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George Parros is worthless. Due to a dirty play in Dallas, Larkin wasn’t available to play tonight. The Stars came in with all the momentum but Detroit lit the lamp three times in the first period.
I mentioned in the last write up that Vrana has a nearly perfect skating stride. He proved it again on the opening tally, as well as his hat trick goal. Vrana has scored 2 goals and an assist on the rush. For good measure, he had a tip in goal in the second for his 5th goal on just 11 shots since coming to Detroit. Ironically, the last player to achieve that at home for Detroit was Mantha. Obviously, Vrana’s shooting percentage isn’t going to hold up, but it was a welcome change of pace. Richard Panik got his first goal mantle puck from Detroit by replicating Zetterberg’s Cup winner in 2008. (Better known as Fleury’s butt goal). Patrick Roy was burned the same way by Yzerman and Co in the 90s. Goalie loses sight of the puck, drive hard to the net.
Vrana’s second tally was probably my favorite. We’ll call that one the karma goal. Hintz took a Kadri sized dive leading to a power play. Detroit got an icing that shouldn’t have been and capitalized on it. Hintz, later that same period had a nasty wipeout, seemingly out of nowhere. Let the Karma keep on rolling.
I love the vinegar and urea that flowed in Detroit’s veins coming out for this one. Unfortunately Namestnikov went just a bit over the edge on Dickinson trying to find some retribution for some dirty play. Plenty of carryover in this series. . Pavelski scored just seconds after the PP. Dallas started to pour it on in the second. Thankfully a huge breakaway 3 on 1 against Cholowski was neutralized by Blake Comeau’s poor execution. That was a huge break for the Wings.
Detroit was playing with fire as, near the end of the second, Dallas was out shooting Detroit 31-15. If you go back to the break at 19:05, you’ll hear a song called “Stereo” playing while the players were getting ready. It’s from a group called “Iamdynamite”, local boys who went to school in Milan. Both guys named Chris, both guys I’ve had the pleasure of jamming with (I slept on the drummer’s floor for a month or so back when I thought I’d be famous one day, playing gigs for 10s of people at small cafes). It’s well worth the download, good guys, and they opened for Bon Jovi and Third Eye Blind both.
The third period had plenty of nastiness, and some tense moments where it looked like Dallas may tie things up. Vrana’s fantastic, near historic night was enough to keep the Stars at bay. I normally don’t “get up” for games against Dallas. These past three have been all kinds of crazy. I resist the temptation to say “playoff atmosphere” because it’s not. It gets thrown around way too much and cheapens how brutal the cup run really is. More than anything, these two teams like each other a whole lot less after tonight. Dallas made the decision to pull their goalie with almost three minutes left. Patrick Roy, you’ve ruined goalie pulls. It’s the hockey version of people going “all in” on poker hands anymore. What used to be high drama is now lame theater.
The last three minutes had more icing than a meijer display cake. Gagner swept a beauty from about 180 feet for a gaudy 7th goal. That’s more than 4X the goals Greiss is used to getting! Well done for the group, and a fantastic response for your captain being put on IR. Keep it up boys. For good measure Greiss pitched a .932, stopping 41 of 45. Awesome to see him rewarded for the efforts.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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