Of course, it WASN'T sad for Detroit, but for Minnesota. The Wings won 5-0 and Dom had his 77th career shut-out! (Not that he had ALL that much to do, but still...) While seeing a game like tonight's is fun once in awhile, I don't need to see a blowout like that all that often.
Tonight's game had a little of everything: Z got his second career hat trick (GO Z!!!!!), Downey had a fight (a 'gentlemen's fight', not too many punches connected), a shut-out, a short-handed goal (go Z!!), baby boy got an assist, and a goalie got a penalty. As I said, a little of everything. The Wings did come out onto the ice a bit sluggish--I thought things might go sour for them, but they got going very well after warming up. I was really surprised at how poorly Minnesota played--they are much better than they appeared tonight.
The one thing that people will be debating, however, is the penalty Hasek got. Gaborik--Minnesota's star player--was skating on a break-away and Dom came FAR out of the net, met Gaborik not very far from the blue line, and sent Gaborik flying ass-over-teacups! Part of the reason this happened is that Gaborik had his head down and didn't see Dom's move--and the fact that this is the kind of thing ONLY Dom would do caused it to be kind of unexpected. Gaborik wasn't hurt during the play, which is good. It still is a bit of a puzzle as to why Dom got the penalty--after all, he was doing his job by meeting the player and stopping the puck. Oh, well, no harm done. Dom got his shut-out, which should go a long way toward his coming back from his slump.
--Minnesota Wild's Marian Gaborik (10), of Slovakia, flies over Detroit Red Wings' Dominik Hasek, of Czech Republic, after being upended during a fast break in the third period of their NHL hockey game on Friday, Dec. 07, 2007 in Detroit. Hasek received a penalty on the play. The Red Wings won 5-0. (AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza)--
A Sad, Sad Game
