Holy cow three in a row!

[yave1964]

I was chatting on here with @ruxpin and with disgust called it a night with the Wings down 4-1 at the end of one period of Hockey (3:40 comes awful early in the morning, the game has to be close to keep me up and this was ugly.) Coreau had been pulled, we looked like we didn't care and I went to bed mumbling to myself wondering again why we couldn't get it together.

  I woke up this morning, the Wings won 6-5 in a shootout.

  I have now watched from the start of the second period on twice, wow it was like a different team entirely, we shortened the bench, went more or less with three lines and everyone contributed. Larkin was amazing, Athanasiou did his usual jaw dropping play or two a night, Tatar had his best game of the year, Hell it was his best game in several years, we fought back and tied it at 4 only to see McQuaid of the Bruins come down and untie it a few seconds later and then we battled in front of Rask all night, Nyquist actually went in front of the net and tied it up with 3 minutes to go!

  And then in the overtime, first Vanek scored, looking like a pro who had been there before followed by a celebratory fist in the air, then the best shootout guy in Hockey Neilsen winning it. Mrazek was not great in relief but was good enough to keep the Wings in in while they clawed their way back into the game and deserves mention as well.

  Three in a row against some pretty good teams, the Penguins, Canadiens and Bruins are all in the playoffs if it were to start today and those are the types of teams that we need to knock off if we are gonna go anywhere. Hopefully this is something to build off and a sign of things to come instead of an aberration that most every team goes through, winning a few games in a row just to tease the fans.

  And can someone tell AA to get those eyebrows waxed please? He is beginning to look like Bert from Sesame Street....

 

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

Helluva time for my cable to be on the blink.  I was able to watch the first 3 minutes of the game, before it started acting up and then just cut out.  I wasn't altogether stressed given how the first three minutes went, so I went on to other things.  Checked the score at the end of the first period.: 4-1 Bears....good grief.  

 

As I continued to check in on the NHL app, I became increasingly more distraught that the cable went on the fritz....

 

I think the team was just angry that they were about to lose another one in a shameful way.  They beat two of the top teams in the League just days before and now they were going back in the dumps.  I think they were fed up, all of them.  Looking at the score sheet and the highlights, everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do.  Nyquist and Tatar scored, like their being paid to.  AA and Larkin scored like they have done before.  Vanek powered through and crashed the nets like he was supposed to.  Franz Nielsen took the shootout, as is his strength.  Zetterberg led by example with physical play and never gave up.  Mrazek came in and saved the day after Coreau had a tough outing.  The defense dug in to keep pressure in the offensive zone.

 

This is what happens when everyone pulls their weight.  Let's hope they finally caught that winning spirit and they can start competing again!

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

@WingNut722

 

LOL! We all had TV issues last night! Mine was that I often start watching a game approximately 45 mins to an hour after game start so I can start from the beginning on NHL Premium and skip the ads. Well, I forgot this game was on NBCSN, so it is blacked out on NHL Premium, and I didn't DVR it, so I missed the first period. After seeing the score, I almost didn't leave it on. So I STARTED watching from then on. They were playing great hockey. I watched the whole comeback all the way through the SO!

 

Hard to believe this is the same team we were watching 3 weeks ago. I had to do a double-take--yes, that WAS Gustav Nyquist with his stick in the paint for a redirect for the game-tying goal. Very Vanek-like goal.

 

And speaking of Vanek, what a beautiful dish to AA, and great positioning by AA to be ready for it. He is reading Vanek very well! I'd say likewise, but honestly, Vanek is reading EVERYTHING well, including AA.

 

This was Larkin's best game in a long while. He was a force. Why it took a period like the first (which I didn't see, but apparently don't need or want to) to finally get him to shift gears is beyond me, but I'm glad. Tatar also, even though he really got lucky on his breakaway goal.

 

Gosh, in post-game comments, Z's first sentence was an apology for the 1st period! After a shootout win! That first period must have been completely wretched!

 

Mrazek was not stellar, but he made saves when he had to, and that is usually enough, and it was.

 

Mantha wasn't as much of a force as he has been, but you had to appreciate his backcheck on Marchand in the OT. I didn't think he could catch up to him. He did. Prevented a shot, preserving the tie.

 

Two things:

 

1. These three games have been the most fun games to watch since the 6-game winning streak at the beginning of the season, and not just because we won them all. We played very well...except that first period.

 

2. We cannot continue to play this kind of inconsistent game, on two periods and asleep the other one. Two out of the three games have been that way. That is losing hockey. That is not a recipe that will earn us a playoff spot. We need to learn to play for 60 minutes or DARN close to it. The game with the Habs was the closest we've come. We need more of that.