This is the part of the post where I talk about how busy I've been. It's April, so no guarantees of every game recaps because my schedule gets considerably more busy around finals time. I know. Don't my professors know who I am? This is the playoff drive -- I have no time for projects and exams.

Moving on right to the insults, Nashville is horrendously boring. Fluke goals, then stack the blueline and hope that giant Finnish whatever gets in the way of everything else. I feel like struggling markets shouldn't be allowed to play in this fashion. Other teams have to chip in financially to help them stay afloat, and they thank us by trapping for 40 minutes? Eugh. I hope their fan (see what I did there? I left the word singular to make it more insulting.) is entertained because I'm certainly not. And I'm kidding of course, I appreciate good defense. I've just found most of the games against Nashville particularly void of any energy or emotion. Hard to look forward to.

That said, they took it to Detroit, particularly in the second. Granted there was a lot of sloppy play and just general stand-around-ness by Detroit, but Nashville is a chipper energetic punch, nearly bearable to watch when they want to play like that.

I didn't think the winner was the best goal Jimmy Howard's ever given up. But he's been absolutely insane since the Olympic break, so I'm not really worried about it. However, Chris Osgood gets the start tomorrow, his first in two months. Since we all know goalies can't win cold, we probably shouldn't expect much. Really though, I want to see him do well. To say that rookie goalies are wild cards in the playoffs is an understatement. Some of them fold under pressure. Some are just impervious to it. Some have one miracle run, then realize how insane it is to be great the first time you're ever in the playoffs, and never get back to that level again. It's a crazy little thing. Having Osgood get a little more action than just faceoff charting is good. I think Babcock handled this one right. Get comfortable in the playoffs first, then worry about giving Ozzie something to do. That's the order.

Yes, that's right, I said playoffs.

Jim?

Cool.

I am no longer afraid to talk about the playoffs like they're a possibility. I missed a few game recaps here and there, so overall I haven't had much of a chance to talk about this seven game win streak. I wanted to. After the Columbus game, I just wanted to make a post that just said "hahahahaha" and nothing else (but I really didn't have time for even that). Because I think that's how most Red Wings fans feel right now. All this "if" Detroit gets there talk, all this talk about problems scoring, and just the overall end of days and blah blah. One great month and now nobody feels that way anymore. Nobody wants to play us.

Petrella called it too. On the last TOV I was on, we talked for a second about the standings, around the same time that both Nashville and Phoenix were rattling off seven and nine game win streaks. He said "if Detroit could just do this, we wouldn't even be having this discussion." And they did, so we aren't. Good call, but if we would have known that's all it would take, I probably would have said it back in November.

I'm not surprised, at all. Why? Because we had excuses, and nobody listened. Excuses are lame crutches, but the thing is, sometimes they're valid. Having like 70% of your lineup miss significant time is significant. You cannot win in this league with the talent that Detroit had missing. People just looked at the standings and assumed the team was just too defeated to make a run. Detroit would be one point back of second if they were in the East. And they'd have a cushy travel schedule too.

It's also worth mentioning that Todd Bertuzzi had eight shots today after his awesome spike and kick goal(s) Thursday. He also looked like he was fired up about something. His penalty wasn't particularly smart, but it could have, and would have were he not wearing #44, easily gone both ways, and I'll take a passion penalty a million times over the lazy trips and hooks that he's guilty of most of the time. Overall, I got the sense that Bertuzzi is going to be a guy who will step up in the playoffs. He's near the end of his career and a Cup is all he wants. He's shockingly healthy and he's doing well in the role he's in. He seems to play better when someone is under his skin (until he starts marching to the box at least) like they were today. I'm just wondering if I'm not the only person who was rather inspired by his energy level, even though he ultimately didn't really accomplish much.

Four more games? How did that happen? As aggravating as this season has been, it's sure flown by. I cannot wait to see how this unfolds.