Alright, I finally have a break in my schedule today and I’m feeling surprisingly awake so, rather than sleep, I’ll blog.

I went into Game 4 pretty confident in the team, though I’ll admit to a little bit of apprehension. Overall, though, I felt that they would improve upon their effort from Game 3, which even Steve Yzerman said wasn’t as good as the other games, and that they would pull out a win. I have to say I was disappointed.

A few things/disjointed thoughts follow.

But, before you read on:

… If you’re a Flames fan and your sensibilities are offended by my comments below, I can’t say I’m sorry. This is all part and parcel of the emotional roller coaster that is the NHL playoffs and this frustration stems from legitimate reasons, even if my rhetoric seems borderline hysterical. I’m not in a place right now for cold, calm analysis at the moment. This is how I get after these types of depressing Red Wings losses and the above polemic is based on that. This is not for you, rather it’s for fellow Wings fans.

… The whole sequence that led to the Flames’ first goal was ridiculous in so many ways. First, Iginla elbowed Hasek in the head. There’s no doubt about that. You can see it on the replay. Iginla’s claim that he didn’t touch him is a big, stinking pile of crap. That the officials didn’t slap him with goaltender interference after giving Kyle Calder a penalty for his innocuous and incidental bump of Kiprusoff’s head in Game 3, is a pile of equal proportions and aroma.

That said, Dom’s diving act was about as bad. The Wings were already on the penalty kill and could ill afford that kind of selfish play. He’s fortunate he was not called for the dive. I’ve not been so pissed at a Wing in a long time. The dive was one thing, though. The threatening swing of the stick at Iginla was another. I like the show of emotion from Dom, though it looked pretty stupid in retrospect, considering he was given a penalty for it and put his team down 5-on-3.

… My respect for Iginla goes down further with every game in this series. I used to think of him as a good leader and a guy who stood up for his teammates in the mold of Brendan Shanahan. How wrong I was. Rather than an exemplary leader and someone I can respect in spite of the heat of the series, I’ve found he’s a whiner and a micro-cheapshot artist. I’d almost prefer a macro-cheapshot artist like Tootoo because he at least gets called for crap every once in a while. I’m glad to see someone getting upset at Iginla. I just wish it wasn’t Hasek.

… Anyway. Kudos to Andreas Lilja for his stellar defensive play seconds before the goal. I only wish Hasek had made the save and thus made Lils’ play meaningful.

… A rare great play by Robert Lang led directy to a beautiful goal by Todd Bertuzzi. That revamped second line looked good in the first period. They fell away for the rest of the game, though, which was frustrating.

… The Flames’ second goal was an unfortunate deflection off Lilja. He played a solid game overall, so let’s not scapegoatify him for it. Dom probably still should have had it anyway.

… Good to see Todd complete his two-point night with a nice dish to Johan Franzen in the slot. Too bad the officials didn’t see anything wrong with the mad hooking by Huselius of Franzen. Somehow Johan still managed to get a shot off and score. We’ll return to that later.

… How nice of the officials to see fit to call Lidstrom for hooking while the Wings were already down a man. It reminds me of just how very much I hate the new rules, which mean that completely inconsequential stick usage is called while players can be hauled down without a word from the refs. Of course, it led to a goal. Good to hear Babcock take subtle shots at the officiating for that and the other gift 5-on-3 during the second intermission.

… While on the power play later in the period, Nick Lidstrom lost the puck at the blueline, which was disturbing enough without the end result of the play. The Flames took it on a short-handed rush and somehow managed to blow it. Pavel Datsyuk was called for hooking on the backcheck. The replay showed that he lightly tapped Stephane Yelle with his stick once. It did not keep Yelle from getting a shot off. In fact, Yelle shanked the shot on his own. Let’s review: Franzen is hooked repeatedly by Huselius on his goal and the official’s arm did not so much as go up for a delayed call. Pavel Datsyuk taps Yelle once and he is given a hooking penalty. How is that consistent?

… In the third period, Pavel is hooked and slashed on a rush while on the power play. Again, no call.

… Another disturbing miscue by Nick Lidstrom led to a 1-on-1 between Hasek and Langkow. Dom made the save, though, one of a few very strong ones throughout the night.

… Anyway. More generally, the Wings power play remains awful. If the missed calls weren’t so bad, I wouldn’t care that they’re not getting the power plays they should be because it’s almost entirely pointless. At the other end of the ice is the penalty kill which, if it’s even possible, is lower on the spectrum of suck. If this series does end up going all the way to the Flames, the special teams will have been probably the biggest factor.

… Game 5 is huge. The Wings have got to win or else we’ll have 2001 all over again. They need to find a way to replicate their performance of Game 1 and stop the slide in quality of play that began quietly in Game 2 and reached its nadir (hopefully) last night.

For changes Babcock must make for Game 5, see Sarah’s post below.