Round 3, Game 2, Stars at Red Wings 05/10/08

Dallas 1, Detroit 2

It’s small consolation, sure, but the Stars did much better in this game. And I thought they improved as the game went on. They got the penalty kill back into some order, and the power play got them a goal. That one was from Stéphane Robidas, who is still amazing me.

They had A TON of chances that they just didn’t finish. They had a 4-on-1 and passed it one to many times, and unfortunately didn’t have the best breakaway line out there at the time. Nik Hagman has had several breakaways during these two games, yet hasn’t been able to do anything with them. I think if they just keep pushing like they did in Game 2, they’ll start to get rewarded.

Mike Ribeiro shouldn’t have swung his stick like that, but it was not a baseball-swing/two-handed chop to the head or anything as dramatic as that. He smacked Chris Osgood in the chest protector, where he takes twenty slapshot pucks a day, and there’s no way he even felt it, let alone would it have dropped him to the ice to writhe in agony like that. Osgood should be ashamed of that display.

Osgood reached out, blatantly, to clip Ribs as he went by, then tried to claim it was an accident. Then when he was smacked in the padding, he went down like he was hit by a sniper. It was as if he forgot there’s replay or something. Did he really think anybody would believe him?

And Kris Draper was really slathering on the righteous indignation against Ribeiro, apparently forgetting the rib-work he did on Ott about 30 seconds before that.

I watch a ton of hockey games every year, and Detroit is the only team that makes me feel like the rules don’t apply to them. They are constantly setting picks, yet never get called for interference. They tackle people at the faceoff, when that kind of interference is normally closely watched, yet they don’t get called. Brenden Morrow got called for a ticky-tacky play with 17 seconds left, yet Draper wasn’t called for tackling Ott to the ice and crosschecking him in the ribs a few times while he had him down. Then they called Ott for getting mad about that. What the HELL?!

I will give the refs a tiny bit of credit for calling Holmstrom on a dive, but it’s such a small victory compared to all the other stuff they miss.

One hilarious scene was when Chris Chelios was called for a high-stick penalty, but argued all the way to the penalty box that he didn’t high-stick him, he butt-ended him. Dumb ol’ refs!

Things are looking a little bleak, but it’s not over yet. We haven’t had a home game yet. The Stars have improved with every period. Adjustments are being made. Bob Sturm makes a good point in his entry on DallasStars.com — we haven’t seen how they handle trouble.

Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until you hit them in the face.
…Often, they win by merely being themselves and overwhelming the opponent. But, if you can put them in jams, they sometimes are not quite sure how to get out, and that is how they have been bounced in several playoffs in a row.

I’m probably guilty of being too easy on them, but I still think they can do it. I’m not positive, but I think they can. I think they are just having a little more trouble adjusting than they did with San Jose and Anaheim. We only played Detroit four times this season instead of eight.

I hope the crowd is loud and positive. If they have a bad power play, or get stuck in their own zone or something, don’t boo them. They’ve given us plenty this season so far. I think they deserve cheers from here on out.

Sidenote: Congratulations to Brenden Morrow and his family. They welcomed their twins today, Brady and Mallory. Good job!