With Game 3 being essentially a must-win for the Detroit Red Wings, I decided to sit down with my trusty netbook, kick my feet up and immerse myself in some playoff hockey.

7:41 – The puck drops and Game 4 is underway. Interesting stat put up showing that Jimmy Howard is 4-0 in career Game 4’s. Let’s see if he can continue that streak.

7:42 – Hey, the Red Wings won a faceoff!

7:43 – I really like the way this second line has meshed throughout the season. Nice early chance, albeit at a difficult angle, for Zetterberg. Makes you wonder how different this series would be looking if Hank was able to cash in on a few more of the chances he’s gotten throughout through the first three games.

7:45 – Wings doing a nice job of keeping the puck out of their zone through the first couple of shifts. Ian White just went old school with a nice hip check at the blue line.

7:47 – Top three things to come out of Canada: 1) Our Lady Peace. 2) Bret “The Hitman” Hart. 3) Mike Babcock’s voice. Random? Maybe. Accurate? Without a doubt.

7:51 – Great feed by Datsyuk in front of the net for a quality chance by Cleary. It’s nice to see Cleary get an opportunity to play with some top line guys and Pavel continues to make his wizardry with the puck look simple.

7:55 – How did that not go in??? Great job by the Nashville defender to back his goalie up. Better question…what exactly was that penalty for? Detroit is the beneficiary of an early dumb call.

7:58 – Quincy saved a couple clearing opportunities and nearly set up a nice scoring chance, but Detroit couldn’t capitalize on an early power play.

8:00 – Good scoring chance by Pavel. This type of game terrifies me. The Red Wings look dominant throughout the first 10 minutes, but can’t put it in the back of the net. This has the makings for one of those games where we head into the first intermission trailing 1-0 despite doubling our opponent in shots. Mark my words, Nashville will score first.

8:01 – …whew…that was close. Quick strike scoring chance for the Preds. Didn’t want to be right that quickly.

8:04 – Valid penalty to Bertuzzi will give Howard his first test of the game.

8:07 – Nevermind. Obvious tripping call puts us in the 4-of-4.

8:08 – Zetterberg with a beautiful pass through the middle to Kronwall. The big defenseman pulled off a nifty move that I thought was outside of his skill set, but it went just wide of the net. Good chances early for Detroit.

8:11 – Another Nashville penalty. We really need to cash in on one of these early. I don’t like the prospect of coming back from a goal down with the way Pekka Rinne is playing.

8:14 – Datsyuk called for tripping. This whole “not on my watch” attitude the refs seem to have in this series is getting to be a bit tiresome. I will say that the calls have been subpar on both sides.

8:21 – 0-0 after one period. 11-7 advantage for Detroit in the shot department. Feels like much more than that. Again, this concerns me. As happy as I am to outplay them through the first 20 minutes, nothing is more important in this series than scoring the first goal. I still have a bad feeling.

8:33 – I really dig the Ram vs. Mule Dodge Ram commercials. Franzen’s resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger is enough to make me laugh. “I don’t know, but you’re going to need a bigger shovel…arrrrgggghhhh GET TO THA CHOPPA!!!”

8:34 – I’m a simple man.

8:39 – And we’re back. First goal, guys. First goal.

8:41 – My roommate, who is a firefighter, just got home from a long day. Less than two minutes into sitting down to enjoy the game, he gets a call for an elderly person who is experiencing pain in his legs. Respect your local firefighters, folks. While you are sitting on your butts watching the game, many of them are making sure that senior citizens avoid Charlie horses and calf cramps.

8:45: Don’t mess with Drew Miller aka “The Silver Fox.” Miller has actually played nicely as a quiet difference maker with solid puck possession and defense throughout the series.

8:47 – Hearing Mickey Redmond badmouth a player is pretty entertaining. On Patric Hornqvist: “He’s the type of guy who you just laugh at. What’s he gonna do? He’s not gonna beat you up.”

8:51 – Pile up in front of the net. Rinne’s one vulnerability seems to be rebounds. You can’t call it a weakness because every goalie in the NHL has the same vulnerability.

8:55 – Nice steal and feed from Kronwall to Holmstrom for a slapshot from the wing. Kronwall continues to impress me as a player as he seems to have evolved quite nicely into a very nice defenseman.

9:02 – I love Zetterberg, but if he had half of the vision that Datsyuk has, he’d be the best player in the game. Missed a wide open Fippula on the left side.

9:03 – 30 minutes in and Detroit has outshot the Preds 21-8…and it’s still 0-0. Impressed with how they are playing. Still terrified.

9:09 – Kyle Quincy with a BIG poke check on a streaking Shea Weber to break up a scoring chance for Nashville. Weber found an opening on the backside and was hit with a nice pass for what could have been the game’s first goal when Quincy made a nice diving play.

9:14 – Hearing the phrase “Lidstrom lost the puck” feels blasphemous.

9:15 – Good kill by Nashville. Detroit put pressure on for two minutes, but still couldn’t beat Rinne.

9:19 – Refs are swallowing the whistle a bit in this second period. Thank you. I will take a no call over a “what the..” call any day of the week as long as it’s called the same for both teams.

9:21 – Nice effort by Franzen in the final 15 seconds to sneak one by Rinne. Really starting to wonder what we need to do to get one past him.

9:22 – 0-0 after two periods. Detroit leads in the shot department 28-10.

9:30 – Having the window open on a beautiful night, I was just treated to a rendition of “It’s Raining Men” by some of the local kids at my town house complex. Would love to think of something funny to say here, but I’m at a loss for words.

9:33 – After watching the 38th Ford commercial of the night starring Mike Rowe (or that guy in the hat, for those who don’t watch Dirty Jobs), I got to thinking. Has anyone made a career of just being a regular dude as effectively as Mike Rowe. He’s just…a guy. A guy who talks to us with a weird mix of sincerity and sarcasm while wearing a hat at all times. Normally, I would resent someone who is famous for just being an Average Joe, but I don’t mind with him. Dirty Jobs is a cool show and he seems like a cool guy. ::Raises Arnold Palmer:: To Mike Rowe, everybody.

9:39 – Mike Babcock intimidates me. When I have kids, I’m going to tell them that if they’re bad, they don’t have to worry about me yelling at them. I’m calling Mike Babcock. My kids WILL be well-behaved.

9:40 – Puck drops to start the third period. That first goal may be enough to win it for either team tonight.

9:42 – Uh-oh…

9:43 – WOW! David Legwand and the Preds just got jobbed on a big goal. Anyone who disagrees with me should imagine how they would feel if that happened to Franzen. Detroit better take advantage of that gift.

9:45 – Puck don’t lie.

9:45 – Gabriel Bourque comes through with his third goal of the series. Disgusting fact of the night…he had seven in 43 games this season.

9:46 – While I usually don’t like being wrong, I really hope I am about this first goal theory. Mickey Redmond says we’re going to score on this guy eventually. Let’s see.

9:48 – Another Detroit powerplay. Biggest one of the season to this point.

9:49 – This should be interesting.

9:50 – Hudler with a well-placed stick tipped in a wicked slapshot by Kronwall to quickly tie the game with a powerplay goal. Way to shut me up, boys. 1-1 with 16.46 remaining.

9:53 – Detroit is really destroying Nashville in the scoring chance department. We seem to get too fancy for our own good at times, but it’s encouraging to see the puck constantly in Nashville’s zone.

9:55 – My roommate is still not back yet. That gentleman’s legs must have really been asleep.

9:56 – Great passing from Filppula to Zetterberg to Hudler for a shot off the post.

9:56 – Wow…

9:57 – Kevin Klein scores the easiest goal of his career as Howard apparently heads towards the nearest bathroom, leaving an open net for the 2-1 Predator lead. Sure, Martin Erat is a solid player, but I don’t think he warrants three defenders and the goalie going with him on a 3-on-3 rush.

9:58 – KRONWALLED!

10:00 – Detroit comes back from the break on the powerplay. Need some quality chances and not shots from the blue line unless we’ve got some traffic in front. Shooting too quickly is a big reason the Red Wings have gone through scoring lulls on the powerplay this year.

10:08 – One thing I don’t like about hockey is when refs are tricksters with the faceoff. Drop the puck and stop being a jerk.

10:11 – When did icing calls become inconsistent? I may not be the most knowledgeable guy about hockey, but I always thought that was a call that usually wasn’t up for debate.

10:13 – The biggest offseason acquisition for the Red Wings this year should be a new stick manufacturer. For those counting at home, that’s 132 broken sticks for Detroit this series. 117 of those belonged to Pavel Datsyuk.

10:16 – The amount close calls really make it seem like this isn’t our game…or series. Detroit is getting quality chances and has gotten them all game. While Rinne is not “literally” standing on his head like Mickey would have you believe, he is figuratively standing on it.

10:19 - You will hear people complain that we need to rebuild or that we’re not physical enough or that Jimmy Howard sucks. The truth is, Nashville has the better goalie. That is it. In playoff hockey, that is all you need.

10:22 – Nashville’s penalty kill 5-on-5 defense (you know, the one they ran the entire third period of Game 3) is annoyingly effective. I hate it, but I get it.

10:24 – Howard pulled, 1:31 remaining. Do-or-die.

10:25 – Absolutely killer penalty on Zetterberg for the high stick. Can’t happen.

10:26 – I am pretty sure Brad Stuart just scored on his own goal.

10:27 – Nope. Legwand just made up for the goal he should have gotten earlier. Late, game-icing powerplay goal for a 3-1 lead.

10:31 – Well, this was discouraging. We outplayed them in every aspect of the game except for goaltending. Not Howard’s best performance, but Rinne was going to be tough to beat tonight with any between the opposing pipes. Heading back to Nashville for what could be a shorter series than anyone expected.

10:32 – Hey, the Tigers are winning…