5 Things for April 25th: Red Wings on Brink of Elimination After OT Loss to Bruins

1.  Things looked good for the Red Wings for much of game 4.  Their first period was the best period they have played played all series.  They held a 2-0 lead early in the second after Pavel Datsyuk put home his second goal of the playoffs.

Things turned quickly.  Torey Krug scored with a slap shot from the point to make it 2-1 midway through the second period.  Boston really started to take it to the Wings in the third period.  They scored early in the 3rd to make it a 2-2 game, and continued to dominate throughout the 3rd period and in overtime.  Jarome Iginla ended up getting the game winner on a deflection in front.

Boston is imposing, and the Red Wings can not handle their physicality. They hammer you in corners, control the puck on the cycle, and wear you down as the game goes on.  They have no weaknesses.  They have depth, goaltending, defense, size, and skill.  This was a bad matchup for Detroit.

Some other notes from this game: Henrik Zetterberg played 19:34 in his first game in the lineup after returning from back surgery.  Patrice Bergeron was 17-28 in the faceoff circle, and was 8-9 against Luke Glendening.  Bergeron beat Glendening cleanly on Boston's first goal .  Jonas Gustavsson was named the emergency starter after Jimmy Howard had to sit because of the flu.  Gustavsson played well, stopping 37 out of 40 shots.

2.  Max Scherzer was good again for the Tigers, going six innings and striking out ten White Sox.  Joba Chamberlain gave up two runs out of the bullpen, but Joe Nathan pitched a clean ninth inning as Detroit got a 7-4 win.

Miguel Cabrera seems to be coming around.  He went 2-4, including a massive bases-loaded hit to bring home two runners.  Rajai Davis continued his hot start, going 3-5 for with his 2nd home run of the year. Bryan Holaday went 2-4 in relief of Alex Avila.

The Tigers travel to Minnesota tonight.  Rick Porcello is pitching for the Tigers.

3.  After getting beat handily in the first two games of the series, the Minnesota Wild were able to come home and even things up.  What once looked like a lopsided series has taken a massive swing in the other direction.  Minnesota out-shot Colorado 32-12, and all of the sudden we have a hotly contested series.

The Kings were able to stave off elimination with a 6-3 win over the Sharks.  Justin Williams and Marian Gaborik each scored two goals for LA.

4. There are some interesting story lines in the NBA playoffs right now.  The 1st round is usually very predictable, but we currently have two highly-seeded teams on the ropes.

The first is the Indiana Pacers.  For most of the season, many people (including myself) thought that they would represent the eastern conference in the finals.  Now they are in danger of getting knocked out of the first round by the eighth-seeded Hawks.  Atlanta got a lopsided 98-85 win to grab a 2-1 series lead.

The second-seeded OKC Thunder dropped a crazy game to the Memphis Grizzlies.  Memphis got a 98-95 overtime win. Mike Conley was their leading scorer with 20 points.

And finally, the Clippers took a 2-1 series lead over the Warriors with a 98-96 win.  Tom Izzo was in attendance watching Draymond Green.

5.  Michael Pineda of the Yankees has been suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball for using pine tar.