report to follow..

Good news or bad news first..O.K..the good news..the Wings won the first and tied the third periods. The bad news..the Hurricanes scored six in the second and Hamilton zero.

Joey Daimond's early goal staked the Wings to 1-0 lead after one. Diamond was quick to pounce on a rebound from a Luke Watson shot. The home team could have had more had it not been for some erratic shooting. Storm clouds started to loom very near the end of the period when Zach Hyman took a holding penalty and Justin Stevens was guilty of an after-the-play high-stick. Mike Ball also picked up an unsportsmanlike minor along with Newmarket's Glen McCarron.

The Hurricanes won the game in the first two minutes of the second scoring three times on the powerplay. With a two-man advantage half a minute in Jamie Wise scored his first of three..he had six points in all. Wings' goalie Dillon Branco took a slashing penalty after the goal putting the Hurricanes at a two-man advantage again. Before a minute had elapsed in the period Brandon Greenside blasted in one from the point. Then just before the two-minute mark with only a one man advantage Joel Hanley's soft point shot eluded Branco. With five minutes gone Daniel Cobb curt right in front from the wing and poked it home in front. Branco hurt his leg shortly afterwards but stayed on. Eight minutes in it was 5-1 Hurricanes as Wise picked up a rebound off the backboards and slipped his second home. Exit Branco, enter Rob Behling. Chad Sumsion added insult to injury with four minutes left as he stripped the puck from a veteran Wings' defenceman ad went in alone and scored shorthanded with a backhand shot. The Wings lost Brent McGrail to a 10 minute mouthguard violation at the end of the period and he would be assessed a further misconduct from the penalty box early in the third. You could see the Hurricanes confidence increasing with each goal as they could do little wrong and looked like world beaters.

The Wings found themselves with a two-man advantage early in the third but had no movement and simply blasted the puck at Jason Guy for whom it was like picking cherries. The period deteriorated as the referee's sought to become the games stars. A checking from behind penalty by 'Canes defenceman Joel Hanley levelled Tim Revell who took a while to recover. In the ensuing contretemps Newmarket's Kevin Balas and Hamilton's David Fortino were given misconducts. Keeping up with the Joneses a minute Joey Diamond felled a Hurricane with what looked more like a shoulder check but he was also assessed the same penalty as Hanley. A couple of minutes later a fight broke out..on the ice..between Stevens and P.J. Buys, it was a brief tussle but when it was over Stevens decided to throw his helmet on the ice earning himself a gross misconduct. In the ebbing moments Zach Hyman tallied a powerplay goal for the home team, deflecting a Brandon Schwartz shot but the Hurricanes would have the last word as Wise posted his hat-trick.

Not pretty. Despite the score this series is far from over. However,the Red Wings just have got to learn to play disciplined hockey and they certainly did not do that tonight.

I can't see Hamilton making this a long series. They can't play without the puck. When the other team has it they are very weak and take stupid penalties. Branco isn't getting any help from the back end and I think this could be over fairly quickly.

I would say having a proven 100 point scorer, who is 6'2 230 pounds and the toughest player in this league out of their lineup is a huge reason.

Teams play different with this guy on the ice, both the younger and older players dont finish most hits, they dont yap and therefore guys get more room out there. Last year the Raiders brought in Yovanic who was a 6'5 240 pound tough guy solely to stop Crawford from doing anything, the next game Crawford had 4 points and dropped Christopher Borges in a fight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Nr1b9pjnA). The game thereafter was in Mississauga, Yovanic wasnt in the lineup and Crawford walked all over Georgetown physically and picked up 4 or 5 points and the win. Someone has to continue this role, I think the only guy who can come close is Watson. Watson is huge, naturally very skilled and can fight, he needs more ice in my opinion so he can dominate.

Branco is playing terrible, it's pointless to keep beating on that drum. One thing I question is why #11 Hyman is getting any ice at all? He is a 16 year old, I am not taking anything away from the boy but he cannot keep up and should only be put out once or twice a period, not powerplays. He cost the team three big goals. I'm sure there were orders to have him promoted in the regular season but if this continues in the playoffs I can't see this going any longer then 5.

Watson and Ball need to play very physical, Pageau needs to realise hes not the best player in the league so 10% effort wont cut it. Hamilton needs to have the 6'7 guys hitting, the 6'1 guys hitting and the 5'6 guys hitting. They also need everyone not caring who scores, the regular season is over points dont matter in playoffs.

This is my assessment of tonights game (7-2 Newmarket).

Isn't #11 Hyman the owner's son??

That might explain all the ice time.

Newmarket could not put a foot wrong after the three quick powerplay goals and the Wings just wilted. A Hurricane win Monday night will give Hamilton a big mountain to climb. Nothing less than anm emphatic victory will get the Wings going.

#11 Hyman is the owners kid and yes he does not deserve at all the ice he's getting at this point of the year. Galati shouldn't let the owner boss him around.