Sharks @ Wings - Datsyuk gets violent

Red Wings 4-1 Sharks
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Home ice appears to be somewhat of a big deal for these teams. The Sharks have looked downright scary at the Tank, while the Wings have now scored 10 goals to San Jose's 1 at Joe Louis.

No need to hype this one up.


Here's how it happened, as it happened.


1st Period

• 20:00 ... Brad Stuart returns from being a vegetable to bolster the Wings D.
  

• 17:58 ... Dan Cleary gets retribution for Claude Lemieux's hit on Draper by hitting Joe Thor -- Ok, ok, let's not do this ... boarding call and the League's 28th best PK takes the ice.
  

• 15:16 ... The crowd gets their "boos" in as Claude touches the puck for the first time. I love the name for the Roenick/Lemieux/Shelley trio: The Monsters of Medicare Line.

• 13:09 ... Hossa is better at hockey than we are. Power play goal. Red Wings 1-0 Sharks.

• 12:48 ... Cleary's getting some attention from Sharks players who are looking to retaliate for Joe Thorton. So not only does he live with the paranoia of Samuelsson's unpredictable slapshots, he holds the ire of an entire angry team.

• 8:11 ... Sharks might be losing their cool a little bit. Namely Thornton, who tries to lay a hit into Brian Rafalski, but gets a penalty. Joe must've heard somebody say the word "Playoffs".

• 5:00 ... Murph interviews Datsyuk. I was gonna quote something, but I literally couldn't understand a single goddamn thing he said. Not one word. Somebody get this dude Rosetta Stone.
  

• 3:52 ... Ville Leino should be batting 6th for the Tigers. He bats one in out of the air, using his full reach. Unbelievable start for this guy. Red Wings 2-0 Sharks.

• 3:31 ... Some wacky shit takes place immediately thereafter in the Wings end, and a Sharks goal is being reviewed. Ken Daniels' brain nearly explodes trying to call the play. But the replay clearly shows the puck didn't completely cross the line. No goal.
  

• 0:39 ... Datsyuk has like 3 or 4 hits this period, really bringing the energy. But don't take it from me. Mick says, "Does he have a spark in his rear end or what?" Is that like a "fire under his ass"? 'Spark in his rear' sounds kinky to me. I don't like that shit.
  

2nd Period

• 19:49 ... Thornton couldn't wait to get out of the locker room and into the penalty box. He waited all of 11 seconds. Power play Detroit.

• 15:49 ... Henrik Zetterberg. I don't know what to say. So sick. Red Wings 3-0 Sharks.

• 13:30 ... Power play goal Sharks. The total score now in two games between these two at JLA is 9-1 Detroit. Red Wings 3-1 Sharks.

• 9:20 ... Ty Conklin just pulled his nuts out. What a fucking save on the guy who used to be Jonathan Cheechoo. Wow.
  

• 3:39 ... Sammy makes a sweet move and then puts a slapper on goal from the blue line. Something that rare needed to be documented.

• 3:39 ... FS Detroit reports that Dean Chelios -- Chris Chelios' great grandson -- will be playing hockey at MSU.

3rd Period

• 20:00 ... Hossa didn't return after getting hit on the head a couple times midway through the 2nd. Didn't seem too serious, and either we weren't paying attention or they didn't elaborate on what his long-term status is. But again, it didn't look like that big of a deal.
  

• 18:00 ... Thornton tries to take out his aggression on poor Murph between the benches. "I've been speared," Murph cries.
  

• 13:30 ... Pav is now playing like 2008 Playoffs Datsyuk. He's trying to hit a Shark at every chance he gets. I like when he plays this way. He's so good that the only time he really falls off his game is when he seems board with the competition level. When he combines the intensity with the skill, it's even more fun to watch.
  

• 9:36 ... Kirk Maltby puts in his best shift of the year and the crowd recognizes him for the hard work. Cool thing to see.
  

• 4:40 ... Darren Helm resembles a coked up 1998 version of Kris Draper. He deserves his own blog. If the Pistons played defense half as hard as Helm plays hockey, they'd be like 50-5 right now. I imagine that Mike Babcock is completely obsessed with him. Like in a 12 year old girl/Tiger Beat cover sort of way.
  

• (2 minutes-ish... it's late, I'm lazy) ... Hank picks up his 2nd goal on a 5-on-3. This comes after Dan Boyle took exeption (for some reason) to yet another Datsyuk hit and retaliated with a dumb slashing call. I tend to not really believe all of the "Wings are in the Sharks" heads stuff, but they certainly have looked that way tonight. Red Wings 4-1 Sharks.

Final

• How many Wings would you say had "great" games tonight? 7? 8?
  

• On that list you'd have to include Conk, who looked very un-Osgood tonight. Solid night all the way around.
  

• Datsyuk was everywhere. Hank was locked in. Helm and Leino were great. Stuart stood upright. Raf continues to pile on the assists. Terrific total team output.

• Ville Leino has 5 goals already. He plays hard and looks like he's been playing NHL hockey for way longer than one month. It would nearly be painful making a guy like Maltby ride the bench during the playoffs, but at this rate, Leino cannot be scratched two months from now. There's no way.