

4. Can Jimmy Howard get those rebounds under control? They’ve slowly become an issue again since the Olympic break.
There were some shaky rebounds, but nothing bad came of them. Minnesota’s only goal bounced in off of Stuart’s leg, and Jimmy had no chance on it. Hopefully this game will settle him down some.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Henrik Zetterberg
Like I said before, this was his best game in a long time. With any luck, he’ll get on a roll and we’ll get to see dominant Zetterberg more often.

An Extra Stick Tap for Johan Franzen
How can you not love the Mule? I mean really.

Chris Chelios gets the Golden Facepalm
He marked his return to the NHL by deflecting a shot into his own net tonight. I know it wasn’t his fault, but it wasn’t exactly a banner way to start his tenure there. What’s that you say? He’s not a Wing anymore and is therefore ineligible for the Golden Facepalm? Well, I get to make the rules around here, sunshine, and what I say goes. So there.

What I Learned:
I don’t think there are many teams that can beat the Wings if they play like they did tonight. There are definitely only a few out there who could win a best-of-7 series against the version of the team that we saw tonight. Now if we could get treated to that version more often…

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

1. Can Valtteri Filppula spark Z? I still maintain that he’s not 100%, but I guess that could just be Todd Bertuzzi’s aura dragging him down. Maybe getting some time away from Bert will help get Z’s offense going.
2. In the event that the Wings manage to get a lead, will they be able to hang onto it?
3. What percentage of the game will the Wings bother to play tonight? I think I’m going to make this like the Lidstrom question earlier this season and post it in every GP until I see a 100% effort.
4. Can Jimmy Howard get those rebounds under control? They’ve slowly become an issue again since the Olympic break.

Proud Podcasting and Pointless Puling...

(Look it up ^. It's a word. You can thank Thesaurus.com for that little beauty.)

The new episode of The Obstructed View came out today. I joined Jess from Bingo Bango and Rob Discher from The Production Line, as well as, of course, Chris and Brian. We talked about fun things like curling and sniper fire. It’s also possible that hockey came up at one point. Anyway, you can download it at all the usual places. Enjoy.

A quick update on where the Wings stand now:
Dallas and Anaheim are tied one point behind the Wings, and Minnesota is only two points back. The Wings, at best, can tie Nashville for 8th place with a win tonight, but would still sit in 9th because of the tiebreaker. On top of that, we’re going to be rooting for Chicago tonight because we need them to beat Dallas. Of course, the way things have been going, the Stars will probably blow them out.

The point is, there’s no help coming from the outside. The Wings can’t keep sitting around and waiting for other teams to do their dirty work for them. Everyone’s been saying that when Franzen is back, they’ll be a different team. Well, he’s back now. Let’s get going.

Red Wings 2, Wild 5: Post Game Snipes...

• I missed the first period because I was on my way home from a meeting. I listened to it on the radio in the car, and I got all excited when they called Datsyuk’s second goal because it was the second night in a row that the Wings bounced back from a goal against in spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, their success was short-lived and it was all downhill from there.
• Is this the part where I make the obligatory lame joke about it being a Wild end to the first period?
• Stuart’s day-to-day with his shoulder injury. This is good news, but I’ll be more relieved when I see him actually take the ice. This season’s made me a wee bit paranoid. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get this recap up earlier, because I had a cute little one-liner about injury reports all set to go.
• One good thing to take away from these last two games: Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom are firing on all cylinders. Halfway through the third period, I became more interested in rooting for Datsyuk to complete his hat trick than the outcome of the game.
• On a related note, scoring two 1st period goals and not finishing the trick is just cruel. If the second goal came late in the game, I’d understand, but he had a full 40 minutes to toy around and buy us all lunch at Arby’s. Come on, man.
• I expected Ozzie to get crucified on the blogosphere a lot worse than he did. The media more than made up for it, though.
• During the game, my brother tried to tell me that I’m not a real hockey fan. I laughed at him.
• The most astounding thing about this season is the way this team almost appears to be making conscious decisions to NOT win games. When was the last time you saw them come out with determination and fire and you just knew deep down that they were going to do whatever it took to win that night? Most of their victories seem accidental and we’re left saying things like, “Wow, I can’t believe they held on to win,” and “Luckily, the other team missed six open nets tonight, or they would’ve taken the Wings to the cleaners.” It’s pathetic. Either man up and go win some hockey games, or stop toying with our emotions. It’s getting old.
  

GP Answers:
1. The second game of a back-to-back, with travel in between, against a lower-ranked team, after a ridiculous loss? This one should be fun. Can the Wings rebound from last night’s disappointment?
Ha. Haha. Ha. It’s become all too predictable.

2. Once again, how many minutes of hockey will the Wings show up to play tonight? It turns out that a 58-minute effort doesn’t quite cut it.
Don’t even get me started.

3. Kronwall looked wonderful last night. Can he keep it up for the second night in a row after a long layoff, or is his conditioning going to slow him down?
Even if he was crab-walking around the ice and trying to play with a mini-stick, he probably would’ve looked right on par with the rest of the team.

4. The newly-constituted second line had a good game last night, even though they didn’t have much to show for it. It’s nice to finally have more than one line that has the potential to score for a change. Cleary’s addition to the top line also seemed to spark the Eurotwins. Will we continue to see some chemistry from the offense, or was it just a fluke?
I’m willing to announce the revival of the Eurotwins. They just need to keep it up. The second line…needs to be more second-line-ish.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Pavel Datsyuk
He’s doing his Datsyukian thing again, and that’s bad news for opposing players. Please, just stay hot, Pav. We need you.

An Extra Stick Tap for Nick Lidstrom
If you’re a believer in the law of averages, hold onto your socks because Nick Lidstrom is a man on fire.

Dan Cleary gets the Golden Facepalm
That penalty he took in the third period was crushing because of the goals that followed on the 4-on-4 and PK. I know, I know, it was accidental, and he had two assists, and in all likelihood the Wings weren’t going anywhere anyway, but I have to single someone out here. Believe me, it wasn’t easy picking one guy out for this, and well, I’ll admit that this was kind of a cop out.

What I Learned:
My brother hates Abdelkader with a passion for reasons that make little to no sense.

Red Wings vs. Wild GP...

1. The second game of a back-to-back, with travel in between, against a lower-ranked team, after a ridiculous loss? This one should be fun. Can the Wings rebound from last night’s disappointment?
2. Once again, how many minutes of hockey will the Wings show up to play tonight? It turns out that a 58-minute effort doesn’t quite cut it.
3. Kronwall looked wonderful last night. Can he keep it up for the second night in a row after a long layoff, or is his conditioning going to slow him down?
4. The newly-constituted second line had a good game last night, even though they didn’t have much to show for it. It’s nice to finally have more than one line that has the potential to score for a change. Cleary’s addition to the top line also seemed to spark the Eurotwins. Will we continue to see some chemistry from the offense, or was it just a fluke?

The Wings need to win this one, plain and simple. I was all excited for a victory yesterday after having a pretty rough day in my real life. Things were looking good, I was happy, the boys were about to win in regulation…and then the next thing I knew, the wagon was on fire and all of our bullets were lost. What I’m trying to get at here is that the Wings owe me one. And, yes, I’m done with the Oregon Trail references now (I think).