Low Five: Avalanche 3 - Red Wings 2

In the end, the game didn't really matter.

Tonight was about Nicklas Lidstrom, and then the Red Wings played a game after. It didn't go the way we wanted, but yolo.

Since this was a late start, let's get right to it.

• I would have loved to have seen the beginning of the ceremony. Instead, those of us without FSD got EJ Hradek wearing some weird red cape talking with another dude who may or may not have been Tyler talking about cereal.
• If you don't get a tear in your eye when you see Vladimir Konstaninov, turn in your Red Wing fan card.
• I would also like to thank the Avalanche for making tonight possible, because without them he would have had one less team to look amazing against.
• Nick Lidstrom will go to Africa and it will instantly become the most economically advanced continent on the planet.
• When Lidstrom's jersey went to the rafters, a small part of me died. Not in a bad way. More in a "he was the last of the old guard to be honored" and it makes me realize that we're officially in a new era of Red Wing hockey. Change always causes anxiety, and not knowing what the future holds is both exciting and scary.
• The game started and stuff happened.
• David Legwand got an assist on the Wings' second goal, and the internet was immediately shut down as Detroit clearly won the trade. Then they took the assist away and gave it to Danny DeKeyser, and it's better for defensemen to get points so the Wings still won that trade.
• I will admit that for the first 8+ minutes of the second, I wasn't really paying attention because Lidstrom was talking, and all I could hear was his voice and sunshine and rainbows appeared in my vision.
• The third period saw the return of the normal Red Wings, as they spent far too much time standing around watching the Avs cycle the puck and maintain zone time. That led to the tying goal.
• Johan Franzen had his worst game ever against the Avalanche. The Wings should have traded him.
• The GWG was the perfect example of "live by the kids, die by the kids". Tatar and Sheahan both seemed to lose track of where everyone was, and that led to Benoit being wide open in a prime scoring area. I don't blame them for the loss, but you've got to take the good with the bad.
• The Wings took 3 of 4 points from Colorado and won the season series. I believe this makes 14 years and counting.
• Nick Lidstrom is still the greatest defenseman I've ever seen play, and I expect this statement to be true when I'm 80.