Round Up: Thoughts on Game 1

Well even though Game 2 is less than 12 hours from starting as  I write this, let's take a look at some of the reaciotns around the lockerooms and the internet as to the result of Game 1.

Matt Saler of On The Wings praises Osgood's efforts in net:

We can thank Chris Osgood for this one. His teammates weren’t terrible, not by a long shot, but Osgood’s sustained excellence held off a Pittsburgh team that had the stronger night of the two squads.

Sidney Crosby and Kirk Maltby got into it a little bit at time during the game and here's what "The Kid" had to say about it:

"He was doing what he always does. You know, he was giving guys lip service and things like that,'' Crosby said. "I two-handed him on top of the foot there as we were skating by. So he felt like it was necessary to keep talking after the game, and I thought I'd whack him and that was it.''

         I think this is the absolutely wrong thing to do to Kirk Maltby if you're a player like Crosby. Maltby does not get taken off his game by stuff like this but rather thrives. If you're Sidney Crosby and you're on the ice at the same time with Maltby during the rest of the series, better keep your head up.

Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy offers up some thoughts on Crosby and Zetterberg:

Zetterberg won the Conn Smythe last season because he starred on offense and defense. Tonight, he dominated Crosby in the faceoff circle, kept him away from dangerous spots in the offensive zone and didn't allow him much room to create

IwoCPO of Abel to Yzerman offers some words on the depth of the Wings:

So the whole “depth” thing wasn’t just some urban legend, eh?  Justin Abdelkader from Ville Leino.  Abdelkader from Leino. 

         Nothing like 4th line production in the Stanley Cup Finals is there?

Here are some of my thoughts on the game:

• One game does not make a series my any means, but if it is any indication of the tone of the games to come, the Red Wings have a lot going for them. We'll see in Game 2 if it was a bad night for Pittsburgh or a good one for Detroit but I'm thinking that the talent level throughout all 4 line will really start to take its toll. Sure the Pens have Crosby and Malkin on their two top lines but does it matter all that much if the Wings have two more lines that are capable of scoring in addition to their top line? We'll see.
• I liked the physical play out of both teams. Neither team is really known as being hard hitting but that goes to show that image means nothing when it comes to the actual game. The thing I did notice is how the Penguins got away with quite a few hits after the play--namely, Matt Cooke's charging high elbow on Holmstrom after the whistle had blown. But the refs will probably be pretty lax in this series in terms of non-calls because of the amount of bad calls already made.
• How about the performance turned in by Darren Helm? This guy is really starting to make a name for himself in Detroit and could be on the roster at the start of next year. He didn't turn in any points last night but did register 8 hits and won 11 of 15 face-offs (73%) in 17:08 minutes of time (nearly two of those minute coming on the 4 possible minutes of PK)

That's it for now, with Game 2 starting soon there's not much need for further analysis that will be relevant.