5 Things From April 21st: Red Wings Drop Game 2 to Boston

1.  After sneaking out a 1-0 win on the most Datsyukian of dekes Friday, the Bruins reimposed their will on the Red Wings yesterday.  The game started off with an ugly attempted pass from Jimmy Howard to Brendan Smith that led to a goal:

Things didn't get a lot better from there.  Boston played a very physical game (as they always do), and it affected the Red Wings.  Jimmy Howard did not play as well as he did in game one, and Tukka Rask was outstanding on the other end. The Bruins were the much better team on Sunday and got the result they deserved.

In the end, Detroit has to be happy getting a split on the road.  Game 3 is Tuesday night, and the Wings need to find a way to utilize their speed and quickness while not getting sucked into Boston's physical style.

2. The Angels have owned the Tigers the past few seasons.  It looked like it was going to be a similar story this weekend after Friday's 11-6 blowout.  But the Tigers got an excellent pitching performance from Max Scherzer on Saturday which led them to a 5-2 win.  Rick Porcello was very strong yesterday as the Tigers won a pitcher's duel 2-1.  It was a productive weekend for Detroit, as they sit atop the AL Central with a 9-6 record.

3. The Tigers still have shortcomings, and one of them is the shortstop position. They cut ties with Alex Gonzalez over the weekend, and called up Danny Worth from Toledo.  Andrew Romine will hold down the position for now, and you would expect the Tigers to be in the mix for Stephen Drew after the June 5th draft.

4. The NBA playoffs kicked off this weekend.  The biggest storyline is the Pacers inability to right the ship, as they fell to the eighth-seeded Hawks on Saturday.  The Warriors beat the Clippers in a mild upset, the Blazers topped the Rockets in a thriller.

5. The Brewers and Pirates had a crazy game yesterday that included a bench-clearing brawl.  In the middle of it was Carlos Gomez, who has a history of trouble-making.  The Brewers ended up winning the game in extras.