Losing in overtime to a now 11 win team isn't the way the Red Wings nor their fans wanted to ring in the New Year. But that exactly what happened tonight down at the Joe with the Isle's winning 4-3 on a powerplay goal in overtime. The Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson helped his team carry a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period by coming up with big stops in the first 2 periods. Valtteri Filppula gave his team some much needed momentum going into the 2nd intermission when he scored with 8 seconds left to bring the Wings back to within one goal. In the 3rd period the Islanders were in full defensive mode trying to hold onto their slim 3-2 lead and Tomas Tatar made them pay by scoring his first ever NHL goal. The game would go to overtime tied at 3 and after the Islanders killed off about 1:30 of a Red Wing powerplay Henrik Zetterberg took a bad holding penalty to give the Isles their own powerplay which they would score on to end the game. The Red Wings seemed to have broken head coach Mike Babcock's cardinal rule of always starting on time by not getting going offensively until midway through the 2nd period and allowing the visiting team to build a 3-1 lead. It was fun to see the Wings mount a 3rd period come-back but im sure all the fans wanted to see a win tonight just like i did for New Years. The Wings will welcome in one of the best teams not only in the Eastern Conference but in the entire league and also one of their former players on Sunday when Ville Leino and the Philadelphia Flyers come to town.
The Spartans opened up their Big Ten title defense with a come from behind win against Minnesota today. It didn't start out the way the Spartans had hoped it would with them being down 28-22 at the half but they found their mark in the 2nd half. Michigan State outscored Minnesota 49-34 in the 2nd thanks in part to Durrell Summers leading the way in scoring for the Spartans with 19 pts. Draymond Green also had a nice game scoring 14 pts with 6 rebounds and 4 helpers to help his team to a win. Some positives that the team can take from this gritty win were getting 24 assists on 28 baskets and only turning the ball over 8 times, which had been a problem for the Spartans in the non-conference games. The team will enjoy this win on New Years day and get back to work on Monday when they travel to Evanston to take on Northwestern in the Spartans first Big Ten road test of the season.Goodnight from the greatest sports city in the world and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! and good luck to the Michigan State football team tomorrow when they take on Alabama in the Capital One Bowl
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