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 1, Blue Jackets 0 (SO): Post Game Snipes...

• If I had to choose one word to describe this game, it would be boring. I almost dozed off on the couch. If it weren’t for the oh so interesting conversations on Twitter, I probably would’ve.
• Mickey Redmond apparently has a new telestrator that he has difficulty working. It’s a shame that the season’s coming to an end and he and Ken Daniels will soon get replaced by announcers that we hate.
• Ken and Mickey also took the opportunity to fuel the Alex Burrows hate by reading his anti-Detroit comments. They even made a referee joke. It was kind of awesome.
• Helm got a penalty shot on a pretty chintzy call. He fell victim to a Mason poke check and never really got a shot off. I can’t say that I was particularly surprised
• Columbus’ crowd was so enthusiastic that the Wings fans in attendance had a LGRW chant going for a solid minute in the third period without the slightest opposition.
• With any luck, that was the last time we’ll have to see a shootout this season. Of course, by typing that, I’ve doomed us to one final one tomorrow. Figures.
• Babcock went with Kronner over some of the regular shooters. Sadly, he didn’t manage to win the game this time around.
• Another shutout for Jimmy. The Calder dream is alive and well.
  

GP Answers:
1. Hitting 100 points is still a possibility. Can the Wings take another step closer to hitting that landmark?
Ten seasons in a row, sunshines. This feels good just to keep the streak alive. Now, just for a moment, close your eyes and imagine how many more points they would’ve had if they had been healthy for most of the season or even just converted on half of those OT/SO losses…

2. What ridiculous thing is Pavel Datsyuk going to do to amaze us all today?
Score a shootout goal? It wasn’t one of his ridiculous ones, but it was pretty nonetheless.

3. Is Uncle Mike going to cut ice time to get some of the guys rested up for the playoffs?
Nope. They played this one like just another regular season game. It’ll be interesting to see how things shake out tomorrow in Chicago.

4. The efforts during the last three games weren’t exactly something to write home about. Will we get treated to a full 60-minute game?
Ehhhhhhh…Columbus never took over the game at any point, but man was that boring to watch.

Cookies and Cupcakes for Jimmy Howard
Another shootout/shutout win for everyone’s favorite Calder contender.

Brian Rafalski gets the Golden Facepalm
He did something to cause me to tweet, “Oh Rafalski, that was ugly,” and even though I honestly have no idea what it was, I’m assuming that it was deserving of this. I’m thinking that it was an ugly turnover that led to a scoring chance for the BJs, but it could be anything. I think this last paragraph shows my level of commitment to quality writing and analysis.

What I Learned:
You know it’s a boring game when you find yourself discussing National League baseball via Twitter in the middle of it.

Wings 9, Blue Jackets 1: Post Game Snipes...

• Well I think it’s safe to say that the Wings showed up for this one. The first period was the best period of hockey I’ve seen the Wings play all year. And then they followed it up with a solid second and third. Granted, Columbus didn’t put up much of a fight, but the Wings controlled play and looked absolutely dominant. They came out and set the tone early and never let up.
• One of the strangest aspects of the game was that the Wings’ first 6 goals were scored by 6 different players. Each one of them tallied his third goal of the season. Then Abdelkader scored two goals in the third for, you guessed it, his second and third goals of the season. All in all seven different Wings scored tonight, and each one of them notched his 3rd of the season. It was one of the flukiest things that I’ve seen in a while. With any luck, it’s a sign of good things to come for them and hopefully some of the scores have woken up.
• Speaking of waking up, Dan Cleary finally got his 100th goal on Saturday, and his goal tonight marked the second game in a row in which he’s scored. I’m quite happy that I stuck with him on my fantasy team.
• Early in the first, Datsyuk wound up for a shot and it hit a Blue Jacket right in the back of the head, knocking his helmet off, as he went down to block the shot. Pav hovered nearby while he was down on the ice, making sure he was okay. Classy guy.
• Classiness aside, Dangle Dangle was absolutely on fire tonight. It felt like he was everywhere. I can’t believe he only had 13:29 of ice time tonight.
• Eaves looked good in his return to the lineup. I absolutely love the third line right now.
• Leino also had a much better game. He scored a goal (his third of the season, of course) and had a couple of very good chances.
• Oh gosh I hope they’ve saved some goals for the Captain’s night at the Joe tomorrow.
• During the first intermission, John Keating was interviewing Dan Cleary and he pointed out that 14 of Cleary’s career goals have come against the BJs. Cleary responded, “Thank god they’re in our division.”
• At one point during the second period, Todd Bertuzzi found himself open in front of the crease with time to take two or three whacks at the puck while Steve Mason had his back to him. He didn’t score. I still don’t know how. He did manage to redeem himself with a goal (his third of the season, of course) shortly after though.
• Jimmy Howard made some pretty nice saves throughout the course of the night. The BJs ended up getting credited with 26 shots, but it certainly didn’t feel like they had that many.
  

Cookies and Cupcakes for everyone.
These are the Wings that I’ve been looking for all season. The forecheck was strong, the puck was handled responsibly in their own zone, the special teams looked good, and I had a smile on my face the whole time.

An Extra Stick Tap for Pavel Datsyuk
He was far and away the best player on the ice tonight. And that’s saying something for a team that scored nine goals. Keep it up, please.

Todd Bertuzzi gets the Golden Facepalm
But only because I made an executive decision that this must be awarded to a Wing every game. This is for that glorious opportunity he had when Mason’s back was turned that he failed to bury.

What I learned:
That watching the 2009-2010 Wings can, in fact, be enjoyable.

Wings vs. Blue Jackets GP...

Wings vs. Blue Jackets @7 PM

1. Columbus is currently tied for the Central Division lead. This is yet another of the many bizarre things that have taken place so far this season. Ken Hitchcock has been vocal about wanting to knock the Wings off of the top of the standings this season. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the BJs fired up for the game tonight, especially in light of their first round sweep during the playoffs. Will the Wings decide to show up tonight, or will we be treated to another lackluster performance?
2. Steve Mason has been underwhelming so far during his sophomore season (for the record, I called this during the summer). That, of course, means that he’s probably going to choose tonight to return to his rookie season form. Are the Wings going to get shut down by another young goalie? Again?
3. Jimmy Howard is starting tonight. How much hair will I have left by the end of the game?
4. How long is it going to take for Ken Hitchcock to start whining about how the Wings cheat on faceoffs? How many times is this going to be brought up during the broadcast? (Answer: Every time a Wing gets thrown out of the faceoff circle.)
5. What are the odds that Rick Nash scores a hat trick tonight? Seriously.

As far as I know, there isn’t any sort of pre-game ceremony scheduled for tonight. We can all be thankful for that. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why every opposing team doesn’t find some excuse to celebrate something before the Wings visit their arena. They could celebrate a former player’s birthday, the anniversary of a milestone, or even National Pickle Day and I think it would somehow manage to knock the Wings off of their game. Not that I want this to happen, but I’m just saying…there’s some history to the idea.