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Third Period and wrap - Congrats to Greiss! He more than earned a win here. Givani Smith with the Gordie Howe hat trick also managed to get Ekblad off the ice for 5 of the last 7 minutes. That Smith was penalized on the Weegar hit but Gudas wasn’t for Glendening makes me hope that Gudas will not be available to play on Wednesday. Also, a big game from Marc Staal. I’ve not been overly kind to the veteran defenseman pickup, but he was a big factor today. Greiss stopped 36 of 37, wow. Lots of good effort from the boys in Red and White along with stellar tending and some really fortunate bounces. It’s a different room right now, and someone owes Greiss and Smith a steak dinner. A lot of good stuff. Florida has so many pieces in place to be a contender. This win was a huge feather in the cap of a team that badly needed it. I won’t sugar coat it, with this same effort Florida would win 9 of 10. Very fortunate to have one go Detroit’s way.
For those who missed the pregame, I openly wondered if this third meeting would end up as forgettable as a straight to DVD sequel, or be “Return of the Jedi” good. The Ewok village is playing drums on Panther helmets tonight. (Yes, that was pretty nerdy. What do you do?). Enjoy this one faithful readers. It’s been a long time coming. Gergeswillems called the win, and has earned the right to dominate the comments! Get em G.
Second Period - wow. Greiss has done a lot for this Red Wings squad and they gave him a couple goals. Whoever had Marc Staal scoring on a backhand, buy a lotto ticket. Smith was rewarded for some hard worker and was exactly where the team needs him in the O zone. Every part of me wants this young man as a permanent on the roster. There’s no excuse to sit him or squad him regardless of who comes back. Period. This game, even if Detroit weren’t up by two, is showing so much important play. Hard nosed, tight checking, and combined with some very lucky bounces. They happen, and I’m glad they’re happening for the Wings. I feel like the refs are letting way too many things go against Florida. The Gudas head shot should have the Wings seeing a few make up calls go their way (though I’ve had someone insist those don’t exist). Greiss is a God send and I’m hoping Detroit can show strong possession in the third to reward him for it.
First period - Detroit is in a bad mood, and it looks good. Florida is a strong team, and Detroit players are hanging all over them. Solid goaltending, again, has kept Detroit in this one. Namestnikov is all over the ice, and stirring things up. I’m really, really happy with the effort. The missed call on Gudas’ on Glendening is farcical. This is a player that should probably be wearing a strobe like indicator so that the refs never stop watching him. What looks to be a suspendalble play didn’t even warrant a 2 minute minor? The current rule allowing major penalties to be reviewed needs to be adapted to allow review on a missed call. In my mind, that was a 5 minute major and an ejection. I’m sure some will disagree, but it had all the makings of a nasty shot. Led with the shoulder at chin height, Glendening didn’t change position. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow but there isn’t much continuity here. It could end up as a fine or be ignored. At this point, just praying LG is ok. That’s a tough man, and for him to go down it takes a lot.
Detroit put up a good effort in the second meeting with Tampa. Zadina looks good, Mantha continues to add to his totals. Greiss, God bless him, gave a heroic effort and continues to live without a “W”.
The third contest versus the Panthers could go in any direction. The first saw an OT loss. The second was a regulation 1 goal loss. The third? In continuing with my pop culture fun regarding sequels, I’m diving into the world of forgettable performances. The “straight to VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray” sequel that was just too good to go to theaters. Or not. My hope is that Detroit ends up with “Return of the Jedi” success and not The Godfather drop off.
The team is in better shape than the first two meetings, simply because Zadina and Fabbri are in the lineup. The loss of Bertuzzi can’t be overstated, but I do believe it’s a slight net gain getting FZ back. The top 6 this year (when we have them all) make it a completely different game. To that end, line combos are “projected” at this point to be the same as Friday in TB.
Final thoughts on Deangelo - inevitably, any time there is a player who has performed well in the past available for trade, Detroit’s name will be mentioned. When A.D. made it through on waivers, I was certain Yzerman decided not to pick him up. That may still be the case, but some final “nuggets” have surfaced about the thought process. I’ve read that NYR has both said they will and they won’t retain salary. The writers can’t get their collective agreement on this point. For certain, ADA was paired with Staal last season and had his best season to date (1 in the plus column). He’s passed through waivers and can be moved on paper (not a huge plus). The thing that makes me wonder if a deal can be had is his age and contract status. Apparently, because he’s a younger player, the second year of his deal can be bought out for 1/3 the cost as opposed to 2/3 for a normal contract. For a hit of just under 900k over 2 years NYR can ship him to free agency. It’s hard to imagine paying the 4.5 mil if you think you could get him for half or less. I don’t know where this situation will end. Most likely a contending team could take a massive hit on the back end and need a power play D man. Apart from that, unless you get the deal of the century, I just can’t imagine a deal that makes both sides happy.
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