He sure as hell better step it up for game four, I want a 3-1 series lead!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i predicted Wings in 7 before the series starts but i really wanted to finish it off quicker…oh well go out there and win Game 4….i felt we out played them especially in that 2nd period and somehow did not score….that was the the turning point among other things…but congrats pens.

as im sure you guys know the wings last year did win game four putting my boys in a 3-1 hole. i wouldnt call this a series yet. if it gets evened up on thursday THEN we have a series.

As two teams playing each other(especially in the finals, AGAIN) we actually used to HATE eachother? What happened to a good,bloody rivalry? Is the RedWings vs. Colorado deathmatch the last of it’s kind? Whats with all this being nice and talking to eachothers blogs and stuff? I understand bad ref’s effect both teams and thats something to aggree on, but damn…this is HOCKEY, not to mention the STANLEY CUP FINALS!!!!! LET’S SEE THAT OLD TIME HOCKEY HATRED!! ..can hold hands in the summer.

The Pens outplayed, outhustled and outcoached the Wings, especially in the 3rd period. Simple as that. I’m not going to blame the refs or Bettman for the alleged “conspiracy theory” I’ve seen many fellow Wings fans talk about. Lets go into game 4 and kick their ass like they did ours in game 3.

The Red Wings are waaay above blaming a ref for a game. and for the most part it wouldnt be a big enough factor to lose the game for ‘em anyways. It’s just the fact that tthese refs are supposed to be picked for these games based on merritt and experience. So far it’s been pretty amateur, at best. Their’s just no excuse for bad calls at this level or this many atleast. The refs are their to do a job, and do it well, like a cop…their shouldnt be any outside factors that make him make or not make a call, like whether the crowd reacts or not. For example…the kronwall hit, if it didnt “look” so vicious, then it would have been a different call. I just see it happening more and more. BOTH WAYS. I mean really, what gaurds are in place to actually prevent such a “conspiracy theory” it’s no secret the nhl needs more fans/viewers, so why not? I just really really dislike when a bad call effects the outcome of a game, no matter how big/small. or what team. What is to stop them from making bad calls?

The referees were Paul Devorski and Dennis LaRue. Both of them are very well-respected referees. Bill McCreary, however, has a reputation as an away team’s ref (http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/statistics/2008-2009/referee_regular_ats.html) and a “let ’em play” attitude. Normally, you’d expect fewer interference calls to hurt the Wings, but because they get handed out more evenly than equally (i.e. they tend give them to both teams, but not the team interfering more), and because we’re playing another skill-focused team, I think we’re better off with McCreary than Devorski for Game 4.

No true fan ever thinks their team is getting a fair shake. It’s important to remember, though, that for the most part, an NHL official’s peak possible performance is still well below the average fan’s expectations.

I think the Red Wings will win this series, because we’re better at playing hockey than they are. But not by such a wide margin. Lidstrom’s injury has made our Penalty Kill suspect. Draper’s has hurt our faceoff dominance. And the absence of Datsyuk, a better player than anyone in a Penguins uniform this year, cannot be overstated. If we’re looking for excuses — not that we need one in a 2-1 series that could easily be 3-0 — I’d go with injuries before putting too much stock in reffing.