Wings defeat Avalanche, Mule Feeds YOU

On By mpetrella
The Final (Hi Dad!)
Red Wings 5, Avalanche 2.
The Skinny
There’s a great line in the 1989 cinema classic Major League (actually, there are quite a few great lines) that goes, “We won a game yesterday. If we win one today, that’s two in a row. We win one tomorrow, and that’s called a winning streak.” Following a dismal six-game skid, the Wings have won back-to-back games and have begun to look like themselves again. A strong effort from all four lines and five of the six defenseman added up to a well-deserved 5-2 victory over the once-hated Colorado Avalanche.
Johan Franzen would get his second career hat trick (so far… one of those goals MIGHT be given back to Valtteri Filppula), so make sure you clip the box score and take it to Arby’s tomorrow. It may just be time for the first order of curly fries on the young season, so stay tuned for that exciting, greasy, delicious development.
Bullets of Importance
  • Nicklas Lidstrom is hot. Also, he’s a good hockey player. I kid, of course — but he’s tearing up the scoresheet lately. He opened the scoring tonight with his third goal in two games, and sixth on the season. Johan Franzen tried to jam one home from a sharp angle along the goal line, the puck ended up behind the net and the young Avs made a mistake that inexperienced hockey players make: they sent the puck right up the slot (which is rarely a good play…) and right onto the Captain’s stick, who buried it. Lidstrom would momentarily lead the team in scoring.
  • The second Wings’ goal was absolutely filthy. The second line played a little tic tac toe as Hudler sent the puck deep to Zetterberg, who returned the puck to Hudler, who put a gorgeous pass right onto Filppula’s stick. We said on Twitter that it was guaranteed to be the best-looking threeway that Scuttles has ever been a part of. Upon further review, it would appear that Franzen got a piece of the puck (yes he did), and the goal was officially credited to Mulo. Franzen would have a second goal (then thought to be his first) when he re-directed a Kronwall shot/pass on the power play. He’d add a THIRD on an empty net, and you know what that means. GO GET YOU SOME CURLY FRIES, SON!
  • With just over five minutes to play in the game, Dan Cleary scored his 100th goal as a Detroit Red Wing. Congratulations to Buckets, who corralled a bouncing puck (which is insanely difficult to do) and jacked home a rebound. He became the 43rd player in team history to score 100 goals in a winged wheel jersey.
Bullets of Less Importance
  • In the opening minutes of tonight’s game, Jonathan Ericsson was positively lit up in the corner by the much shorter, much lighter Chuck Kobasew. It was like a Volkswagon derailing a train with no effort whatsoever. Ericsson would later take a lazy penalty after getting smoked by — YOU GUESSED IT! — Chuck Kobasew. Shartbox would continue his tour of the penalty box in the second, with another lazy penalty: this time, hooking.
  • The Red Wings were airing a pretty cute commercial starring some of the players and Coach Babcock, where the team treats the Joe like “home” and not just “home ice.” It’s nice to see some personality from these guys, but perhaps more importantly — it shed some light on Ty Conklin’s role with the team, since it clearly isn’t stopping pucks: he the only one that unclog the toilet after a MEAN Todd Turduzzi.

Statistical Bullhonkey

  • Brad Stuart was a +2, moving himself closer to the Mendoza Line, but still on the wrong side of it for the season.
  • Fabian Brunnstrom was the low man on the icetime list, clocking in at just 5:22, all of it even strength. The only other players not to step on the ice for a power play or a penalty kill were Jakub Kindl and — wait for it — Jonathan “Big Money Big Money Big Money STOP!” Ericsson.
  • Dan Cleary fired 7 shots on net — two more than Franzen and seven more than Valtteri Filppula somehow
The Disch Approved “Horsecop” of the Game
Johan Franzen may have earned us some curly fries, so he’s the man tonight. Honorable mentions to Nicklas Lidstrom and Valtteri Filppula.
The Riggy “Shitbox” of the Game
Dude. Jonathan Ericsson sucks. For realz.
What’s Next?
The Wings take on the other young upstart darlings of the NHL — the Edmonton Oilers — on Friday. Chris Hollis is going to make the pre-game mmmmmmmmmmmmmmDROP!