The Perfect Game; Red Wings 6, Coyotes 1

I hate to say I told you so... but last week I predicted with my in-depth statistical analysis that the Wings were absolute certainties to win the series.

Thanks Nick, Hank and Pav for making me look super awesome. Not as awesome as you guys though... obviously.

Tonight was pretty much the perfect game by the Wings. The only real mistake being made by Jimmy Howard on Vernon Fiddler's face-off goal.

Like was the case with almost every game of the series, special teams decided the winner. Detroit went 3/6 with the extra man, while shutting down Phoenix's 4 powerplays. The killer blow came late in the second period when the Wings came up big on a huge 5-on-3 penalty kill.

With a 3-1 lead and the home fans sensing a comeback, the Wings faced a defining moment when Brad Stuart was sent to the box for hooking whilst on the PK, giving the 'Yotes a 72 second 2-man advantage. At that point you felt that maintaining the lead into the 3rd period would almost kill Phoenix and set the Wings up for the win -- but it would take a tough PK.

The penalty kill itself was brilliant with perfect positioning, timely shot-blocking and solid goaltending demoralizing the Coyotes PP, but the crushing blow came seconds after Brad Stuart returned to the ice getting a break-away and wristing it past Bryzgalov for a 3-goal lead.

The third period was academic as the disheartened Coyotes awaited the final horn of their amazing season. The majority of the usually rowdy crowd of Jobing.com Arena stayed to salute their team one last time despite the disappointing result in the decider.

For the Wings, Nicklas Lidstrom -- only hours before he turned 40 -- put in 2 powerplay goals and added 2 assists. Henrik Zetterberg got three assists to tie ex-Wing Mikael Samuelsson for second in the League with 11 points. Pavel Datsyuk got the first two goals of the game, setting the tone the rest of the way.

Now the Wings await the schedule for their Conference Semi-Final series with the San Jose Sharks.