This happens every other game he catches - ain't no way Alex Avila is having a son drafted by the Tigers.

Tigers also lose, 7-2.

GIF via World of Isaac

Mike Babcock said the Red Wings sat back and watched Game 1, doing about as much skating as I did in the 4-1 loss. In Game 2, they skated and they dominated the No. 1 Chicago Blackhawks, flipping (Filppula'ing?) the script and evening the series for Game 3 on Monday in Hockeytown.

The Blackhawks lit the lamp first in the first period after a Wings defensive breakdown, allowing Patrick Kane to score his first playoff goal since he started growing his beard back in the 2011 playoffs. The Wings had three great scoring chances in the period and outshot the Blackhawks 12-8, but couldn't cash in.

It didn't take long for the Wings to even things up in the second period, though, as Damien Brunner deflected a Jakub Kindl shot past Corey Crawford a little over two minutes in. They celebrated. 14 minutes later, Henrik Zetterberg made an amazing play to fend off a diving Blackhawk and showed even better patience with the puck as defenseman Brendan Smith crashed the net for an easy one-timer goal from the stick of Captain Z. They celebrated again. 

In the third, Johan Franzen wristed one by Crawford to make it 3-1 and Valtteri Filppula went flying and, during his ride, he put the game completely out of reach. We all celebrated.

Game highlights:

Filppula goal:

Game 3 in Hockeytown on Monday.

Detroit4lyfe is being represented at the Tigers' game in Texas tonight!

Supporting #Detroit #Tigers in Arlington. @detroit4lyfe twitter.com/CrazyMSULady/s…

— MaryLou Moore (@CrazyMSULady) May 18, 2013

That is an official Detroit4lyfe t-shirt from our D4L spreadshirt store -- yes, we have a store! -- worn by one of our favorite friends from the Twitterverse, the beautiful MaryLou. Thanks, Mary!

As we have a tendency to do here at D4L, we like to deflect any and all negativity.

LOOK HOW TERRIBLE THIS IAN KINSLER SLIDE WAS LAST NIGHT [via DShep25]:

Here's how our Friday morning coffee-maker convo will go, okay? 

Hungover fan: Did you see the Verlander-Darvish game last night? 

Still-drunk fan:  Yeah, dude - oh man, did you seeeee that Kinsler slide?? 

Hungover fan who wants everyone to know just how hungover he really is: [laughs] Yeah. What an iiiiiiiiidiot! Just like we were idiots for ordering that last round of peppermint patties, right guys? 

Still-drunk fan: It's, like, ex-squeeze me, have you ever done a headfirst slide before? 

Hungover fan: Head definitely first. How does an athlete do that? I mean, I understand how Still-drunk fan fell like that last night, but Ian fuckin' Kinsler?

Still drunk fan: [laughs] Yeah... wait, what? 

Hungover fan who wants everyone to know just how hungover he really is:  [laughs] You fell last night... you know what, guys? My head hurts ... 

Hungover fan: [laughs] Ian Kinsler probably too. 

[They all share a good laugh]

[Co-worker everyone hates approaches; laughter dies down; everyone's uncomfortable; co-worker everyone hates steps between the Hungover fan and Hungover fan who wants everyone to know just how hungover he really is to grab a cup of coffee]

Hungover fan who wants everyone to know just how hungover he really is:  Excuse you, Steve. Too early and HUNGOVER to be pushed aside like that. 

Co-worker everyone hates: [pulls coffee cup out and up slowly to his stupid fucking lips, stops before sipping and looks up] Sorry, mang ... hey, what the fuck is wrong with Verlander, you guys?

Key takeaway from the Red Wings' Game 1 loss to the Blackhawks in the Western Conference semis: Patrick Kane's beard needs work. $16.12 of work.

Game 2 is Saturday.

Just tweeted out by the team's official Twitter:

Round 2 schedule now available.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?i… twitter.com/DetroitRedWing…

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) May 14, 2013

In case the pic is not showing up for easy viewing, it's as follows:

Game 1: Wednesday, May 15 @ Chicago; 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, CBC
Game 2: Saturday, May 18 @ Chicago; 1 p.m. ET on NBC
Game 3: Monday, May 20 vs. Chicago 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Game 4: Thursday, May 23 vs. Chicago 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN
Game 5*: Saturday, May 25 @ Chicago TBD ET on TBD
Game 6*: Monday, May 27 vs. Chicago TBD ET on TBD
Game 7*: Wednesday, May 29 @ Chicago TBD ET on TBD

* if necessary
TBD = to be determined, not a time or channel you haven't heard of before

See you on WACK WEDNESDAY for Game 1.

Because every Mother's day needs a mother's night Red Wings Game 7 win:

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! This win was for you!!!

— Pavel Datsyuk (@Datsyuk13) May 13, 2013

/SUDDENJUBILIATIONINREGULATION

The final minutes felt a lot like Friday night, up 3-1 until a Ducks goal would make things far too interesting, and butt clenching and stuff. The Ducks wouldn't get the equalizer this time, though, and the Red Wings would perservere in regulation and, in all, an extremely hard-faught seven-game series a lot of people, myself included, thought they weren't going to be apart of.

Quickly, here's how the Wings pulled it off in Game 7:

After Henrik Zetterberg started the scoring early in the first and the Ducks tied things up 12 minutes later, the Wings were shorthanded when Justin Abdelkader broke up a pass in his own zone and then found the five-hole at the other end of a breakaway:

Abdelkader grew up pretty fast.

The second period was scoreless until Valterri Filppula wound up with what was ultimately the game winner on a backhander:

I've already talked about what happened in the third. We wound up celebrating (or sighing in relief).

Jimmy Howard had 31 saves in the game and the new Captain played heroically in the Wings' second consecutive elimination game.

There was a time when I thought No. 22 was not going to happen, but the Red Wings have already turned their 22nd straight playoff appearance into a special one. Four out of the series' seven games went into OT (the 1st time that has ever happened for the Wings) and they won all four of their games by a single goal against a No. 2 seed. Great [nervous] success!

The Red Wings will now take on a fellow Original 6, the No. 1 Chicago Blackhawks, in the Conference Semis, which begins on Wednesday night. Fun and jokes.

I missed this being out of pocket over the weekend -- GameDay doesn't specify when a 'hit by pitch' happens in or around the junk and the batter hilariously hops around the infield grabbing his groin [via WorldofIsaac]:

Try to show me a funnier hit by pitch.