The Power Of Datsyuk
Playoffs without the Detroit Red Wings are like picnics without sandwiches or Coach Maclean without his 'tache. It just doesn't happen. It hasn't happened for over 20 years either. The Wings are currently sat seventh in the Western Conference and came very close to dropping to 8th. Two things in Detroit's favour are that their next game is against eighth placed St Louis at the Joe Louis. In addition to this, Mike Babcock's team have a 4 point cushion over the teams outside the conference top 8. At this late stage of the season, that small cushion could have a huge impact. Detroit's second road game in as many days was against bottom-of-the-conference Colorado at the Pepsi Center. Mark Olver cancelled out Pavel Datsyuk's opener before Gustav Nyquist gave the Wings the edge again with the first period ending 2-1. That's how the score stayed until 6 minutes into the third when P.A. Parenteau deflected the puck past Jimmy Howard to draw the Avs equa...