Assorted thoughts and impressions from Game 7:
… Prior to the game, we got to see Rafalski’s face for the first time following Perry’s bush league antics the game before. He looked pissed during the national anthem, and just looking at the cuts made my blood boil.
… Hank sent a message that the Game 6 Wings weren’t making an appearance when he sent Corey Perry into the padded edge of the glass at the end of the bench about a minute into the game. I doubt the placement was intentional, but it got my blood going. Few things are better than a hit on Perry (those few include hits on Selanne, Niedermeyer, Pronger, and Getzlaf).
… The refs sent a message that the officiating was going to be awful when on maybe the Wings’ third shift, Marian Hossa was hauled down to no call just before someone elbowed the heck of of Helm out front, again to no call. I don’t want to dwell on the officiating and will only bring it up when it comes around in the storyline, but that was not a good start.
… The evidence for that continued to pour in when Zetterberg was called for holding the stick that was lodged under his arm by a Duck. In most realities, that’s called “hooking,” but not this one, apparently. 50 seconds later, the refs demonstrated a knowledge of the word “hooking” when Kronwall got called for it, but I’m not sure they know what it actually constitutes. Regardless, the Wings faced a 5-on-3 barely five minutes into a Game 7.
And they were incredible. Stuart, Osgood, Cleary, the other penalty killers: unbelievable effort. The refs probably did the Wings a favor with their incompetence, because that sequence got the crowd into it big time and got the Wings the momentum shift.
… Not long after the kill, Wisniewsky nearly scored on Hiller when he fumbled the puck in a routine play near the net. I think I’d still be laughing if he had.
… The Wings put on a good show in the power play beginning at 8:42, but couldn’t get more than a cycle going. Later, Ryan Getzlaf slashed Franzen while the Ducks were on a rush. Some great leadership there. He went to the box.
… While on the power play, Hiller somehow found a shot through a solid screen, prompting us to wonder how he saw it. Sarah claimed “black magic,” which called this to mind. If he weighs as much as a duck…
… Anyway, not long after that, Hudler scored off a Franzen feed, redirecting the pass through Hiller to put the Wings up 1-0.
… The rest of the period was wild as the Wings were going all out. When play stopped at the horn, I was so invested that at first I wasn’t sure why everyone had stopped skating. A heck of a period of hockey.
… The second started out a little more calmly, but that didn’t last long as a turnover in the Wings’ end led to Hossa springing Darren Helm for a breakaway. The Ducks defensemen started the play looking like they were in good shape, but Helm kicked in some kind of personal afterburner and passed them within seconds, taking the puck in on Hiller and putting it past him stick side top cap off one of the best displays of blazing speed I’ve ever seen. Insane play, and no “wind aid” involved.
… About four minutes into the period, Chris Pronger elbowed and then body-slammed Hossa behind the Ducks’ net, right in front of ref. It was impossible not to make the call, but the ref did the impossible: he let it go. Ridiculous. That event kicked off a sequence in which the Ducks cut loose on the Wings and weren’t called for anything until finally a high-sticking penetrated the haze of the officials’ minds, forcing them to call it.
… On the power play, the Wings forced Beauchemin to bat the puck into the netting, causing a 5-on-3, but not a long one. The Wings’ did continue on the power play as a result, however.
That didn’t last long, though, as Hoss was quickly called for one of the most ridiculously bad high sticking calls I’ve seen: while skating along the left wing boards, he was closed off by Wisniewski in a clear case of interference (no call).
Fighting through that, Hossa’s stick came up to head height and if it touched Wisniewski at all (I’m not convinced it did), it lightly tapped his helmet. Wisniewski, taking a huge risk, stopped playing, choosing rather to cover his face in his hands and throwing his head back in an impressive combo move involving “the sun, omg it is blinding” and “buffalo gun round to the forehead.” I half expected an arm to reach out from the bottom of the screen with a little gold trophy.
Of course, Paul Devorski bought it like a little kid believing his grandpa just took his nose off or can separate his thumb from his hand. So, Hossa got a penalty. Not long after that, Brad Stuart hit Selanne in the chest and sent him flying backward into the glass. Teemu crumpled to the ice and lay there, coming up somehow with a bloody nose. Clean hit from a physics standpoint (though it was a bit late), nice acting by Selanne. The refs gave Stuart interference. Throughout all of this, Zetterberg put on a heroic effort on the kill.
… After the kills, the crowd chanted “Ozzie! Ozzie!” for a while.
… The Ducks scored at 14:50 with Carter sitting in Osgood’s lap to no call. Switch jerseys and make that #96, there’s no way that goal stands. Awful.
… Fortunately, the Wings didn’t take long to respond. With Datsyuk getting mugged into the endboards, he managed to get the puck out front to Samuelsson, who put it in. I’m still not sure how. Great play by Datsyuk.
… At 16:46, Chris Pronger cross-checked Hudler and sent him sliding into Hiller, who took the brunt of the blow on his chest and yet had to have trainers come out to revive him. He was hit much harder in Game 1 by Franzen, but apparently got some lessons in between. The refs, in yet another case of them making a penalty up based on the effects of a play rather than what actually happened, gave the Ducks a power play.
… This one, they scored on. Perry was left all alone to Osgood’s right and was able to knock in the rebound off a Pronger shot.
The game was much to close for comfort at this point, and would only get closer. This in spite of the Wings’ great effort. That’s playoff hockey, I guess. And as bad as the officiating was, the Ducks were making their own luck as well. So the Wings really had to battle hard.
…. I couldn’t write many notes in the third period because I didn’t want to look away from the TV. I’ll summarize it as this: the Ducks came hard, the Wings dug their heels in, but couldn’t hold them off from scoring that third goal. They got a bad break on a loose stick in their end, which disrupted Ericsson and caused a cascade that ended in another goal for the Ducks.
… Action was back and forth for a while after that, with overtime looking more and more likely all the time. I felt sick. Then, Lidstrom held the puck in on a bad clear by the Ducks, and got it deep to Zetterberg. Hank sent it out front to Cleary, who managed to bang it in with 3:00 left. Talk about euphoria!
… After the initial celebration, I settled down for what seemed likely to be a tense finish. And it was, but mainly because it was all Ducks from an offense standpoint, and while the Wings turned away pretty much every chance, I knew it would only take one mistake. Fortunately, they were all but perfect, with only Osgood’s redirecting the puck off a shot into the netting marking a bad spot. The Wings were able to clear after the faceoff, though, and the game ended.
… I haven’t felt this good about a series win in years. An incredible game, but a stressful one, which is fitting for the rest of the series. The Ducks posed a huge challenge, and were far, far better than 8th seed quality. In my mind, this was a battle of 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, in the Conference.
… A word about the Hawks. They’re good; young, fast, physical, and will be rested relative to the Wings. But they’re also cocky. Youth is good for energy and endurance, and for being too stupid to really know what they’re in for, but I think their cockiness will be their downfall. If they try to throw the Wings’ off their game by being physical, they’ll pay. It didn’t work for the Ducks, and it sure as heck isn’t going to work for a team with as little experience as the Blackhawks.
Let’s see how they respond to never having the puck. Their fans think they’ll pepper Osgood or that the Wings can’t compete with a team that rolls four lines. Right. Their fans look at Game 7 and somehow think the Wings are tired. The same guy calls Osgood mediocre. Okay. These people have no. fracking. clue.
With their stunts after Game 6, the Ducks woke the sleeping giant, and now that they’re out of the way, the Hawks’ are its next target. It’s going to be a heck of a series, but it’ll be disappointing for Chicago fans.
I love that Chicago’s going through a renaissance. It’s great for Chicago and it’s great for the League. Original Six rival or not, I like their success. But not against the Wings. In this series, I want nothing less than the complete destruction of that team. I want them dismantled, made helpless and fetal.
I can’t wait for Sunday.
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