Update (7:40 PM): Correction on the post title, the game started at 7:00, not 7:30. My bad. - Matt
Unfortunately, I’m still swamped with work for school, so I won’t be able to do a preview or full recap for the game. I’ll be working on stuff tonight with the game on in the background so I may have a couple comments tomorrow, though.
Let’s treat this post like a game day thread again. If anyone has comments during or after the game, post them here and let’s see if we can’t get a bit of a discussion going.
Be sure to check out Gorilla Crouch for coverage leading up to and following the game.
Well I’m watching the game so I’ll make some posts about it now and then.
Early scoring chance for Cleary on a nice pass, but #23 of Anaheim keeps him to the outside and good anticipation by Giguere stymies it.
Good game so far. No penalties yet which is nice, but the Ducks got away with holding Bertuzzi behind their net once.
Datsyuk showed off his nice hands and got into a good scoring position, but in typical Datsyukian fashion made a pass instead of taking a shot. The pass got intercepted and the puck went the other way instead of being shot on goal.
Red Wings controlling the play so far and really showing why they’re known as a puck possession team. Ducks have only had a few scoring chances so far including a couple of crazy bounces around Hasek.
0-0 after 1. Ducks built up some momentum near the end of the first and had some good pressure on the PP, but Hasek came up huge and saved our asses.
A mini-brawl erupted at the end of the first. After the horn blew, Schneider - obviously irate at something a Duck did - charged at a Duck and started shoving him. A scrum broke out and all I could catch was Scott Niedermayer getting roughed up. Then Lilja and Moen dropped the gloves. Lilja got a couple of punches in but Moen - with much more fighting experience - just shrugged them off and then pulled Lilja down. This is good news because now Lilja won’t be able to play for the first 5 minutes of the second.
Datsyuk scores! Schneider shoots from the blue line and Pavel picks up the loose rebound amongst a crowd of bodies and puts it into the open net with a defender draped all over him. 1-0 Detroit.
If only Datsyuk didn’t get his scoring streak snapped against St. Louis, it would be at 14 now.
1-0 Red Wings lead after two. Wings outshot the Ducks 14-6 after being outshot 11-7 in the first, but the difference is Datsyuk’s goal. Mostly uneventful aside from the goal.
Kunitz takes a high-sticking penalty at 19:29 so we should start the third with a powerplay again.
So I definitely fell asleep about five minutes into the first. Unfortunate, yes (I am shamed…), but I was thinking - how curious that I fall asleep for the first two periods, and for the first time in very recent history, the Wings don’t. The superstitious hockey fan in me is on the verge of demanding that I sleep through the playoffs (which might actually happen if we play a west coast team…). Chances are though, that I’ll selfishly want to actually watch the games. (As much fun as it is to skip the stress and just wake up to a lead…) Eh, I’ll be happy to take the blame if we lose…after all, I am a goalie.
Wait a minute, are you telling me that Lilja fight actually happened? I thought that was just some weird dream I was having… Oh and what was with the way the announcer was saying his name? “Le-e-elia?” It seriously hurt my ears. Ahhh, Versus.