Game 3: Detroit-3 Carolina-1

Play-off hockey in October. That's what last night's tilt between the Wings and 'Canes was. I was on the edge of my seat for nearly the entire game. There were bone-crunching hits, tic-tac-toe passing, and acrobatic saves. Come to think of it, every game so far has been like this. Even the Washington-Vancouver game, which I caught part of this afternoon, had intensity that was rarely seen in the regular season before the lockout. But now we have parity in this league. Gone are the days when rich organizations can load up on all-stars and steamroll everyone else on their way to the Finals. Now every team has a chance to win, which makes the game so much more exciting. Now if we could just get rid of that instigator rule.

Reed's Rundown

• Ty Conklin absolutely stood on his head last night. Babcock says he expects to play Osgood and Conklin at a 2-1 ratio. I don't know if there's another team in the league who has a goaltending tandem this solid (not to mention Jimmy Howard securing the 3rd string position). If Ozzie plays like Ozzie, and Conklin plays this well consistently, Detroit will easily have the powest GAA this season.
• Franzen had another strong game, hitting a post and playing strong defensively. Just waiting for the Mule to catch fire again.
• The Wings put on a clinic in the passing department last night. Holmstrom's goal was a result of the prettiest tic-tac-toe passing I have ever seen. It happened so fast I missed it. I had to rewind the game and play it over to catch it. Then I watched it a few more times. It was that pretty.
• What's up with those Carolina cheerleaders? Is that really necessary at a hockey game? I mean, your team scores a goal against the defending Stanley Cup champs, horns blare, lights flash... and yet that's not enough to get the fans excited? Do they really need a bleach blond bimbo shaking pom-poms to get the fans pumped? If that's the case, then why not put cheerleaders at NASCAR races? It would make more sense: The cars go speeding by at 200 mph, and the gust of wind makes those skirts go flying up... Just a thought.