Recap

DETROIT - APRIL 16: Chris Osgood #30 of the Detroit Red Wings dives to make a save as teammate Jonathan Ericsson #52 ties up Fredrik Modin #33 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 16, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

DETROIT - APRIL 16: Manny Malhotra #27 of the Columbus Blue Jackets battles for the puck with both Marian Hossa #81 and Henrik Zetterberg #40 of the Detroit Red Wings during Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 16, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

(Images from NHL.com)

So… Last night… pizza was eaten, beer was drank, and the evening was topped off with Macallan’s and cigars. It don’t get no better than that, Gentle Reader. Oh…wait. Yes, it does get better. The Wings won their opener handily, beating Columbus 4-1. Chris Osgood took a giant step towards silencing his critics and other assorted doubters with a sterling performance in goal, stopping 20 of 21 shots (13 of which came in the first period) and being named as the game’s first star. The recap is here.

The middle game was excellent as well. Chicago trailed Calgary for most of the night yet Martin Havlat managed to tie the game with a little over five minutes left in regulation and win it 12 seconds into overtime. Havlat was the obvious choice for first star in front of a deliriously happy home crowd. The Hawks are back.

SN1 left before the Chicago game went into overtime. He had driven straight through from Riverside, CA to Portales yesterday and was a little bit whipped last night, having grabbed only about four hours sleep after arriving in P-Ville just before sunrise. And he has a long drive back to South Carolina ahead of him today and tomorrow. He needed his beauty rest.

I apparently needed MY beauty rest as well. I didn’t make it all the way through the nightcap game… falling asleep at the second intermission of the Sharks-Ducks game. I don’t have a dog in this fight (or any other sort of animal… fish or fowl) and I have good reason to dislike both teams, based upon their rather rude handling of the Wings in playoff series past. Still and even, my heart is with the underdogs in this one, so I was gratified to learn the Ducks triumphed last evening by a score of 2-0… in San Jose. There’s a lot of hockey left in this series, to be sure. But I think the games are off to a great start.

And… another double-header tonight… Philly and Pittsburgh tilt again and Vancouver hosts the Blues for the nightcap. I love this time of year!