Osgood As It Gets

Turco made 32 saves, some in a spectacular fashion, but it was not enough as his record at Joe Louis Arena as an NHL player is now at 0-9-2.

Chris Osgood only needed to make 17 saves, the defense of the Red Wings did the rest as the Red Wings are now up 2-0 in this Western Conference Finals. Osgood is now 8-0 in this year's playoffs...

All 3 goals in the game occurred in the 1st period, as Detroit's Darren Helm and Henrik Zetterberg got the only 2 goals for Detroit. Stephanie Robidas got the wrister past Osgood from the assists from Morrow and Rebeiro.

In the 2nd and 3rd periods, Stars outskated and got to the puck quicker than Detroit. But the shots could not get passed the swarming defensemen. Not only that, but 71 percent of the faceoffs were won by Detroit.

The play that everyone will be talking about was as the game ended, Mike Ribeiro came from behind the net and slashed Chris Osgood across the chest. Osgood immediately hit the ice and scuffles ensued. What many people don't realize is that Ribeiro did this out of retaliation. Chris Osgood used the butt-end of his stick to poke at Ribeiro.

"Ribeiro is actually letting up on the guy and Osgood just sticks his stick out and butt-ends him," head coach Dave Tippett said. "Ribeiro is not going to turn around and chop the goalie like that without having something happening."

I have looked at the replay countless times, and what Osgood did was definitely intentional. I think Ribeiro's slash was a little over the top, but Osgood is padded in his chest and will be fine. The NHL will be deciding if punishments will be handed out. If Rebeiro is punished, Osgood better get punished as well. Refs don't seem to be too fond of Dallas franchises, so we will see what happens.

ESPN analyst Barry Melrose, who predicted the Wings would lose to the Avalanche last round, said on "SportsCenter": “What Osgood did is much more dangerous than what Ribeiro did. If they suspend Ribeiro, they have to suspend Osgood, too.”

Game 3 will have a lot of emotion, but the Stars must use that to their advantage and use the home crowd to get back in this series. Dallas has to get more shots to the net, there were so many slap shots and wristers that were blocked by the defensemen.

"We're going home," Stars center Brad Richards said. "We should be better there." They will have to be, or else the Stars are history. The Stars have been telling the fans all postseason to believe, and that is what we must do. Game 3 is Monday at 7....

--ND