Bearded Ice – April 16

Welcome back to the work week. At least the playoffs are on.

Quick hits

Well, clearly it’s not what Hockeytown was hoping for. With an opportunity to take control the series on home ice, the Red Wings were beat 3-2 by Nashville in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal match-up. Here’s our recap/photo gallery of the game.

Detroit will once again have to fight for a series-tying win when the puck drops Tuesday night at the Joe. After splitting the first two games in Nashville, the Wings had a chance to take control of the home-ice situation, but a lackluster first half of Game 3 put the Predators back in control.

Highlight reel

Weren’t at the game yesterday? You missed a pretty cool pre-game show. Here’s a portion of it that NBC shared.

Outside the Mitten

Former Whalers star Stephen Weiss is our Michi-gamer of the weekend, after having a big game for the Florida Panthers.

Former Wolverines star Carl Hagelin got a three-game suspension from the NHL from his hit to the head on Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson. Meanwhile, Senators defenseman Matt Carkner got a one-game suspension for a one-sided fight with Brian Boyle.

If you’re left scratching your head after these punishments, you’re not alone. How does Hagelin get three games, when Shea Weber basically got a slap on the wrist for his incident with Henrik Zetterberg? And how does he get more than a guy (Carkner) who throws an illegal check and proceeds to punch a defenseless opponent repeatedly? The honeymoon is over for Brendan Shanahan – the former Red Wing is going to start hearing high amounts of criticism, just like his predecessors.

The Kings are on the verge of eliminating Vancouver, the top seed in the West. Los Angeles posted a 1-0 win Sunday night to take a 3-0 series lead.

Meanwhile, the Penguins are also on the verge of getting swept, after falling 8-4 to the Flyers in the third game of their series.

Check it out

CBC interviewed Will Ferrell during the Canucks/Kings game. How could that not be included in this blog.

Next up

More Wings talk tomorrow.