So much for Dallas being over the Joe Louis jinx. They looked beaten before the game had barely started. They couldn’t even keep Detroit out of the offensive zone during their own power play. I expected them to come out a little harder, a little more eager to shake their record against Detroit, and I didn’t see it. There was no intensity. They played like it was October instead of May. I’m not going to say that the series is over. There’s still at least three games left, but they’re going to have to bring a lot more to the table if they want any more than that. And I’m not buying that they were still tired from the Sunday/Monday game. This was a pathetic performance from a team that needed to bring their very best.
Detroit played their game perfectly. Precise passing and perfect puck possesion kept the opposing players from putting pucks past Osgood (Hooray alliteration!). They outshot Dallas nearly three to one until the end of the second. They killed in the face off circle. Their power play excelled. Their depth scored including the now unstoppable Johan Franzen. Osgood was once again solid in net and spectacular when he had to be. If they continue to play this well (and Dallas continues to play that poorly), they’ll be at the cup finals in four.
No kidding! What the hell was he thinking? Breaks his stick on Osgood. :mad:
I’m glad the Wings held on to win- they didn’t look as sharp as they did in game 1. Their passing wasn’t as sharp tonight. Osgood made some amazing saves, though. It’s nice to see him back.
And to wrap up the game they take two penalties in the last two minutes to cancel out the extra man from pulling Turco, one of them on Ott for sucker punching Kris Draper.
The theme for tonights game had to be missed opportunities. Having Franzen out was a big loss for Detroit, and Dallas certainly played better than Thursday (hard to imagine them playing worse), but they just couldn’t capitalize. Missed shots all over the place with the biggest being the 4 on 1. Think about that. Four Stars skate in against one Wing and they missed the shot. Didn’t even get it on net. Right after that, Detroit turns around and gets a goal from Darren Helm.
Dallas needed to come up with a big game tonight and they just couldn’t get it done. Turco is still winless at the Joe. The Stars lacked discipline and they appeared to be clutching their sticks pretty hard when they shot. It looks to me like the Stars can’t get past their record against the Wings. Detroit is in the Stars’ heads.
Yeah it was a cheap shot. In fact it was almost as cheap as the butt end he had just got from Osgood.
Oh, and wasn’t that a classic dive on Osgoods’ part? I admit that Ribeiro slashed Osgood, but it wasn’t near as hard as Osgood made it look. If that knocked him down, then why doesn’t every shot knock him down?
Yeah, Melrose said as much afterwards. “You’re not going to hurt the goalie hitting him in the chest. There was no intent to injure with that.” [Paraphrasing]
He also said either they both should get suspended or neither. I’m surprised we haven’t seen it yet.
Both were fined for their antics, as well as Ott for his unrelated punch to Kris Draper. Gotta hand it to Ozzie though. He at least tried to be slick about it.
Once more we find ourselves with a team in a must win position on home ice. Will Dallas fare better than Colorado? Maybe. They can’t let that home ice boost push them into stupid penalties. They can’t count on getting as lucky as they did in game two. I know it’s hard to describe a 2-1 loss as lucky, but they nearly took advantage of a lot of defensive breakdowns (4 on 1 anybody?) that they can’t count on tonight. They need to get Holmstrom and the rest of the Wings out of their heads and play their absolute best game of the playoffs tonight, or their season is all but over.
…or Zetteberg taking on 4 Stars in the corner for the puck, deftly passing it over to Datsyuk for the hat trick which translates into the last shovel of dirt on the Stars’ chances of staging any comeback.
Bounces and breaks come with shots, and I noticed the disparity as well. Even when Dallas could keep the puck in the offensive zone for the whole of the power play, they were too busy passing to shoot.
There’s nothing to like about last game if you’re a Dallas fan. The stars made five big mistakes that turned into five goals from odd man rushes/breakaways. They spent their power plays practicing passing (more alliteration). More bumbled shots. They couldn’t even land a check. Detroit spent the last ten minutes playing keep away and Dallas couldn’t do a thing about it. Sure Dallas finished with the usual “make a statement” penalties, but when you’re down 5-2 in the game and 3-0 in the series, it’s not much of a statement. Detroit was just better than Dallas.
Can Dallas win the series? It’s not impossible. Getting a win would do a lot to shake the red and white monkey off their back. I just don’t see how they can do it. Detroit is playing near perfect hockey. Osgood is playing great. This series is all but over.
Oops. I grew up in Sarnia, ON, an hour from Detroit, but that was decades ago. I thought it was the same river!
Anyway, go Wings.
Let’s see what else I do in fact remember about Detroit:
The old Olympia - I was there a couple of times.
Mitch Ryder.
Arthur Penhallow.
Aurelio Rodríguez
Stevy Y of course…
Kiss at Cobo Hall…
Yes at the Joe…
Likely we all saw the [del]goal[/del], so I’m not going to discuss it in great detail. I will say that I’m worried we’re going back the to bad ole days of “any part in the paint = no goal” and I’m not happy about it.
Now that that’s out of the way, the goal wasn’t the biggest problem for the Wings. We’ll start with what I said in my first post about this series. The longer the Wings go without scoring, the better it is for the Stars. Detroit was too patient in this game. They waited for Dallas to make mistakes rather than forcing them like they did in games 1-3 and it let Dallas take advantage. Now Detroit is going to have to work harder to fend off a Stars team that could shake off the Joe jinx and take the series with it. If they lose at home, the series could actually be over for them.
I don’t know why anyone would complain about this goal being called off. Yes, it should have counted, but it really just wipes out Holmstroms’ goal from game one which did count, but should not have.
As a Stars fan, I take solace in fact that the Wings are one of the two teams who choked on a 3-0 series lead.
One bad call does not fix another. They’re both bad calls. It was dumb when the VS monkeys said it last night and it hasn’t gotten any smarter with the light of day.
And speaking of failing to sweep, Philly is up on Pittsburgh 4-2 with twenty seconds left. Looks like both teams have to go home.
I’m sorry, are you calling me a stupid monkey? I wasn’t suggesting that the call in game 4 ‘fixed’ the call from game 1.
In case you didn’t notice, bad calls come and they go. Over the course of a season or even a series, they tend to even out.
Also, I am dismayed with the sense of entitlement that the Wings and their fans seem to have. I don’t recall any Stars fans bitching about the blown call in game one, yet here are people complaining about the call from game four. I also like how Osgood seemed to think his ‘accidental’ stick to Ribeiro’s face was okay, but that Ribeiro should have talked with him as a professional- what bullshit. The Wings are a good team, but they are showing a distinct lack of class since Yzerman retired.
Not unless you were part of the broadcast team on Versus during the Wings game. Simmer down.
You’re right. You said it “wiped out Holmstroms goal.” Completely different.
That was a potentially game breaking bad call, much like the Holmstrom goal from game 1. They shouldn’t happen in the playoffs. Simple as that.
Are you kidding? I certainly didn’t blame the game on the bad call and I’m the only person “bitching” about it here, though I think you’re using the word “bitching” a little loosely considering what I’ve actually said about it. As for the rest, I’m not going to get into some “whose fans are worse” pissing contest with you. I’m here to discuss the games.