Game 3 Rears Its Usual Ugly Head For Favorite Red Wings

In playoff series in which the favored team wins in five games, it usually goes down like this:

W (home)
W (home)
L (road)
W (road)
W (home)

The Game 3 loss is almost inevitable. The Pistons used that formula several times, both in the Bad Boys days and in the New Era. They'd hold service at home in Games 1 and 2, lose that third game on the road in front of the fired-up fans and to the temporarily-energized opponents, but then wrap things up by winning Games 4 and 5.

The Red Wings suffered the expected Game 3 loss last night in Calgary, 3-2, to trim their lead in the best-of-seven series down to 2-1. They still control matters, and it's up to them to remind the Flames of that tomorrow night.

There's reason to believe they'll do that. I'll start with Kris Draper's goal that tied the game at 1-1 just 2:10 after the Flames seized their first lead of the series. The fact that it was their first lead after 149 minutes was bad enough, but then they only held it for 2:10 to boot. That goal of Draper's might not seem like it means a hill of beans because the Wings lost the game eventually, but to me it was a very good sign. No moral victories in the playoffs, I know -- but you can have morale boosts within a series, and I think that was one. Many in the Saddledome crowd who were away for a snack and a pop when their team scored first didn't even get a chance to return to their seats before the Red Wings had tied the game.

I saw Todd Bertuzzi (in his first playoff game as a Red Wing) run into some people, knock them down. I saw him handle the puck well. And I saw some deference showed him by the Flames' skaters. All this, and Bertuzzi played on the Wings' fourth line, which is sort of like being the Tigers' #5 starter (assuming a healthy Kenny Rogers). Doesn't really matter.

So the Flames got their anticipated Game 3 win. Good for them. It was expected. But the Red Wings didn't make it easy for them. Doubtless they'll make Game 4 even harder -- and in the process, the series downright improbable for the Flames to win.