Gonna sip on some wine while I write, so forgive any mistakes, they will be corrected upon the onset of sobriety.
Wow! For a mostly boring game, it sure ended in a thriller!! Detroit rode Jimmy Howard to his 32nd win of the season, making 33 saves and stopping 10 of 11 shootout attempts as the Wings defeated the Nashville Predators 1-0. Both goaltenders were sensational, to be honest, Pekka Rinne stood on his head all game long. We're lucky we didn't see both netminders carted off with broken necks!!
Let's take a look at my three keys from the preview:
1.) Get to Rinne Early - Ohhh wow, did I ever call this one. Detroit did not pressure Rinne enough to squeeze out a goal in the early stages of the game, and that led to Detroit going through their longest shootout of the year. That's the problem with a hot goaltender: if you don't rattle them early, 9 times of of 10 you're not going to rattle them late.
2.) Continue Series Trend - Detroit is now up 4-1 in the series, but clinching that is not important at this point. The two points Detroit got from maintaining their series dominance is what counted tonight. Even though Nashville got a point out of tonight's matchup, the Wings are now in sole possession of 6th, should Colorado lose against Phoenix tonight. Pretty good night's work, huh?
3.) Play hard, Don't Stop - Technically, I think the Wings did stick to this, though I think they had a bit of juice they didn't dig down and tap into. It was, however, enough to get Detroit the two points tonight, but I would certainly chalk this win up to a high percentage of luck. The most important thing is that the Red Wings didn't start playing really sloppy as they are wont to do when they get tired.
Now we wait through another long break before facing Edmonton (haven't we seen this before...?) on Tuesday. I'm hoping we'll see a much different outcome when the Oilers come to our house. Till then, have fun Wingnuts!! Let's Go Red Wings!!!
P.S. Oh, and since it's so awesome, enjoy this Eavesfail.
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