The Wings wrapped up their Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Flames after posting a 2-1 double overtime win in Calgary last night. The game was a fitting end to a series that went on longer than it should have due to the goaltending of Miikka Kiprusoff as Kipper once again kept the Flames in a game in which they were outplayed. The Wings outshot Calgary 55-21 in Game 6, bringing the series totals to 255-129 Detroit.

I’m not doing a blow-by-blow recap on this one, so I’ll leave it at some thoughts on things that stood out.

… Dominik Hasek was amazing last night. While the Wings outplayed the Flames overall, Calgary had a number of Grade A chances that could have put the game out of reach, but Dom stood on his head and made some huge saves. His save on a Dion Phaneuf shot from the slot at 12:20 of the third period was definitely the stop of the game in my mind and it was emblematic of Dom’s overall performance last night. He more than lived up to the pressure placed on him and the acquisition I was so against at the time has already paid off in a big way.

As far as talk about the series goaltending goes, Kiprusoff is obviously getting a lot, and deservedly so. However, I believe Hasek deserves plenty of press for his performance as well. You can say his goals against is padded by his defense, but his save percentage is a more-than-respectable .922, which demonstrates he was strong despite only facing 129 shots. He’s done his job very capably and held the Flames off when they were looking for a boost.

… Robert Lang finally broke out of his shell and had a strong game. His goal came out of nowhere and his play on the game-winner was stellar as he drew away the Flames defenders and left Franzen a good shooting lane. Lang demonstrated solid effort most of the time last night and was involved in the offense in ways we’ve been hoping for all series. In that way, he reminds me of Brett Hull in 2002, as Brett also took most of the series to get going. Hopefully Robert will contribute from this point on in ways similar to Hull’s performance in those playoffs.

… Johan Franzen had a whale of a game. As for his goal in the second overtime, Dave said it best in the comments to the gameday post: “Franzen! Poetic justice!” That was one heck of a shot by the second-year player. Not many people can beat Kipper over his glove hand like that. I expected Johan to be a big factor in the series and, while he didn’t perform quite as I had expected, you don’t get much bigger than being the scorer of the series-clinching goal.

… Tomas Holmstrom was the victim of a wild high stick by Craig Conroy in the first overtime. I’m not sure what Conroy was doing with his stick, but it had no business near Homer’s face. Pretty stupid of him, as it put the Wings on a 4:00 power play. Unfortunately, they did little more than give us all heart attacks as they had chance after chance after chance to put the game away. As for Holmstrom, he was taken to the hospital as a precaution, with a bandage over his eye. No word as of yet about the extent of the injury, but obviously the hope is that his eye is okay. The Wings definitely missed him on that long power play and will miss him as the playoffs go on, if he cannot play.

… Dan Cleary continued his stellar series with another fit-causing performance last night. He broke in behind the Calgary defense late in the second period, but didn’t have time to do anything but shoot the puck, or else we may have had a result similar to his penalty shot goal. As it was, Kiprusoff made a tough save look easy. Late in the third period, Dan sent the puck off the right post on a rocket shot from high in the zone. That would have been the nail in the Flames’ coffin. Aside from his offensive contributions, Cleary continued his physical play and finished with 4 hits, which was second on the team.

… Andreas Lilja wrapped up his own great series with an 8-hit night, leading all skaters, and a well-earned 29:35 on the ice. I don’t know what happened the Regular Season Lilja (a great explanation is that an alien has taken over his body), but, believe me, I’m thankful for how well he played against the Flames. I can’t tell you how many times I found myself surprised at saying, “Nice play, Lilja” “Who’s back? Good, it’s Andreas,” or “Wow, Lils.” If the Wings handed out an award for Most Improved Player, the recipient would definitely be Lilja. Keep it up!

… Despite some disturbing lapses, Nick Lidstrom finished the series as an early Conn Smythe candidate. His 8 points led all skaters and on the defensive side, he shut down Jarome Iginla, who had only four points. Overall, Nick was rock solid, as usual.

… I was impressed with Todd Bertuzzi’s outing last night. I still think he’s trying too hard to be cute and a team player (you can be more selfish at times, Todd), but he’s been a physical force and frequently wows as he demonstrates his disproportionately soft hands on offensive forays. He had a nice assist on Lang’s goal and is becoming more involved in the offense every game.

… Kyle Quincey acquitted himself very well last night, I thought. He earned an assist on Lang’s goal, and was out on the ice for at least two defensive zone faceoffs following Detroit icings, without blowing it either time. I didn’t notice him make any big mistakes at all; rather, he looked solid and confident with the puck and with playing the body. A good debut, to be sure.

… Henrik Zetterberg had what I thought was a stellar game on defense. He really warmed up over the length of the series, which was definitely one of the good things about it going to six games.

… I really thought Pavel Datsyuk solidified himself as one of the game’s underrated defensive forwards last night. Yes, you read that right: defensive forward.

… Mike Babcock predictably won the coaching battle. Playfair is obviously a bit of a joke as far as his NHL coaching abilities go, so it’s not that much of a feat for Babcock to have beaten him. Still, this is a big deal for Babs, who really needed this in order to ensure his job security.

… For those of us who were upset that there were no further suspensions after Saturday’s end-of-game debacle, we can find solace in the fact that Iginla and Langkow played very little part in the game. Jarome did have a goal, but for all his bluster about getting his team fired up, his final performance of the season was more of a wimper than a bang. I’m with Dave in saying,

“Beating Calgary on their home ice with both Daymond Langkow and Jarome Iginla in the lineup and then having those players take part in the handshake at the end of the series was the best form of justice you could ask for.”

… For the team as a whole, it was an impressive series. The Wings demonstrated that they aren’t going to back down from physical contact, whereas in previous years, they were manhandled; that they can overcome adversity, whereas in previous years they would have collapsed; and that they can beat a hot goalie, when previously they’ve been unable to do so.

… We’ll know who the Wings’ second-round opponent is after tonight’s Canucks/Stars Game 7. It’ll be either Dallas or San Jose. If you’ve read this blog much, you know who I’d prefer: the Stars. I don’t want them because the Wings whomped on them during the regular season, or because they “own” Marty Turco. To me, the primary consideration is travel. Flying to Dallas, a mere one timezone away, is much preferable to flying out to San Jose. That’s a no-brainer. The Wings will have to go to California at some point in the postseason, if they keep going, but for now, the best thing for them, I think, is to face a team closer to home.

… Be sure to check out Dave’s recap of the game, as well as Christy and IwoCPO’s roundups.