Last night was almost TOO much excitement... and El Casa Móvil De Pennington was literally rockin'. We got off to a rocky start last evening, given the bizarre and arcane scheduling that is Versus in these play-offs. NO ONE... save fans of the Flightless Birds and that team from Ottawa... could have been pleased with Versus last evening. Which is to say we got to watch the entire Pittsburgh - Ottawa game and then piece parts of Chicago - Nashville, NONE of the Dee-troit game (more about which follows) and only the last half of the third period and the OT of the Fish v. the Dive. We were simply astounded that the Wings' game on Versus was blacked out in its entirety here in P-Ville, but our astonishment was overcome due to the fact we have Fox Sports Arizona (hunh?) on our local Comcast Cable System... which is the reason for the Versus black-out. So... all was well.
Buck beat feet over to our place after a quick phone call and we settled down to watch the game. Which turned out to be one of those heart-stopping, up and back, run and gun games with the lead changing hands faster than Elizabeth Taylor changed husbands in her prime. Highlights:
There were five goals in slightly less than four minutes in the second period, which is the third highest number of goals in that time frame EVER. The mood swings we experienced during that time would have put ANY menopausal woman to shame... or just when one thought it was time for a sigh of relief those Feral Dogs would even it up. Again and again. "Excitement" isn't quite the word to describe the experience.
But. Not to worry. The Wings' special teams got back on track, blanking the Feral Dogs on all four of their man-advantages while scoring on two of three Dee-troit power plays. We also think Phoenix learned they can't play "run and gun" with these Wings... which was truly a recipe for disaster last evening. For Phoenix.
Finally... you'll notice at the end of the video above Zetterberg got a hat-trick with his empty-netter at the end of the third. What's not shown is that it took about three minutes to sweep up all the hats that rained down on the ice in Jobing.com Arena, otherwise known as Joe Louis West. There's not another team in the league that can count on nearly a hundred hats (my best guess) being thrown on the ice at their opponent's home barn. To quote ZZ Top: "We're bad... we're nationwide." Yup.
Love me some ZZ Top!
ReplyDelete"There were five goals in slightly less than four minutes in the second period"
ReplyDeleteWatched it, Buck.
Crazy stuff.
Wings in how many?
ReplyDeleteMoogie: Heh.
ReplyDeleteSmall-tee: As I said: almost TOO much excitement.
Andy: I have two responses, the first of which is my eternal optimist speaking: six. The second is the realist, in that the series still might be won in five if the Wings don't find some motivation. They were lackluster at best yesterday.
They did look pretty lackluster. But nobody with any hockey sense at all will be expecting that to happen again. It's the Detroit friggin' Red Wings.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you stand on teh Goalie situation? Seems to be some discussion there, though I feel it is unwarranted. Ozzie ain't the answer this time, I think.
Where do you stand on teh Goalie situation?
ReplyDeleteStick with Howard, for better or worse. He let in two soft goals yesterday which caused both SN1 and I to tear our hair. What worries me more, however, is it appears that age is finally catching up with Lidstrom. The fact that he was minus-three in that game is VERY troubling. Or maybe he just had a bad day yesterday.
Wanna trade goalies, straight across? ;-)
Ha! There's a bit of a running sarcasm over at Mile High Hockey that based on media coverage, we'll be seeing every trophy renamed "The Howard," and awarded to him. Yesterday's game may slow down that feeling a bit.
ReplyDeleteBut I think you're getting close to being right about Lidstrom. We've got much the same with Foote - he's no Lidstrom and never was, but he ain't the Footer of old, either. At least he's still nasty as can be.
And also with Foote, we love him like you love Lidstrom, so I know exactly where you are coming from on this one.
ReplyDeleteAt least he's still nasty as can be.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that last night. And I mean that in the BEST way possible. Which is saying quite a lot... coz you KNOW there's some history between us (Wings - Avs) where Foote is concerned.
But... yeah. It hurts to watch one of your heroes begin the inevitable slide.