May 1 :: Tell Me What It’s All About

GOIN’ THROUGH THE MOTIONS
The Red Wings and Sharks gear up for Game 2 in San Jose less than 48 hours after the Winged Wheelers dropped an overtime decision, with the help of some chintzy officiating. Here’s hoping the refs are a little more hesitant to blow the damn whistle, and keeps the penalty kill unit off of the ice.

I CAN’T WAIT
12:00 local / 3:00pm :: GAME 2 at HP PAVILION
Sunday Post-Game :: Red Wings travel to Detroit
7:00 pm local/Eastern :: Tampa Bay vs. Washington, Game 2
Monday Morning :: Sharks travel to Detroit
Monday 12:00pm :: Red Wings Practice

ARE YOU LOOKIN’ FOR SOMEBODY NU?
Our game will be broadcast nationwide on NBC, and on TSN or RDS north of the border. No Ken and Mick for this one, but NBC’s broadcast team for the game features Dave Strader, the former voice of the Detroit Red Wings. I, for one, can’t wait to hear him calling the game.

YOU PUT ME IN A TRANCE
The Red Wings are hosting another viewing party for local fans. Head over to Hockeytown Cafe for puck drop, and the chance to win some signed memorabilia and mingle with some Red Wings alumni.

DOIN’ ALRIGHT
By special request, the TPL Glossary is ready to jailsex your eyes.
Zetterberg — Datsyuk — Holmstrom
Franzen — Filppula — Hudler
Cleary — Abdelkader — Bertuzzi
Miller — Helm — Eaves

Lidstrom — Stuart
Ericsson — Rafalski
Salei — Kronwall

Howard
MacDonald

DON’T LET ME BE THE ONE
Chris Osgood [groin]
Kris Draper [healthy scratch]
Mike Modano [healthy scratch]
Jakub Kindl [healthy scratch]
ACES: Jordan Pearce, Doug Janik, Brian Lashoff, Derek Meech, Brendan Smith, Cory Emmerton, Ilari Filppula, Jan Mursak, Tomas Tatar

The TPL Name Game “Three Stars”
Disch: Jiri “Hey Baby Tell Me What is on Your Mind” Hudler
Petrella: Nicklas “You’ve Got Something That I Can’t Live Without” Lidstrom
Hollis: Johan “You Know I Love You Even When You Don’t Try” Franzen

THE TRUTH
:: Jimmy Howard played a hell of a Game 1, making 44 saves on 46 shots — nearly stealing a victory in California. The Red Wings are still capable of taking home ice away from the 2 seed. If they win today, they will have split the two in St. Joe’s, leaving three of the five (potential) games to be played in Detroit.
:: While Jimmy Howard may have deserved to win Game 1, the Red Wings certainly didn’t. The calls may have been cheap, but when all was said and done, the Wings were violently outshot (46-25), paraded to the penalty box all night giving the Sharks six power plays, and the biggest stars didn’t shine as brightly as you’d hope.
:: That said, Henrik Zetterberg didn’t look bad at all — particularly for a man that missed the entire first round (alllllll four games, Phoenix). I’m sure he’ll improve every game as he returns to tip top shape and I expect him to get himself off of the schneid quickly.

WHAT WE LEARNED IN GAME 1
:: The penalty kill still sucks.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN GAME 2
:: More of the same from the Sharks: flopping all over the goddamn place to exploit the aforementioned shitty penalty kill of the Red Wings.