Wings 3, Oilers 2 (2OT)

(Photo: Detroit News)

Well, they won. But…it took ‘em long enough. Mitch Albom puts it this way:

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.

Wings win the opener, 3-2 — a game they could just as easily have lost. You've seen this before, folks. More times than you can remember. It's hockey. It's the playoffs. And it's the Western Conference, where, in 2006, there are no gimme teams, no cakewalks. The Wings on Friday night were like the guy with a million bucks in his pocket but no change for the tollbooth. They swarmed the Edmonton end numerous times, putting shot after shot on Roloson, but they couldn't cash in.

Meanwhile, Edmonton, like a guy who hits on his first lottery ticket, scored two times in its first seven shots. Both goals came on power plays. The first Manny Legace might never have stopped. The second, he probably should have.

And just like that, the city was back to its old habit -- tying itself in knots, waiting, praying, hoping. The stomachs churned. The fists clenched and unclenched.

Felt good, didn't it?

The Wings led 1-0 at the end of the first period. They were down 2-1 at the end of the second. And they managed to tie it in the third. And then…and then…one full period of overtime, and Albom gets it right: “stomachs churned…The fists clenched and unclenched.” Twenty minutes of overtime and no score. Lots of chances, but no goals. But then, two minutes and change into the second overtime, Kirk Maltby, who only scored five goals in the regular season, gets his second goal of the night and the game winner. Breathe. Breathe deeply.

For those of you who don’t know, the Wings were eliminated in the second and first rounds of the play-offs the last two seasons, after winning the President’s Trophy as the best team in the NHL during the regular season. A fan doesn’t forget ignominious ends to the play-offs (and the season) like those, the memories come right back to haunt you as you watch the team struggle to win. It’s the play-offs.

God love ‘em!