Dominant Wings have upstart Penguins all fowled up

DETROIT -- If this really is the NHL's dream matchup, the Red Wings are destroying it and enhancing it at the same time. They're doing their share, more than their share, multiple shares, and they're turning the poor Penguins into frustrated flailers.

The Wings are back on one of their familiar rolls, filling familiar roles, and here's a truth no one should ever forget: Once they get going, they're awfully difficult to stop. That's really bad news for the Penguins, who are looking more and more like dumb, flightless birds.

The Wings are squeezing the life out of them, smothering them with dominant defense, a noisy crowd and more rock-steady doses of Chris Osgood. This was yet another brutally efficient effort, and after the Wings' 3-0 victory Monday gave them a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals, it's apparent the Penguins have few answers for the Wings' dizzying mix of speed and spunk.

Sidney Crosby? Evgeni Malkin? Anyone seen Pittsburgh's stars yet, buried under all that red, outscored 7-0 in two games? The Penguins' top three centers, Crosby, Jordan Staal and Malkin, have been about as effective as Crosby, Stills and Nash, only with mangier beards.

The Penguins even mixed in a ridiculous display of nastiness in the third period, when Gary Roberts leveled Johan Franzen with a hit to the face. Yes, just as Franzen returned from concussion-like symptoms, Roberts pathetically leaped at a chance. Franzen returned to the ice but was furious, a rightly riled Mule.

Fowled up

Really, this series is laughably lopsided right now, and there aren't a lot of reasons to think it'll change.

Speed? The Wings are skating as if they own the ice, and in this one, they absolutely did. On the clinching goal in the third period, Valtteri Filppula zipped past defenseman Kris Letang, swiveled brilliantly and fired the puck in, even as he was being tripped.

Spunk? The Wings catch your eye with flash, then slam back. Niklas Kronwall remains a hitting machine. And early in the third period, when Ryan Malone bashed Henrik Zetterberg into the boards, here came Pavel Datsyuk leaping after Malone, swinging away.

"No, we didn't expect (two shutouts)," defenseman Brad Stuart said. "We wanted to limit their chances and we've done that. I don't know (if the Penguins got frustrated) but if you don't score in two straight games, maybe you do. It's not any of our concern. We're not gonna get caught up in that."

Penguins coach Michel Therrien sounded positively flustered, complaining the Wings' defense gets away with obstruction, scoffing that Osgood embellished a fall when he was clipped late in the game.

The Wings reacted with modest shrugs.

"The way we try to do it is, we play as hard as we can between the whistles, and we try to shoot the puck in the net when you take penalties," Mike Babcock said. "To me, we just try to keep our poise and play."

This is the formula that almost always works for the Wings when they get this far. It's their puck and their time, and they dare anyone to take it away. Going back to 1997, they're an astounding 14-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals, an imposing number that should make the green Penguins quiver.

Osgood was his normal, lonely self, making big saves when needed, which wasn't often. The Wings didn't wait around, jumping immediately after the last chunks of pregame octopus gunk were scraped from the ice. The Wings played so precisely with the puck, and so responsible defensively, the Penguins couldn't know what hit them.

Homer ice advantage

By the time the Penguins recorded their first shot, the differential was 8-0 and the score was 2-0.

You know the Wings are clicking when the NHL allows Tomas Holmstrom to score. He flipped the puck behind the net to Zetterberg, who knocked it past Marc-Andre Fleury. As the puck dribbled toward the line, Holmstrom reached over and tapped it in. Hey, he's seen so many goals erased by the refs, nothing wrong with swiping one of his own.

The Wings are waiting for nothing and no one now.

They've outscored the opposition 25-8 in the first period in the postseason. Goodness, even Stuart, who can't possibly generate speed with his monstrous playoff beard, swooped into an open area, took a pass from Filppula and whistled a shot off Fleury's leg for the first goal.

We expect a stronger Penguins response in Pittsburgh, sure. But the Wings are perfectly content to relentlessly skate a team to its demise.

By the third period, it was an endless march to the penalty box for the Penguins. If their intent was to ruffle the Wings, it didn't work. Asked about Roberts' hit, Franzen smiled.

"I don't blame him -- they're trying to take their shots," Franzen said. "I gotta expect that and protect myself. We're just moving the puck, trying to stay away from the scrums."

Um, didn't he go after your head?

"My head?" Franzen said. "It's pretty big, so it's hard to miss."

We knew the Wings' calm experience would make a difference.

We didn't realize their speed -- and spunk -- would make such a difference. They're faster to the puck. They're crankier about keeping it when they get it.

The puck is all theirs, and so is this series. The Wings are doing it all, as if they're the only ones playing in this dream matchup.

Right now, they are.