Jeff Riger: Oh What A Night!
Tuesday night the Wings accomplished a truly remarkable record -- 21 wins in a row at the Joe. It means they shattered the long-standing streak of the 1929-30 Bruins and 1975-76 Flyers, who both won 20 games in a row at home.
For the last four or five contests in downtown Detroit, you could sense something special going on and Tuesday night was no different as the Joe Louis crowd was into things way before the puck even dropped. The Wings scored the first two goals of the evening as Henrik Zetterberg netted one on the power play followed by Brad Stuart who scored during even strength action. Jiri Hudler than put the icing on the cake in the 3rd period as Detroit strolled to a 3-1 victory.
After the game things seemed to be a bit more special than the usual postgame festivities. Players were shaking hands in the dressing room while the GM Ken Holland walked around and congratulated athlete by athlete. Of course there was a ton more media than usual as well. It was a nice feel-good moment to break up the usual monotony of the month of February where everything seems to move so slow and things remain so cold.
Does the record mean anything? Probably not!
Does the record prove the Wings will hoist the cup in June? Absolutely not!
Will the record even be remembered in years to come? I will remember, but others will surely forget!
Is the record even legit, considering overtime and shootouts now exist and they didn't back in 1975-76? I think it is, but even Zetterberg admitted that he could understand why people say it is not.
The bottom line is none of the above matters.
Nobody can argue that 21 consecutive home victories isn't spectacular no matter how you break it down. And for that, Wings fans should consider themselves lucky, because for the first time in a long time they get to enjoy the regular season -- that is before the real fun in April begins.
Watch the Nick Lidstrom and Mike Babcock videos below as to how the players and coach reacted and celebrated big number 21!
