… First off, I have to address the late penalty, though I can’t believe there’s even a debate about this. The rule on too many men is explicit: if the player comes on the ice before the man he’s replacing is off and touches the puck  on purpose, it’s a penalty. There is no room for discretion, as there would have been had Modin simply jumped the gun and hit the ice early without touching the puck.

You can argue that the officials had swallowed their whistles all period and were letting the players decide the game, but that argument falls flat when you consider that, like when a player high sticks another, puts the puck over the glass in the defensive zone, or puts his glove on the puck in the crease, this type of bench minor is always called when the officials catch it. It’s black and white, not grey as in the case of hooking or holding.

The Jackets need to accept responsibility for the mistake rather than cast blame on the officials, or they really haven’t learned anything.

… The same goes for the fans. Throwing trash on the ice is reprehensible, especially when you target the coach of the other team.* Maybe I was wrong to think Jackets fans were any better than your run-of-the-mill Buckeye thug. Way to ruin what had been a pretty sportsmanlike series, guys.

… Moving on.

… Not a first-class showing by the Wings, but since they still won and have moved on to the second round, I can’t complain too much. And I actually think this was good for them, since they were reminded not to become complacent after dominant performances give them the edge in a series.

… Osgood looked human for the first time in this series, which wasn’t encouraging. However, much of that can likely be attributed to his apparent second period injury. He finished the game strong, but there’s no doubt the rest between series will be key for him.

… Marian Hossa finally broke free, and had a heck of a game doing it. Without him, the Jackets likely would have taken it back to Detroit. Here’s hoping he’s only just getting started.

… Dan Cleary finished a great series with a typical Cleary goal, bouncing the puck in off Mason’s skate in the first. I called him Dan “Dead Weight” Cleary in the regular season, but he’s pretty much Exhibit A in the Wings’ case that we shouldn’t focus too much on that 82-game warm-up for the real season.

… Nice of Rick Nash to finally show up, eh?

… Jonathan Ericsson had a rough night. He coughed the puck a lot and definitely looked the rookie. His fellow defensemen were lacking as well at times, though, so it wasn’t just him.

… A more positive note on the Columbus crowd: they showed an impressive amount of support for their team, choosing to spend much of the game standing in true college town fashion.

… Going into the third period tied 5-5 was a stark reminder of how stressful the playoffs can be. It was a combination of being concerned about Osgood and just wanting to win the game. When you consider that the Wings had the series well in hand and were still 99% guaranteed to win it, being nervous for so much of the period seems ridiculous. But I just hate playoff losses.

… I think I’ll just about leave it at that. To wrap up the series: this was a great matchup for the Wings to have in the first round. Difficult enough to show them what they need to refine, but easy enough to allow them to get the Red Machine started. The next round will be significantly more difficult, but as long as they learn the lessons of Game 4, and even Game 3, they should be in good shape.

*Don’t try to apply that to throwing octopi. That practice never endangered anyone, regardless of what Bettman and the League office say. Throwing beer bottles and other such items on the ice in protest of a call is light years different from the Wings’ time-honored tradition.