4/9 Notes

... Dave Lewis will announce his starting goalie for Game 2 today. He has already decided and, given Manny's performance in Game 1, I can't see how Lewis could start anyone else. He might as well ride him while he's hot. It would be folly to get Curtis Joseph in there just to get him in there. His ankle may be fine in practice but if it acts up again in the game, the series could end up 1-1. Manny impressed me enough on Wednesday that I think he should play again. Update: Dave Leiws has announced that Manny Legace will start tomorrow, as long as he is cleared to play after taking a puck to the head today in practice. Hopefully it wasn't Ray Whitney who shot the puck.... ... Lang's goal Wednesday night is being compared to Pavel Datsyuk's goal against Marty Turco back in November. I still think Pavel's was the most amazing goal I've ever seen but Manny Legace and Brett Hull like Lang's better. Manny: "Lang to stand up and battle and beat Vokoun, an amazing task in itself. Pavel had a clear-cut breakaway and Turco wasn't feeling too sharp." Hull: "... [He] used his strength and size and then kept his balance and was able to make a creative move during all of it." Brett also had this to say: "Then again, if I gave him a hundred pucks, I know he couldn't do what Pavel did. They're both impressive." I thought that was pretty funny. True too, though Lang's got a good set of hands himself. What do you think? Check out the replays: Pavel's here and Lang's here. ... The Wings were 0-for-5 on the power play Wednesday night, though they had some "glorious" chances (Dave Lewis). Five power plays is a pretty high number for the playoffs and the Wings should have been able to take advantage of that. The refs were a little more friendly in Game 1 than they usually are to the Wings. As long as they are going to call what they called, they are going to have to score. ... Pavel Datsyuk and Steve Yzerman did not practice yesterday. They were just resting, however, and will play Saturday. That's good news! ... John Niyo has an article today about how Tomas Holmstrom makes a living. The amount of abuse Tomas takes every night is amazing as well as the fact that he's able to take that abuse and score goals in the midst of all that. He probably has the best hand/eye coordination on the team with a possible exception being Steve Yzerman. For a guy drafted so late to have such an impact on a team like the Wings is amazing. ... Looking forward to Game 2; wishing it was tonight instead of tomorrow and on FSN instead of ABC.