Game 1: Detroit 4, Columbus 1

To all the Osgood naysayers: he knows how to win when it matters.

The MSM and the bloggers all targeted Detroit's goaltending as their big weakness, and rightfully after the showing Osgood gave during the regular season. But the one thing about Osgood is that he's always been able to win. And he was fantastic in the first period against Columbus tonight, when the rest of the team was excited and still trying to settle down. With the parade to the penalty box by Detroit, Ozzie was calm and came up with big saves, keeping the game 0-0.

Osgood's problem during the regular season was that he was looking too far ahead to the post-season. It's hard to get geared up for the sixth game of the season against St. Louis when you've just reached the top of the world last June. But Ozzie knows that he can play when it comes to the playoffs. And he's proven it with tonight's game.

As for the game, it was pretty tight and physical in the first period. I think the Red Wings looked anxious and a little over-excited. Columbus seemed nervous as well, so it was sort of a sloppy period. I was not happy with all the penalties, and they were lucky Osgood was playing so strongly. I have to admit though, that Columbus did not look entirely like playoff rookies. They certainly did not make the post-season by accident.

But once Detroit regained their composure (and got a lucky goal that went in off CBJ's Manny Malhotra's hand), it was pure domination. Columbus did have some decent chances early in the second, but except for the one goal that was caused by an awful turnover by Kronwall right in front of the net, they weren't able to gain much traction. Detroit got 3 goals in 5 shots on net during the bottom half of the second period. The rest of the second and the third was that beautiful shut-down defense that we were used to seeing last year when they rode the Red Machine all the way to the Cup finals.

I'm guessing this is going to go to a 5 game series. Columbus will likely win their first or second game at Nationwide Arena. But they simply can't keep up with Detroit's offense; the Blue Jackets are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, at 21st during the regular season.

My thought before this series started was that Columbus had hit a slump because they were just happy to have made the playoffs. They lost the remainder of their games after they clinched a playoff spot, and I think some of the adrenaline was lost. Now I wonder if they'll be able to regain that. I just hope that Detroit will keep the foot on the pedal and end it as soon as possible.