Been a big fan of Brassard since his Drummondville years. I was starting to think he was never going to put it together, but the games I've watched with him this year has been a nice surprise. I'm happy he's come to develop so well for you guys. You must be very happy with him.
Btw, Zucc should have had an assist on the goal. How on earth did they give it to Brass?
Babcock and the Red Wings are the NHL's version of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Coached meticulously to gain every legal and illegal advantage possible. The crunch-time holding/embellishing stunt from Nyquist is just classic Red Wings hockey, just like every Brady overthrown ball ends up as pass interference when the Pats receiver grabs the CB's arm and dives to the ground.
Sheppard is going to help this team. Last night he made 5 or 6 solid plays in D-zone.
Not seeing it. Bishop is very human when he isn't playing us.
Pretty entertaining game, too bad it was on NBC.
I think these are two of the better teams in the entire league this season and could be a preview of the ECF.
The Wings were lucky to get the win tonight, as it was nowhere near their best effort. Good goaltending by Howard and some bounces got them the 2 points. They were pretty much out of sync all night. Terrible passing, miss-communication between new linemates and D-pairings, etc... Wings are also down a few players with injury like Helm, Franzen, and Marchenko. Zetterberg didn't do much as he was playing in his first game after missing a few games with a concussion. This was also their first game with new TDL acquisitions Zidlicky and Cole in their lineup, so their lines were jumbled quite a bit in this one. Datsyuk didn't do much, etc... Rangers were the better team last night for stretches, and the Wings carried play for stretches. Overall, the Rangers were better, but the Wings were good enough to steal the extra point in OT.
You'd be making a mistake if you watched that single game and concluded that the Wings aren't a skilled team. They have the number #1 rated power play in the league! That doesn't happen without skill. They can play a lot better than that. Come playoff time, they will be even more dangerous when the roster is expanded and they can bring up guys up like Teemu Pulkkinnen (leading AHL in goals/points). Who was busy scoring another hat trick (his 2nd in last 9 games) in Grand Rapids for the Griffins last night while the Rangers and Wings game was being played. Their are rumors that Franzen may be back soon, another useful big body come playoffs.
Don't think this team is going to be cupcake come playoffs just based off this game.
Not to take the football analogies too far, but the first thing that came to my mind watching the game was the Seahawks Defense. Just hold and interfere on every single play. You'll get called a couple times a game, but the refs don't have the sack to throw a flag on every single play. Halfway into the game, you've completely moved the baseline of what a penalty is.
It was enraging to watch pick play after pick play, interference, and "accidental" bumps.
The Rangers were the better team last night. If the Wings were forced to play by the same rules as the rest of the league, that game would have been 6-1, and the Rangers would have had 60 SOG.