15 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

Please post your thoughts, pictures and comments on tonight's game in this thread.

Detroit at Dallas

[DropThePuck]

TSN's Ice Chips:

Sergei Zubov and Nicklas Grossman played together in Tuesday's practice. Also paired were Trevor Daley and Matt Niskanen, as well as Mattias Norstrom and Stephane Robidas. Brenden Morrow and Mike Modano, who were hurt but returned to finish Game 3 on Monday night, are expected to play when the Stars try to stave off elimination against the Red Wings tonight. Morrow was not at the Stars' practice facility on Tuesday-he was spending time with his family after his wife gave birth to twins on Sunday afternoon. But coach Dave Tippett said Morrow, "should be fine for tonight." - Star-Telegram

Projected Lines
Forwards
Ribeiro - Morrow - Eriksson
Lundqvist - Richards - Hagman
Ott - Modano - Miettinen
Peterson - Winchester - Crombeen
Defence
Zubov - Grossman
Norstrom - Robidas
Niskanen - Daley
Goaltender
Turco

Detroit winger Johan Franzen will not play Wednesday night, sidelined by concussion-like symptoms. "He saw the doctor yesterday, and he's basically status quo," Ken Holland said. "He's still having headaches; he's out for Game 4. He's day-to-day." Franzen had been experiencing headaches since late in the Colorado series. He has a playoff-high 12 goals. Detroit Free Press/TSN

It appears that forward Patrick Thoresen is back in on the fourth line, replacing Steve Downie. Braydon Coburn skated Wednesday. His left eye has started to open and he wants to play in Game 4. The Flyers are expected to make a decision on his status after Thursday's morning skate. - TSN

Practice Lines
Forwards
Lupul - Prospal - Umberger
Richards - Briere - Hartnell
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Thoresen - Dowd - Kapanen

[DropThePuck]

"When we're at the top of our game, we feel we make teams make mistakes," Stars center Mike Modano said. "We did that against, for the most part, Anaheim and San Jose. And it feels like we're getting a little bit of a taste of our own medicine right now."

<link>

[DropThePuck]

So I needed serious consultation myself: Am I an idiot to say this team looks as dominant as any of his Cup winners?

"Oh no, heck no, you can say that, although you still got five games to win," Bowman said. "This team is comparable. In today's NHL, there's a real premium on defense because they changed the game a lot. The defense the Red Wings have now is as good as I've seen in quite some time. You used to be able to be a good defensive team by holding and hooking and banging guys around. Now you gotta be very good with the puck.

"(Nicklas) Lidstrom is as good as he ever was and (Brian) Rafalski was a terrific pickup. Our guys don't throw the puck away. You put a clock on us and there were times in the third period (of the 5-2 Game 3 victory) we had the puck for over a minute and a half."

<link>

[Todrick]

Dallas can set their Tee time for tomorrow... they are not getting out of this one alive.

[hillbillywingsfan]

Dallas can set their Tee time for tomorrow... they are not getting out of this one alive.

YEA!!!! coming to the darkside i see hahaha

[Cassie8236]

YEA!!!! coming to the darkside i see hahaha

no coming to the darkside!! Just hoping really, really hard for a huge blow out in the Wings favor tonight.

[QuacksMeUp]

My name is Pavel Datsyuk, prepare to golf!

[Still MIGHTY]

YEA!!!! coming to the darkside i see hahaha

Not really
Just seeing the trees in the forrest.
The writing is kinda on the wall for Dallas.

Some people are saying taht San Jose was down 3-0 and came back to a Game 6 and Dallas could do the same. San Jose wasnt getting run out of the building in the first 3 games. Dallas has fallen completely on their face.

Expect a lot of boos and some tears.

The Stars this night wont shine so bright deep in the heart of Texas...

GO EASTERN CONFERENCE!!!
( *sigh* )

[Still MIGHTY]

Dallas is starting out extremely desperate.
Just like they need to...

[Cassie8236]

Detroit....if you plan on winning tonight....how about scoring a couple more goals. You have 6:30 left. Hurry up.

Letting Morrow score what NOT what I had in mind.

[Dark Knight]

FINAL SCORE:

Detroit at Dallas 1-3 (3-1 series)...

[Duck304]

Pissed that the Wings couldn't seal the deal. You'd think think a Stanley Cup Final berth would be enough motivation. Champions are supposed to eliminate when the opportunity arises...

[Excoriar]

No sweep?

Attached Files

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[DropThePuck]

1 - Zetterberg, H. (00:49 in 3rd)
3 - Eriksson, L. (19:37 in 2nd), Modano, M. (PPG, 05:35 in 3rd), Morrow, B. (14:34 in 3rd)

“We need a thread of life. Now we got a thread of life,” Tippett said. “The two days off will really help us. We've got some momentum, so we've got to use that to our advantage now. You go in there and steal a game out of there. Now you got it to 3-2. Now the ball's rolling the right way.

… We'll see what happens.”

<NHL.com recap>



Dallas Stars fans hold up "Believe" towels against the Detroit Red Wings during game four of the Western Conference Finals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 14, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)


A worker at the American Airlines Center carries an octopus off the ice before the start of the third period in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference hockey finals in Dallas between the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)


Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock tries to make his point with referee Kelly Sutherland after an apparent Detroit second-period goal was disallowed in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference hockey finals against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.
(AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)


Goaltender Marty Turco #35 of the Dallas Stars makes a glove save on a shot from the Detroit Red Wings during game four of the Western Conference Finals of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 14, 2008 in Dallas, Texas.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

[ladiesandgentlemen]

Because the Wings were shafted last night. Bent over by Kelly Sutherland and violated while Little Gary Bettman stood on four phone books and grinned like some sort of fiend who doesn’t even understand what he’s watching. So much that is wrong with the NHL can be explained by that one call.

Coaches, media, players complain about Tomas Holmstrom. In some cases, it’s justifiable. We’ve all seen legitimate interference calls take Red Wing goals away. But more often, way more often, the calls are bogus and we see the scoreboard unjustly affected. Last night’s was a travesty.

The Wings get that goal and the whole tone of the game is established. They withstand the initial rush, pop one, demoralize an already fragile Dallas team. I fully believe that had that counted, as it should have, the Wings win that game.

Nope. The whispers were in Bettman’s ears, Daly’s, Campbell’s. And those whispers turned to strong suggestions when they reached the difference-making level: the refs. I said it last night in the live blog. That call was the result of a mindset. Sutherland had it in his head that if the Wings scored with Homer anywhere near that crease, he was calling it off. It was so blatantly wrong, there can be no other explanation.

And your commissioner endorses that kind of judgment. It’s no better than pro wrestling. Anyone who saw that play knows what a travesty it was, knows how wrong Sutherland was. And we all know that replay, had it been used, would have overturned it. But...replay’s not allowed in that situation.

Why not Gary? How many goals are bogusly overturned? How many more CONFERENCE FINAL games have to be affected?

Wings get that goal, they win the series. Over in four. Over on a Wednesday. Woops. A Wednesday, and not a Saturday on NBC? Can’t have that, can we Gary...you little frigging troll of a league-wrecking piece of garbage.

So the Peacock gets its game this Saturday, so it can pull in a 2.0 share while the few Americans who were riding the fence vow not to watch a sport so blatantly idiotically officiated... Link

Kinda funny the writer makes no mention that the call was a blatant make-up call for not calling a goalie interference penalty on Holmstrom in the first game...

But he does make an interesting point about the league really wanting game 5 on Saturday in Detroit on NBC.