I thought the Wings played a lot better in the second and were at least as good as Pittsburgh that period. Zetterberg missed what would have been a beautiful goal by an inch. I look for the Wings to tie it in the third and for Fleury to let in a soft one for the win.
Well since we are guessing and parying on what might happen, IO will throw in the Wings/tigers scenario. For the past 10 days, the wings have won on the days the Tigers have won and lost on the days the Tigers have lost. Go tigers >Go wings...Oh yeah Willis is pitching... but they are tied.
The difference tonight is that the Penquins are going straight to the net one on one if they get the puck in close and the Red Wings are trying to pass out to another player when they are behind the net...
The Wings are playing completely jet-lagged. The defense has been atrocious all game. They can't clear the zone, they can't make outlet passes, and they aren't jumping the play smartly. Rafalski and Lidstrom haven't come up very big this series. Then Samuellson makes every stupid play he can, and Datsyuk is out there dipsy doodling a hole in the ice. Zetterberg looks like a wounded horse and ugh... We just got 1 back. Thank the lord.
The boys didn't bother to play hard until the late 3rd. Not good enough. Especially Zetterberg handling the puck. Had two early chances to score the first goal but he didn't have it tonight. Now it's do or die. Big Game 7 in Detroit.
Wings were the better team by far in the third. Penguins lucky to escape with a win. A number of near-misses. I thought the Wings just played too tentatively and cautiously in the first period and parts of the second. They are a great offensive team, but they need to take a few risks, as they did in the third, to be playing their best. We'll learn from this game and get it done in game 7.
Thought we looked strong on the two power plays in the third -- just couldn't put it in the net. A lot of our shots in traffic just didn't get through or sailed wide throughout the game. But we've got to unleash our great offense a bit and not play so cautiously. Pittsburgh is certainly throwing caution to the winds in their offensive play.
We're containing Crosby thus far. He has had two shots on goal in the last two games and is minus 3 in those games.
The pressure is on the Wings now despite the HCA. The Pens have already won a game 7 on the road but have only scored 2 goals on the Wings ice in three games. Great defense by Penguins who seem to have at least three goalies out there to thwart the wings. To bad we could not capitalize on the PP or the empty net extra attacker. I am officially nervous......:fingerscr
Most definitely...They played the first period as if they were up 3-2 and were leading this game 2-0. No offense and we are lucky Osgood kept it close. They need to attack the net and not settle for all those pretty passes...
Malkin took another very dumb penalty in the third (cross-check on Filipula, I think), continuing the trend he started last game. And the call on Zetterburg for goaltender interference was a very bad one, as one of the announcers was candid enough to say. Z clearly got pushed into the goaltender by the Pittsburgh defender. Hossa has been very quiet this series. I am waiting for him to come to life in game 7. Not only is he not scoring, he just does not seem to be handling the puck very much.
