Really late, DVRed recap of the Red Wings/Predators tilt. Rob will have more to say, as he watched the game a little more closely than I did.
Anyone know the last time the Red Wings won back-to-back overtime games? December 6th and 10th, 2008. Yes, yes I did look it up.
TPL’S TAKE
1. I’ve already given my thoughts about Bertuzzi’s amazing weekend, but even more than the goals, I liked seeing him take exception to Kevin Klein roughing up Patrick Eaves in front of Renne in the first period. He looks legitimately pissed that someone was picking on his teammate. GOOD. Get mad. SOMEONE…
2. On the dumbass-brainfart during a PK by Brian Rafalski (who lost the puck behind his own net when he was STUNNED that the Predators were allowed back there…), Chris Osgood made a great save on a shot he shouldn’t have had to face from Dan Hamhuis. After the pass from Legwand, that shot was destined for the back of the net, but Osgood made a great save.
3. No bullshit, Terry Crisp said the following during the first period: “…we’ve been picking on Pekka for picking up the puck. But as soon as he puts the puck in play…” In related news, Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers, and purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins. Penis.
4. Great pass from Datsyuk to Zetterberg, who can’t finish on the power play late in the first period. Dude, for real, those have to start going in.
5. The first Bertuzzi goal. Really, dude? All this time we’ve been beginning you to stop the spin-o-ramas. Great pass from Drew Miller, and Bertuzzi made some magic happen by just sending it to the net. Again. That’s how you need to score goals in 2009-10.
6. “Oh dear Flying Spaghetti Monster, no” is what I thought when I saw Darren Helm fall to the ice. He healed himself with awesomeness on the bench and was no worse for wear.
7. Zetterberg, Datsyuk and DREW MILLER combine for goal #2? Whatever it takes, yo. Nice hand-eye coordination on Miller. The referees get on the phone because it was an obvious goal by the Red Wings. Gotta try to make up a rule to shaft the Red Wings in a few minutes…
8. All of a sudden, the PK looks pretty decent. Very improved the last few weeks. Despite the first Predators goal (which did come on the power play), the kill is infinitely better than it has been most of the season.
9. Nifty move by Bertuzzi in overtime. Great feed by Datsyuk, Bertuzzi actually BEAT SOMEONE IN A FOOT RACE (I know what you’re thinking. They were not, in fact, actually statues), and game over. Beautiful.
10. Required reading: Confessions of a Red Wing Fan at Snipe Snipe Dangle Dangle. Blaming ourselves for the injury situation (and blaming me for the intent to blow nonsense).
REVISITING THE PRE-GAME QUICK THOUGHTS
1. I promised Bertuzzi would start chipping away my hate for him if he had another game like Friday. Well, he must have been reading because he delivered almost the same damn thing. I still hate him, but I hate him less than I did Thursday. All of a sudden he’s on pace for 20 goals.
2. Chris Osgood played really well. Does he feel pressure to win “back” the starting goalie position? I inclined to blame him for the second goal, where he stayed on his ass for some reason and he flopped around the general vicinity of the net.
3. Still no goal from Nick – the count is at 29 games. That’s an eternity. Imagine how he feels.
4. Ville Leino may not have gotten on the scorecard, but there weren’t any moments when I mistook him for a retarded monkey, so a win nonetheless.
5. Datsyuk didn’t finish, but he did deliver two assists (and should have had a third on that nifty Zetterberg feed), which is nice.
What’s next?
The Red Wings play the Hamilton BlackBerries on Monday.
Good stuff. Your Leino comments are funny for a couple of reasons. First, it's dead on descriptive. He is often difficult to watch & now I have that monkey image ingrained so thanks for that. Second, it reminded me of a thought I had the other night during one of his shifts. He often looks like he has less upper body strength than Stephen Hawking. Time to hit the weight room Ville.
Thank you, sir. He just reminds me of a simian of some sort. Last season, the biggest fault of his in my eyes was the INCREDIBLE EASE with which he fell down and/or gave up the the puck. He's improved, but still looks like a goddamn windsock when faced with trouble.
I couldn't believe Bertuzzi beat somebody in a foot race either. Well, a guy on his left caught up but Bertuzzi muscled his way through.
Your "confessions" were a great read. Thank you for sharing.
Michael, how concerned are you to face a NHL-property Coyotes tonite?
@Gander – my pleasure sharing the stories. I read them after Kris published them and was like "uh oh…people might think I'm an asshole." I have my moments, so maybe they wouldn't be too far off. HA!
And yeah, Bertuzzi in a foot race? I literally would have taken the Zamboni if the two of them went end-to-end.
@Guilherme – I wouldn't say I'm concerned, but certainly wary. They're playing way past their expectations from the summer, but it's no fluke as we're now 30 games into the season. They have an incredibly good goaltender, a very decent young defense, so offense will be key again. If the offense sputters like the Blues game, they're in trouble. Time will tell… check back for the pre-game!
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