Samuelsson leaving his man wide open. . . in overtime caught watching the puck.  It’s like watching a bunch of 5 year olds learning how to play hockey.

Posted by halomasterd4n on 05/22/09 at 10:05 PM ET

So aside form the terrible call on the Kronwall hit, and the never-explained 4-minute penalty to Cleary for an incidental high stick that never drew blood and the Versus crew was all-too-willing to overlook…. it was a good game all-around.

Samuelsson is absolutely terrible.  Every single game.  Nobody’s surprised he did that.  Babcock is a loon for continuing to play him.  I was screaming for them to put Leino out there in Samuelsson’s place for much of the game.

Still no clue what the heck is up with Khabibulin.  Hawk fans should be very concerned right now…

Posted by Primis on 05/22/09 at 10:24 PM ET

Betman just gave you a freebie, Chicago, enjoy it while you can

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 05/22/09 at 10:52 PM ET

And so it was that the hand of Bettman stretched down from the heavens and thwarted the Red Wings!

Or maybe they just lost a hockey game. Some people give that mental midget way too much credit.

Posted by JG on 05/22/09 at 11:18 PM ET

it was certainly not an exciting game. reffing was questionable. big fat buff was throwing late hits if i were the refs i woulda kicked him out to get even with the kronwall’s penalty.

Posted by Oilers Rock from Edmonton, Alberta on 05/22/09 at 11:33 PM ET

Or maybe they just lost a hockey game. Some people give that mental midget way too much credit.

Well put. The officiating was awry, but I hardly think Little Gary sent an edict down to make sure it was so.

To me, I see why the Kronwall hit was called as it was. Fair play.

The Cleary double-minor was curious, to say the least. Might need a better replay to see if it really drew blood?

The most obnoxious part for me was when a Wing player got rung up in the third period by a clean shoulder hit that landed high, almost identical to Kronwall’s, and wasn’t assessed any penalty. Like I said, I’m cool with the way they called the Kronwall penalty, just call it every time, that’s all.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 05/22/09 at 11:36 PM ET

agreed with nathan. if that starts hapening guys like burish and eager will never play a full game. no body charge as much as them

Posted by Oilers Rock from Edmonton, Alberta on 05/23/09 at 12:00 AM ET

will there ever be a playoff hockey game, or just a hockey game without the losing team or its fans complaining about the officiating and then crying about gary bettman rigging it?  you sound pathetic and desperate.  sometimes the detroit red wings lose games.  get over it.

Posted by so from ya on 05/23/09 at 01:39 AM ET

Actually I don’t recall it mattering if a high sticking was intentional or not, it’s a penalty either way.

Samuelsson has always been a scrub so that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

I didn’t get what people were saying about kronwall leaving his feet “AFTER” making a hit but I finally saw it tonight.  That’s not charging…  But the Havlat hit probably could’ve been a couple of things because of the follow through, possibly boarding but more like roughing or elbowing (depending on whether or not it was an elbow or a fist that hit havlats face).  Havlat probably just got the wind knocked out of him. 

Still…I question why Kronwall was in a position to make the hit in the offensive zone…typically with the red wings it would be a forward making that hit not a defenseman; as the other offense moves forward the wings d move back behind center ice.  Was it a line change?

Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 05/23/09 at 05:35 AM ET

Still…I question why Kronwall was in a position to make the hit in the offensive zone…typically with the red wings it would be a forward making that hit not a defenseman; as the other offense moves forward the wings d move back behind center ice.  Was it a line change?

This is not the first time Kronwall has stepped up to destroy somebody with an open ice hit in the offensive zone. 

It also was his shoulder that connected, not an elbow or fist, and since the boards were not involved with the check it couldn’t have been boarding.  It certainly was not interference, let alone a “major” for interference.  I didn’t even know a major for interference existed.  The misconduct was bs for that as well. 

Not to mention that overtime becomes even harder when you’re playing the entire game with 5 defenseman.  Not that it’s an excuse for Samuelsson’s horrible positioning.

Posted by halomasterd4n on 05/23/09 at 06:00 AM ET

There were a few things I did not like about last night’s game. That being said, it’s time to move on to the next game. Put it to rest and concentrate on tomorrow’s game. I don’t care who is wearing the stripes, but I would bet all my son’s cats, that the Wings will never see a 5 on 3 in the first 5 minutes of any game.

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 05/23/09 at 07:42 AM ET