Better Late Than Never: Red Wings 3, Bruins 2

Haha suck it, Bruins.

First and foremost, sorry for the late recap, everyone at the blog was working or attending class or something came up. I, however, attended today’s dumb 1p ET matinee showdown with the Bruins and, oh man, that was a fun game to attended.

I’d like to point out that in the game preview (which I also wrote), I correctly predicted a 3-2 final score favoring the Wings. I also picked Stephen Weiss to be the player of the game. He scored a goal. So he wins. Hell yes. I’m Jeffstradamus.

Where to begin with this one? Same lineup as the Flyers game except for one glaring change… Jonas Gustavsson replaced Jimmy Howard as the starter right before game time. Apparently, James bruised his hand against Philly and sat this one out. This was absolutely fantastic news to me and all the fellow Wings fans at the game.

Nonetheless, let’s get to the bullets…

• I finished my first beer before the game even started. Let me remind you… Puck drop was just after 1p ET. It was a good start to the day. I hung out by the Wings tunnel and fist bumped Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Kronwall and someone else. I don’t remember. Todd Bertuzzi would not slap five with anyone. I’m just thankful he didn’t break my neck for attempting.

• The Wings didn’t get outshot 56-3 in the 1st period today unlike last time they were in Boston. This was an instant upgrade in my professional opinion. It felt like the ice was pretty even. Maybe a little tilted towards Boston. I was thrilled to score first. I really wanted to escape the first with a lead, naturally, the Bruins scored moments after I thought this./

• I thought every shot on goal was going to get past Gustavsson. I have zero faith in him. He wasn’t all bad though. Some sh*tting pants moments, no doubt. The Bruins missed the net a ton it seemed like. They had chances. Some real good ones too. But, hahaha, Boston lost to Gustavsson./

• Few notes and opinions in the lines and matchups today. First, Claude Julien, I’m pro-Smith family, but moving Reilly up to the Patrice Bergeron line in place of Brad Marchand I thought was dumb. Second, Mile Babcock had the 3rd line of Cleary, Andersson and Alfredsson going against the Bruins “top line” of Lucic, Krejci and Iginla. This was interesting… And it worked for the most part. Kronwall and Ericsson matched up with that line all game long too. DeKeyser and Quincey played against the Bergeron line with Datysuk and Zetterberg.

• Speaking of beautiful Swedish people, Henrik Zetterberg has been straight up nasty so far this year. I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season from the captain. His goal was awesome.

• Wings were shooting on the side of the ice where I was sitting for the 2nd. Naturally my new favorite player (who doesn’t get scratched) Weiss scored to give the Wings the lead. I don’t know the exact time the Wings scored their next goal because I’m writing this on the subway but Danny Dan “I hope you’re enjoying GR, Nyquist” Daniel Cleary scored another goal like 10 seconds later and it was awesome. Nice work by Alfie behind the net.

• My goodness. Have you ever seen one of those movies where someone dies and get brought back to life after their heart stops? Yeah, that was me during that 5 on 3 kill for almost 2 minutes. Holy crap, I had 7 heart attacks, 3 strokes and an aneurysm. Bravo Red Wings. I stood and applauding after that kill and Bruins fans were sad. Boner Jams ’03, yo.

• Best part of the 3rd was when Tootoo shot the puck and Tuukka stopped it. The crowed did a “TUUUUUUU” chant (rhymes with BOO). I was confused./

• Hey the Bruins scored with 1:20 to go! Hey it’s Game 2 of the ALCS on ice! Wait… What? You mean we don’t have to replace Datsyuk with Benoit? Oh good. Wings win. Suck it, Boston.

Players I was impressed with watching live: DeKeyser, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Ericsson, Kronwall, Quincey.

Also, big shout out to our readers Timothy F and his wife, Angelina. The drove down from New Hampshire for the game today. Good people. They received some love on NESN after the Cleary goal too. Thumbs up.

Let’s Go Red Wings.

Red Wings Player of the Game