03 February 2010

Wings drown Sharks, 4-2. (Regulation. Bitches.)

Christ on a stick, thankyouthankyouthankyou for giving us two points in regulation tonight. Mandatory keyboard explody type celebration time: sdofdofndofodsufowehofsfnds.

Super duper quick thoughts before calling it a night:

1. Welcome back, #96. Homer played like a man possessed tonight. Time and again, I've praised him on here for always working hard, and tonight, he displayed as much hustle and grit as ever. He notched an assist on each of the first two Wings' goals scored, and by the end of the game, he'd put six shots on goal.

2. When Kronner couldn't stay on his skates during one of the Sharks' power plays during the first period, I thought, "Fuck. Not again." Turned out it was just a broken blade on one of his skates. Then, for start of the third period, he didn't return to the bench; Derek Meech took his place on the power play. Late in the third period, FSD reported that Kronwall had a "slight tweak, nothing serious." After the game, Babcock indicated that he "tweaked his ankle." Hmm. I don't believe "tweak" is a serious medical offense, so we'll keep hoping for the best until we hear otherwise, right?

3. Speaking of Meech, he actually played a decent game; on the aforesaid power play, he scored a goal, and he elevated his defensive play throughout the game (particularly noticeable after he scored that goal). Way to finally play as if you give a shit about earning a permanent spot on the team, cochise.

4. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg both had stellar efforts tonight. Zetterberg scored the Wings' second goal tonight on a power play, and feeling my heart soar while watching Homer reunited with the Eurotwins was a feeling I shant soon forget.

5. Speaking of Pasha, my jaw is still scraping the ground due to the fact that I witnessed Joe Thornton strip him of the puck during a Datsyukian playbook rush. I believe the universe attempted to negate this by later having Nabokov cough up a juicy rebound to Datsyuk, but still...

6. How about Brian Rafalski's defensive play along the boards during the final 60 seconds? Holy Jesus...

7. San Jose is really just too ridiculously good at faceoffs.

8. I like seeing Dan Cleary and Valtteri Filppula play together, and I didn't mind seeing Homer on the second line tonight, either, as much as I love the Flying Circus. I thought these three did a great job maintaining pressure and creating chances.

9. Patrick Eaves's goal was magnificent--I love when our guys are in the right position to catch the other team with the pants around their ankles, which is exactly what happened with San Jose here. Also worth noting is Kris Draper (who earned an assist on Eaves's goal) and Darren Helm, who also both had tremendous efforts tonight. Valtteri Filppula also showed up to rock and roll, earning himself two assists.

10. Joe Thornton is a dickhole for crashing into Jimmy late in the third. But thanks for negating that stressful 6-on-4 sitch, Joe. You just gotta hate it when that happens.

This was the most consistent effort the Wings have put forth recently. They were a little sluggish to start the game, but warmed up to a fever pitch during the final eight minutes of the first period. They were a little uneven at the beginning of the second period, but left all that soon behind after Cleary scored the first of four unanswered Wings' goals. The third period was all around outstanding for Detroit.

We owe ourselves a tiny sigh of relief that the game didn't go into overtime; Nashville earned a point tonight against Phoenix (who won in the 11,403th round of a shootout), Dallas beat Minnesota, Colorado beat Columbus, and Los Angeles topped the Rangers. The standings are so ridiculously tight right now--every little bit counts. The Wings now have 64 points (tied with the Preds). Tomorrow night, we play the delightfully disgusting Anaheim Ducks, who are not far behind us with 59 icky points. We don't need to be reminded of how crucial another regulation win tomorrow is. Let's go, Wings.

10 comments:

  1. According to Malik, Kronwall is unlikely for tomorrow's game due to his "tweak."

    Ain't that a bitch?

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  2. Didn't realize the skate thing until I came home to read all the posts. From our end (behind Jimmah) it looked like Kronwall couldn't put weight on his leg. I was yelling all kind of of obscenetities and pleading with the gods... Hoping somebody heard me, especially now with this "tweak".

    Oh and I think you would have enjoyed being there... quite a few Red Wing fans. And shit, we won!

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  3. No Kronner tonight so we're taking it from "bitch" to "slut" status.

    The win was brilliant. Homer is a god. The conflicting feelings of joy over the win and angst over 55 led to fretful dreams of Shakespearean proportions.

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  4. Petrella: Suck. Ass. Is Kronwall the sacrifice to the hockey gods we repeatedly have to make in order to appease them and get a win? Not fair.

    Vicky: That's awesome you were able to go to the game! (And even more awesome that they pulled out a win and played a solid game.) Yeah, when Kronwall went down in the first, I thought for sure something was messed up with his knee and watching him trying to stand up was horrifying. After they showed him getting his blade changed, it then became cute, kind of in the way watching a puppy try to climb up stairs that are too big for him is too cute. Now I'm just upset again.

    Can somebody please contact the AMA to get a clear definition of the term "tweak"? I thought this term only applied to a specific act committed in the midst of sexual congress.

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  5. Krononymous and all the Kronwall-loving gang: I am so sorry. I don't even have the words...

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  6. Am so so depressed about Kronwall. Seriously, I am SO glad I had to work last night because I honestly don't think my heart could have taken seeing him floundering out there on a blade-less skate and fearing the worst. Hopefully it really IS just a tweak and not another "2-week setback" that is my worst nightmare.

    As a nurse, I can't tell you that I've ever heard of an official definition of a "tweak," but I work in peds cardiology and not physical therapy/athletics so I have no freakin' clue. Either way, I want to know if it is really his ankle or his knee and how bad is it. Is it wrong of me to be really wary about him playing for Team Sweden? I really want to see him playing for the team (esp. after I put up a big stink about how The Joe was selling Team Sweden/Wings scarves for Z & Lids but not for Kronner/Homer/Mule), but if his knee is so sensitive that it's getting "tweaked" every other game, I'd rather see him use the time to heal.

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  7. I always thought that tweaking was something you did with a pipe, some foil, and a substance that you just cooked up in your bathtub.
    Anyways, Nurse Nitz, I second your apprehension in having Kronner play in the Olympics. I have felt this way since he was injured the first time. I also feel this way about Franzie. What happens if they really f something up, especially with the fierce rivalries between countries? Sweden and Finland pretty much hate each other, don't they? Won't other teams take advantage of something like a slight "tweak"?
    I didn't hear if it was his left or right ankle that was injured. But usually when one leg is injured, you overcompensate with the other, risking injury to the noninjured side. But he is a professional athlete and in incredible shape, so this is just probably a precaution. Because you do realize that we a playing the dirtiest, douchiest team in all of the Western conference tonight. Don't want to risk Cory "Giant Douchebag" Perry or Grecian Formula doing something sleazy and underhanded to our baby.

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  8. Nurse Nitz and Dena, I think you're right to be apprehensive about the Olympics. Truth be told, the number of injuries the Wings have suffered this season should make us nervous about seeing ANY of our players go overseas, although it's certainly their right (and a good thing, in my opinion) for them to play for their home countries. It really is too bad that all this had to go down in an Olympic year. It just compounds the issues we've had with injuries and with fighting to make the playoffs.

    I feel like after this is all said and done and we can laugh about it, "tweak" will become a TSO & Associates running joke. And I like that about us.

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  9. I was kind of feeling okay about the "tweak" until I checked A2Y and saw the frame of the incident posted. Now, not so much. Check it out if you dare - it's under the GDT.

    I am going to go vomit now.

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  10. Krononymous, I will be joining you post-haste. I beyond worried that he'd just started to get better & maybe pushed himself back into the line-up too fast. The fact of the matter is, we NEEDED him (and still do). But seeing that picture, oh, I'm so tired of seeing the footage of our guys getting injured over and over again in my head. The words "re-aggravate" vs. "tweak" are particularly concerning. If Mule could PLEASE send a little knee-healing mojo his way, I'd greatly appreciate it.

    On the subject of Mule, I'm actually way less worried about his return. I know it's fast coming off an ACL, but unlike our other players, he hasn't had any setbacks with the recovering process, which I think is a really good sign. Sounds like he's being responsible about the Olympics & while he'd love to play for Sweden, I don't think he'll push it if he doesn't feel 100%.

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