Game of the week, Wings-Pens

I get a little sad when Football season ends, but the good thing is I'll get to watch more hockey, and what a nice treat this weekend...Wings-Pens.

First period: The Wings are playing like crap, except for Lidstrom. Slow, slow, slow. No jump. Pens are getting too many chances, of which they're somehow miraculously missing. The wings D hasn't been horrible, and Conklin has been solid if not stellar at times, but the offense needs to figure something out. Late in the first, the Pens have another power play chance, the 3rd? 4th? Ugly period for the Wings in my book. Lidstrom had a great period defensively for them but overall not many shining stars out there. For the Pens, Malkin is really fun to watch, who had a few excellent chances that were denied by fate. The one whiff on a loose puck is the glaring oops, but he's playing great hockey. He looks like he wants win, and has been stepping up when games have been on the line lately. Malkin is developing into quite the leader on that club, which is good for both. Summary for the period, Pens are playing well but haven't closed the deal, Wings took too many penalties, so it's surprising that this game is tied, 0-0.

Second Period: Both teams start with great defense, so it's a yawnfest until Detroit get a powerplay. A good rebound chance (bad if you're Fleury) lets Datsyuk get one in, Detroit goes up 1-0. Things are starting to open up, and the Wings I think have finally decided to show up. Some good ice time in the Pens zone, and some inspired play, like Chelio's sprint to catch up to Godard, during one breakaway chance, leaves me feeling a little better about their play. Conklin has continued to look sharp through this period, stopping everything coming his way. Pens get a powerplay started, and despite a couple chances is denied by good D, but more like good goaltending. Period ends halfway through the power play, Detroit up 1-0.

Third Period: Tensions are starting to run high, and Crosby is talking some smack it seems. However, both teams calm down a bit, and skate around doing not too much of anything. Wow, not a lot going on in this period. The constant booing of Hossa is really starting to annoy me, and I'm sure it's annoying to Hossa. He looks like he's hardly moving, but he is... very deceptive. Apparently the booing annoyed him enough, as he does a nice job of keeping he puck in the Pens zone, and flinging a backhand shot from the slot which somehow clangs off the post and in the net. Amazing or lucky I don't know, but looking at his totals for this season I'll have to go with amazing. Speaking of amazing, Datsyuk has an incredible individual effort to score again with 2 minutes remaining, giving him 2 goals for the day. Both teams kill the last 2 minutes, and Conklin gets the shutout, a nice reward for an outstanding effort. Detroit wins, 3-0.

Although both teams played a good defensive game, Detroit managed to take advantage of their opportunities they were given, which really weren't many. Conklin controlled his rebounds an never lost sight of the puck, which turned out to be the difference between he and Fleury who gave up a couple rebounds leading to 2 goals. A solid effort by Detroit for 40 minutes, and certainly a good win. This may not be the team from last year, but with efforts like this, Detroit has to be pleased heading toward the post-season. The Pens lost to a good team, and I know they must be concerned. I think I would be as well, considering how hard the Eastern Conference is this season. A lot of teams out there aren't going to make it easy for the Penguins to get back into the race, so they definitely have their work cut out for them.

Rangers-Flyers next week... see ya then (maybe).