Loss Candy: the Red Wings drop their first of ’12

On By mpetrella

FINAL SCORE (Hi Dad!)
4-3 Maple Leafs

THE RUNDOWN
A single game that resembled the early portion of the Red Wings season: terrible… then great… then terrible again. The Leafs put the Wings though the ringer in period #1 — the top pairing of Nicklas Lidstrom and Ian White had a rough night — before the Wings absolutely put on a clinic in period #2. Down a goal with twenty minutes to play, momentum seemed to be in the Wings’ favor and they were able to tie it up and make it a 15 minute game.

That score only stood up for a  few minutes, and the Leafs switched to a prevent defense after going up 4-3. It would prove to be enough.

BULLETS OF IMPORTANCE

  • The first period was whack. The Wings spotted the home team three scores to build on (one was a penalty shot by Kessel). I blame the dads. Luckily, this is the Maple Leafs we’re talking about and the Wings didn’t really have a problem climbing back into the game.
  • Todd Bertuzzi started off the scoring for the good guys, with a nice little deflection that was reviewed (his stick was pretty high, but you couldn’t really tell the point of contact). Tuzz would be right in the thick of things on the second Wings goal (scored by Kronwall) as he got clubbed in the head while Kronner chased his own rebound and put a nice one home. The Leafs would take a 3-2 lead into the dressing room.
  • More of the same in the third, as Detroit kept the pressure on, eventually tying the game at 3 (Hudler banged home a rebound) less than five minutes into the frame. Just three minutes later, however, the Leafs would regain the lead, as Joffrey Lupul netted his 19th of the season. That was the last goal of the game, and the Wings lose for the first time in the new year.

BULLETS OF LESS IMPORTANCE

  • Near the end of the second period (which saw the Wings outshoot the Leafs 14-2), Jonas Gustavsson felt the pressure and flipped his own helmet off. I understand that the League wants to protect the netminders, but the fact that it’s an automatic whistle makes no sense. The goalies — at least, Gustavsson — have begun using it as a crutch and a way to get a whistle when they want one. It’s the new “accidentally” knock the net off the moorings move. No one’s advocating that goalies play without a helmet, but they can finish a play without needing a safety whistle.
  • Congratulations to the Detroit Lions playing in their first playoff game since 1999. At the conclusion of the Wings game, the Lions were up 14-10 at Halftime, and The Production Line wishes them well. The Lions doing well means only good things for the city of Detroit.

LOSS CANDY
The unquestionably sexy Christina Perri

And the unquestionably dreamy James Blunt, who toured with Perri (probably vice versa)

Photo Credit: Graig Abel, NHLI via Getty Images