Game #3 Roundup
Here’s what people have been saying after Detroit’s 4-3 victory over Colorado last night…
Helene St. James @ Detroit Free Press:
After seeing him rack up five goals already in the series, the Avs spent a good deal of time talking about Johan Franzen after the morning skate, with Jordan Leopold pointing out Franzen needed to be kept an eye on and Kurt Sauer saying the Avs could hardly be surprised by Franzen, who’d been on fire since March. But still it didn’t take Franzen long to net his team-leading eighth goal of the playoffs, scoring from just outside the net to give Detroit a lead headed into the second period.
“It was another great goal by Mule and it got us going,” Zetterberg said. “Then we just kept going.”
Ansar Khan @ MLive.com:
Detroit’s domination of Colorado during the regular season has carried over into the playoffs. The Red Wings are one victory away from recording their first postseason sweep since 2000, after defeating the Avalanche 4-3 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals at the Pepsi Center.
It was pretty much The Pav and Hank Show, as Datsyuk scored two goals and made a brilliant pass to Zetterberg for another.
“They played great tonight, scored some beautiful goals that are unstoppable for a goalie,” Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood said.
Franzen, aka The Mule, has been kicking the Colorado Avalanche in the lower body area ever since this conference semi-final series began. He did it to them again last night in Game 3, scoring the go-ahead goal some 58 seconds after Pavel Datsyuk tied the game at 1-1. This after Franzen roughed up the Nashville Predators in Round 1. He has a mind-boggling eight goals in the playoffs. He has Smythe (given to the MVP of the playoffs) written all over him.
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch:
Finally, the Mule kept his improbable goal scoring run on track. He scored another goal last night which brings that remarkable run to 23 goals in 25 games. He tied Dan Cleary for most shots on goal with 6 apiece. Anyone who follows sports knows about the old cliche that your best players have to be your best players. Pavs, Hank, Lids and the Mule were just that last night and as a result the Red Wings are one win away from making a return trip to the Western Conference Finals.
But now, After three games, it’s clear Detroit’s the better team this season. The Avs had no answer for the Red Wings PP, they took stupid penalties all series and Detroit does what great teams do, they take advantage. You look 5 vs 5 tonight and the Avs more than held their own, they probably even played a little better, but Detroit took their opportunities to put the Avs away.
Joe @ Mile High Hockey:
Overall, the Avs failed to take the body on Detroit’s forwards as they entered the zone until the 3rd period, which resulted in plenty of opportunities for a healthy Detroit team to take advantage of a depleted Avalanche squad. When they did try to get the physical play up, it usually resulted in borderline hits that weren’t called (luckily) or power play opportunities for the Red Wings. Quenneville also seemed to have the caution flag out for long stretches of the 1st and 2nd periods as the Avs looked content not to lose badly at times rather than putting the Red Wings on their collective heals. Osgood had a pretty easy night, with the only real pressure coming in the 3rd, and even then he wasn’t seeing sequences of shots, but one-offs, dump-ins, or bad angle shots.
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