On the Wings

Well. That was interesting. The Wings withstood the Avs throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them and ended up playing a solid away game. Until, that is, a brief stretch of brain cramps in the third (two consecutive bench minors?!). They rebounded from that with an impressive finish, however,  and held the Avs to zero offensive presence when Theodore was pulled for the extra man.

An ugly win in some ways, but a message-sending one in others. The Wings showed their depth with goals from the top two lines and demonstrated resiliency that should put to rest talk that they lack mental fortitude.

As for the Avs, they can’t catch a break. Paul Stastny had to leave the game with an apparent knee injury and did not return. Peter Forsberg wasn’t invisible, but clearly was playing hurt. I don’t feel any sympathy for them, however. They played a very rough style tonight and the Wings were fortunate to come away without any obvious injuries.

Lastly, I just want to point out Pavel Datsyuk’s play on his second goal: he stopped Brian Rafalski’s shot before it hit Theodore, pulled it to the left and put it in a mostly empty net all in one motion. It’s something you have to see to believe. I just hope a good replay shows up online.

Behind the Jersey liveblog here.

More in the morning.