On the Wings

Well, the Wings played somewhat better than they did versus the Pens, which is not saying an aweful lot, but two fatal defensive breakdowns led to the Habs’ goals: the Wings had two craptacular line changes that led to two virtual 2-on-0 breaks on Dom. They capitalized on both. The Wings came through with a strong third period, as they outshot and outhustled the Habs. But it came down to whether the Wings could capitalize on their chances and they just couldn’t. Brett Hull seemed snake-bitten, reminiscent of when he was stuck on 699 goals for what seemed like weeks (and, sadly, I think it was weeks). He had a wrap-around chance that gave him a wide open net, but, in true Esa Tikkanen style, he shot the puck along the goal line and out the other side. In another painfully close near-goal that wasn’t even a shot, Cheli hit the corner of the crossbar from just inside the blue line…’ting… and that was the way things went for the Wings.