I had to run off some excess energy after that game before I felt comfortable and objective enough to write a blog on that game. Originally I was very upset over the officiating, between the disallowed goal, some of the calls on Dallas that put Detroit on a power play, and some of the non-calls on Dallas.

The officiating wasn’t great, but first let’s put things into perspective. The unstoppable Red Wings came out extremely flat that game. They weren’t skating and they weren’t outworking the Stars. It was painful for me to watch, but after Dallas blew three power plays I figured the Wings had the game in the bag. I figured the momentum would swing and Detroit would cash in on it. Detroit doesn’t miss their chances after all. Well that sure was mistaken. The Wings has so many chances where they should have put the puck in the net and didn’t that it made me sick. First they were outworked, and then they couldn’t cash in on their chances. Detroit simply didn’t deserve to win that game. Plain and simple.

Now back to the subject of the officiating. I was watching that game with two of my friends who aren’t hockey fanatics but whom are still excited about the Red Wings being so deep in the playoffs. Throughout the game they were asking me questions on various rules. This was all very good, as I’m more than happy to explain the game to people in order to get them interested.

However, they were really confused over what was a penalty in the game. Something would happen, and I’d be like, “Yeah well McCarty held his stick which you aren’t allowed to do. Or Lidstrom hooked the guy going to the net, however he probably prevented a goal so it was a good penalty to take.”

Then they’d ask me, “Wait how come that guy just cross-checked our guy, is that not a penalty? What about that elbow, wasn’t that a penalty? Hey, that guy just took our guy’s legs out from under him, shouldn’t that one be a penalty?” And clearly, my friends we right. The referees let so much go that game it was ridiculous. Not only that, but then I had to explain some of the penalties that actually were called on the Stars. And once again, some of those couldn’t be explained.

I’m sorry, I’m usually not one to bash refs, however it’s bad when a league that is trying to grow itself to casual fans is called so inconsistently that the casual fan can’t even figure out what kinds of plays are penalties and which kinds aren’t. That’s just wrong. Also, the disallowed goal on Datsyuk was one of the worst calls I’ve seen these playoffs. It was clearly a makeup call for the goal Holmstrom scored a couple games ago. Yes, the Holmstrom goal shouldn’t have counted – however it really had no effect on the momentum of the game. This disallowed goal on Datsyuk had a huge impact on the game. After that for whatever reason the Wings couldn’t put the biscuit (puck) in the basket (net). Then Dallas claimed their first lead of the series on an entirely fluky play. I’m not nitpicking. I freely admit the Wings’ first period effort should have cost them that game. It was awful. But so was that call. Heck, even that play where Datsyuk tripped up and fell into the net with Turco should have been at least reviewed. The puck looked loose to me, but I honestly have no idea. Still, a review would have been nice seeing as how the Datsyuk goal was so blatantly blown.

As for the Stars, I've got to give them credit. They really came out with a lot of energy and controlled the first period of play. I believe a good part of this was due to their fans as the arena was absolutely electric. If only the Joe could look like that. Once again, Morrow is an absolute warrior. I have no idea how his arm even functions after that fall he had in game three. The only problem I had against the Stars this game was Steve Ott. There was no reason for him to maul Holmstrom at the end of the game. It was no different than when he tried to maul Draper in game two. It wasn’t as if he was trying to send a message – I believe that Dallas sent that message by winning the game, which they had clearly done at that point. In fact, the only reason I want McCarty to play game five (he just didn’t look good tonight) is to teach Ott some manners. Also just for fun, but who has the uglier playoff beard, Steve Ott or Mike Ribeiro?

I won’t be able to post this weekend due to being out of town. However I’m really hoping that the atmosphere of the Joe can at least rival that at AAC tonight and that the Wings feed off of it and close the series out. After all, everyone has to have a bad night once in a while. I'm just hoping that was the last one for the Wings this spring. Let’s go Red Wings!

Dustin Morley

Detroit Red Wings Correspondent

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