My immediate reaction to the game is here. More thoughts on the game (a little more scattered than usual because I forgot my notes):

… First off, if you’re looking for a short description of the game, John starts out his post-game comment with a great one: “Switch flipped.” Be sure to read the rest.

… Last night, I characterized the Wings’ good effort as “first ten minutes aside…” but really the first ten weren’t bad. The Jackets came at them hard, with the help of some power plays, and they weathered the storm well. Obviously, they kicked it into another gear after that, but even then they looked pretty good.

… With the exception of Brian Rafalski. He got jobbed on the high sticking on Nash (who may have given himself whiplash on the play), but otherwise looked shaky early on.

… Speaking of overly demonstrative Nash actions, did anyone else find it hilarious the way he submarined at the Columbus blueline in the first when he looked up to see Kronwall lining up a hit? It would have been glorious, but seeing Nash fall over on his own was pretty great too.

… I’m glad the rate of penalty calling dropped so drastically after the first 10 minutes. It was getting ridiculous for a while there. While there was plenty to call in later stages of the game, I don’t mind not having a whistle every two minutes.

… That said, I could have taken a few more penalties on Jackets whose sole jobs apparently were to violate Tomas Holmstrom. The guy was mugged even more than usual on virtually every shift, but officials who were calling shoves that wouldn’t get elementary school children disciplined turned a blind eye to the stick dents in Homer’s face, neck, back, and legs.

… The attention paid to Holmstrom wasn’t all bad, though. The Jackets seemed content to leave Johan Franzen alone for the most part. He was able to throw a major screen on one goal, and was left all alone for his own.

… That’s the thing that the Jackets will have to learn in this series: they cannot just focus on Holmstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Hossa. Samuelsson, Hudler, Filppula, and Franzen showed that. The third line was very impressive and that includes Samuelsson. I hope he hasn’t filled his “good game” quota for the year.

… The Franzen goal was the Jackets’ Game 1 defensive strategy in a nutshell: double team the big name star, leave the rising star uncovered. Not smart. I expect Hitchcock to adjust that for Game 2, but I’m not fully convinced the Jackets really have the personnel to cover all three of the Wings’ offense-oriented lines.

… The Wings, on the other hand, do have the personnel to shut down the Jackets. Their offensive capabilities extend beyond Rick Nash, of course, but Nick Lidstrom’s complete ownership of the big guy last night set the tone defensively for the rest of the team. Assuming the Wings now like to play defense again, it’s going to take a monumental effort by Nash and Co. to even get to Osgood, at which point they’d face the task of scoring on a pissed off goalie.

… The Jackets will also have to learn that getting too nasty doesn’t pay off. Crashing the net, starting a scrum after every play, constantly taking umbrage with minimal contact, all that crap doesn’t work.

… I’ve seen two of the Wings’ goals characterized as “dumb luck.” Well, for one of them you can emphasize the “dumb” and drop the “luck.” Manny Malholtra’s attempted puck grab on Ericsson’s shot was the kind of play you might make in floor hockey in middle school gym class. Pure idiocy on his part. When you have a goalie like Steve Mason, you let him make the save.

As for the other “dumb luck” goal, are we seriously supposed to dwell on the fact that there was the most miniscule of deflections off the Jackets’ hockey pants? Give me a break. That’s hockey. Focusing on either of those two plays as the reason the Wings won ignores the dominance with which they played this game.

… Pavel Datsyuk had no points, but was a force. His physical play, as always, was entertaining. He made a few Jackets intimately aquainted with his shoulder, which probably surprised a few of them.

… It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: Marian Hossa is an ox. Is there anyone on the team stronger than he is? When he has the puck and really wants to keep it, it seemingly takes three guys to get it away from him. He had a nice game in spite of being kept off the scoreboard. He was robbed by Mason and circumstances at least twice, and you can bet he’ll be looking to make up ground in that regard Saturday.

… With Jonathan Ericsson, it’s incredible to see someone who looks so young looking so poised out there.

… Darren Helm had a strong game overall. Some poor choices with the puck occassionally, but he’s a definite playoff performer.

… Nik Kronwall was also strong overall, though he looked bad on the Jackets’ goal. He should have checked again to see where Rafalski was before dropping the puck off. Of course, Rafalski bears a lot of the blame on that one. Why the heck did he just stop skating?

… Bill already pointed this quote out, but it’s worth reprinting:

“I don’t doubt myself ever. People that don’t know me do. I’ve played for 15 years. I have the most wins in Red Wings playoff history for a reason, not because I’m a bad goalie.”

Osgood’s annoyance as he spoke those words barely comes through, but it was real. The guy is on a mission. In some ways, I think his awful season was exactly the best thing that could have happened to him. When it’s Osgood against the World, we get the Wizard.

Meg pointed out that the crowd was chanting “Ozzie! Ozzie!” as it went through the concourse after the game. That’s the cheer I want to hear.

… Overall, I’m feeling pretty good about this series. It’s just one game in and there’s a lot of hockey to left to play, but if the Wings’ “switch flip” last night was genuine, they’re in great shape.

The Jackets are sure to come hard Saturday, but as long as the Wings keep their play elevated as they did last night, it won’t matter. In Game 1, they showed a willingness to do the hard things to win. In Game 2, we find out if that willingness will extend more than 60 minutes because the next 60 are sure to be even harder.