A Simple Message for Detroit's Game 5 Success

Here it is...

Everything WILL be alright.

Alright.

Let's Go Red Wings!!!!

Insanity Rules: Wings on Brink after Game 4 Loss

You know the adage, 'Don't beat a dead horse'...?

This applies to so many things in regards to tonight's game.

Detroit seemed to dominate the flow of play tonight, but Nashville's been eating their Lucky Charms and have somehow squeezed out another cheeky victory in which we were forced to witness brief--albeit gaping--defensive lapses by Detroit and stupid terrible luck at the worst possible times leading to chances and, in some cases, goals.  As if that weren't bad enough, the Hockey gods deemed it fitting to pull a fast one on the Wings, calling back what seemed like the 1st goal of the game, which would have given Nashville a 1-0 lead! The kicker: It was an 'Intent to blow' call!!

Hell hath frozen over!!

...for about a minute and a half, until Nashville came right back in and scored again, truly making it 1-0.  This is the kind of game we as Red Wings fans were forced to endure.  This is the kind of SERIES we have been forced to endure, as this has been happening since Game 1.  Individuals are under-committing, which is forcing us as a team to over-commit.  Look at the 2-1 goal.  Three (3) skaters follow one (1) Nashville player into the corner to create this chance.  At what point does that ever seem reasonable?

This under-commitment is bleeding into the offense as well.  The pressure from this team is unacceptable, and the piddly perimeter shots need to stop.  Get to the middle and screen the goalie.  The outside IS NOT WORKING, it hasn't worked in 4 games!  I can't recall all of the goals we've scored over the course of this series, but I guarantee you the ones that have gone in from the sides are not many.

Which gets us back to the dead horse.  At what point will Mike Babcock stop the posturing and admit that the game plan the Red Wings have been going with is not working?  The Predators have adapted to our style of play.  The Predators are not scared of us because they know what to expect and how to defend against it.  Insanity is defined by Einstein as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

Well, Einstein was a pretty damned smart guy and I think he may have been on to something after having watched this series from Game 1 to 4.

The horse is dead and beaten, the Mule is asleep, and the Jackasses are laughing at it all over a game of ping-pong somewhere, knowing they need one more win to knock off our boys.

It's adapt or die.  Your move, Babcock.

Puck Luck Keeps Tilting Nashville's Way, Wings Drop Game 3

The Hockey Gods can be a cruel bunch, and currently that reality is applying to the Red Wings' series against the Nashville Predators.  Detroit was denied a tying goal at the end of the 2nd period and, despite a continued push well into the 3rd, fell short in a 3-2 loss at Joe Louis Arena.  Nashville now leads this 1st round series 2 games to 1 and the Wings are now forced to once again find a way to win on the road to take this series and advance.

Pavel Datsyuk got Detroit's offense going, cutting into a 2-0 deficit with a FILTHY steal from Roman Josi.  Dats was able to bring the puck back around to the front and stuff the puck in the net past a napping Pekka Rinne for the Wings' 1st goal of the game.  Henrik Zetterberg also scored for Detroit, but what really hurt the Wings was the calling back of what seemed like a goal from Johan Franzen at the end of the 2nd.  After review, the clock has turned to 0.0 a moment before Franzen's shot crossed the goal line.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, Nashville did not win either of their 2 victories by skill.  Fortunate bounces in this series have been almost exclusive to the Predators.  Granted, a win is a win, but Detroit needs to play more consistently and apply more pressure on Nashville's skaters.  If we stop letting Nashville into our zone so easily, for instance, some of the bad bounces never have a chance to surface in the first place.

The penalties also need to stop.  Seriously.  The Wings' skaters need to try to minimize opportunities for the referees to call penalties, because it's obvious that they are going to be back-breaking all through this series.  We don't have to like that fact, but a fact it certainly is.

Game 4 goes on Tuesday, and if Babs drills one thing into the boys' heads, I hope it's go get bodies to the crease area and get in Rinne's face.  We've been too soft on him in regards to net presence, and it's showing.  He's made game-changing saves all series and it's burning us, we need to work for rebounds and accept the fact that garbage goals may be the difference in winning or losing this 1st round.

We'll see what happens, and I'll be there to rant about it, you can count on that.

Let's Go Red Wings!!

Wings Lose 3-2 in Game 1, Weber Face-Mashing Kickstarter, Anyone?

When you look back at this gong-show of a Game 1 in the Red Wings' 1st Round matchup against the Nashville Predators, you quickly realize that it's hard to really break this game down...because it was broken from the get-go.  I'm not going to go into huge detail about the game itself, because the officiating was so terrible on both sides that it's difficult to get any real credible data from it.

What I do want to discuss is my pledge to donate to ANYONE promising a kickstarter to raise funds to have Shea Weber's face rammed into a solid pane of glass.  Because hey, if EVERYONE can do it for the low, low price of $2500.00, then why not!?

If you've not been keeping up with the news, Shea Weber escaped suspension for his ridiculously classless retaliatory attack on Henrik Zetterberg last night.  He was fined for the above-mentioned amount, and assessed a 2-minute minor at the end of the game.

Really? After the three-ring circus act that was NHL refs pretending to 'officiate' this game with the Rat in the building (Read: Gary Bettman), you ACTUALLY serve Weber a penalty at the END OF THE GAME? And a minor, no less.  That's just so cute...

If we take anything, ANYTHING, from this then I hope it's the bell ringing to awaken the sleeping giants that are the Playoff-Mode Red Wings.  If anything should get their switch flipped to get more aggressive, this should be it.

In other, related news, Darren Helm's return to the lineup was short lived.  After delivering a hit to Russian spy--I mean former KHL'er Alexander Radulov--both men fell to the ice and Radulov's skate blade just happened to be in the perfect spot to slice open Helm's arm.  He has been declared out for the remainder of the playoffs, but it was also confirmed that his surgery to repair the tendons in his arm was successful.

It absolutely behooves us to take over this series beginning with Game 2.  It's not because of any perceived threat from the Predators--of which there is none--, but simply because if the NHL won't mete out proper justice, then it falls to our boys to do it themselves.

Do it, Red Wings.  See you for Game 2.