Same Old, Same Old; Sharks 4, Red Wings 3

I'm going to keep this one short, lest I write something rash, but needless to say I find the events of Games 1 and 2 very disappointing. Being down 2-0 with the only difference between the teams in each game being a 5-on-3 PP goal for the Sharks, makes for a hard pill to swallow.

The Wings were able to improve their special teams play going 1/4 on the PP with another goal a second after the expiration on one penalty, and killing 8 of 10 Sharks powerplays. The problem was with the amount of penalties each received. The 7:10 of additional time with the man-advantage -- including over a minute 5-on-3 -- proved to be too much for the Wings to overcome, succumbing 4-3 after three periods.

I only have a few things to say about this series.

Firstly, it's not over. If Detroit can hold serve at home -- and I believe they can -- the pressure goes right back on the Sharks. If the recent past of San Jose is anything to go by, the turnaround could induce nervousness in the team and the Sharks could become quite shakey.

Secondly, we need to slow down Pavelski. By any means necessary, this guy needs to be shut down, fairly. The guy's been an absolute stud this series and is the biggest reason his team holds the advantage over Detroit. If his confidence can be stifled, things will get tough for the Sharks.

That is all.

Go Wings.

Game 2 Preview: Red Wings vs. Coyotes

The Wings will have a second opportunity to get home-ice advantage from the Coyotes tonight in game two of their Western Conference quarter-final series.

The elephant in the room is the Red Wings penalty killing on Wednesday night. While letting in 3 goals on 4 powerplays is obviously a disappointing, Wings' coach Mike Babcock isn't too concerned about it. When you take into account only one of them was due to a structural mishap, and that the Wings PK down the stretch was as good as it gets, one would think the events of Wednesday would prove to be a rare occurrance.

The Wings are looking to get a more physical with the addition of Justin Abdelkader to the bottom three, in place of Jason Williams. Detroit found themselves pushed around and heavily out-hit by the fired up Coyotes in Game One.