What We Learned From Game 1 With The Red Wings
By: Jamie Samuelsen
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that none of you had the Red Wings winning this series in a sweep. Fair enough?
So assuming you're pre-series prediction is still safe, let's recap some of the lessons from the Predators 3-2 win on Wednesday night in Game 1.
1) There's two distinct ways to look at the game from the perspective of a Red Wings fan. The glass is half-full standpoint says that the Wings were clearly the better team and if it weren't for two fluky goals, the Wings would be up 1-0 in the series today. The glass is half-empty view is that the Wings were clearly the better team and still lost the game. The Preds stole one and will certainly play better as the series continues. I tend towards the former. It reminds me of the 1997 Western Conference Finals against Colorado when Detroit lost Game One even though they were the better team on the ice. They won Game Two and took the series in six games. I have no problem envisioning the same scenario here.
2) The Wings lost the game because of fluky goals, not because of poor officiating. The game was called too tightly and at times incorrectly. I'm not a fan of the old school playoff mode of officiating where no penalties are called in the third period and you have to basically decapitate a guy to get a whistle. But I'm no fan of that stuff last night either. I'd love to hear an explanation of the play in the third period where Roman Josi was called for interference and Jiri Hudler was called for diving. I know that's in the rule book, but it's a joke. It would be like calling a block and a charge on the same play in the NBA. That said, the Red Wings had eight power plays and scored on two of them. The officiating was bizarre. But it wasn't one-sided.
3) Shea Weber deserves a game for his gutless head slam on Henrik Zetterberg as the final horn sounded. It will be a very interesting test case for Brendan Shanahan. It brings into play three things. First, Weber is a star and a lot of times stars get a little but more leeway. (Like Evgeni Malkin got in the 2009 Cup Finals). Second, the league sometimes is loath to mete out heavy discipline in the playoffs although it's certainly not unprecedented. And third, Shanahan is most closely associated with the Red Wings from his playing days. I can only imagine the reaction from Nashville if he gives Weber a game. But it's clearly deserved.
4) Pekka Rinne played very well and made some great saves in the game, especially on Zetterberg at the start of the third period when the Wings were a man up. But Jimmy Howard was really, really good too. Two of the goals were complete flukes and the third was a point blank shot that was not properly cleared by Brad Stuart. If anyone tells you that Howard should have stopped the shot that deflected off of Gabriel Bourque's stick in the second, then they're basing that solely on the slow motion replay and being completely unfair.
5) I feel no better or no worse about this series than I did before Game 1. The Wings players should be angry, not at the officials, but at the fact that they let one get away. That said, we know that the league will look again at the game and the calls and I'll bet you the officiating will be a tad looser in Game 2. I thought the Wings would win in seven before the series started and nothing happened last night to change my opinion.
