Edmonton 4, Wings 3 (SO)
Thoughts after Edmonton 4, Wings 3 (SO) 1) Does Dwayne Roloson ever had a bad game against the Wings? He may as well be in the Hall of Fame if he only played vs. the Wings. This wasn't as good as one of his playoff performances from two seasons ago, but it was darn close. Rollie was the big reason the Oilers earned two points. 2) Speaking of two seasons ago, the Oilers, I remember, made of living that season of winning shootouts, earning those extra points, and grabbing the 8th seed in the playoffs. Wings fans know the rest. Anyway, this Edmonton victory raised its shootout record to 9-1 for the season. I've pretty much made it clear how I feel about the shootout. I don't think it's a good way to break ties and give teams valuable points in the standings. Edmonton is 9 points better right now in the standings because its so much better in a skills competition after tie games. It seems kind of hokey to me. 3) I couldn't believe how quiet JLA got when Hasek got run into midway in the 3rd period. He said afterward he lost his wind. Yes, they have Osgood, and we know how good Ozzie has been, but you can be sure there were some nervous folks around the Wings until Hasek got up and looked healthy again. 4) Babcock did several things with Datsyuk and Zetterberg without Holmstrom (he'll probably continue to do the same until Holmstrom returns), but I like putting Cleary with those two. 5) Good for Mark Hartigan scoring that pretty goal early in the 1st period. That's always nice to see, a guy getting promoted and doing something positive right off the bat. 6) Babcock alluded to it after the morning skate and he's right. Good for the players in the NHL that the steroid issue never has really been a problem in this league.
