Shock and Awe

Somebody pinch me, poke me or do anything that would tell me this is real. The Red Wings, who've lost 16 of 23 playoff overtime games this decade (thanks TTD), won in overtime?! On a goal by Mikael Samuelsson?!?! I'd never believe it if somebody told me, but I saw it with my own eyes. It happened, and it. Was. Awesome.

Sammy is such a schizophrenic player. In a single game, I move from hair-pulling and cursing to fist pumping and loving entirely at his expense. This game was no exception. His lazy turnaround soft toss to Brian Campbell at the point in the first period that led to the 'Hawks first goal was awful. I hated him. His finishing touch on a bouncing puck on the Wings' 3-on-1 break that ended the game was beautiful. I loved him.

At the start of these playoffs, I was preparing my goodbyes to Sammy because I was sure he'd be leaving at the end of the postseason as one of Detroit's many unrestricted free agents. Now, I'm not so sure. He has five goals, three assists and sports a nice +5 rating. Obviously the magnificent Hossa is the top priority, but has Samuelsson now become more important than Hudler? I'm not prepared to answer that right now. Crazy how things turn in 13 games.

Overall, that game was more stressful than the first. Some of the ridiculous confidence I exuded after game one has died down, but it would have been completely depleted had the Wings just lost another game two OT thriller. Clearly, Honest Abe Toews and his baby sidekick Kane stepped up their play. But then again, so did Osgood.

Ozzie was amazing. He shouldn't have to make 35 saves in regulation because the Wings will usually bail him out with more goals, but he was great. I don't know where the Wings would be if they listened to me and threw Conklin in there from day one. Ozzie has proved everyone wrong, especially me, and been everything and more that the Wings need him to be. I'm impressed.

I'm going a little insane with Datsyuk still scoreless, especially since he is playing well in every other aspect, but he'll get one sooner or later. As long as he's winning faceoffs, forcing turnovers, dishing out hits, and making plays, I'm happy. Cleary was great again and the secondary scoring continues. I keep waiting for Dats, Hoss and Z to dominate a game with goals of their own but it hasn't happened. It will soon.

A couple last things before I move on: what the hell penalty killers?! Can we please go a single freaking game without allowing a powerplay goal? It's been 11 straight games; I'm tired of it. Game three prognostication: no powerplay goals for Chicago. Please. And lastly...I finally heard Samuelsson speak tonight in his postgame interview with Whosie Whatsit from Versus. He sounds kind of like how the Triple Deke makes him sound. I wish I could find the post where TTDSammy mistakenly mixes up Stevie Y and Paul Ysebaert. Hilarious. His real-life voice might have sounded a bit less intelligent tonight because he was yelling a bit, but I'm warming up to him. He could talk like this guy for all I care, and I'd still love him after tonight's heroics.

As for game three, I know the 'Hawks will come out strong and fast in front of their home fans. My hope is that the Wings can get a quick goal past the still-struggling Khabibulin and steal the game. If they do that, they might not even need a return trip to Detroit. If they let up an early one though, we could be going back to the D tied up at two just that fast. Let's pray to Yzerman that doesn't happen.

I always hate two days in between games, but only because I want to watch the Wings play every night. I'm sure both teams could use the rest, but I'll be waiting. One dominating performance in Chicago and this series could be over. See ya Friday. Go Wings.

Sometimes I literally can't believe what I'm seeing.

What just happened can't possibly have occurred. This apartment is only intact and undamaged because the closest thing to me when the referees made that call in the third period was a pillow. If it was anything else, this place would be in shambles. I threw a tantrum like a little five-year-old, and I had good reason to.

The Ducks "beat" the Wings tonight in game three to take a 2-1 series lead. The call I'm referring to is the play at the end of the third period when Old Man Niedermayer misplayed a dump-in behind his net, Franzen pounced on it and tried a wrap around on Hiller, who had no idea where it was. The puck slid beneath him and into the open crease area, where Hossa then dived out of nowhere and smacked the puck in for what should have been the tying score. But, of course, the NHL hates the Red Wings and can't possibly deal with the fact that they are without a doubt the best team hockey has seen in years, so the referees waived off the goal.

Their reasoning was that the whistle was blown and the play was dead before the puck crossed the line. The replays suggest otherwise. From what creeped into my cerebellum, I definitely heard the whistle blow AFTER Hossa hit the puck in. But why deal with the what ifs? Just go to the war room in Toronto like they have with EVERY SINGLE GOAL SO FAR THIS POSTSEASON. Oh wait, it's the Red Wings? Nah, we'll skip that part. We'll let them lose this game and put their season on edge. No big deal.

I can comprehend a referee blowing his whistle when the puck is loose but it's outside his line of sight. It's still a completely asinine thing to do, but it happens. I get that. The problem is that this particular case was reviewable and they didn't review it. I can't stand it. If it wasn't quarter of two in the morning, I'd still be stomping around, hitting everything in sight with a pillow, pulling my hair out, and screaming obscenities loud enough to wake the aliens on Mars. The amount of anger boiled up inside of me that has mixed with the emotions from the triple overtime loss is ridiculous. A human being shouldn't be alive with blood pressure this high. And I'm supposed to go to sleep now? Not. remotely. possible.

I can only pray to Yzerman that the same referees are not on tap for game four. I don't think I could handle it. I'm still going to stay as positive as I can and imagine the Wings taking game four, gaining momentum and taking the series, but now I definitely won't be back to look back on Scrubs with happy thoughts tomorrow. That post will have to wait until later. There's too much anger here to have it all go away in a single day. Goodnight.

UPDATE (5/6): I thought the goal was reviewable because they said on TV that they could check to see when the whistle was blown. If it was blown after the puck went in, it could be ruled a goal, but I have found out now that I was mistaken. The play was not reviewable.

Normal. Normal. WHAT THE BEJEESUS?

Yep, that's right doubters. Ozzie is the playoffs' best goalie thus far. Eat it, everyone who thought Osgood would be just as bad in the playoffs as he was in the regular season. Suck on that, all you predictors of Wings playoff destruction at the hands of poor goaltending. Especially you, Cameron Kittle, who thought he'd be only slightly better than a dilapidated sloth with one arm and no eyes. Ozzie looks good up in that stat box. Although it certainly helps that he's next to the ugliest Russian maybe ever.

This is a perfect setup for a Game 3 jinx, but maybe this bad post decision will cancel out the other bad post decision of breaking my mid-playoff-writing silence. Fingers crossed.