SC Playoffs – Round 2, Game 6
Before I comment on the Red Wings’ collective effort last night, Matt at On The Wings has a couple of great responses on the game itself and Scott Niedermayer’s goonery after the final whistle, respectively.
As for the Wings’ effort, I’m dumbstruck. It baffles me as to how you can come out so flat and complacent for such an important game. Maybe they were looking ahead. Maybe they’re still dealing with a Cup hangover. Maybe they’ve been listening to everyone talk about how amazing they were in Game 5 and thought Anaheim would just go away. Whatever it was, it looked awful. I have faith that Mike Babcock will have this team ready to play on Thursday come hell or high water.
They may not even need to hear anything from Babcock after what occurred after the final buzzer last night. For those of you who missed it but watched Game Three, picture the same situation. However, instead of Chris Pronger taking a run at Datsyuk, Scott Niedermayer decided he’d have a go at Dr. Rahmani’s favorite patient. Great move, Anaheim. Poke the sleeping bear. Watch what happens. I’m fully expecting a 2002-Avs-like-beatdown tomorrow night. Apparently the Ducks didn’t learn from Games 4 and 5 that the goonery doesn’t work against Detroit.
“When you’ve got our best players … Pavel getting kind of manhandled and Raffie as well, it just seems like at the end of every game there’s always something going on,” Detroit forward Kirk Maltby said. “You just put it in the back of your mind and worry about the game tomorrow.”
(via NHL.com)
Versus showed a great clip for the first time ever at the first intermission of the Pittsburgh-Washington game tonight of Ryan Getzlaf getting in Johan Franzen’s face and then knocking him down. Franzen has responded with four goals in the past three games. Don’t be surprised if Datsyuk goes off in Game 7 and continues to take his frustrations out on the Chicago Blackhawks in the next series, a team he has played very well against throughout his career. I think the Wings will win Game 7, but I’ll undoubtedly be aboard the A2Y Stress Train along the way.
Go Wings, bring it home tomorrow.
