Sharks 4 - Red Wings 3 - Uh, ok?

Well, that was not the start we wanted exactly, but I am not as upset this time as I was after Game 1 against Phoenix. Sure, it was another game where a Red Wing was cut by a high stick that was not called. But as mad as I was last night about that call and subsequent goal, I'm not dwelling on it today.



There are reasons for optimism in this series. Basically, the Wings lost this game with about 90 seconds of running around and poor play. Take away that 90 seconds, and the Red Wings were just as good if not better than the Sharks. After it was 3-0, the Wings took over, and they got the next goal. After that, I felt like it was a matter of time before the Wings tied it up, but unfortunately they just couldn't get that third goal. They pushed for the equalizer at the end, but came up a little short. No worries.



Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen were much better last night. I was really concerned about Cleary after getting hit by Blake, but breathed a sigh of relief when he came back. Franzen looked like Playoff Mule again. He was making things happen with the puck, getting quality looks, and he was engaged physically. That's a good sign.



Once again, the special teams let us down. 2 PP goals against and an 0-fer on the PP was ultimately what cost us. Again, I'm not worried. The first goal was essentially a 4-on-3, and the 2nd one was a 5-on-3. On the 5-on-4 PKs the Wings had to kill, they were just fine. The PP got some good looks, but just couldn't get the puck past Nabokov.



Joe Thornton is a little bitch. Once again, he didn't do much in the game beyond the assist. And that was after an icing by the Wings' 4th line and 3rd D-man pair. I'll give him credit for that. But he didn't do anything else for the rest of the game. And did anyone else see him snow Jimmy, then after he got popped in the mouth (which he should have), complain to the refs? Hey, Jumbo Joe, you've been around long enough to know that if you snow the goalie like that, you're going to answer for it. Don't do that shit again.



The Sharks tried to be physical, but I didn't think they were any more physical than Phoenix was. The Red Wings didn't look intimidated, and unlike each loss to the Coyotes, the Wings actually got better as the game went on.


As Drew from NOHS said, forget about this game. The Wings were coming off the high of winning Game 7 and had to play 2 days later. They looked tired in the first `10 minutes, but got their legs under them as the game kept going. Even after it was 3-0, I never had the feeling that the Red Wings were in any serious trouble. I'm still confident that the Wings will get this done in 6.