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A huge kudos to Alice Cooper for throwing the Wings some love.
In the pregame I thought this game may be a rough ride for Detroit. Tampa is doing its final tuneups for the post season, and they came out hard in this one. The Bolts were in a bad mood for the entire game. Cross checks, stick grabs, helmet rips and eventually full blown diving to try and get past Greiss. The waved off goal had more interference than a 6” camp TV set. Tampa outplayed Detroit, badly, but it was hilarious to watch the temper tantrums. I’ve never seen the Bolts so unglued.
Tampa had 33 shots on net, one more than Detroit had total for the past two games combined. It’s obvious that this was a goalie show in net. It’s just beyond amusing to see how livid last year’s cup champs are at the thought of not dominating a team whose number they’ve had for years. In play, they definitely did. On the scoreboard, not so much. The whole demeanor was more cringeworthy than Hedman’s shootout attempt. (Add Sergachev’s to that blooper real). This truly was a battle of attrition.
Vrana posted another gif-worthy set of moves with his insane shootout tally. We’ve seen it done over the years by Forsberg, Zetterberg and Pav. Vrana’s version was smooth and awesome to watch. A beautiful wrist shot by Zadina was a glimpse of how talented this kid is. Hopefully he can get some more open ice next year. Unfortunately those tallies weren’t enough to overcome Tampa as the shootout drug on. Tyler Johnson looked to have finally ended the shootout with a nice 5 hole shot, but Filppula came in with an outstanding backhand. And then, Sam Gagner just blew one by McLehinney. The Bolts had more sour faces than a collage of babies trying pickles for the first time.
There is an odd and bizarre satisfaction watching Tampa sulk off the ice. It’s so bizarre. Years and years of compounding losses. Tyler Johnson, who had been the Wing killer, looked to have sealed another one. And then the senior squad of Filppula and Gagner bring it home.
A huge thanks to Gagner, but this was all about Greiss. That poor guy looked to be on the losing end of another unbelievable effort. This 2 points is for him. Apart from some really good defensive zone poke checks and good puck control in OT, Detroit was not in this one. File this under highway robbery and enjoy it. That could easily have been 4-0 in the end.
Let me know your thoughts. It’s weird to be on this side of it. For years, Nashville would have these games against Detroit. Get outshot, but brilliant goaltending kept them in. See you in the comments.
Check out my previous blogs:
Wings vs Lightning Pregame
Detroit vs Carolina Post game
Detroit vs Carolina pre game
Detroit vs Columbus post game
Detroit vs Columbus pre game - Veleno debut 
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