The Two-Line Pass

The Lead

The Ducks have their unstoppable scoring machine in Ryan Getzlaf. And the Wings, through three games, had a hodgepodge of thrown-together guys scoring their big goals.

There was Nick Lidstrom, who had two goals and an assist in Game 1. There was Mikael Samuelsson and Brad Stuart who each scored in the first period of Game 2. Then there was Henrik Zetterberg who scored the only Detroit goal in Game 3.

Oh, and this Johan Franzen guy. He was the hero in Game 4 with two goals and an assist, sure. But those were his third and fourth goals of the series and third, fourth and fifth points overall. And even on Marian Hossa’s second goal of the game, he could have had an assist for his dictionary-definition perfect screen of Hiller that made it 4-2 Detroit.

Oh, and then you can go ahead and toss in the six points he had in four games against Columbus as well. Which, y’know, ain’t bad.

Six goals, six assists, eight games. Playoffs end today and he might be your Conn Smythe winner. He’d at least give Getzlaf a run for his money, but you gotta think if it goes to anyone on the Ducks is goes to Hiller, so you see my point.

Johan Franzen has been playing his balls off for the Wings but because he’s one of those guys that busts out jaw-droppping goals on a nightly basis like Alex Ovechkin, you might not see him come up in highlights. His first goal was the direct result of his own hard work along the boards in the neutral zone and his ability to get to a high-percentage scoring area in a hurry. His second was just going to bloody nose alley and tipping a shot inside of a minute to go to put Detroit up 2-1 despite having trailed almost immediately. And his assist was just a rocket pass out of the corner to Hossa.

Those are the kinds of plays that you might not even really notice his subtle, hardnosed brilliance. You and the Ducks might wanna start.

Elsewhere…

Chicago 2, Vancouver 1 (OT)

Another overtime game. Overtime hockey rules. Especially in the playoffs. Because there are no gimmicks like 4-on-4 or the shootout. Suck it, competition committee. And besides, only like two or three playoff games per year since the mid-1990s go to multiple overtimes, on average. I looked it up. So don’t change anything. Face.

PS The game might not have even gone to overtime at all if the refs had given Dave Bolland the penalty shot he deserved for that blown-up breakaway late in the third period. He had a legitimate shout there.

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