Dallas goes home down 2-0 in series and may be without Mike Ribeiro

Final moment of game result in suspension

Game #2 – Detroit Red Wings 2 – Dallas Stars 1

Mike Ribeiro should hope to get suspended for his antics at the end of Game #2 or he will be the newer version of Claude Lemieux of the late 90’s. The game had ended, the Wings had won and then Ribeiro gave Chris Osgood a two handed chop with his stick over the net onto Osgood’s chest. Though it was not hard, Osgood sold it out to be. Luckily for Ribeiro, Darren McCarty was not on the ice at the time to make a mockery of him, like he did to Lemieux 10 years ago.

This ending did take the attention away from a very good hockey game played by the Red Wings. Manitoba, Canada native, Darren Helm scored his first NHL goal 5:56 into the game assisted from Jiri Hudler, to get the crowd in the game early. At the 10:41 mark of the first period, Stephane Robidas tied the game on the power play on a pass from soon to be “most hated man in Detroit,” Ribeiro. Henrik Zetterberg popped in what turned out to be the game-winner, also on the PP, assisted from Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, who did all the work causing a messy screen in front of Marty Turco at the 15:13 mark.

That goal gave the Wings a lead they would hold off to seal the deal and hold the Stars for the next 2 periods. Dallas again looked tired and out of place the entire game, missing the net more times than actually hitting it.

Detroit has won 71% of face-offs in Game #2 and have won 62% in the first 2 games. Too many things going wrong for Dallas in almost every department and being down 2-0 in this series, things need a quick turnaround.

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Here are the key factors in this series as stated in our 2008 Western Conference finals preview:

Turco loses another in Joe Louis Arena, to bring his record to 0-9-2 in Detroit. He was frustrated by the #96 Red Wing jersey (Holmstrom), who distracted him from the game winner and Turco was even caught slashing him, causing a penalty. Not a bad night overall though, with his 32 saves, including 13 in the final frame. Osgood had another day off, only called upon 18 times, missing once.
Finesse has done nothing but put Dallas in a frenzy on the defensive end. Detroit is so much quicker then the Stars who take penalties because of it. To top it off, the Wings are also hitting more and playing a better mental game.
Johan Franzen was out in Game #2 with a head injury that may be a possible concussion. He may be out for awhile, leaving the top playoff goal scorer to watch from the box seats. After the first period, Ribeiro let Osgood hear how felt about him, after the third, he let him feel what he felt about him. Some chemical imbalance in Ribeiro’s head decided to slash the Detroit goalie in chest. Disciplinary dictator of the NHL, Colin Campbell happened to be in attendance, and we all know a suspension should be coming. Both players may be out for a few games minimum.

Just like the Pittsburgh/Philadelphia series, this one looks to end in 4 games. So far, home ice has been a huge advantage and for the sake of Dallas, the trend must continue.

Game #3 heads to Dallas for a Monday night clash.

Detroit leads series 2-0.

By Kevin Chaves
ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

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