Who expected the Wings to show up flat today after last night’s win? Come on, admit it, you know that you thought that way too.
Instead of showing up flat, the Wings showed up bloated. Filled up with mule juice.
What can I say? The Wings played arguably their best 20 minutes of hockey for the entire season so far, and then actually managed to hold onto their lead. Good job boys!
Here’s how it all went down:
- Just after leaving the penalty box, Riley Sheahan got the goal show going 10 minutes into the first period. That was Sheahan’s 4th goal of the season. By the way, Sheahan has a better +/- than Ryan Kesler does. Just sayin’.
- And then it began… Johan Franzen would score goal after goal after goal (although he did allow Jurco to squeeze one in) in his quest to score the Wings’ first hattrick of the season. When Franzen is in the zone, he is worth every penny that the Wings pay him. Also, Franzen has 9 goals in his last 3 games against the Senators.
- Shortly after Johan Franzen’s 3rd goal, Bobby Ryan managed to score a goal for the Senators. I guess this is just fair as he did have a goal waived off early on in the game, which could have severely altered the tides of this game had it been a goal.
- One minute after Ryan’s goal, Tomas Tatar would dot the final signature on an already sealed deal for the Red Wings by scoring his 14th goal of the season.
- While it was the Wings’ offense carried the team in this game, you have to give Jonas Gustavsson his fair share of credit. Ottawa outplayed the Wings during the first ten minutes of the first period, and if it wasn’t for Gustavsson’s saves, this game would have ended differently. Ultimately, Gustavsson would stop 37 out of the 38 shots that he faced. Not a bad game for The Monster!
- Franzen was angry today. He was furious. This game just further cemented the fact that Franzen plays his best when he is angry. Whatever he was fed prior to the game, make sure he get’s the same meal next Tuesday!
- Do you know what was also confirmed tonight? Chris Neil is one dirty player.
Overall, this was a great game. The Wings played to win, and it showed. It was also an important game. The Wings now have a 5-point lead over the Senators in the standings. This doesn’t mean that the Senators are out of the wild card race, but the Wings’ have managed to solidify their spot in the playoffs, and are only a few wins away from taking over Tampa Bay’s or Montreal’s spot as one of the 3 teams from the Atlantic Division who make it directly to the playoffs.
We are now two for two after the Olympics. Maybe we can get a little winning streak going?
Let’s Go Red Wings!
