Bobrovski decided to buckle down and make some really nice stops tonight. An opening graphic showed that, since last season, Bob (the 10 million dollar man) has let in 4 or more 21 times. Detroit was unable to break through after a nice tally by Zadina. The game winning goal was a Holmstrom-esque tip by Hornqvist off of his upper chest. He pays the price for those goals, and is rewarded.
More than any of that, I cannot get past my outright disgust with the department of player safety. There’s been nothing said or done regarding Gudas’s predatory hit on Luke Glendening. Luke wasn’t on the ice, Gudas was. Gudas also had a blatant interference call while he held up Givanni Smith that was ignored. For some reason, a player who has lived his life playing dirty and had multiple disciplinary actions is in the refs good graces. I understand that calls get missed on the ice. It happens. The DOPS has zero excuse and had 48 hours to address it. There’s a general feeling of helplessness here. Gudas will continue to be everything player safety is supposed to get rid of, but will refuse to take action on. Trust me, I will tweet it out again, but so far they’ve deleted 3 of my tweets within minutes. Fairly disgusting.
Florida, as shown, is a much better team. Detroit has whiffed on 15 straight power plays. There were good looks, but not nearly enough. It’s what you expect the team to be. This is the team that dwells in the bottom of its division. Somehow Ottawa has played just a little bit worse at this point as far as league standings. With Nashville around the corner, it’s anyone’s guess on which Detroit team will hit the ice.
Detroit got a much needed win in Florida on Sunday. Greiss stood on his head making 36 saves on 37 shots and gave the group every chance to make good. This time, they came through. Givani Smith was a welcome hero with his Gordie Howe hat trick. Marc (corrected) Staal had his best game to date in a Wing’s jersey, Fabbri, Ryan and Namestnikov all made their presence known. It was a good game for the team, and a much needed boost in morale.
For those that follow, I’m stuck on a loop of pop culture references. When God hands you a Star Wars reference, it is your duty to make it available. The new math isn’t the first time we were all left in a rut of numeric confusion. (B.C. Goes backward, after all). George Lucas made his mark on arithmetic when Star Wars “A New Hope” was later branded Episode IV. Wait, it was the first movie, right? Did we miss something? Little did we know that the nightmare known as Jar-jar Binks was lurking in the psyche of a man who redefined science fiction.
As with Star Wars, this fourth installment of Detroit’s season series feels like a new beginning. Did we get a glimpse of what the team is? Or, did an immensely talented goalie and some friendly bounces (combined with depth scoring) make a cover for a team that is struggling? I think it’s a bit of both.
It’s not a good idea to give the opposition 37 shots on net, especially if you’re averaging scoring 2 goals per game. Greiss was finally rewarded for how hard he’s worked to help stabilize the back end. With no real idea of who will be on the ice (after the Mantha scratch Sunday) it’s still a group that will have to work unbelievably hard to stay in this one. Detroit is now 1-1-1 against Florida this season. The Panthers have some immensely talented players, and they are tough. Coach Q has them fighting for every inch of ice. Hornqvist is a virtual man of steel. He can keep his stick on the ice in front of the net while taking a beating. He can dish it out too. Ekblad is a tough cookie. Smith is a much needed presence to help combat that.
For tonight’s game, it’s a coin toss for me. It feels like we would need a repeat performance in net, and some more friendly bounces. Florida is more than a little aggravated at how things went. Duclair is without a goal this season, and you can see the fire in his eyes. #91 had some good looks and was in disbelief that he didn’t connect after having his way with Detroit last season. If Detroit comes out of the gate sharp, physical, and on time it should be a good match. Florida will be ready for this one, and in a bad mood. We’ll see how it all pans out. The embedded video (a gem from the 80s “Transformers” animated movie) is dedicated to Givani Smith and my little brother(it’s his birthday and he’s the coolest human being on the planet) . Let’s hope they’ve both got “the touch”, and Detroit gets another “W”.
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