Sharks @ Red Wings

DEFEAT

5 : San Jose Sharks @ Detroit Red Wings : 2

Today we've got the Sharks vs the Wings, redux.

Aired on Versus, so no Ken and Mick.

Some Notes From The Game:

For those of you unaware, Nicklas Lidstrom is 40 years old and has won 6 Norris Trophies.

Versus wants to make sure you know.

The First Period:

Nothing for the first few minutes. The Versus play-by-play calls the lovely 43 'Sharon Helm'. And no, I didn't miss-hear. I backed that shit up just to make sure.

Datsyuk puts on a show.

Cleary gets a good chance on a rebound, but no joy.

Eventually Abby draws a crosschecking penalty. Powerplay tiiiime.

Eat net, punk

Our PP is 6th at home. Their PK is 6th on the road.

Lets do this.

Holmstrom's goal:

Lidstrom slapshot from the point. Holmstrom gets his stick on it en-route and in.

I've seen this somewhere before...

Discover is upset that their Discover Card Goal Cam was destroyed by the blast. Shame...

The Goal Cam's final moments of life. Rest easy, goal cam. Your work here is done.

Holmstrom logs the Triple Deuce, goal number 222. Congrats.

Next, 5 seconds later:

Detroit's goal:

Faceoff win. Lidstrom corals behind out blue line and slows it all down. He send the puck to Zetterberg in the neutral zone for entry. Z brings it in, but gets stuck with a bouncing puck. Instead of taking the shot, he passes to Filppula in the left faceoff circle. Filppula skates right up to Niemi and tries to shove it past, but Nieme makes a pad save. The rebound is given up - there's some drive-by whacking by Bertuzzi. The puck trickles over the goal line.

You all saw it

The referee negates the goal with a quick whistle. The puck was never frozen, but the ref blew as soon as he lost sight of the puck and no credit for the goal is given. Classy. The Red Wings exchange a few choice words with the Referee afterward.

I'll see you in the parking lot after the game, zebra

Todd McClellan, the Shark coach, uses his time-out to tell his team to get their shit together.

Get your shit together, boys

This is followed by more hockey that Detroit dominates. Eventually, Abby goes off for slashing. No replay. F**k you too, Versus.

We make about a thousand good saves. No joke. The Sharks absolutely pepper us with shots, but we deny them. Awesome penalty kill. Hopefully we can get some momentum from this, coupled with our goal-robbery frustration.

We draw a penalty when a Shark goes off for elbowing. No replay. Again.

We cycle the puck around a bit, but don't really generate anything. Eventually a puck dribbles over to Hudler on the line. Hudler skates in to get it, misses, and the puck is scooped up by a Shark. A 2-on-1 ensues, and Thorton scores short-handed.

Not pictured: a balloon full of momentum, slowly deflating...

Yup.

A Shark gets Kronwalled. A Shark teammate doesn't appreciate and retaliates. We get a short line scrum. Couture goes to the box for roughing.

Miller is in the thick of it. Alas, no good fighting breaks out.

Power play time.

Franzen's goal:

Lids has it in our zone. Gets it to Datsyuk in neutral for the entry. Datsyuk weaves through the defense and drops it back to Raffi on the left point. Raffi passes it to Holmstrom, who is between the faceoff dots. Niemi goes out to meet what he assumes will be Holmstrom's shot on goal, but Holmstrom whips a pass to Franzen on the right, who nails it into the wide open net.

This lack of a goal cam is really raining on my replay parade

In response to this goal, Thorton goes off for grabbing Stuart's stick. Smart.

Halfway through the penalty, the period closes.

The Second Period:

No further action on the time left in our power play.

Bertuzzi gets denied.

Next, the Sharks score two goals in the span of 8seconds. Our 2-1 lead evaporates to a 3-2 deficit. Awesome. 

Thanks, Jimmah. If you were Ozzie, your head would be on a pike in centre ice right about now.

Whoops...

Next, the Sharks hit the goal post. Even more awesome.

After a few minutes of hockey, Abby draws a holding penalty.

Niemi denies us any joy on the power play. In the last 30 seconds we throw our top unit on the ice, and Niemi absolutely robs Raffi by gloving a puck that was trickling towards the goal line.

Not on my watch!

Sigh...

The refs send Holmstrom to the box for goalie interference. Of course they do.

But before that, Lindsey Soto interviews Uncle Mike, who calls the Wings' second period play 'a cute fest'.

Cute fest

Hehe.

We load our top penalty kill unit, and we rock that shit. Eaves and Helm, I love those guys. Jimmah manages at least one reassuring save.

There's a lot of frantic hockey played in our zone in the final minutes. I'll give props to Lidstrom here for several awesome defensive plays.

Just before the period closes, the Red Wings give up their obligatory last minute goal. I think we're setting some sort of NHL record in this regard.

Dammit, Jimmah...

The Third Period:

I absolutely trolled the hell out of this period looking for stuff of note. Nothing much, unfortunately.

Filppula goes off for high-sticking Thorton in the face.

Not the face!!

If there was ever a time for a shorty, this is it. Not much action, though. We successfully kill off the penalty.

Miller manages to hit a post a few minutes later. The fourth line throws a party, but no joy.

The Sharks score. Again.

Franzen goes to the box for charging. No replay. Seriously, Versus?

We kill it off. Miller manages to break Heatley's stick, but no amount of crying to the ref will grant the Sharks a power play.

Oh, god! Someone call the Waaaaaambulance!

Miller draws an interference penalty later on. I somehow doubt we can score three goals in three minutes, but you never know...

... nope.

Oh well.

Don't Think We Didn't Notice:

Our suck was pretty blatant tonight, so no need to call anyone out. No one served with pride, either.